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Arizona Coyotes Lose Vinnie Hinostroza To Injured Reserve

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The Arizona Coyotes have revealed that forward Vinnie Hinostroza will be out for weeks and will be placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Catherine Silverman. That’s another tough injury for a team fighting to move up in the Pacific Division standings after placing Michael Grabner and goaltender Antti Raanta on IR within the last week as well.

While nothing has been confirmed, it’s likely the injury occurred on Thursday in the Coyotes’ loss to Washington as Hinostroza played just 6:53 of ice time and reportedly had been limping off the ice at one point in the game. The team recalled Michael Bunting from Tucson of the AHL this morning and the team would likely replace Hinostroza or Conor Garland in the lineup.

Hinostroza came aboard during the offseason in one of the many trades Arizona has made with the Chicago Blackhawks recently in which the Coyotes acquired Hinostroza in the Marian Hossa trade in July. The 24-year-old has been solid for Arizona as he ranks as the team’s fourth-best scorer as he has posted four goals and 12 points in 27 games.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Columbus Blue Jackets

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

What are the Blue Jackets most thankful for?

There has been a dark cloud around the Blue Jackets at the start of the season with two of their best players suggesting they would rather be elsewhere (I’ll talk about that later) and then a significant injury to top defenseman Seth Jones, who tore a ligament in his knee during the preseason and missed the first month of the season. Throw in a disappointing season the previous year from players such as Zach Werenski, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner and many wondered whether the franchise might take a step back this season.

Instead, the Blue Jackets have played quite well and stand in second place in the Metropolitan Division with a solid 15-9-2 record this season. Several players have stepped up and the team has gotten solid goaltending. With a solid defense and lots of offense, the Blue Jackets look like a team that will contend and hopefully can make a deep push into the playoffs as the franchise hasn’t gotten out of the first round since the 2008-09 season.

Who are the Blue Jackets most thankful for?

Not more than a year ago, Columbus handed Cam Atkinson a seven-year, $41.1MM extension and he responded with a disappointing season, posting a pedestrian 24 goals and 46 points, the lowest of his career since the 2014-15 season. With a number of veterans struggling after being handed long-term deals (Dubinsky, Wennberg), many wondered whether the Blue Jackets made a mistake when they inked the then 28-year-old to such a long extension.

Fast forward one year and Atkinson is proving his value with a banner season so far. He has already scored 16 goals and 27 points in 25 games and looks to be developing into a point-per-game player, which would blow away any previous career highs. His team-leading five power play goals and two short-handed goals prove he has become the team’s most valuable player on the team so far this season amongst a large number of big names.

What would the Blue Jackets be even more thankful for?

While the team has got some secondary scoring, the team keeps hoping to turn some players’ careers around. The team signed Anthony Duclair to a one-year deal in hopes of developing him into the player everyone thought he would develop into. The Blue Jackets also had high hopes that Oliver Bjorkstrand would develop into a top-six player. While Duclair has already put up eight goals this season, he’s fallen into head coach John Tortorella’s doghouse and is has only scored one goal in the last eight games. Bjorkstrand, on the other hand, has struggled all year having scored just two goals along with two assists. Both are now fighting it out between each other for who gets a spot on Columbus’ third line. Hopefully, one of those player can distinguish themselves and take their game to a new level.

What should be on the Blue Jackets Holiday Wish List?

The team has a pair of major concerns on their roster with Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky about to hit unrestricted free agency at the end of the year. Both players have expressed a desire to play elsewhere, which could be devastating to the franchise. With the team unwilling to trade them off if they are in the hunt as the team values taking the team on a deep playoff run over trading them both off and rebuilding their roster again, there is a good chance the team will hold onto them. Panarin has expressed a desire to be in a bigger city, while Bobrovsky is looking for a record-breaking contract even bigger than that of Carey Price’s eight-year, $84MM deal that he signed last summer.

