Barry Trotz Unlikely To Coach In The NHL This Season
Earlier this season, Barry Trotz left the door open to returning behind an NHL bench this season but it appears that he has closed his mind to that idea. Speaking with Daren Millard on The Chirp podcast (audio link), the veteran bench boss acknowledged that he has had calls from teams but that he just isn’t ready to get back to coaching just yet:
I don’t know yet. I’m deciding. There’s a couple of teams that reached out, and I said I’m not there yet. I’m probably going to take the rest of the year off and see where I am. It’s still a part of me, but I’m going to continue to stay true to myself and my family right now.
Back in October, Trotz had suggested that an opportunity with an Original Six franchise might give him the spark he was looking for. However, at this point, it’s unlikely that an opportunity with one of those teams is going to materialize in the coming months which takes that option off the table.
This is the first time that Trotz has had any sort of family time during the season as he had previously spent the last 23 seasons behind the bench between the Predators, Capitals, and Islanders. The 60-year-old was offered the job in Winnipeg during the offseason but declined with the Jets then turning to Rick Bowness, a choice that has worked out quite well for them so far. Trotz has the third-most wins in NHL history with 912 and when he wants to come back, he’ll almost certainly have a chance to add to that number. But by choice, that chance isn’t likely to come this season.
Blue Jackets To Loan David Jiricek For World Juniors
The Blue Jackets have made a decision on Czechia’s request to loan defenseman David Jiricek for the upcoming World Juniors. As Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link), Columbus will let the 19-year-old participate in the event where he’ll play alongside two more team prospects in forward Martin Rysavy and defenseman Stanislav Svozil.
Jiricek was the sixth-overall pick by the Blue Jackets in the summer despite missing significant time due to an injury sustained in the original version of the World Juniors last December. This will be his third time participating in the event (not including the canceled edition).
His first season in North America has been a successful one to the point where it was possible that Columbus could have declined the Czechs’ request in order to allow him to continue his momentum with AHL Cleveland. Jiricek is on a nice run with the Monsters with an impressive 11 points in his last 10 games and is likely to have another NHL stint at some point in the second half of the season after getting into two games back in late October. It seems likely that Columbus will want to keep him below the 10-game threshold to not activate the first year of his contract.
The roster for the Czechs hasn’t been finalized yet – they have three cuts still to make – but as things stand, they’re likely to send 12 NHL-drafted prospects to the event with Jiricek being the headliner. On top of that, the team will likely also have draft-eligible winger Eduard Sale, who is expected to be a lottery selection in June. Accordingly, they could be an under-the-radar team to keep an eye on.
Coyotes Assign Jan Jenik To AHL
December 18: A day after recalling him, the Arizona Coyotes announced they have assigned Jenik to the AHL once again. During his brief recall, the forward made his season debut for the Coyotes, playing just under four minutes, while recording four penalty minutes in the process.
December 17: The Coyotes have brought up some extra forward depth as they have recalled forward Jan Jenik from Tucson of the AHL, per a team announcement. They had two open roster spots available so no corresponding move needed to be made.
The 22-year-old has seen NHL action in each of his first two professional seasons, suiting up in 15 games with the team where he had four goals and an assist while averaging just under 11 minutes per night. He will get a chance to make that three in three with this recall.
This season, Jenik has gotten off to a quiet start with the Roadrunners, collecting just three goals and nine assists in 22 games. Last season, he came up just shy of the point per game mark with 17 goals and 30 helpers in 51 contests.
Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports relays (Twitter link) that there are some game-time decisions for their contest tonight against Buffalo including Liam O’Brien so it appears that Jenik’s recall is a backup plan in case any of their 12 forwards are unable to suit up.
Golden Knights Notes: Pietrangelo, Pachal, Cotter
The Golden Knights will welcome Alex Pietrangelo back to the lineup tonight after missing the last three weeks due to an illness in the family. Jesse Granger of The Athletic provides (Twitter link) some details on the situation, noting that his three-year-old daughter caught the flu which eventually became a brain lesion, leading to a loss in motor function. Fortunately, her condition has improved considerably over the last couple of days, making the veteran comfortable enough to return to the lineup for Vegas. Pietrangelo has 21 points in 23 games this season while logging over 23 minutes a night on the back end as their top defender so his return will certainly be a welcome one, especially with Zach Whitecloud being placed on LTIR earlier this week.
More from Vegas:
- In a corresponding roster move, the team announced (Twitter link) that they re-assigned defenseman Brayden Pachal to Henderson of the AHL. The 23-year-old played in two games after being recalled on Monday when Jack Eichel was placed on injured reserve, picking up an assist while averaging a little under 16 minutes a night. Pachal has spent the bulk of the year with the Silver Knights, collecting two goals and five assists in 25 contests. He is in the final year of his entry-level contract.
