Five Key Stories: 3/20/23 – 3/26/23
The final full week of March has come to an end. With most transactions being on hold until the offseason, the injury situation around the league dominates the key stories.
Pettersson To LTIR: The Penguins will be without one of their top four defensemen for the stretch run with Marcus Pettersson being placed on LTIR with a lower-body injury. It has been a bit of a resurgent season for the 26-year-old as he has upped his playing time by nearly five minutes per night while improving on his point total; his 24 points are one behind his career high. His absence certainly hurts Pittsburgh as they look to hold onto a Wild Card spot. However, the placement also alleviates their salary cap situation, putting them in a spot where they will be able to afford some recalls over the final few weeks without having to worry about having to play short a player while waiting for approval for a cap-exempt recall.
Carlson Returns: On the opposite side of the injury front, the Capitals welcomed back defenseman John Carlson. Washington’s top blueliner missed more than three months with an upper-body injury that Carlson himself later confirmed was a small skull fracture above his right ear and a severed temporal artery. While this isn’t going to help lead Washington to the postseason, it’s certainly a positive sign that he’s able to return. Carlson definitely came back in style, picking up two points in his first game back.
Bednar Signs Extension: Jared Bednar won’t be leaving Colorado’s bench anytime soon after the team signed him to a three-year contract extension. That deal won’t kick in until 2024-25 as the bench boss already had another year on his deal after this one. He earned himself quite a raise as CapFriendly notes that Bednar’s salary will jump from $2.25MM per season on this contract to $4.75MM on the new one. The raise and extra job security are certainly well-deserved. He helped lead the Avs to the Stanley Cup last season and the team has compiled a 282-191-52 record over seven seasons under his tutelage, good for a .587 points percentage. Bednar is second in franchise history in games coached (behind Michel Bergeron going back to their Quebec days) but will take over the all-time record early in the first year of this new contract.
College Signings: As NCAA teams are being eliminated, there has been an uptick in college prospects signing. The bulk of those have been players signing with their own teams but a few teams have turned to the free agent market. The Blue Jackets signed center Hunter McKown out of Colorado College and he has already made his NHL debut, getting into a pair of games while picking up an assist. Meanwhile, the Jets added forward Parker Ford out of Providence College while the Canucks agreed to terms with center Max Sasson. Their contracts will begin next season, allowing them to report to the minors for the rest of 2022-23.
More Injuries: There were quite a few other injuries of note around the league this week. Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort will miss the rest of the regular season due a lower-body injury. He won’t require surgery. Boston could now transfer him to LTIR to open up some cap flexibility for recalls down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Senators will be missing defenseman Jakub Chychrun for a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury of his own which will make their late playoff push a little harder. Up front, Canadiens winger Josh Anderson is out for the season with a high ankle sprain while the Blue Jackets won’t have Patrik Laine for two-to-four weeks because of a triceps strain. Columbus had been testing Laine down the middle before the injury.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Talbot, Toews, Reilly, Lalonde
The Senators should be getting some help between the pipes soon as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Cam Talbot is expected to return to the lineup sometime this week. He has been out for the last three weeks due to an oblique muscle injury. The 35-year-old has a 2.85 GAA and a .905 SV% in 32 games this season, numbers that aren’t the greatest but at the moment, Ottawa is trying to hang in the race for a Wild Card spot in the East with rookies Mads Sogaard and Dylan Ferguson. Accordingly, getting Talbot back should give them a boost for the final few games.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews has been out for nearly two months due to symptoms from long COVID and Chronic Immune Response Syndrome but hasn’t given up on returning this season. To that end, head coach Luke Richardson told Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the center has been skating in an effort to get back before the end of the campaign. There was a recent report that Toews may be considering retirement and if that’s true, that could be fueling his desire to get back for the final few games.
- Bruins defenseman Mike Reilly suffered a serious injury in the minors today, one that saw him knocked unconscious and stretchered off the ice. Fortunately, AHL Providence announced after the game (Twitter link) that he is alert, conscious, and able to walk around. The veteran has spent the bulk of the year in the minors but is likely to be a Black Ace recall at some point in Boston’s playoff run.
- The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve reassigned goaltender Nolan Lalonde from OHL Erie to AHL Cleveland. The 19-year-old signed with Columbus as an undrafted free agent in October but had a tough year in junior, posting a 4.09 GAA along with a .868 SV% in 41 games with the Otters. With Jon Gillies being recalled today and Daniil Tarasov being injured in Cleveland’s game today, Lalonde could have a path to make his pro debut fairly soon.
