Coyotes Receiving Trade Interest In Lawson Crouse
While Coyotes winger Phil Kessel and defenseman Jakob Chychrun have been the players receiving most of the trade speculation lately, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli puts another name in the mix, reporting that several teams – including the Flyers – have shown interest in winger Lawson Crouse.
The 24-year-old is already in his sixth NHL season and up until this season, he had been more of a role player, providing plenty of energy and physicality but not much in the way of consistent production. That has changed this season as head coach Andre Tourigny has given Crouse a much bigger role – he’s averaging over 18 minutes a night which is more than five minutes higher than his career ATOI heading into the season – and he has made the most of it, potting eight goals and eight assists, numbers that have him at a 20-goal and 40-point pace.
While it’s unlikely that Crouse would have that type of role on a playoff contender, he’d still fit in nicely on a third line for a lot of teams. The postseason is when the physicality picks up and power forwards become even more important so Arizona could be well-positioned to maximize their return here.
Crouse is set to become a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights this summer and has a qualifying offer that’s a bit higher than his current cap hit ($1.75MM versus a $1.533MM AAV) although teams shouldn’t have any concerns about tendering him. Even though it’s his sixth NHL season, he still is two years away from being eligible for unrestricted free agency since his sophomore campaign saw him play just 11 games which is below the threshold of 40 to accrue a season of service time.
With only a handful of teams currently well out of the playoff picture, it could be a seller’s market as a result leading up to the March 21st trade deadline. That’s great news for those selling teams like the Coyotes who, with Crouse, appear to now have another player generating a lot of interest.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Atlantic Notes: Sabres, Forsberg, Vrana
The lower-body injury that has kept Sabres defenseman Robert Hagg out for nearly a month was one that had been lingering for most of the season, notes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The 26-year-old still leads the team in blocks (56) and has the most hits among blueliners (49) despite missing nine games and playing through the injury for most of the year. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer so a return to health – he has been skating in recent days and should return soon – could certainly boost his stock both in terms of contract value and what Buffalo could get in a trade for him as a rental player.
Meanwhile, Lysowski adds that goalie Dustin Tokarski was a full participant in practice on Friday for the first time since getting hit with a particularly rough bout of COVID-19 back in late November. There remains no timetable for his return but they plan to gradually increase his workload in the coming days to assess his potential readiness to play.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- The Senators announced (Twitter link) that they’ve removed goaltender Anton Forsberg from COVID protocol, paving the way for him to rejoin the roster. With Ottawa now off until Monday, that will give him a chance to get a practice or two in and potentially be ready to return against Edmonton. The Sens now have three goalies on the active roster so Matt Murray could potentially return to AHL Belleville to get some more game action in since he hardly played in his first stint with the team.
- Red Wings winger Jakub Vrana has resumed skating as he works his way back from shoulder surgery that has caused him to miss the entire season so far, relays MLive’s Ansar Khan. At this point, the 25-year-old has been limited to light stickhandling work and head coach Jeff Blashill indicated the original recovery timeline – sometime in mid-to-late February – remains the likely target for his return. If Detroit can hang around the battle for the second Wild Card spot until then (they’re one point out heading into play today), he’d be a big addition for the stretch run.
East Notes: Zaitsev, Canadiens, Shesterkin, Sabres, Daley
The Senators will be without defenseman Nikita Zaitsev longer than expected as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter link) that the veteran hasn’t resumed skating and will likely be out through the end of the month. Originally, it was expected that he’d miss between three and five weeks due to his heel injury but that will now likely be pushed to six weeks or longer. The 30-year-old had gotten off to a quiet start to his season with just two points in 22 games while logging 18:32 per night, the lowest ATOI of his career.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- As a result of seven more players entering COVID protocols in recent days, the Canadiens announced that they are extending their pause for two more days through Saturday. Montreal recently had a game next week against New Jersey postponed and now have nine games that need to be rescheduled. They’re next scheduled to play on Wednesday against Boston.
- Still with Montreal, defensive prospect Arber Xhekaj was traded in the OHL as the Hamilton Bulldogs announced his acquisition in exchange for five draft picks along with winger Navrin Mutter. Xhekaj was undrafted in both the OHL and NHL but turned a rookie camp tryout into an entry-level contract with the Canadiens late in the preseason. Meanwhile, Mutter got into three games with Calgary’s farm team in Stockton last season but no team holds his NHL rights.
- Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin was a late scratch for their game against Vegas as the Rangers announced (Twitter link) that the netminder was placed into COVID protocol. Assuming it’s for a confirmed positive test, he’ll be out for at least the next five days. Keith Kinkaid was recalled from the taxi squad in a corresponding roster move.