- Forward Paul Cotter is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury that was sustained on Thursday against Chicago, Granger notes in a separate tweet. The 22-year-old has acquitted himself well in his first season of full-time NHL duty, picking up six points in 22 games thus far while playing inside their bottom six. Head coach Bruce Cassidy indicated that the good news for Cotter is that while he might miss a few days, the injury isn’t as bad as they initially feared.
Metropolitan Notes: Backstrom, Andersen, Robidas
Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom took another important step back towards returning as NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports (Twitter link) that the veteran was in a regular sweater at their morning skate today which means that he has been cleared for contact. Backstrom has yet to play this season after undergoing hip surgery back in June, one that had his availability to play in 2022-23 in question. However, the fact he’s participating in full in team skates suggests that the 35-year-old should be able to return in the somewhat near future. With the holiday break coming next week, it’s likely that Washington will wait to activate him until after that time but it appears that the Caps will have a key player back in the second half of the season.
The Capitals will need to create salary cap space to activate Backstrom once he’s ready but it’s worth noting that Tom Wilson, who has yet to play this year after undergoing knee surgery, is not currently on LTIR. Once Backstrom is ready to return, Washington will move Wilson to LTIR, freeing up a good chunk of the room needed to bring the center back while other roster tweaks will get them into cap compliance.
More from the Metropolitan:
- While Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen participated in practice yesterday, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters including Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal that the netminder won’t dress for either game this weekend. The veteran has been out for the last six weeks but with Pyotr Kochetkov thriving right now as their interim starter, the team can afford to be patient with Andersen. However, it’s a contract year for the 33-year-old though so he’s going to want to get back in the lineup sooner than later. He has a 2.72 GAA with a .891 SV% in eight starts so far this season.
- Still with the Hurricanes, prospect Justin Robidas is expected to be traded in the QMJHL from Val-d’Or to Quebec when the trade window opens up tomorrow, notes Carl Tardif of Le Soleil. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round pick back in 2021 (147th overall) in 2021 and is tied for 13th in league scoring with 14 goals and 26 assists in 26 games so far. Carolina has until June 1st of next year to sign him so these next few months with the Remparts will be crucial for Robidas.
Jets Issue Injury Updates On Blake Wheeler And Nate Schmidt
The Jets are off to a strong start to their season, entering tonight’s game in Vancouver with a 19-9-1 record despite missing several regulars due to injuries. That list has now grown as head coach Rick Bowness told reporters, including Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link) that winger Blake Wheeler will miss at least a month after undergoing groin surgery. Meanwhile, defenseman Nate Schmidt, who went on injured reserve yesterday, will be out for four to six weeks.
Wheeler had an interesting start to his season as the captaincy was taken away from him while getting off to a bit of a quiet start. However, the 36-year-old has been quite productive over the last four weeks, notching 16 points in his last 13 games, bringing him up to a tie for fourth in team scoring.
All of a sudden, the Jets find themselves without their top three right wingers. Nikolaj Ehlers has missed all of two games this season, Mason Appleton has been out since mid-November, and now Wheeler will be out for a little while. None of these injuries are season-ending so they can’t create any LTIR space for themselves and their cap space is starting to dwindle as a result of their injury-associated recalls so GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will be in tough to try to shore things up in the short-term.
As for Schmidt, he has cleared concussion protocol and is believed to be dealing with a shoulder issue. The 31-year-old has six points in 29 games so far this season while he’s averaging just shy of 20 minutes a night. He joins Logan Stanley as blueliners that are banged up while Ville Heinola has missed four straight games due to illness.
Snapshots: Korpisalo, Maatta, Hunt, Kazbekov
Heading into the season, it seemed likely that Joonas Korpisalo was entering his final season with the Blue Jackets. His re-signing allowed Daniil Tarasov to spend one more year in the minors before moving up to the NHL full-time in 2023-24. However, as Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch suggests, Korpisalo’s performance this season coupled with his contract could make him one of their top trade chips heading into the trade deadline. While his numbers aren’t great on their own (3.53 GAA, .903 SV%), they’re considerably better than Elvis Merzlikins’ by comparison (4.68, .864). That, coupled with a low-cost $1.3MM expiring deal, could give them a chance to get a better draft pick they were offered the last time that Korpisalo was on the block.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Prior to their game this afternoon against Ottawa, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they activated defenseman Olli Maatta off injured reserve. The 28-year-old is off to a nice start in his first year with Detroit, notching 10 points in 25 games heading into today’s action while logging nearly 20 minutes per game. That’s a pretty good early return on the one-year, $2.25MM that Detroit gave him early in free agency.