PHR Mailbag: Rossi, Predictions, Summer Trade Candidates, Playoffs, Ducks, Three-Team Trades, Kings
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include the upcoming playoffs, Anaheim’s coaching situation, injuries in Los Angeles, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch to see if it appears in next weekend’s mailbag.
Zakis: Why hasn’t the Wild brought Rossi back up? They could use scoring and are always searching for centers.
When Minnesota made the decision to send Marco Rossi down to AHL Iowa in late November, the idea was that they wanted to give him some consistent playing time in an offensive role. The move has proven to be a good one as he’s hovering around the point-per-game mark which is a small improvement over last season. On merit, he has certainly earned another look.
Here’s the thing. Could they have used him when the roster was basically thinned out which was the case up until a couple of games ago? Sure. However, even with the injuries, they never got to the point of qualifying for an emergency recall. Now that we’re after the trade deadline, the dreaded four-recall rule is in effect which basically means that teams are limited to four non-emergency recalls until their affiliates’ season is done (including playoffs).
Because they had enough bodies to avoid emergency recall status, they’d have had to have burned one of those recalls to bring Rossi up. And now, with most of the forwards back to being healthy (aside from Kirill Kaprizov), there wouldn’t really be any room for Rossi in the lineup, at least in a role that is optimal for his development and Minnesota’s success. (Playing him eight minutes on the fourth line isn’t doing anyone any good.) Is it worth burning one of those recalls and disrupting his momentum for a short-term stint? It appears GM Bill Guerin felt the answer was no.
The Duke: Dear Crystal Ball: please provide the fortunes for Nicholas Robertson, Alexander Holtz, Luke Hughes, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. BONUS BOUNTY: Who are the Final 4 and who wins the Stanley Cup? Kind regards.
Robertson: Things haven’t gone well for him in the pros, have they? He has lost a lot of development time due to injuries, that’s for sure. Robertson feels like the type of player that probably best fits in on an offensive third line that can move up when injuries arise or if he has chemistry with a specific center. Despite how long he has been out, he can still be an important part of Toronto’s group, especially as a cost-controlled player that should be able to produce as long as he can stay healthy.
Holtz: It hasn’t been a great start for Holtz to his career in North America. He has done well in the minors but it has yet to translate to much NHL success. On the other hand, he’s only 21, leaving plenty of time for development. I still think he will be a top-six forward down the road. I wouldn’t be shocked if he became a top liner still for that matter.
Hughes: The presence of Dougie Hamilton will limit Hughes’ offensive output, at least early on. With Hamilton logging big minutes including some power play time, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Hughes around the 30-35-point mark early on. Long term, 50+ points should be achievable on an annual basis which would have him in the top 20 league-wide. I’m not sure he’ll see 25 minutes a night like a typical number one defenseman but Hughes should produce like one.
Luukkonen: It has been a bit of an up-and-down first extended taste of NHL action, hasn’t it? I’m not sure he’s the goalie of the future for Buffalo but he’s a goalie of the future for Buffalo. In an era that is becoming more reliant on platoons, Luukkonen should be able to fill one of those spots as long as he can wean down the erratic performances and become more consistent. If he and Devon Levi can cover anywhere between 35-50 games each per season, they’ll be thrilled.
Bonus: I think I had the Stars and Bruins as the Cup Final matchup in the last mailbag and I’ll stick with that prediction for now with Boston winning. As for the other two conference finalists? I think the Rangers come out of the Metropolitan and one of Edmonton’s goalies gets on a hot streak to get the Oilers out of the Pacific.
baji kimran: I know you don’t own a crystal ball, but what do you think are the chances the following three centers who will be on expiring contracts next year get traded before the end of next year or hit the open market next summer?
- Elias Lindholm. Calgary may not want to head toward a rebuild, especially with that awful Huberdeau contract, but if they struggle to compete, it may make sense to move him.
- Auston Matthews. The Leafs have until July 1st to extend him or his no-movement clause kicks in and it will be harder to move him if he isn’t willing to pursue an extension. When he does sign, it will be the largest deal ever and the Leafs are also faced with trying to keep Nylander, who will also be on an expiring contract. Some think Matthews wants to go to Arizona, but if they can’t pass the vote to build a new arena, that won’t be a wise move. In that instance, L.A. becomes the favorite.
- Anze Kopitar. Kopitar still plays at a high level, but with the Kings locked into Danault for three more years and their probable desire to sign Roy, Kempe, Byfield, and Lizotte to extensions, Kopitar could become an odd man out, especially if Matthews were to land in L.A.