- The Sabres got some good news on the COVID protocol front today as the team announced (Twitter link) prior to their game against San Jose that centers Dylan Cozens, Zemgus Girgensons, and Mark Jankowski were all cleared to return. The trio last played on December 17th and each missed three games.
- While the Florida Everblades of the ECHL raised some eyebrows today when they announced the signing of Penguins staffer Trevor Daley, Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes (Twitter link) that Daley will remain in his advisory role with Pittsburgh. With ECHL teams ravaged by COVID-19, injuries and recalls, it appears the Everblades are going to use Daley for a game or two until they get some of their players back. Daley last played back in the 2019-20 season with Detroit.
Blackhawks Place Three In COVID Protocol
Prior to their game tonight against Arizona, the Blackhawks announced a long list of roster moves necessitated by the placement of three players in COVID protocol – defenseman Erik Gustafsson, winger Brandon Hagel, and just-acquired center Sam Lafferty. That resulted in the promotion of defenseman Nicolas Beaudin from the taxi squad to the active roster plus the recalls of winger Mike Hardman and defenseman Ian Mitchell from AHL Rockford.
Hagel is the most notable loss of the three for Chicago as he has been a capable secondary scorer this season with eight goals and eight assists in 30 games. Gustafsson has seven points in 30 contests in his second stint with the team while Lafferty was just brought in yesterday in a trade with Pittsburgh. If the placement is for a confirmed positive test, they will miss at least five days.
While Mitchell has been back and forth this season on the back end, Beaudin hasn’t had much of an opportunity with the Blackhawks this season, playing just once back in November. The 2018 first-rounder played in 19 games last season and was looking to push for a regular spot but that clearly hasn’t happened. Meanwhile, Hardman has played in 19 games this year for Chicago, mostly on the fourth line and returns after nearly three weeks in the minors.
Chicago also made three more roster moves, calling up wingers Josiah Slavin and Kurtis Gabriel along with defenseman Jakub Galvas from Rockford to their taxi squad. That brings the Blackhawks up to five players with that group, the others being veteran winger Brett Connolly and goaltender Cale Morris.
2021 Year In Review: June
2021 was certainly another eventful year, both on and off the rink. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at June.
Good Month For Brind’Amour: June was a good month for Hurricanes bench boss Rod Brind’Amour. First, he took home the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. Then, he landed a three-year contract to stick around as head coach in Carolina. It’s a process that curiously took a long time to play out with Brind’Amour stating he wanted to ensure his staff remained as well which resulted in him delaying until those deals were done before signing his. While the exact price of the contract wasn’t disclosed, it was widely suggested that Brind’Amour accepted a deal that was considerably below market value for someone considered as one of the top coaches in the league.
Internal Promotions: A pair of teams decided to promote from within to fill their head coaching vacancies. With Columbus set to embark on a rebuild, they decided against going after a veteran head coach, instead handing things over to Brad Larsen. Larsen has plenty of familiarity with the franchise having served as an assistant with them since the 2014-15 season. Just before the end of the month, Buffalo’s extensive coaching search came to an end with nothing changing; instead of looking elsewhere, they opted to lift the interim tag off Don Granato who had taken over down the stretch following the firing of Ralph Krueger. Buffalo was better over the final few weeks of the season, giving them some cause for optimism that Granato would be a good fit in the full-time role.
Sticking Around: The future of Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had been speculated about for a while with the team being unlikely to be able to afford to pay him market value to stick around. In the end, they reached a compromise, agreeing on an eight-year, $41MM contract. The $5.125MM AAV is certainly below what he could have landed on the open market but at the same time, the eight-year commitment gives him plenty of security while Edmonton actually has him on their books at a cheaper price than his previous contract. The top pick back in the 2011 draft has spent his entire 11-year NHL career with the Oilers, picking up 504 points in 686 games.
More Coaching News: Two other teams also filled their coaching vacancies but looked outside the organization to find their new bench boss. The Rangers had been linked to Gerard Gallant as soon as David Quinn was dismissed and they were able to get their guy, signing him to a four-year deal worth roughly $3.5MM per season. Gallant has had success recently with both Florida and Vegas but curiously didn’t last too long with either organization, being dismissed in his third season with each squad. Meanwhile, Seattle hired their inaugural head coach and it was one that largely flew under the radar in Dave Hakstol. While there were several candidates discussed as likely fits for the Kraken, the former Flyers head coach wasn’t really one of them. Nevertheless, GM Ron Francis felt that Hakstol – who had been with Toronto as an assistant – was the right fit for the expansion squad.
