West Notes: Coyotes, Oilers, Barbashev
It has been a long rebuilding process for the Coyotes as they’ve stripped their team down while adding many prospects and draft picks. Speaking with Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription link), GM Bill Armstrong indicated that they’re nearing the halfway point of their rebuild. Arizona has 47 draft picks over the next four drafts, 17 of which are in the first two rounds so there is definitely going to be a significant influx of young talent into the organization in the coming years. However, it appears at least a couple more years of being around the basement of the conference are on the horizon as it will take some time for their young talent to develop.
More from the West:
- The Oilers made a legitimate pitch to acquire winger Timo Meier before the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts While it would be hard to see how Meier and his $10MM qualifying offer would fit into Edmonton’s salary structure, Friedman suggests their intention was simply to figure out the cap implications over the summer. Had it happened, there’s a strong possibility that Meier would have been back on the market this summer with Edmonton effectively treating him as a rental player. Meier, of course, ultimately went to New Jersey and has a goal in three games so far with his new team.
- While his acquisition largely flew under the radar with more prominent names being moved, forward Ivan Barbashev might wind up being the best deadline acquisition, posits SinBinVegas’ Jason Pothier. The Golden Knights parted with 2021 first-round pick Zach Dean to pick up the 27-year-old pending UFA and Barbashev has fit in quite well, notching five points in six games with his new team. More importantly, he has shown some early chemistry on the top line in the place of injured captain Mark Stone and if he’s able to hold down that spot on the depth chart, he should certainly be at least one of the most impactful pickups from the trade deadline activity.
Nick Bonino Suffers A Lacerated Kidney
Nick Bonino’s return to Pittsburgh has hit an abrupt pause. The team announced (Twitter link) today that the center suffered a lacerated kidney in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Islanders after being hit by a puck and is listed as being out week to week. Rob Rossi of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the veteran was released from the hospital today.
The 34-year-old was acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline from San Jose as part of a three-team deal that also involved Montreal. He was brought in to help their center situation with Teddy Blueger being traded to Vegas and Ryan Poehling landing on LTIR but wound up being injured in just his third game with the team. Adding in his time with the Sharks, Bonino has ten goals and nine assists in 62 games this season.
Following what wound up being a fairly busy trade deadline for Pittsburgh, cap space is at a premium for the Penguins as per CapFriendly, their cap space is limited to exclusively Poehling’s $750K LTIR placement. Bonino’s injury gave Pittsburgh just 11 forwards on their active roster, limiting them to recalling someone making the league minimum – Drake Caggiula and Alex Nylander were the only forwards at that price point – with Nylander getting the call yesterday. Pittsburgh could opt to shift Bonino and his $1.05MM cap charge (Montreal retained an additional $1.05MM as part of the swap) onto LTIR in the coming days, freeing up space for one more recall in the process.
Capitals Sign Trevor Van Riemsdyk To Three-Year Extension
It was a bit surprising at first that the Capitals didn’t move defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk as a rental at the deadline. However, GM Brian MacLellan said that he didn’t move him since he hoped to sign the blueliner to a new contract. Mission accomplished on that front as the team announced they’ve signed van Riemsdyk to a three-year extension that carries an AAV of $3MM. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $1MM signing bonus, $2.75MM salary
2024-25: $1MM signing bonus, $2MM salary
2025-26: $1.25MM signing bonus, $1MM salary
The 31-year-old is in his third season with Washington and has worked his way from being a depth defender to one that has become a quality every-game piece. He has played in all 66 games this season – the only Capitals defender to do so – and has set new career highs in goals (seven) and points (19) while logging 19:00 per game, his highest ATOI since his first full NHL campaign back with Chicago in 2015-16. Van Riemsdyk also leads the Caps with 146 blocked shots, good for seventh in that stat league-wide.
For those efforts, van Riemsdyk is landing a sizable raise. The AAV on this new deal actually exceeds the total earnings that he received over his first three seasons combined; he’s wrapping up a two-year agreement that carried a cap hit of just $950K, a considerable bargain relative to his performance thus far.
Washington has been busy when it comes to the back end lately. They moved out long-time veteran Dmitry Orlov at the trade deadline while bringing in Rasmus Sandin in a separate deal that also moved out pending UFA Erik Gustafsson. Sandin joins Alexander Alexeyev and Martin Fehervary (both pending RFAs this summer) as 23-year-olds now playing regular roles in the lineup at the moment while they’ve now handed van Riemsdyk and Nick Jensen three-year extensions as bridge veterans that could see their playing time drop when the youngsters are ready to supplant them on the depth chart. Those players will join John Carlson in what should be a fairly stable defense corps for 2023-24 and beyond as the Capitals look to retool fairly quickly over embarking on a longer-scale rebuild.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Islanders Activate Cal Clutterbuck Off IR
The Islanders enter tonight’s action with a four-point advantage on a Wild Card spot and will welcome back one of their long-time veterans tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Cal Clutterbuck off injured reserve.
