Canadiens’ Cedric Paquette Clears Waivers
March 13: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Paquette cleared waivers today. After going unclaimed, Montreal can now assign him to the Laval Rocket.
March 12: It has been a tough season for Canadiens center Cedric Paquette. He has struggled to stay healthy and when he has been in the lineup, things haven’t gone much better. As a result, Montreal has placed Paquette on waivers, as first reported by TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link).
The 28-year-old signed with Montreal in the summer, inking a one-year, $950K deal with an eye on him playing a regular role on the fourth line and penalty kill. However, he has wound up playing in just 24 games this season, recording two assists while logging less than nine minutes a night in ice time. That production is largely in line with last season when he managed just eight points in 48 games between Ottawa and Carolina where he was in and out of the lineup.
Paquette is a veteran of over 400 NHL regular season games and has 95 career playoff contests under his belt so there’s a small chance a team might want him for depth for the postseason. More likely is that he’ll go unclaimed on Sunday and be sent to AHL Laval where his entire cap hit would come off Montreal’s books.
Gabriel Landeskog To Undergo Surgery, Samuel Girard To Miss A Month
While the Avalanche had some good news today when they extended Pavel Francouz, they also got some bad news as they will be without two key players for the next little while. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Gabriel Landeskog is set to undergo knee surgery on Monday. There is no firm timetable for his return but Colorado hopes to have him back for the stretch run which would take any thought of putting him on LTIR for the rest of the regular season to open up cap space off the table.
This isn’t a newly-suffered injury for Landeskog as he played in nearly 19 minutes on Thursday against Carolina before receiving a misconduct penalty in the dying seconds of regulation. Instead, head coach Jared Bednar indicated that this is an issue that has been nagging him for a little bit and they’ve decided to get it fixed before the playoffs. The knee problem hasn’t really held Landeskog back, however, as he has 30 goals and 29 assists in 51 games this season, good for fifth in team scoring.
Meanwhile, Peter Baugh of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that blueliner Samuel Girard will miss the next four weeks with a lower-body injury. While that makes him LTIR-eligible as well, that’s a recovery timeline that would easily have him back by the end of the season so Colorado, who doesn’t have a lot of cap space to work with at the upcoming trade deadline, won’t get much help on that front either.
Girard’s numbers are down slightly this season although he has still managed to pick up 27 points in 56 games while logging nearly 22 minutes a night. Kurtis MacDermid took Girard’s place in the lineup on Thursday and with the Avs having seven other blueliners on the active roster, they shouldn’t need to recall anyone from AHL Colorado to take his place on the roster. Such a move will likely need to be made for Landeskog, however, unless they decide to shift MacDermid to the wing and put Jack Johnson back in on defense. Either way, lineup changes are coming in advance of their game tomorrow against Calgary.
Meanwhile, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post relays that blueliner Bowen Byram participated in his first full practice today in more than two months. He has been dealing with post-concussion symptoms so the Avs will undoubtedly be cautious when it comes to working the 20-year-old back into the lineup but if he’s able to return soon, he’d certainly help absorb the blow of Girard’s absence.
Avalanche Sign Pavel Francouz To A Two-Year Extension
Colorado entered the season with both of their goaltenders slated to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer. That’s no longer the case as the team announced that Pavel Francouz has signed a two-year extension. Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries a $2MM AAV. GM Joe Sakic released the following statement on the signing:
Pavel is an important component to our goaltending tandem and someone we have full trust in to be a key piece of our team going forward. He has showed tremendous perseverance and dedication in overcoming the challenges and injuries he has faced.
Speaking of those challenges and injuries, the 31-year-old missed all of last season after undergoing double hip surgery and then missed the first 24 games of this season with an ankle injury. However, since returning, Francouz has done quite well, posting a 2.46 GAA along with a .921 SV% in 14 appearances (11 starts).
Francouz still has a limited track record in North America having only signed with Colorado in 2018; he has just 50 career NHL regular season contests under his belt including those appearances this season. That, coupled with his injury history, didn’t give him a lot of leverage when it came to his next contract which almost certainly played a role in him deciding to re-sign with the Avalanche for the same price tag as his current deal, a two-year, $4MM pact that was set to expire in July. His career numbers are close to his 2021-22 ones with a .923 SV% and a 2.42 GAA and if he’s able to maintain that and stay healthy, this has the potential to be quite a bargain for Colorado.
