Atlantic Notes: Murray, Worlds, Petry, Gallagher, Senyshyn
Senators goaltender Matt Murray was hoping to return down the stretch to give him an opportunity to play for Canada at the upcoming World Championships but had to shut it down last week due to post-concussion symptoms, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). It was a tough season for the 27-year-old as he was limited to just 20 games where he had a GAA of 3.05 and a SV% of .906, numbers that aren’t worth his $6.25MM AAV. That resulted in Murray clearing waivers back in November. With Anton Forsberg signing an extension back at the trade deadline and prospect Filip Gustavsson being waiver-eligible in 2022-23, Murray’s spot on Ottawa’s roster to start next season is far from a guarantee.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Still with Ottawa, Ian Mendes of The Athletic mentions (Twitter links) that winger Drake Batherson and forward Tim Stutzle will represent Canada and Germany respectively at next month’s World Championships. However, forward Brady Tkachuk is unlikely to play for the United States in the tournament due to some nagging injuries.
- Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry told reporters, including TSN’s John Lu (Twitter link), that he hasn’t closed the door on staying in Montreal. The veteran blueliner requested a trade midseason but played much better in the second half under interim head coach Martin St. Louis, finishing up with 21 points in his final 28 games this season after having just six points through his first 40 contests. Petry has three years left on his contract with a $6.25MM AAV.
- Still with Montreal, Lu notes in a separate tweet that winger Brendan Gallagher declined an invite to play at the Worlds due to lingering injury issues while noting his hip issue from the playoffs last year was still acting up this season. Gallagher had the toughest offensive campaign of his 10-year career, notching just seven goals and 17 assists in 56 games.
- With the regular season now done (at least for 30 of 32 teams), several trades that have conditions in them have now been finalized. One of those was the move that sent Zach Senyshyn to Ottawa in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Had the winger played in five games with the Senators, the Bruins would have received Ottawa’s 2022 sixth-round pick. He only played in two so Boston will instead get their 2022 seventh-rounder.
Senators Waive Michael Del Zotto
Ottawa’s farm team will be beginning their playoffs next week and the Senators sent down several players today to help on that front. Their intention is to send one more down as James Mirtle of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Michael Del Zotto has been placed on waivers today for the purpose of being sent to Belleville.
Del Zotto has already cleared waivers once this season back in December. After that happened, he became a productive player in Belleville, collecting 27 points in 26 games which earned him a recall back to the big club after the trade deadline. The 31-year-old picked up seven points for Ottawa after that stretch and wrapped up his year with three goals and ten assists in 26 games while averaging 18:15 per game. Those 13 points matched his total in Columbus from 2020-21 but he needed 27 fewer games to get there this season.
Del Zotto has one year remaining on his contract with a $2MM cap hit and a $2.25MM salary. He has been a speculative buyout candidate as a result of him being in the minors for half the season so it’s unlikely he’ll be claimed; he’d be ineligible to play in the NHL or AHL playoffs if someone was to pick him up by 1 PM CT on Sunday. But after a decent offensive season, there could be interest in him later in the offseason if the Sens are willing to retain part of his contract to facilitate a trade.
Snapshots: Knight, Subban, Bourque, Avalanche
The NHL has named Panthers goaltender Spencer Knight as the Rookie of the Month for April. The 21-year-old finished up his first full professional campaign on a high note, posting a 2.16 GAA along with a .925 SV% in seven starts for Florida this month. With veteran Sergei Bobrovsky’s numbers checking in at 3.27 and .893 respectively over that same stretch, Knight has made a strong push for playing time in their upcoming playoff series against Washington. He’s the second Panther to get the award this season, joining center Anton Lundell who received the honor in January.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Sabres goaltender/surprise anthem singer Malcolm Subban told reporters today, including Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News (Twitter link) that he’d love to return to Buffalo next season. The pending unrestricted free agent was traded to the Sabres in December but got into just four games before suffering a season-ending upper-body injury back in January. After clearing waivers earlier in the year, it seems likely that Subban’s best fit would be as a third-string netminder and Buffalo will likely have an opening in that spot with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen expected to be up full-time in the NHL next season.