He had missed close to two months with an upper-body injury, his third upper-body issue of the season. In between missing those contests, the 35-year-old has put up four goals and four assists along with 130 hits in 34 games while averaging 12:09 per night, primarily on the fourth line.
It appears that Clutterbuck will be taking the place of Otto Koivula in the lineup tonight against Washington as Newsday’s Andrew Gross relays (Twitter link) that Koivula is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old is averaging less than seven minutes per game in his first eight NHL appearances of the season but still has a pair of assists, matching his output from 2021-22.
Meanwhile, New York will still be waiting at least a little longer for two of their key injured forwards to return. Gross adds (Twitter link) that there remains no timetable for center Mathew Barzal to resume skating as he tries to work his way back from a lower-body injury. However, the expectation is that Jean-Gabriel Pageau should accompany the team on their upcoming West Coast road trip; the veteran has missed the last month with an upper-body injury.
Aidan McDonough Expected To Sign With Canucks After NCAA Season
With his college career set to come to an end over the next few weeks, Canucks prospect Aidan McDonough would soon be facing a choice. He could sign with the team that drafted him or wait a few months and hit unrestricted free agency in mid-August. It appears he’ll be choosing the former as CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (audio link) that McDonough will be signing with Vancouver once his college campaign comes to an end. McDonough’s advisor Glen Giovanucci confirmed the report to Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston.
The 23-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Canucks back in 2019 (195th overall) but has certainly outperformed his draft stock, quickly becoming a key producer at Northeastern. McDonough reached the 20-goal mark and surpassed the point-per-game plateau for the second year in a row with his 20 goals and 18 assists in 33 games leading the Huskies in scoring. Over his four-year college career, he’s averaging just over a point per game with 124 in 123 appearances.
At his age, McDonough is only eligible for a two-year, entry-level contract. Dhaliwal notes that if McDonough’s season ends early enough, the first of those campaigns will be burned in 2022-23, allowing him to join Vancouver for the final few games this season to begin his pro career while setting him up to hit restricted free agency in 2024.
Maple Leafs Recall Alex Steeves And Wayne Simmonds
The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves today as they’ve recalled wingers Alex Steeves and Wayne Simmonds, per the AHL’s Transactions log. CapFriendly clarifies (Twitter links) that both moves have been registered as emergency recalls and thus do not count against the post-deadline four-recall limit.
Steeves is back just one day after being sent down. The 23-year-old suited up in Tuesday’s game against New Jersey, marking his third NHL appearance of the campaign where he has been off the scoresheet. Steeves also got into three games at the top level last season but has spent the bulk of the campaign with the Marlies where he has 17 goals and 28 assists in 54 games, good for second on the team in scoring.
Simmonds, meanwhile, was sent down last month following the Ryan O’Reilly trade but hasn’t seen any action in the minors this season. The 34-year-old has suited up in 13 games for the Maple Leafs this season, recording just a single assist while averaging a career-low 7:25 per night. He’s in the final season of a two-year contract in what could be the swan song of a 15-year NHL career.
Prior to the recalls, Toronto had just 11 forwards on their roster. That permitted one of the moves to be an emergency recall while the other is likely hedging their bets in case center John Tavares isn’t able to return on Saturday against Edmonton although the captain was a full participant in practice today.
Snapshots: Nylander, Bear, Gogolev, Wanner
Alex Nylander’s stint in the minors was short-lived as the Penguins announced that they’ve recalled the winger from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis. The 25-year-old had an assist in his debut with Pittsburgh on Tuesday but was sent back to the minors soon after. In order to qualify to use an emergency recall, the Penguins appear to have a forward that won’t be available to play on Saturday against Philadelphia but with no practice today, it’s not known which player could be missing. Nylander has spent the bulk of the year in the minors, notching 25 goals and 25 assists in 54 games.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While the Canucks have had extension talks with defenseman Ethan Bear, his agent Jason Davidson indicated in an appearance on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali (audio link) that there haven’t been any recent discussions since the All-Star break. The 25-year-old has rebounded relatively well this season, picking up 14 points in 46 games while averaging 18:16 per game since being acquired from Carolina in late October. Bear is two years away from UFA eligibility and it’s worth noting that Davidson indicated that the contract will either be a one-year or a three-year agreement to avoid walking him right to the open market.
- It didn’t take long for winger Pavel Gogolev to find his new team. In fact, he’s going back to his old team as ECHL Newfoundland announced that the 23-year-old has signed an AHL contract with Toronto and then was loaned back to the Growlers. Gogolev has 48 points in 33 games with Newfoundland this season and was included for contract-matching purposes in the trade that saw the Maple Leafs pick up Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty late last month. He cleared unconditional waivers earlier this week to terminate his contract.