The deal allows Colorado to now shift their focus to starter Darcy Kuemper. Sakic paid a high price tag to acquire him from the Coyotes after Philipp Grubauer left for Seattle in free agency. His cap hit this season is $4.5MM (split between Colorado and Arizona) and it will cost more than that either to keep the 31-year-old or replace him with a new starter this summer. At least Sakic can now go into those discussions knowing that at least part of Colorado’s goaltending tandem will be intact for next season with Francouz’s deal now finalized.
Senators Give Victor Mete Permission To Seek A Trade
Senators defenseman Victor Mete has been a healthy scratch somewhat routinely as of late and as a result, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the team has given his agent Darren Ferris permission to speak to teams in an effort to facilitate a trade.
The 23-year-old was claimed off waivers from Montreal near the trade deadline last season and played a largely regular role for them down the stretch. That paved the way for the Sens to avoid arbitration with Mete as they agreed to a one-year, $1.2MM contract back in August.
However, things haven’t gone as well this year. Outside of a four-game stint in COVID protocol, Mete has been healthy all season but has played in just 31 of 57 games in 2021-22. When he has been in the lineup, he has basically been entrenched as a sixth defenseman and accordingly, his 14:56 ATOI is a career low. With a $1.2MM qualifying offer owed with salary arbitration eligibility again this summer, Mete currently stands as a possible non-tender candidate.
Despite his struggles, Dreger reports that there is some interest in Mete’s services, likely in the form of a draft pick coming the other way. If Ottawa was willing to retain half of his contract, that would lower the AAV for an acquiring team to just $600K or less than the league minimum. For cap-strapped teams wanting to add some low-cost depth, such a move would certainly make sense if Ferris is able to help facilitate a move between now and the March 21st trade deadline.
Atlantic Notes: Toronto’s Goaltending, Batherson, Pinto, Allen, Grzelcyk
To say Toronto’s goaltending has struggled as of late would be an understatement. Now, Jack Campbell is on injured reserve and Petr Mrazek didn’t exactly fare any better in his first game as the short-term starter. However, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun cautions that the Maple Leafs making a trade for a goalie wouldn’t necessarily be worth doing. Most of the goaltenders that are believed to be available aren’t sure-fire upgrades over Campbell and Mrazek and it’s quite possible that Campbell would still be the starter for the playoffs. Considering that Toronto has limited cap space to work with (since Jake Muzzin is expected to return before the season ends), would that be better off being used on a player who will play in every game over one that would more or less be a short-term goalie stopgap that isn’t necessarily an improvement over their current options?
More from the Atlantic:
- Although Senators winger Drake Batherson has returned to practice, he won’t play in Ottawa’s current five-game homestand, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 23-year-old has averaged over a point per game this season with 34 points in 31 games but hasn’t played since late January when he suffered a high ankle sprain. Meanwhile, Ottawa expects to find out in the next couple of weeks if center Shane Pinto will be able to return at some point this season. The rookie was expected to be a big part of their lineup this season but a shoulder injury has limited him to just five games so far.
- While Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen has resumed skating, he won’t suit up in either of Montreal’s games this weekend, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 31-year-old is having a tough year like many are in Montreal and has a .901 SV% in 24 starts this season but has come up as a speculative trade candidate if he’s able to show that he has fully recovered from the lower-body injury that has kept him out for the last two months and get into game action before the March 21st trade deadline.
- The Bruins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Matt Grzelcyk will return tonight against Arizona after missing the last two games – one due to an upper-body injury and the other to illness. The 28-year-old sits second in scoring among Boston defenders with 19 points in 51 games. Jack Ahcan, who scored his first career NHL goal while taking Grzelcyk’s place in the lineup, will be a healthy scratch.
AHL Shuffle: 03/12/22
It’s another busy Saturday in the NHL with 20 teams set to play so there should be plenty of roster movement throughout the day. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
Atlantic Division
- The Red Wings announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Luke Witkowski from Grand Rapids of the AHL. The 31-year-old has seven points and 62 penalty minutes in 43 games with the Griffins. He has been used on the wing in his last few NHL stints and with Robby Fabbri (injury) and Tyler Bertuzzi (unable to cross the border) unavailable for the next three games, it’s likely that Witkowski will have to play up front if he’s going to see his first NHL action since 2019-20.