Wait, I’m confused now. Didn’t I just have a crystal ball a moment ago? Where did it go? Oh well, onto the questions.
1) I expect the Flames to take a real run at re-signing Lindholm this summer. If they can’t get something done, I think the odds of him being moved are quite high, think in the 75% range. I think Calgary has shown this season that their core as constructed isn’t good enough to contend. They’re better than they’re playing but even a different coach isn’t going to vault them into contender status. Maybe there’s a bump to get them into a playoff spot but that’s not the same as a contender. If they need to change up the core, the logical place to start from is a player who, in this scenario, doesn’t want to re-sign. Yes, they could keep Lindholm and look to move him in-season which is why that percentage isn’t even higher. But if that’s the route that they take, they’re probably running it back. I just can’t see them doing that.
2) Technically, Toronto can only extend Matthews on July 1st which happens to coincide with the trade protection. While they’re not supposed to negotiate before then, we all know that rule isn’t exactly followed. I expect the Maple Leafs will hand Matthews the richest contract in NHL history sometime this offseason, at least from an AAV perspective; it might not be a max term. Does that force Nylander out? Probably, but with John Tavares’ deal only being one year longer than Matthews’, they’re not going to willingly run the risk of losing two high-end middlemen. If Matthews wants to stay, they’ll get something done. If he wants to wait and see what happens in 2023-24, I think they’ll still hold onto him. I’ll go with a 5% chance that he’s moved which is basically the scenario of him saying I won’t re-sign so trade me to where I want to go.
3) My first thought was that they wouldn’t want to trade a franchise legend. My second was they just traded one last month so that first thought might not hold up. But I don’t think there’s much of a desire to move him. He has one year left after this season which lines up with Matthews so in your scenario of Matthews signing in Los Angeles, they’d probably just let Kopitar walk at the same time. Of the potential extensions, they’d all kick in after Kopitar’s deal is up so they don’t need to trade him to free up room for those contracts. I can’t say 0% odds here with what happened with Quick so I’ll go with a 1% chance he’s traded.
Breakaway: 1). Who do you predict will be the four wild card teams?
2). Which one of those four teams can make some “noise” in the playoffs?
3). Who, if anyone, can knock the Bruins out of the playoffs?
1) In the East, I expect the Penguins will find a way to back their way in. The Islanders are fragile but I think they’ll just stay ahead of the Panthers. Out West, the Jets seem like a safe bet for one of the spots; they’ll be in tough to move up in the Central with everyone else having games in hand. It’d be funny if the Predators got in after selling but I don’t think they will and instead, the Kraken will get the other spot.
2) I’ll go with the Islanders here. Ilya Sorokin is capable of stealing some games on his own and they already play lower-scoring games that the playoffs often bring. It might not be a run like they had in 2020-21 when they nearly beat Tampa Bay to make the Stanley Cup Final but they could surprise. Connor Hellebuyck could do the same but Winnipeg has been too erratic lately to count on.
3) The Maple Leafs match up fairly well and if that winds up being a second-round matchup, it wouldn’t shock me if they won. In the Metro, both the Rangers and Hurricanes would have a chance to win a series. Boston is still the prohibitive favorite, no doubt, but any of those teams could knock them out before the Final without it necessarily being too surprising.
JustPete: The Anaheim Ducks are mired in a multi-season “rebuild”. Frankly, they are difficult to watch. Their offensive efforts are seemingly limited to the dump and chase as they cannot skate or pass the puck into the offensive zone. They play an awful zone defense that often leaves a defender open in the slot. While they have flashes of skilled play, it is mostly haphazard play without speed or organization.
They have a “core” of good skill players – who don’t work together.
My question is whether it is time for a coaching change. I cannot fathom how they can play this badly. They look like a rudderless ship meandering through the rink.
I do expect there to be a coaching change in Anaheim. From the moment that Pat Verbeek took over as GM, I expected Dallas Eakins would be let go on the day following the end of the 2022-23 regular season.
We saw at the AHL level that he wasted little time shaking up the staff in San Diego even with Joel Bouchard having term left on his deal. However, there’s a big difference between AHL coach money and NHL coach money. For a season that Anaheim wasn’t expected to go anywhere, paying for two coaches on a team that’s not a cap spender didn’t make economic sense. But Eakins is in the final year of his contract so I think they’ve elected to play out this season and then simply not renew his deal, thereby paving the way for a new coach later this spring.