- Veteran forward Chris Bourque announced (Twitter link) that he is retiring. The 36-year-old played in 51 career NHL games over parts of four seasons with Washington, Pittsburgh, and Boston while spending 13 years in the minors where he’s 20th in all-time AHL scoring with 746 points. Bourque spent the past three seasons with Ingolstadt in Germany, collecting 134 points in 141 games.
- Avalanche defenseman Kurtis MacDermid and winger Logan O’Connor avoided any suspensions from the league for their actions against Minnesota on Friday. However, both will be a little lighter in the wallet as the Department of Player Safety announced (Twitter links) that both players received fines worth half of one day’s salary, the maximum allowable under the CBA. MacDermid was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for kneeing winger Marcus Foligno who looked to be seriously injured on the play. O’Connor, meanwhile, had cross-checked defenseman Dmitry Kulikov although the blueliner was eventually able to return to the game.
Canucks Place Two On Waivers
For the second straight day, there is waiver activity in the NHL as the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed wingers Nic Petan and Sheldon Dries on waivers. The intention is for both players to report to Abbotsford of the AHL for the playoffs if they clear on Sunday; both players had to be waived in order to be sent down as they’ve played in more than ten NHL contests since last clearing waivers.
Petan signed a two-way deal with Vancouver last summer with the intention that he’d be a key performer at the AHL level and he did exactly that, notching a dozen goals and 32 assists in 36 games with the AHL Canucks which earned him a recall to the big club in mid-March. The 27-year-old was a regular after that point, getting into 18 games with Vancouver but he struggled offensively, collecting just two assists while averaging a little over ten minutes per game. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Dries, he also signed a two-way deal with the Canucks last summer with an eye on him playing a big role with Abbotsford. He had a very strong season offensively in the minors with 35 goals and 27 assists in 54 games which helped earn him a regular spot in Vancouver for the past three weeks. The 28-year-old, who also will be unrestricted again this summer, had a bit more success than Petan, picking up a pair of goals plus an assist in 11 games while also averaging a little over ten minutes a night.
If both players clear as expected on Sunday (if they’re claimed, they’re ineligible to play the rest of the season), they can then be sent to Abbotsford. Meanwhile, Vancouver did send four other players down today in goaltenders Spencer Martin and Arturs Silovs plus wingers William Lockwood and Vasily Podkolzin.
Red Wings Will Not Bring Back Jeff Blashill Next Season
Jeff Blashill’s contract as head coach of the Red Wings was set to expire at the end of this season and he will not be receiving another one. The team announced that Blashill’s deal will not be renewed while Detroit is also parting ways with assistant coach Doug Houda and goaltending coach Jeff Salajko.
It’s the end of an era in Detroit as Blashill had been with the organization for more than a decade after joining them as an assistant coach back in 2011. After a season in that role, he became the head coach at AHL Grand Rapids for three years before taking over as bench boss of the Red Wings back in 2015 following the departure of Mike Babcock to Toronto.
Blashill’s tenure behind the bench in Detroit got off to a good start as the Red Wings made the playoffs in his first season although they were ousted in five games in the opening round. In the six seasons since then, however, they’ve yet to return to the postseason and have finished no higher than fifth in the division. This season, the Red Wings posted a 32-40-10 record, good for sixth in the Atlantic Division but on a points percentage basis (.451), that was actually an improvement on his overall numbers at the helm of the franchise (204-261-72 for a .447 points percentage). While rookies Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond both flourished in their first NHL season, their progress wasn’t enough for Blashill to keep his job.