Metropolitan Division
- The Hurricanes have sent goaltender Alex Lyon to Chicago of the AHL, per a team release. The 29-year-old has been shuffled back and forth in recent days with Frederik Andersen dealing with an undisclosed injury, one that it appears he’s ready to return from. Lyon has played in two games with Carolina this season but has spent most of the campaign with the Wolves, posting a league-leading 2.14 GAA in 23 games.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they have recalled forward Radim Zohorna from the AHL’s Scranton-Wilkes Barre Penguins, and have assigned forward Valtteri Puustinen to Scranton. This will not be Zohorna’s first trip to the NHL this season, as he already has two points in eight games, last playing for Pittsburgh back on February 10th. Despite being sent down, Pusstinen is an intriguing name for Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old, who was taken in the 7th round by Pittsburgh in 2019, made his NHL debut Friday night, tallying an assist, and has 34 points over 53 games with Scranton this season.
Central Division
- The Wild announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman Calen Addison back to Iowa of the AHL. The 21-year-old was brought up three weeks ago and got into six games with Minnesota in that stretch, averaging just under 14 minutes. However, with eight blueliners on the active roster, they’ve decided that playing top minutes in the minors makes more sense for Addison at this time.
- The Stars announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned winger Riley Tufte to Texas of the AHL while recalling goaltender Adam Scheel. Tufte has been seeing regular action on the fourth line as of late but with Braden Holtby dealing with a lower-body injury, they needed to clear a roster spot and enough cap space to bring Scheel up to serve as Jake Oettinger‘s backup tonight. Tufte makes more than their other waiver-exempt forwards so he had to be the one to go down.
Pacific Division
- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Christian Wolanin from AHL Ontario. The 26-year-old started off the season in the NHL but has spent most of the year with the Reign where he has 11 assists in 24 games. To make room for Wolanin on the roster, the team placed winger Andreas Athanasiou on IR retroactive to March 10th.
- The Golden Knights have sent blueliner Daniil Miromanov back to Henderson of the AHL per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 24-year-old was recalled on Monday as injury insurance but hasn’t played since then. Miromanov has played in seven games with Vegas this season plus 41 with the Silver Knights where he has six goals and 24 assists.
- The Sharks have returned goaltender Alex Stalock to San Jose of the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log. The veteran was acquired from Edmonton to serve as goalie depth with both Adin Hill and James Reimer injured. Hill is set to return tonight so Stalock will head to the Barracuda. The 34-year-old was expected to miss the entire season due to a heart condition but returned to action last month.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Snapshots: Sharks Goalies, Coyotes, Langhamer, Lindberg
The Sharks are set to get some much-needed good news on the injury front when it comes to their goaltending as Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relays that Adin Hill is likely to start tomorrow against Los Angeles. He has missed the last seven weeks with a lower-body injury and had posted a 2.78 GAA along with a .901 SV% in 24 games.
Meanwhile, James Reimer has resumed on-ice workouts and could be cleared to return at some point next week from his own lower-body injury sustained at the beginning of the month. Since then, the Sharks have gone with veteran Alex Stalock and prospect Zachary Sawchenko who picked up his first career NHL victory on Thursday.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong told NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika that he anticipates the team making one or two small deals by the trade deadline. Arizona has made it known that they’re willing to utilize their cap space to yield other assets as they’ve done several times already over the past year but they’re trying to space out their draft picks. To that end, Armstrong indicated that they’ve nearly accumulated enough picks for 2024 and will soon be starting to work on adding more selections for the 2025 draft.
- Still with Arizona, Coyotes goaltender Marek Langhamer has signed a one-year extension with Ilves, the Finnish team announced. The Coyotes still hold the rights to the 27-year-old when they tendered him a qualifying offer that went unaccepted in 2018. Those rights will expire in July and with this deal, it’s clear that Arizona will be losing him in a few months.