General manager Jarmo Kekalainen hopes that a winning culture can convince each of them to remain with the team so the team can finally make a Stanley Cup run that the franchise needs for its fans. Even if the team can retain one of them, that would be a big boost for the franchise which would likely fall flat without both of them.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Ritchie, Burns, Stastny, Gaudette

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While most of the hockey world had been focused on the contract holdout of William Nylander all season, there were much fewer eyes on the holdout of restricted free agent Nick Ritchie. The 22-year-old wasn’t a big name. After all, the most points he had ever posted was 14 goals and 28 points in 2016-17. Yet hold out he did before eventually signing a three-year bridge deal worth a total of $4.6MM. A small footnote in the restricted free-agent process.

However, Ritchie is starting to get hot as he has scored all four of his goals in the last four games, including a two-goal performance Wednesday against Florida as well as eight points in the last seven games. The Athletic’s Eric Stephens (subscription required) writes that Ritchie is starting to develop into the player they drafted in the first round (10th overall) in 2014.

Ritchie admits that he has made minor adjustments such as adjusting his footwork and how he handles the puck, but after initially playing in the top six and then getting demoted to the fourth line was a game-changer. The winger says that he worked harder than ever to work his way back to the top-six. It’s working as Anaheim has won four in a row and six of their last seven.

  • Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required) writes one of the many issues that the San Jose Sharks are struggling with is the play of veteran defenseman Brent Burns. The 33-year-old blueliner is having a good season statistically with 27 points in 27 games, but hasn’t scored a goal in more than a month and holds a minus-3 plus-minus rating. His general play has been disappointing and that really stood out in the team’s 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators Saturday.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights got good news as injured center Paul Stastny was seen skating during the team’s morning skate, according to SinBin Vegas. Stastny has been skating for several days for about 20-30 minutes, which is the next step in his recovery from a lower-body injury that has held him for most of the season. The 32-year-old has appeared in just three games for the Golden Knights.
  • When the Vancouver Canucks placed Brendan Leipsic on waivers earlier today, many were surprised they didn’t just assign Adam Gaudette to Utica of the AHL instead of potentially losing Leipsic. However, general manager Jim Benning explained that the team prefers to see Gaudette continue his development with the Canucks. “We want to keep him around because he plays centre and because every game he’s showing some good things and gaining more confidence,” Benning said via Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. “We feel he’s helping us.”

Arizona Coyotes’ Michael Grabner Out Indefinely

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The Arizona Coyotes have lost one of their top players for a while as the team announced that winger Michael Grabner will be out indefinitely after suffering a severe eye injury during the first period of Saturday’s game against St. Louis. The 31-year-old took a stick to the face from the Blues’ Sammy Blais (picture of injury via AZSports Craig Morgan).

Grabner was a key offseason acquisition for the Coyotes who are trying to build up their top-six. The team signed him via free agency to a three-year, $10.05MM deal on the first day of free agency. The winger is coming off two straight 27-goal seasons and is expected to add some much needed scoring depth. Grabner has six goals and 11 points so far this season in 25 games.

One key reason the team brought Grabner in was his ability to play on the penalty kill unit, which has been very successful for Arizona this season as the unit is ranked first with a 89.7 percent kill rate. Grabner himself has a NHL-high four shorthanded goals this season. Richard Morin of AZSports writes the team will recall a player from Tucson, suggesting it might be Laurent Dauphin.

 

 

Edmonton Has No Interest In Moving Out of Pacific Division

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With the expected approval on Tuesday for the Seattle expansion franchise at the board of governor’s meeting, the next question that will have to be determined is how to re-align the Western Conference as Seattle will obviously move into the Pacific Division, giving them nine teams, while the Central Division would have just seven. While there has been talk about moving the Arizona Coyotes over to the Central Division, many feel the team should stay where it is as they have short rivalry trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles/Anaheim.

Another popular suggestion is to move both the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames together to the Central Division and sending the Colorado Avalanche back to the Pacific Division. However, Terry Jones of The Edmonton Sun writes that option isn’t very popular in Edmonton.