Sabres Win: Buffalo didn’t win a whole lot in 2020-21 – just 15 times in 56 games, in fact – but they picked up a key victory when they won the draft lottery. It marked the second time in four years that the lottery balls fell their way and after picking Rasmus Dahlin the first time, they went with a defenseman again, selecting Owen Power in July as expected.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
West Notes: Oilers, Chychrun, Kesler
The Oilers have struggled considerably over the last several weeks, having lost 10 of their last 12 games which has led to some speculation as to whether or not head coach Dave Tippett is on the hot seat. In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment (video link), TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that there are no plans for a coaching change in Edmonton unless things get considerably worse. Speculatively, that would mean a continuation of their current struggles to the point where they fall well outside the playoff picture. For the time being, they currently hold the final Wild Card spot in the West.
Dreger adds that the Oilers are looking to add a goaltender in the midst of Mike Smith’s injuries and Mikko Koskinen’s struggles as well as an upgrade at the third line center position. However, they’re in a situation where they need to match money to make a deal happen which will complicate things.
More from the Western Conference:
- Also from Dreger in that segment, the Coyotes are believed to be seeking an ‘Eichel-like’ return if they’re going to move defenseman Jakob Chychrun, an asking price that has scared at least some potential suitors away. The former Buffalo center yielded a first-round pick, a high-end prospect, a top-six winger, and a second-rounder and with the 23-year-old signed for just $4.6MM through 2024-25, he’s someone that many more teams will be able to afford which will allow Arizona to keep the price justifiably high.
- The Golden Knights are considering the possibility of acquiring the rights to Ryan Kesler from the Ducks, notes David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Kesler, who hasn’t played since 2019, carries a $6.875MM cap hit that is LTIR-eligible. In theory, if Vegas moved out enough salary to bring Kesler in and remain in cap compliance with their current cap situation, he could then be added to their LTIR pool, enabling them to eventually activate Jack Eichel. There’s precedent for teams acquiring injured players to boost their LTIR pool – Toronto (David Clarkson) and Tampa Bay (Brent Seabrook) – are recent examples and with Max Pacioretty and Alec Martinez both expected to return before the end of the regular season, Vegas may need to get creative to make the cap work when their players are healthy.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Pittsburgh Penguins
In the spirit of the holiday season, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season approaches the midway mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What are the Penguins thankful for?
A return to form from Tristan Jarry.
Two years ago, he had a breakout season, earning himself an All-Star appearance and the confidence of the team as they opted to move Matt Murray, allowing Jarry to take on the number one role. But last season was a significant step back for him, making goaltending one of the big question marks for Pittsburgh heading into 2021-22. But to his credit, Jarry has bounced back quite nicely, posting a 1.92 GAA along with a .932 SV% in 24 starts so far this season, good for third in the league in both categories making the Penguins one of the top teams from a goals allowed standpoint. Doing so is particularly impressive considering the rash of injuries they’ve dealt with throughout the season. In the span of a few months, Jarry’s play has moved him from being a question mark to a big strength for them.
Who are the Penguins thankful for?
While there’s a good case to be made for Jake Guentzel, it’s hard not to take Sidney Crosby here. He continues to be an elite center in the league even as he slows down a little compared to his performance in his prime. He continues to log heavy minutes – perhaps more than they’d ideally like to play him with Evgeni Malkin missing the entire season so far – and he’s over the point per game mark for the 17th straight season. He remains the face of the franchise and even as he gets older, he can still produce at a high level. The captain has been a significant bargain on the salary cap with an $8.7MM AAV since 2008 and he’ll remain at that cost – a more than reasonable one for a top pivot – for three more years after this one.
What would the Penguins be even more thankful for?
Beyond a return to health for Malkin and their other injured players, getting Jason Zucker back to being a productive winger is something they’d be quite thankful for. Notwithstanding the fact they paid a fairly high price to get him back in 2020, they’re paying a fairly high price on the cap to have him as well at $5.5MM through the end of next season. For a team that doesn’t have a lot of flexibility, the stat line of four goals and seven assists in 30 games so far this year really stings. Zucker returning to form would go a long way towards deepening Pittsburgh’s lineup and restoring some trade value for the summer when he becomes a candidate to be moved.
What should be on the Penguins’ Wish list?