The Ducks have a decent young foundation to work with plus some promising offensive-minded prospects on the horizon. Accordingly, I expect their next bench boss to be someone that wants to play more up-tempo with an emphasis on player development in the short term. Verbeek has been around long enough going back to his time as an assistant GM to have a good idea of the type of coach he’ll want and a list of candidates that could fit the bill.
Flames Sign Matt Coronato
The Flames had made it known that they wanted to sign top prospect Matt Coronato and they have gotten their wish as they announced that they’ve signed the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike reports (Twitter links) that the contract carries a base salary of $925K in each season, has $850K in Schedule A bonuses in 2023-24 and 2024-25, and that the agreement begins this season.
The 20-year-old was a first-round pick by Calgary back in 2021 (13th overall) and he has had two productive seasons with Harvard since then. This season, Coronato had 20 goals and 16 assists in 36 games, good for third on the Crimson in scoring behind Montreal prospect Sean Farrell and Kings prospect Alex Laferriere which helped him earn a spot on the Second Team All-ECAC roster.
Coronato’s output was basically identical to a year ago when he also potted 36 points in 34 games with 18 goals and 18 assists. That performance was good enough to earn him Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2021-22. He becomes the third Harvard player to turn pro this weekend joining Farrell and Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun.
With the contract starting now, Coronato will not be eligible to play in the minors this season so instead, he’ll immediately join the Flames. Calgary is four points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference so it will be interesting to see if they turn to the youngster to see if he can provide a spark offensively or if they’ll keep him in the press box for the time being.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that the two sides were nearing a deal while Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was the first to say the contract was finalized.
Buffalo Sabres Reassign Lukas Rousek
03/26/23: The Sabres announced this morning that Rousek has been sent back down to AHL Rochester.
It’s a tough break for one of Rochester’s top scorers, as Rousek didn’t draw into the lineup for the Sabres’ win over the New York Islanders yesterday. Having spent the day a healthy scratch, he’ll now head back to the AHL where he’ll resume playing a major role in the Americans’ playoff push.
03/25/23: Lukas Rousek’s first full professional season has been a strong one and he was rewarded for his efforts on Saturday as the Sabres announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled the forward from Rochester of the AHL.
The 23-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Buffalo back in 2019 and this is his first NHL promotion. After an ACL injury cost him the bulk of last season, Rousek has been productive this year with the Americans, notching 15 goals and 33 assists in 61 games; his assist and point totals are good for second on the team in scoring. If Rousek suits up for the Sabres, he’ll be the third player from their 2019 draft class to see NHL action.
Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News clarifies (Twitter link) that the move has been classified as an emergency recall. Tage Thompson was injured last night while Jordan Greenway has missed the last week with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Vinnie Hinostroza is away from the team for personal reasons so Buffalo certainly needed to bring a forward up. Rousek will get that opportunity but as soon as one of those players is able to return, he’ll need to be sent back to the minors or have his recall converted to a regular one which would then count against the post-deadline limit of four.
Lightning Prospect Isaac Howard Transfers To Michigan State
Back at the draft, things were looking up for prospect Isaac Howard. He was coming off an impressive season with the US NTDP program where he put up 82 points in 60 games, helping him get picked 31st overall by Tampa Bay.
However, things haven’t gone as smoothly since then. The 18-year-old struggled considerably in his first taste of college hockey, notching just 17 points in 35 games with Minnesota-Duluth. Earlier this month, Howard opted to enter the transfer portal and he has found his next school, announcing (Twitter link) that he will be joining Michigan State next season.
Howard becomes the second drafted prospect to join the Spartans with Detroit forward Red Savage transferring there earlier this week. They are the only two drafted forwards on the roster at the moment so there should be an opportunity for Howard to play an important role with his new school although Michigan State could bring back their top three scorers from this season for 2023-24 as well.
Sharks Sign Henry Thrun
The Sharks have reached an agreement with a promising defensive prospect, announcing the signing of Henry Thrun to a two-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but it does begin this season.
The 22-year-old was a fourth-round pick by Anaheim back in 2019 (101st overall) but has certainly outperformed his draft stock. This season, Thrun was the captain at Harvard and led their blueliners in scoring for the second straight year, tallying seven goals along with 24 assists in just 35 games. Those numbers were nearly identical to 2021-22 when he potted seven goals with 25 helpers in 35 contests. That helped him earn several honors, including ECAC Defensive Defenseman of the Year, First Team All-ECAC, and First Team All-Ivy.
Earlier this season, Thrun informed the Ducks that he would not be signing with them and instead would opt for free agency in mid-August. However, San Jose decided to jump the queue on trying to work out a deal with Thrun, flipping a 2024 third-rounder to Anaheim to get his rights earlier this month. That has proven to be a wise decision as it certainly didn’t take long for a deal to get done considering Harvard was just eliminated from the NCAA tournament on Friday.
