East Notes: Panthers, Anisimov, Benn
While the Panthers were without center Anton Lundell and goaltender Spencer Knight today, both players might be available for tomorrow’s contest against Seattle, relays Florida Hockey Now’s Colby Guy (Twitter links). Lundell is dealing with a mild upper-body injury but is skating and his absence is supposed to be a short-term one. He’s off to a quieter start to his sophomore campaign but still has 13 points in 24 games. As for Knight, he’s working his way back from an illness and while he won’t dress as the backup goalie this afternoon, head coach Paul Maurice indicated that there’s a chance that he’ll be able to start on Sunday. The youngster has been much better than Sergei Bobrovsky in the early going this season with a GAA nearly a full goal below the veteran.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- The Flyers have converted veteran center Artem Anisimov’s AHL PTO to a full-season contract, notes Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey (Twitter link). The 34-year-old has played six games since joining them in mid-November and has been productive with three goals and an assist in that stretch. At the beginning of the month, it was reported that Philadelphia was hoping to convert Anisimov’s deal into an NHL one which would allow them to recall him but they remain at the maximum 50 contracts on the books. Until they’re able to free one up, Anisimov will have to settle for this full-season AHL agreement.
- Maple Leafs defenseman Jordie Benn took part in the morning skate today for the first time as he works his way back from an upper-body injury, reports Sports Illustrated’s David Alter (Twitter link). The veteran has been out for a little more than two weeks due to the issue, his second extended absence of the season after missing the first 13 games due to a groin injury. Benn has a goal and an assist in six games so far while logging a little over 17 minutes a night on Toronto’s back end.
Minor Transactions: 12/10/22
There have been a few international transactions today with some sort of present or former NHL connection. We’ll run through those here plus an early minor move at the NHL level.
- Veteran winger Pontus Aberg has joined the SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in Switzerland, per a team announcement. The 29-year-old had been playing in the Czech Extraliga until now as he notched 13 points in 26 games. Aberg has 132 career NHL games under his belt over parts of four seasons and has been quite productive at the AHL level with 199 points in 277 games. He last was under contract with Ottawa last season before having his deal terminated to go play in Sweden.
- It didn’t take long for Victor Berglund to find his next team. After clearing unconditional waivers yesterday, the Bruins terminated his contract and he has caught on with HIFK in Finland who announced they’ve signed the defenseman for the rest of the season. The 23-year-old had played in just five games with AHL Providence this year and it was looking likely that he wouldn’t be tendered a qualifying offer this summer.
- After splitting time this season between two different teams in Finland’s SM-liiga, Maple Leafs prospect Kalle Loponen will be dropping down a level as Kettera of the Mestis announced they will the defender on a long-term loan during the Christmas break. Loponen spent seven games with them last season after having a limited role in the top division. Toronto has until June 1st to sign the 2019 seventh-rounder who has two assists in 18 games so far this season.
- Following their game last night, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve sent forward Cal Burke back to AHL Colorado. Burke played just under seven minutes last night in his second career NHL appearance. The Avs are off until tomorrow and at that point, it’s possible that Burke will be recalled.
Jeff Skinner Suspended For Three Games
With Buffalo and Pittsburgh playing the back end of a back-to-back set tonight, the Department of Player Safety had to make a quick decision on what supplemental discipline Sabres winger Jeff Skinner would receive. That decision has now been made as the league announced (Twitter link) that the veteran has been suspended for three games.
The incident occurred late in Friday’s contest. Skinner took exception to Jake Guentzel making contact with Craig Anderson after the netminder froze the puck, delivering two cross-checks. The first hit the shoulder with the second getting Guentzel’s face; that’s the one that draws the suspension; in the video, it was noted that Skinner “aggressively and purposefully struck Guentzel… with sufficient force to merit supplemental discipline”. He received a major and a match penalty on the play for cross-checking.
Skinner will miss tonight’s rematch against the Penguins as well as Tuesday’s game against Los Angeles and Thursday’s contest in Colorado. He’ll be eligible to return on Saturday in Arizona. It’s the second suspension of his career with the first incident occurring more than a decade ago and didn’t play a factor in this three-game ban. He forfeits nearly $146K in salary which goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Golden Knights Sign Jakub Brabenec To Entry-Level Deal
The Golden Knights have agreed to terms with one of their prospects, announcing the signing of forward Jakub Brabenec to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick by Vegas in 2021 (104th overall) after he was able to hold down a somewhat regular role in the Czech Extraliga which is something that typically isn’t the case for draft-eligible players. Brabenec was selected in the first round of the CHL Import Draft back in 2020 and the Golden Knights indicated that their preference was for him to play at the major junior level and that is where he has been since then.