“We want to stay in the Pacific. And we’re pretty strong about it,” insists Bob Nicholson, vice chairman and CEO of the Oilers Entertainment Group. “Seattle is going to come into the league and when they do come in, we definitely do not want to move. We feel the rivalries are too strong for the NHL to do that to our franchise.”

The two teams have built rivalries in the Pacific, including one between the Flames and the Vancouver Canucks, while Edmonton has built some significant rivalries with some of the California teams, most specifically with recent playoff matchups with the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. Nicholson said the team intends to appeal to the NHL to allow the Oilers as well as the rival Flames to stay in the Pacific Division.

“I just believe we’ve been in the league a long time now and hopefully the league will respect our rivalries, especially the Calgary and Vancouver rivalries,” said Nicholson.

Of course, there are new potential rivalries between both Calgary and Edmonton with a team such as the Winnipeg Jets and even the Minnesota Wild. Regardless, Nicholson has a strong feeling the league will accept the wishes of Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

“I’m relatively confident from the unofficial conversations that have gone on, so far,” Nicholson said. “I’m expecting it to be simple and that it will be Arizona that would move into the Central. If it gets more complicated than that, I think there would be big debates. We expect to stay where we are. I would think it would be Arizona that would move.”

Atlantic Notes: McAvoy, Pominville, Brown, Pasquale

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While many young players who are close to seeing their entry-level deals expire are salivating on seeing William Nylander agree to a six-year, $45MM contract Saturday, perhaps one of the biggest beneficiaries of that deal will be Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. Despite sitting out with a concussion for most of the season so far, McAvoy has already proven to be a franchise-changing defenseman at age 20.

Reports have the Bruins opening contract negotiations at seven years at $6.5MM per season, according to The Athletic’s Joe McDonald (subscription required). That is a nice starting point considering what Nylander just inked. The scribe writes that McAvoy, who has made it clear that he isn’t interested in a bridge deal, could force his way to an eight-year, between $7.5 and $8.0MM.

The Bruins likely have little to fall back on as the team is currently fourth in the Atlantic and seem to be struggling. While the team has been missing multiple players on defense this year, the loss of McAvoy stands out as he is exceptional of moving the puck out of the team’s defensive end and has a unique skillset when it comes to his playmaking ability.

  •  Speaking of McAvoy, Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub reports that he spoke to the defenseman about his lingering concussion. McAvoy says he still taking it “one day at a time,” and there is no current timetable for his return. McAvoy has been out since Oct. 18 and has only appeared in seven games for the Bruins’ this year. He has put up good numbers in that limited time as he has one goals and six points.
  • The Buffalo Sabres announced that forward Jason Pominville is out for Monday’s game against Nashville after taking a hit from Alexander Petrovic during Friday’s game against the Panthers. He is expected to return to Buffalo and undergo further evaluation, according to The Athletic’s Jon Vogl. The 36-year-old Pominville has had a bit of a resurgence this year with nine goals and 18 points already in just 27 games and could be headed for a 20-goals season, something that has alluded him since the 2013-14 season. This will be the first game that Pominville has missed since the 2016-17 season.
  • Ian Tulloch of The Athletic (subscription required) wonders why the Toronto Maple Leafs have written a pass for forward Connor Brown. With the impending return of William Nylander at some point this week, the team will have to knock a player out of its lineup and send them to the press box with Josh Leivo and Tyler Ennis getting the most attention. However, Tulloch has to wonder why Brown’s name isn’t thrown in with those two as Brown has just three goals and nine points in 27 games this season and has no goals and just two assists in the last 11 games. Tulloch lists him as one of the worst players on the ice for Toronto during Saturday’s win over Minnesota.
  • Diana Nearhos of the Tampa Bay Times writes that even thought the Tampa Bay Lightning have been shuffling backup goaltenders every week and not playing any of them, that’s likely to change. The scribe writes that Eddie Pasquale, who was recalled Sunday, will likely get a start for the Lightning as the team has back-to-back games on Monday against New Jersey and Tuesday against Detroit and with Louis Domingue starting to show signs of fatigue, Pasquale will likely make his NHL debut on one of those days.