Money is going to be tight for Pittsburgh, especially when Malkin is activated off LTIR. Accordingly, it’s hard to envision GM Ron Hextall being able to add a notable piece. Instead, some low-cost depth upgrades are likely all they’re going to be able to afford. A veteran defender as an insurance policy would help as would an offensive upgrade in their bottom six.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
2021 Year In Review: May
2021 was certainly another eventful year, both on and off the rink. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at May.
Plenty Of Drama In New York: There was plenty of news around the Rangers in May. First, following the Department of Player Safety declining to suspend Tom Wilson for an incident involving Pavel Buchnevich, they took the unprecedented step of calling for George Parros’ dismissal, one that resulted in nothing but a $250K fine. The next day, GM Jeff Gorton and president John Davidson were both suddenly fired with Chris Drury taking over as their new GM, Davidson quickly resurfaced in Columbus. One week after those dismissals, Drury decided to make a change behind the bench as head coach David Quinn was relieved of his duties. All of that came in less than a week and a half.
Disgruntled Stars: Then-Sabres center Jack Eichel voiced his frustration with the organization over their unwillingness to let him have his desired artificial disk replacement surgery on his neck. He had been out since early March and this situation certainly took a while before it eventually was resolved. Meanwhile, defenseman Seth Jones informed the Blue Jackets he wasn’t interested in discussing a contract extension and was intent on testing unrestricted free agency. That was a tough blow for Columbus who has had to deal with an exodus of star players in recent years and eventually resulted in him joining that group.
More Coaching Changes: The end of the regular season usually brings about a few coaching changes and this pandemic-shortened campaign was no exception. Joining Quinn as those leaving head coaching roles were John Tortorella who parted ways with Columbus. He is the winningest coach in franchise history with the team posting a 227-166-54 record during his six seasons with the Blue Jackets and sits 12th all-time in games coached in the NHL. Meanwhile, Arizona also opted for a change, deciding to not renew Rick Tocchet’s contract. The Coyotes didn’t have a lot of success under Tocchet, posting a 125-131-34 record over four seasons with their only playoff appearance coming in the expanded 2020 postseason.
Eight For Kadri: Nazem Kadri has had a fairly lengthy suspension history in both the regular season and playoffs with the latter playing a role in his eventual trade to Colorado. He added to his postseason suspension totals after he received an eight-game ban for a hit on Blues defenseman Justin Faulk. Colorado got out of that first-round series with a sweep before falling to Vegas in six games, meaning that Kadri didn’t get back into the lineup at all. His history is going to loom large as he approaches unrestricted free agency in July although the fact that he’s off to a career-best start could help offset that somewhat.
Coaches Staying: May didn’t only feature coaches leaving but a pair stuck around as well. First, the Red Wings decided to keep Jeff Blashill in the fold, inking him to a contract extension (the term of the deal was not disclosed). Blashill has been at the helm in Detroit since 2015, making him the second-longest-tenured coach in the NHL behind only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper. Meanwhile, three days later, the Canucks were able to agree to terms on a two-year extension with Travis Green to remain behind their bench. The deal represented a short-term vote of confidence while not being long enough to dissuade them from making a change if it was deemed necessary (and as it turns out, it was).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Canucks, Ruff, Canadiens, Robinson
While Jim Rutherford has a tendency to swing big in trades, it doesn’t appear he’ll do that with the Canucks. In an appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link), the team president acknowledged that any trades they make will be for draft picks and younger players, suggesting he won’t try to add some veterans in an effort to aid Vancouver’s push to get back into the playoff picture (they sit three points out of the last Wild Card spot). Rutherford also mentioned that their new GM will likely be a first-timer in the role. There’s no timeline for when they want to get that spot filled.
More from around the hockey world:
- The Devils announced (Twitter link) that head coach Lindy Ruff has been placed in COVID protocol. Assistant coach Alain Nasreddine will take over as interim bench boss until Ruff is able to return. It won’t be the first time that Nasreddine has been in charge of the bench for New Jersey as he served as interim head coach for them for 43 games back in 2019-20.
- Canadiens prospect Jacob Olofsson has signed a contract through the 2022-23 season with IF Bjorkloven, the Allsvenskan team announced. The 21-year-old was a second-round pick of Montreal back in 2018 (56th overall) and must sign with them by June to retain his NHL rights. This contract, along with a tough showing in 25 SHL games this season, suggests that’s unlikely to happen.
- Still with Montreal, the Canadiens announced that winger Brandon Baddock has been placed in COVID protocol. The 26-year-old made his NHL debut last night in Carolina due to Montreal’s long list of injuries and COVID protocol, playing a little over eight minutes and recording six hits.