Last season, Brabenec was the QMJHL’s Rookie of the Year after leading all first-year players in assists (47) and points (64). He’s on pace for very similar numbers this season as he leads the Charlottetown Islanders with eight goals and 17 assists in 27 games, a pace of 42 assists and 62 points over a full season. Vegas had until June 1st to sign Brabenec but clearly felt they didn’t need to wait that long to make a decision.
Officially, the contract begins this season but since Brabenec is already back in junior, he’s not going to be seeing any NHL action in 2022-23. Accordingly, his deal will be eligible to slide this season and still have three years remaining on it in 2023-24.
Canadiens Notes: Hoffman, Matheson, Gallagher, Monahan
The Canadiens got both some good news and bad news on the injury front today. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Mike Hoffman will be activated off injured reserve and suit up tonight against Los Angeles. The veteran has five goals and three assists through his first 16 games of the season and will at least give Montreal 12 healthy forwards to use after finishing up their road trip with only 11 healthy ones.
Meanwhile, defenseman Mike Matheson will be unavailable tonight due to an undisclosed injury. He left practice early on Friday and while he took part in the morning skate, he obviously isn’t healthy enough to play. The 28-year-old has six points in his first nine games with Montreal while logging a team-high 24:25 per night on the back end.
More from Montreal:
- To make roster room for Hoffman’s activation, the Canadiens moved winger Brendan Gallagher to injured reserve. The veteran has missed the last four games due to a lower-body injury and is expected to miss at least a few more days before being cleared to return. Montreal was eligible to back-date the placement and if they did so, Gallagher could be activated at any time.
- Center Sean Monahan is still sporting a walking boot, notes Marc-Antoine Godin of The Athletic (Twitter link). He was able to play through his foot injury for a few games but left Monday’s game early and hasn’t skated since then. There’s no timetable for his return. Monahan figures to be one of the more prominent middlemen available at the trade deadline after putting up 17 points in his first 25 games so it’s likely that Montreal will play things safe with the injury and not rush him back.
Nick Robertson To Miss At Least Six Weeks
It has been somewhat of a frustrating year so far for Maple Leafs winger Nick Robertson. Unfortunately for him, the news continues to be bad for him as Sports Illustrated’s David Alter relays that he will miss six to eight weeks due to the shoulder injury that he sustained on Thursday against Los Angeles. However, he won’t need surgery this time around and will simply rehab the injury this time.
This is the third straight season that he has sustained a significant injury. Two years ago, a knee issue limited him to just 27 games between the NHL and AHL and last season, a non-displaced fracture of his right fibula resulted in him suiting up just 38 times. This setback will cost him upwards of 20 contests as well, more if he winds up being out longer than this projected timeline.
Robertson had a very strong showing in the preseason that saw him pick up eight points in five games but he didn’t break camp with the big club. Early injuries that opted up Toronto’s ability to use LTIR landed the 21-year-old on the NHL roster soon after but he has been a frequent healthy scratch and hasn’t seen a lot of action when he has been in the lineup as he’s averaging less than 11 minutes a night over his first 15 appearances even though he has five points in those outings.
Robertson is still waiver-exempt through next season and it stands to reason that he’ll be back with AHL Toronto when he’s cleared to return in order to give him a few games to get back into playing condition. From there, the battle to lock down a regular spot in the lineup for the Maple Leafs will continue at a time when it will be just a few weeks away from the trade deadline in early March.
Jeff Skinner To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
Late in Friday’s game, Sabres winger Jeff Skinner retaliated to a late jab from Jake Guentzel on Craig Anderson as the veteran goalie was freezing the puck. However, the method in which Skinner opted to retaliate was a costly one as he received a match penalty for cross-checking, one that resulted in the Department of Player Safety quickly announcing that he’ll have a disciplinary hearing with them today.
The incident occurred with just 22 seconds left in regulation. Buffalo killed off enough of the five-minute penalty to force overtime but Jeff Carter scored 1:36 into the extra session.