- Last month, the WHL suspended four Moose Jaw players indefinitely pending further investigation, including Oilers prospect Maximus Wanner. Today, the league announced that all four players have been suspended for the remainder of the season. As part of their release, the league indicated that the players will be required to complete further personal conduct and respect training before becoming eligible to return next season. No specifics for what resulted in this were revealed but Edmonton police confirmed that it is not a criminal matter.
Central Notes: Stalock, Johnson, Dubois
The Blackhawks were without goaltender Alex Stalock tonight against the Panthers as the team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran is out due to illness. The 35-year-old has been a bright spot for Chicago this season, posting an impressive .920 SV% in 17 games, a mark that would put him in a tie for fourth in the league if he had enough qualifying appearances. With the decision being announced so late, the Blackhawks didn’t have time to recall someone from AHL Rockford so instead, they’ve signed Zach Andrews, Florida’s emergency goaltender, to an ATO agreement. The 31-year-old had a 45-12-4 record in four seasons with UMass-Boston from 2012 through 2016 with a .906 SV% and a 2.66 GAA.
More from the Central:
- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now that defenseman Erik Johnson appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken ankle. The veteran has been out for a month with an expected recovery timeline of eight weeks. He’s already skating so it’s quite possible that he’s able to return before another four weeks elapse. Johnson has seven assists in 51 games this season and is not currently on LTIR so Colorado won’t have to make any roster moves to activate him when he’s ready to come back.
- While the Jets were without Pierre-Luc Dubois last night against Minnesota with an upper-body injury, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be out much longer. Postmedia’s Paul Friesen relays that Winnipeg expects the center to be back at some point on their road trip. That trip begins Saturday in Florida and ends Tuesday in Carolina so it’s safe to say that Dubois should be back soon. The 24-year-old has 24 goals and 31 assists in 61 games so far this season.
West Notes: Dunn, Borgen, Blues, Brodin
The Kraken started contract extension talks with pending RFA defensemen Will Borgen and Vince Dunn but agreed to push those until after the season, notes Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times. Borgen is in his first season as a regular and has 16 points in 62 games while logging over 16 minutes a night. Arbitration eligible, the 26-year-old should be able to more than double his $945K qualifying offer this summer.
As for Dunn, he leads all Kraken rearguards in scoring this season with 11 goals and 36 assists in 62 games; his 47 points put him tenth in the league for points by a blueliner. He’s also arbitration-eligible this summer with one year of team control remaining. Dunn is well-positioned to land quite a bit more than the $4MM he has made in each of the last two seasons while a long-term agreement will likely be coming his way as well.
Elsewhere in the West:
- Considering the Blues were selling, it may have come as some surprise that they picked up wingers Kasperi Kapanen and Jakub Vrana before the trade deadline. However, GM Doug Armstrong told reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link) that his preference would be to not get involved in the free agent market this summer and would rather have players on shorter-term deals that they can decide on later. Both Kapanen and Vrana have one year left on their contracts after this one so St. Louis has elected to go with them over handing out multi-year agreements to other players on the open market in July.
- The Wild will have to wait a little longer to get Jonas Brodin back. While the original hope was that the blueliner would accompany the team on the road with the possibility of returning on the trip, Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press notes that he now isn’t expected to even skate until after their road trip which wraps up today. The 29-year-old has been out for a week and a half with a lower-body injury and is once again logging big minutes for Minnesota, averaging nearly 23 minutes a night in 49 games this season.
Injury News: Monahan, Cernak, Carrier, Bjorkstrand
One veteran that wasn’t on the move yesterday was Canadiens center Sean Monahan. Speaking at his post-deadline press conference (video link), GM Kent Hughes indicated that the 28-year-old suffered another injury while rehabbing his foot injury, one that has no timeline for a return. However, it’s possible that he’s able to return this season. Monahan has been out since early December and was off to a nice start with Montreal with 17 points in his first 25 games. Unfortunately for him, this extended absence coupled with hip injuries the past two seasons certainly won’t help his cause as he gets set to hit the open market for the first time this summer.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- The Lightning announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Erik Cernak is listed as out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 25-year-old left Thursday’s game early but he did take the warmup prior to today’s contest against Buffalo so it would appear that he won’t be out too long. Cernak has a goal and ten assists in 53 games so far this season while logging over 19 minutes a night on their back end.
- Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier will miss the next four-to-six weeks due to an upper-body injury, notes Alex Daugherty of AtoZ Sports Nashville (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has dealt with multiple upper-body injuries this season with this most recent one being sustained on Thursday against Florida. A pending restricted free agent, Carrier has just nine points in 43 games this season after putting up 30 in 77 contests in 2021-22.
- Kraken winger Oliver Bjorkstrand’s return to Columbus last night was shortened as Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times relays that the veteran suffered a lower-body injury in the third period and did not return. No update was available following the game. Bjorkstrand got off to a slow start this season but has been better since the calendar turned to 2023, collecting 17 points in 28 games since the beginning of January.