- A day after being papered down to the minors, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Brad Hunt from AHL Colorado. The 34-year-old inked a two-year deal with the Avs in the summer and has played in four games with the big club so far, collecting an assist while logging a little over 10 minutes per game. He has been quite productive with the Eagles though, notching six goals and 14 helpers in 22 games at the minor league level.
- There was some sad news in the OHL with the league jointly announcing with London that forward Abakar Kazbekov passed away today at the age of 18. Kazbekov was the first-overall pick from the 2021 OHL U18 Priority Selection and had played in 21 games in parts of two seasons with the team including in Friday’s game against Owen Sound.
Ryan Hartman Activated Off IR, Sammy Walker Sent To AHL
The Wild will get a key part of their attack back in their lineup tomorrow against Ottawa as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated forward Ryan Hartman off injured reserve. In a corresponding move, Sammy Walker has been sent back to AHL Iowa.
Hartman has missed the last seven weeks with a shoulder injury sustained in a fight in late October. The 28-year-old had a career year last season with 34 goals and 31 assists (for context, his previous career high in points was 31) and had a goal and four assists in nine contests before the injury. He’ll be a big boost to a Minnesota lineup that finds itself in the middle of the pack offensively but he won’t jump back onto the top line as instead, he’ll skate on the second trio with Frederick Gaudreau and Matt Boldy when they take on Ottawa on Sunday.
As for Walker, he received his first recall last Saturday and got into four games with Minnesota, getting held off the scoresheet while averaging a little over nine minutes per night. He was off to a strong start in Iowa before the recall as Walker had 11 goals and 11 assists in 21 games to start his first professional campaign.
Minnesota has ample roster space that they could have afforded to activate Hartman and keep Walker up with the big club. However, they’ve instead opted to continue to carry a roster that’s close to the minimum, allowing them to bank as much cap space as possible. That cap space will be a weapon by the trade deadline with so many teams currently using LTIR which should give GM Bill Guerin a boost as he looks to add to their roster in the second half of the season.
Blues Sign Marc-Andre Gaudet To Entry-Level Deal
Marc-Andre Gaudet is off to a nice start to his post-draft season and he was rewarded for his efforts today as the team announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a three-year, entry-level contract. PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries an $849K AAV and breaks down as follows:
2022-23: $750K NHL salary, $80K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
2023-24: $775K NHL salary, $82.5K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
2024-25: $775K NHL salary, $85K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
The 18-year-old was a fifth-round pick by St. Louis this offseason (152nd overall) following a strong sophomore year with Acadie-Bathurst of the QMJHL which saw him pick up 13 goals and 25 assists in 68 games. This season, he made one preseason appearance with the Blues (where he had an assist) and is off to a good start with his new team in Shawinigan as he has eight goals and 17 helpers in 30 games so far, good for seventh in the league for points by a blueliner.
Officially, the contract begins this season. However, he’ll remain in junior and thus won’t play in ten games in St. Louis. Accordingly, his deal will be able to slide a year and thus will still have three years left on it for the 2023-24 campaign. Gaudet will be eligible to play in the AHL next season.
Flyers Forward Lukas Sedlak Leaves The Team, Placed On Unconditional Waivers
11:50 AM: The Flyers have confirmed (Twitter link) that Sedlak will be placed on unconditional waivers for the purposes of terminating his contract. He’ll officially hit the waiver wire in a little over an hour. They also confirmed that Bellows has been recalled.
9:49 AM: Among the absentees at today’s Flyers practice was center Lukas Sedlak. His absence isn’t injury-related, however, as head coach John Tortorella told reporters, including Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia (Twitter link), that the 29-year-old has left the team and has returned home to his native Czechia. Tortorella wouldn’t elaborate further, indicating that they’ll let Sedlak explain why he left. Sedlak did so, telling Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) that he’s likely going to play with Pardubice of the Extraliga, citing a desire to be closer to family.
Sedlak signed a one-year, $800K contract with Colorado in free agency back in July and made their opening roster. However, after three games with the Avs, he was placed on waivers in mid-October and was claimed by Philadelphia. Since then, he had been a regular in the lineup, picking up three goals and five assists while averaging a little shy of 13 minutes per night, well above his career average.
Sedlak is set to become an unrestricted free agent again next summer and his comments suggest that likely he’ll be staying overseas for good. In the meantime, the Flyers have designated Sedlak as a non-roster player to free up an extra roster spot, one that will be used on winger Kieffer Bellows who has been recalled, per the AHL’s transactions log. If they decide to terminate his contract – Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli tweets that he should be on termination waivers soon – they’ll also free up a contract slot which is notable since they are currently the only team that’s at the maximum of 50.