Skinner has been suspended once before although it was quite a while ago as he received a two-game back for a kicking incident late in the 2011-12 season. With the Sabres in action again tonight for a rematch against Pittsburgh, the league will have to rule quickly on what type of supplemental discipline Skinner will receive.
Snapshots: Salary Cap, Senators, Hall Of Fame
There will be a meeting of the Board of Governors next week at which time there will be another update about the projected salary cap for next season. The most recent estimates were that if the escrow debt was repaid, the Upper Limit could jump to $86MM, an increase of $3.5MM from where it is now. Meanwhile, if the debt wasn’t repaid, the increase would once again be limited to $1MM.
However, there could be a third option. As Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger detailed in TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment, the NHLPA is polling its membership about their possible interest in smoothing out the cap increases over the next couple of years without affecting escrow. That would likely result in a greater jump than $1MM next season which would allow for a bit more flexibility with so many teams capped out. On the flip side, the anticipated jump once the escrow debt is paid off wouldn’t be as dramatic. At this point, this is strictly a hypothetical scenario and it has not been discussed with the league just yet.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While it’s still unknown who the next owner of the Senators will be, expect actor Ryan Reynolds to be a part of the ownership group. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the league is making it clear to all prospective owners that they want Reynolds to be a minority partner in the purchase for whoever winds up buying the team. Reynolds was initially planning to align with one bid but has been instructed by the league to hold off on doing so.
- The IIHF has announced its 2023 Hall of Fame honorees, a list that includes three former NHL players in winger Henrik Zetterberg, defenseman Brian Leetch, and goaltender Cristobal Huet. Zetterberg, the long-time Red Wing, is the 21st member of the IIHF ‘Triple Gold’ club while Leetch suited up in 76 games internationally, including three appearances at the Olympics. As for Huet, he played in 13 World Championships for France along with two Olympics. Jimmy Foster and Caroline Ouellette were the others that will be entering the Hall in the player category.
Valeri Nichushkin Activated Off IR
It has been a rough season when it comes to injuries for the Avalanche to the point where they have been without five of their top six forwards recently. However, they will welcome a key part of their attack back tonight as winger Valeri Nichushkin has been activated off injured reserve. He had missed the last month after undergoing ankle surgery.
The 27-year-old had a breakout year for Colorado last season, setting new career highs across the board offensively and becoming a legitimate impact power forward. The Avs rewarded him with a max-term extension to make sure he didn’t hit the open market as he inked an eight-year, $49MM pact two days before free agency opened up.
With Nichushkin only having that one breakout year, the move appeared to carry some risk but he got off to a blistering start this season before the injury as he had seven goals and five assists in his first seven contests while playing on the top line in Gabriel Landeskog’s absence. With Colorado still dealing with a long list of injuries, he’ll almost certainly be in a similar role right away.
Speaking of that injury list, the Avs are still without defensemen Josh Manson, Bowen Byram, and Kurtis MacDermid while Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Artturi Lehkonen highlight the list of six forwards that are still injured. Of those, Lehkonen is the closest to returning as he’s listed as day-to-day.
East Notes: Kase, Joseph, Clutterbuck
After suffering a concussion in Carolina’s season opener, winger Ondrej Kase has resumed skating, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). While there remains no firm timetable for his return, the fact he has resumed on-ice activities is certainly an important step. That said, with his lengthy concussion history, expect the Hurricanes to proceed very carefully with the 27-year-old. Kase signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal in the offseason to provide Carolina with some secondary scoring, an area in which they’ve had some issues in the early going this season.
More from the East:
- Senators winger Mathieu Joseph’s lower-body injury in last night’s game will keep him out of the lineup for the next two weeks, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). It has been a tough first full year with the Sens for the 25-year-old; after recording 12 points in 11 games down the stretch last season following his trade from Tampa Bay, Joseph has been limited to just two goals and seven assists in 25 contests despite averaging a career high in ice time. With the holiday break coming a couple of weeks from now, it’s possible that they’ll hold Joseph out until after that pause in the schedule.
- The Islanders welcomed back winger Cal Clutterbuck to their lineup in tonight’s game against New Jersey. The veteran had missed the last three games with an upper-body injury sustained a week and a half ago against Philadelphia. Clutterbuck has just three points in 22 games but is second on the team in hits, averaging just under four per contest. New York didn’t bother placing Clutterbuck on IR when he was injured so they didn’t have to make a corresponding roster move for him to return. He was injured midway through the first period but did return for the second.