- Blue Jackets winger Eric Robinson has cleared COVID protocol, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has a dozen points in 28 games this season while averaging a career-high 14:04 per game.
2021 Year In Review: April
2021 has certainly been another eventful year, both on and off the rink. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at April.
Pre-Deadline Trades: As is usually the case, there were some notable trades made in the days leading up to the trade deadline. The Islanders quickly utilized their LTIR room with Anders Lee out for the season, adding winger Kyle Palmieri and center Travis Zajac from the Devils in exchange for a 2021 first-round pick, a conditional 2022 fourth-rounder, and minor leaguers A.J. Greer and Mason Jobst. To make the money work, New Jersey retained the maximum 50% on each of Palmieri and Zajac’s deals.
With minimal salary cap space, Tampa Bay had to get creative if they wanted to add to their roster. They were able to do just that, acquiring David Savard as part of a three-team trade that also involved Columbus and Detroit. With the Blue Jackets retaining half of Savard’s deal, they then moved him to the Red Wings who retained another 50% of the remainder, allowing the Lightning to add the veteran blueliner at only 25% of his AAV. The cost was a bit higher to do so – it cost three draft picks (a first, second, and a fourth) but it enabled them to add another impact defender on their way to their second straight Stanley Cup title.
The Maple Leafs also decided to strike early and made a similar, picking up winger Nick Foligno as part of a three-team swap with the Sharks this time picking up a chunk of the contract after the Blue Jackets retained 50%. That allowed Toronto to get the veteran at 25% of his AAV, enabling them to squeak him in under the cap. Again, the acquisition cost was higher with Toronto parting with a first-round pick plus two fourth-rounders while also adding winger Stefan Noesen from San Jose. Foligno was unable to score with the Maple Leafs while injuries limited him to just 11 games between the regular season and playoffs.
Extensions: Trade Deadline Day featured plenty of movement but also saw three players stay put, taking themselves out of any trade talk in the process. Alex Iafallo inked a four-year, $16MM extension, ensuring he’ll be staying with the Kings after receiving considerable trade interest. Scott Laughton was the next to sign, accepting a five-year, $15MM extension to make sure that he’ll remain with the Flyers for the foreseeable future. Lastly, the Jets signed center Adam Lowry to a five-year, $16.25MM extension, taking what would have one of the more intriguing UFA pivots off the free agent list in the process.
Breaking The Record: While April will be remembered for the trades (more on those shortly), there was another notable event when Sharks forward Patrick Marleau broke the record for all-time NHL games played, surpassing Gordie Howe’s mark of 1,767. The old record stood for 50 years but if Joe Thornton and Zdeno Chara hang around a little longer, they could have a shot at besting Marleau’s total of 1,779. Thornton is at 1,698 and would need to play next season to have a chance to beat it while Chara has a much lesser chance, sitting at 1,632 and would to play at least two more years to get there. Meanwhile, Marleau isn’t playing anywhere this season but has not yet announced his retirement.
Hall To Boston: Back to the trades. Taylor Hall to Boston had been speculated for a while and with the veteran having trade protection, he was able to ensure he was indeed dealt to the Bruins along with center Curtis Lazar. Going the other way were Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round pick while the Sabres also retained half of his remaining salary and cap hit. Hall had just two goals in 37 games with Buffalo which didn’t give them a lot of leverage in the trade. He went on to be more productive with Boston, picking up 14 points in 16 regular season games down the stretch, making a good case for him to eventually re-sign with them.
Carter To Pittsburgh: The new management team in Pittsburgh made a surprising splash when they picked up center Jeff Carter from Los Angeles for a pair of conditional mid-round picks; the Kings also retained half of Carter’s contract which runs through the end of this season. Carter had been speculated to not be interested in a move with a suggestion that he’d consider retiring if it happened. However, the Penguins were able to make a compelling case for Carter and the move worked out well for them. He had nine goals down the stretch for them and is off to a good start this season with 17 points in 27 games.
Mantha To Capitals: With minimal cap space, Washington was expected to be quiet at the trade deadline. That turned out to not be the case as they made the biggest swap of deadline day, acquiring winger Anthony Mantha from Detroit in exchange for wingers Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2022 second-rounder. Part of the draft capital moved in the swap was to clear out the rest of Panik’s $2.75MM AAV that runs through the end of next season but the Capitals paid a premium to go from Vrana to Mantha, a big winger with a good scoring touch but a history of inconsistency and injury trouble. This season, Mantha has been limited to just ten games while Vrana has yet to play after undergoing shoulder surgery late in the preseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.