There are no shortage of coaches out there for GM Steve Yzerman to consider. If he wants a veteran bench boss, John Tortorella, Claude Julien, and Rick Tocchet could be considered. Ben Simon, the current head coach in Grand Rapids, will likely garner consideration as well. Meanwhile, Lane Lambert and Spencer Carbury are viewed as up-and-coming head coaches and could be options for Detroit, who will undoubtedly have other candidates in mind as well.
As for the departing assistant coaches, Houda had spent the past six seasons in that role with Detroit after serving as an assistant in Boston for ten seasons before that. Salajko, meanwhile, also had been in his role for the last six years after being the goalie coach with the Griffins for three years.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Craig Anderson Unsure If He’ll Play Next Season
While the Sabres have indicated that they’d like to bring back goaltender Craig Anderson, the veteran isn’t ready to make that commitment just yet. Speaking with reporters today including Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News, the 40-year-old indicated that he will take the next few weeks to decide whether or not to return for a 20th NHL campaign:
There’s life after hockey and at some point, you really have to consider what the injuries, how they’re going to affect your day-to-day post-career. I haven’t really put too much thought into it. Obviously, you’re dealing with the neck and hip. There’s some serious considerations to take into account. I haven’t thought too much into it. I think in the next two to three weeks see how things calm down. If things calm down the way I’d like them to then that’s when the thought process would kick in.
The 40-year-old made 31 starts for Buffalo this season and posted a winning record (17-12-2), an impressive feat on a non-playoff team. His decision to join the Sabres proved to be a fruitful one for both sides as he got a chance to play regularly after being on Washington’s taxi squad for most of last season while Buffalo got a nice bargain as Anderson made the league minimum salary of $750K.
However, injuries also took their toll on Anderson as the neck injury he referenced kept him out for three months earlier in the season while the hip injury is a recent one that prevented him from playing over the last week and a half. With over 700 career NHL appearances under his belt between the regular season and playoffs, there has been a lot of wear and tear on his body so it’s certainly understandable that he’ll want to take some time before deciding whether or not to play again.
All signs point to prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen being one of Buffalo’s two netminders next season with Buffalo wanting a veteran to pair with him. Anderson would be a logical fit as someone that wouldn’t require a pricey multi-year commitment like many veteran unrestricted free agents would and with Buffalo still in the rebuilding stage, a short-term deal for their other goalie makes a lot of sense. As for whether or not Anderson is willing to sign up for that, it appears that decision won’t be coming for a while yet.
Metropolitan Notes: Jenner, Werenski, Connauton, Konecny, Clutterbuck
Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner will not require surgery for the back injury that kept him out for the final seven weeks of the season, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’s expected to be able to have a full summer of training and be ready for training camp in the fall. The 28-year-old had a strong year offensively, notching 23 goals and 21 assists in just 59 games, the highest per-game rates of his career. While his current contract is expiring this summer, Jenner signed a four-year extension last July at the same $3.75MM price tag.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Still with Columbus, Portzline reports in a separate tweet that defenseman Zach Werenski underwent surgery this week to repair a broken nose. The procedure may keep him out of playing for the United States at the upcoming World Championships. Werenski led all Blue Jackets blueliners in scoring this season with 11 goals and 37 assists in 68 games; his assist and point totals were both career bests.
- Flyers defenseman Kevin Connauton told reporters, including Sam Carchidi of Philadelphia Hockey Now (Twitter link) that surgery won’t be needed on his knee injury that kept him out towards the end of the year. The 32-year-old played in 39 games this season between Florida and Philadelphia and is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
- Flyers winger Travis Konecny has declined an invitation to play for Canada at the upcoming World Championships, notes Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 25-year-old came one assist shy of reaching his career high in assists with 36 this season but also had his lowest goals per game rate since his rookie campaign.
- Islanders winger Cal Clutterbuck is expected to be ready to return next season, mentions Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). The 34-year-old has been out since just before the trade deadline with a shoulder injury, one that ruled out any chance of him being traded. Instead, New York signed him to a two-year extension, one that cuts his cap hit in half from 3.5MM to $1.75MM.