While the Sharks will have to burn half of the contract now for the stretch run, they’ve secured themselves a promising young blueliner to add to a prospect pool that is starting to improve considerably under GM Mike Grier. They’ll likely give Thrun a chance to get his feet wet with a few games down the stretch to assess whether he might be ready for full-time duty next season or if some time at the AHL level will be acquired.
East Notes: Roslovic, Harris, Joseph, Greig
Teams looking to add center help this summer might want to keep their eye on Columbus. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic speculates (subscription link) that with the likelihood of the Blue Jackets landing a top center in this summer’s draft and the expected signing of prospect Dmitri Voronkov, the team might be willing to part with Jack Roslovic. The 26-year-old has struggled with consistency this season but has once again reached the 40-point mark, pocketing nine goals and 31 assists through 68 games so far. He has one year left on his contract with a $4MM cap hit so there wouldn’t be a long-term commitment for acquiring teams to worry about. If Columbus was willing to use one of their three retention slots to lower that cap charge, they could land a quality prospect or pick if they were to move on from Roslovic in the coming months.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris confirmed to reporters including Arpon Basu of The Athletic (Twitter link) that he will return to the lineup tonight against Columbus. The 22-year-old has missed the last two weeks with a lower-body injury. Harris has 15 points in 60 games in his rookie campaign while averaging 18:34 per contest on a young Montreal back end. He’ll take the place of Chris Wideman in the lineup.
- Senators winger Mathieu Joseph has returned to practice but has been ruled out of at least the next two games, notes Postmedia’s Ken Warren. The 26-year-old has been dealing with an upper-body injury for the last two weeks. This season hasn’t gone great for Joseph; after scoring four goals in 11 games after being acquired last year at the deadline, he has just three tallies in 47 contests so far this season.
- Still with the Senators, head coach D.J. Smith told TSN 1200 (Twitter link) that center Ridly Greig is out for the rest of the season with a sternum injury. The 20-year-old was recalled earlier this month but got into just five games before suffering the injury. Greig’s first professional campaign comes to an end with a goal and five assists in 16 NHL contests plus 13 goals and 14 helpers in 35 contests with AHL Belleville.
Jakob Chychrun To Miss Multiple Weeks
When the Senators acquired Jakob Chychrun from Arizona just prior to the trade deadline, the hope was that his addition would help lead a late playoff push. That push just got considerably more difficult now as head coach D.J. Smith told TSN 1200 (Twitter link) that the blueliner will miss at least a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury.
Chychrun had made a nice impact on Ottawa’s back end since the trade, collecting five points in a dozen games while averaging more than two blocks per contest in 21 minutes a night of action. For the season, he has played in 48 games between the Sens and Coyotes, picking up 33 points (the second most of his career) with his strong showing early on helping Arizona land three draft picks (including Ottawa’s first-round pick this season) in the swap.
Earlier this week, the Senators signed prospect Tyler Kleven to a contract that begins this season, giving him the opportunity to get into some NHL action down the stretch. With Chychrun potentially out for the remainder of the regular season, it might not be long before he’s making his professional debut. Meanwhile, Ottawa has ten games left in their push for a Wild Card spot and currently trails Pittsburgh by five points for the final seed. They’ll be dealing with a considerably weaker back end to try to make that happen.
Jets Sign Parker Ford
The Jets have dipped into college free agency, announcing the signing of forward Parker Ford to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry an AAV of $925K and will begin next season. Ford has also agreed to an ATO deal with Manitoba of the AHL and will finish up this season at the minor league level.
The 22-year-old recently wrapped up his four-year college career at Providence. His offensive numbers in the last two seasons were nearly identical; he posted 12 goals and 14 assists in 37 games this year after putting up 13 goals and 14 helpers in 38 contests in 2021-22. Over his career with the Friars, Ford had 94 points in 131 contests, putting up a higher point per game average at the NCAA level (0.71) than his time in the USHL (0.62). He was Providence’s captain this season and finished as a Hockey East Third Team All-Star.
Winnipeg has already moved three of its draft picks for the upcoming draft and had a three-year stretch between 2019 and 2021 where they made no more than five selections in a single draft. Accordingly, their prospect pool has been thinned out so it makes sense for the Jets to look to fill some of those gaps in college free agency. At 5’9, Ford is a bit undersized but can play both center and the wing, bringing them some positional versatility.