- Penguins prospect goaltender Filip Lindberg is out for the rest of the season, notes Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 23-year-old was drafted by Minnesota but signed with Pittsburgh after three stellar seasons at UMass (Amherst). However, he suffered an ankle injury in November in just his seventh professional game and it appears it’s significant enough that he won’t return for the stretch run.
Kings AHL Head Coach John Wroblewski Resigns
Back in December, John Wroblewski took a leave of absence for personal reasons as head coach of the AHL’s Ontario Reign, the top affiliate of the Kings. Today, the team announced that Wroblewski’s absence would be a permanent one as it was mutually determined that he would not return. Wroblewski released the following statement:
Thank you to the Ontario Reign and everyone with the LA Kings organization for all of their support during my leave of absence. After discussions with the team, we have come to an amicable agreement that will allow me to go in a different direction. I’m looking forward to returning to coaching at the appropriate time.
The 40-year-old joined the Kings organization in 2020 after leading the U.S. National Team Development Program for four seasons where he worked with many top prospects, several of which have already moved into top roles in the NHL. Wroblewski has been coaching since 2007-08 and has clearly indicated a willingness to return behind the bench down the road.
In the meantime, Reign assistant coaches Chris Hajt and Craig Johnson had been running the team and that will continue, per the team’s release. A search for a full-time head coach will likely need to wait until the offseason now.
Blackhawks Notes: Fleury, Kubalik, Carpenter
While Marc-Andre Fleury hasn’t decided on whether or not he’ll agree to be traded before the March 21st trade deadline, it appears he has made a decision in terms of his preference for free agency in the summer. In particular, as Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times relays, the 37-year-old wants to avoid hitting the market altogether with his preference next season being either to sign with Chicago or re-sign with whoever winds up acquiring him. It’s worth noting that a condition can’t be placed on a draft pick regarding whether the player signs an extension or not – it used to be allowed but it was taken out in the last CBA. Accordingly, if Fleury winds up being amenable to a move, it wouldn’t be surprising if the acquiring team winds up with a window to speak with him about an extension before the trade is made official.
More from Chicago:
- Pope reports in the same column that the Ducks have been interested in winger Dominik Kubalik and that the 26-year-old is no longer viewed by the organization as part of their future. Kubalik is owed a $4MM qualifying offer and with 11 goals and 10 assists in 59 games this season, it would be hard to justify tendering that offer although there’s nothing stopping GM Kyle Davidson from approaching him about signing a cheaper deal to stay in Chicago; it stands to reason that Anaheim would be interested in signing him for less as well. Pope also lists the Oilers as a team that has been linked to him although making the cap work would be a lot more challenging for them than it would for Anaheim.
- The Predators are among the teams to inquire about center Ryan Carpenter, Pope reports. The 31-year-old has just three goals and seven assists this season but is averaging just over two hits per game while winning more than 52% of his faceoffs. For a team looking to add checking depth for the postseason, the pending unrestricted free agent would fit the bill and with a $1MM AAV, he’d be affordable for most teams.
Lightning Place Boris Katchouk In COVID Protocol
March 10: Katchouk has been loaned to the AHL on a conditioning assignment, suggesting he’s now out of the protocol and can play some games at the minor league level to get back up to speed.
March 6: While there has been a significant reduction of players entering COVID protocol since the All-Star break, there are a handful of players that have been put in there in recent weeks. The latest is Lightning winger Boris Katchouk as Joe Smith of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the youngster has entered COVID protocol.
The 23-year-old made his NHL debut in mid-October and has been able to hold onto a spot on the roster all season. Katchouk has played in 37 games this season, picking up two goals and four assists along with 25 penalty minutes while averaging 9:48 per game.
Since the All-Star break, testing is generally only required if a player is symptomatic. However, it’s also needed to cross into Canada (where the Lightning are heading on Monday) so the whole Tampa Bay team was tested with Katchouk being the only one to test positive. As a result, he’ll be out for at least the next five games – tonight’s contest against Chicago plus the four-game trip in Western Canada. Katchouk should be able to return on March 16th.
Tampa Bay is able to take Katchouk off their active roster but it’s unlikely they’ll do so as they don’t have enough cap space to bring anyone up from AHL Syracuse. Instead, they’ll have to make do with only one extra skater on their road trip.