Carey Price’s Playing Future Uncertain
Canadiens goaltender Carey Price missed most of the season with knee issues dating back to offseason surgery. While he was able to play in a handful of games – including last night – he also had to sit for nearly a week after just four games to undergo testing due to continued swelling.
Speaking at his end-of-season media availability (video link), the veteran told reporters that if the problems with his knee stay the same, he doesn’t think he will be able to come back. To that end, he acknowledged that he approached Friday’s game against Florida as if it was his final NHL contest.
It’s not a guarantee yet that this will be the eventual outcome as Price did mention that further testing is still required and he’d be going for a second opinion on the results so there won’t be any immediate confirmation on that front. Another surgery is an option as well and the 34-year-old isn’t ruling out going down that route which could potentially allow him to return to play.
Price has been a fixture between the pipes for Montreal since he was drafted fifth overall back in 2005. He has spent his entire 15-year NHL career with the Canadiens and is their franchise leader in games played and wins while sitting third in shutouts.
He has four years remaining on his contract, one that carries a $10.5MM cap hit, the highest in NHL history for a goaltender. Price admitted that if he is able to return, he doesn’t see himself being able to withstand the workload of a typical starting goaltender which would put some extra pressure on veteran backup Jake Allen, who also battled significant injury issues this season.
If Price doesn’t return, he’d become eligible to go back on LTIR which would then give them the ability to spend over the cap to bring in a replacement player. Such a move would be difficult, however, unless he was ruled out for the entire year before the start of free agency. If Price was to start next year on LTIR with an intention of returning, Montreal would likely have to fill his spot internally with either pending RFA Sam Montembeault or prospect Cayden Primeau forming the tandem with Allen.
After their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final last summer, it was revealed that one of their franchise cornerstones in Shea Weber was seeing his playing days come to an end. Not even twelve months later, it’s possible that the Canadiens will be in that situation again with their franchise netminder.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
The fun is really about to begin across the NHL. Next week, half the teams in the league will begin their push for the Stanley Cup while the other half will begin the process of assessing what went wrong with the expectation of moves to come. Some of those moves could come as soon as next week if those non-playoff teams decide to make a coaching or GM change.
With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. Last time, it was split into two parts. The first included looks at the struggles the Islanders have had this season, San Jose’s looming cap challenges, and Shea Weber’s contract while the second included some early award and free agent predictions, potential coaching candidates this offseason, and Seattle’s goaltending woes.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend.
Metropolitan Notes: Andersen, Snively, Rangers
After the Hurricanes got some good news when it came to goaltender Antti Raanta today, it appears things may be looking up even more on the injury front in Carolina. Sara Civian of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that goaltender Frederik Andersen should be good to go for the playoffs as well. The 32-year-old suffered an undisclosed injury a week and a half ago with little information revealed from there. While Civian notes that Andersen isn’t expected to dress for any of Carolina’s games this week, having both him and Raanta available for the postseason will certainly help their chances of a lengthy playoff run.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Capitals winger Joe Snively skated for the first time on Sunday after undergoing wrist surgery last month, relays Samantha Pell of the Washington Post. The 26-year-old did well in his first career NHL recall, picking up four goals and three assists before being injured in his 12th game at the end of February. Nevertheless, Snively did well enough to earn a two-year, one-way extension which he inked last month. It’s unlikely that Snively will be in Washington’s lineup to start the playoffs but if some injuries strike, he could be an option to suit up.
- The Rangers have listed forwards Andrew Copp, Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil as game-time decisions for their game on Tuesday against Carolina as they look to stay in the mix for the top spot in the division, notes Ethan Sears of the New York Post. Copp (lower body) and Chytil (undisclosed) were both injured on Thursday while Kakko has been out for a week and a half with a lower-body injury and received a week-to-week designation at the time. Even if they don’t play on Tuesday, all three were full participants in practice which bodes well for their availability when the playoffs start next week.