Kings’ Kovalchuk To Miss A Month After Ankle Procedure

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The Los Angeles Kings just can’t get things going on the injury front as the team suffered another setback as they announced that winger Ilya Kovalchuk will miss four weeks after undergoing an ankle bursectomy procedure this morning. Head coach Willie Desjardins said that injury is more of an infection of the bursa sacs, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen. The procedure deals with bursa sacs, which are fluid-filled sacs that cushion high friction areas such as joints. Those sacs have become infected and required a surgical procedure to correct.

Kovalchuk had been struggling lately with the Kings as he had been demoted from a top-line player to the bottom-six for the last few games as many questions had started to arise surrounding new head coach Willie Desjardins sudden benching. Whether the injury had anything to do with it is unknown, but Kovalchuk, who has just five goals and 14 points in 25 games this season. While those numbers are respectable, he has failed to register a point in the past 11 games, quite unlike the 35-year-old star. Throw in the fact that the Kings have just four wins in the last 12 games and none of the team’s losses provided them with even a point and the team sits in last place in the NHL standings.

The surgery could explain the team’s claiming of Nikita Scherbak earlier today as the team is up against the cap and have Carl Hagelin on LTIR currently. The team was expected to have some serious cap issues once Hagelin was to be activated (he’s out three to five weeks with a lower-body injury), the team would have trouble getting below the cap. Scherbak’s contract wasn’t going to improve things in L.A. However, with Kovalchuk going on injured reserve, the team may have some extra means of staying ahead of the cap.

Reactions To The William Nylander Signing

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With the Toronto Maple Leafs going down to the final minutes to sign restricted free agent William Nylander, who signed a six-year, $45MM deal, there was quite a reaction from journalists around the league. Here are some thoughts on the signing. 

  • Jonas Siegel of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Maple Leafs accomplished their goal of locking up Nylander to a long-term deal for a reasonable price of $6.97MM. That gives Toronto what they wanted, which is to lock up their core for the next five to seven years and Nylander is just another piece that the team has added to that long-term puzzle. The scribe writes that fans should remember that he is an elite player, despite struggling in the playoffs last year. Nylander is only 22 and should continue to develop into a consistent goal scorer.
  • Siegel also reports that general manager Kyle Dubas said that it’s not likely that Nylander will debut on Tuesday against Buffalo, the team’s next game. The likely scenario is that Nylander will make his NHL debut on Thursday against Detroit. TSN’s Kristen Shilton writes that Nylander will have to undergo medical tests before being allowed to play and reports that Dubas suggested that even Thursday might be too early for Nylander’s season debut.
  • Kevin Allen of USA Today reminds fans that while Nylander will eventually return to the Maple Leafs’ lineup, that doesn’t mean a trade isn’t possible. In fact, now that Nylander has a long-term deal, it should be even easier for Dubas to find a quality return if they opt to trade the 22-year-old. The fact that Toronto has proven that they don’t need Nylander to win, that could mean that Nylander might find a new home at the trade deadline or before the NHL draft. Allen suggests that Matthew Dumba would be the perfect fit in Toronto.
  • The Athletic James Mirtle writes that the Maple Leafs will have to eventually make a roster move to get Nylander on the roster. While they may have a few days to make a decision, the scribe writes that Justin Holl, who has been a healthy scratch for 25 games, would be the obvious candidate to be waived. Other candidates would be Frederik Gauthier or defenseman Martin Marincin.
  • Chip Alexander of the News & Observer says he never believed the Toronto Maple Leafs had any interest in trading Nylander. He believed that Dubas was just using a trade option as leverage against Nylander. Carolina was considered to be the most interested team in acquiring the 22-year-old and were rumored to be willing to move defensemen Justin Faulk or Brett Pesce as part of a major package.
  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com writes that while many players are happy for Nylander, Travis Konecny could be the happiest as the 21-year-old will be a restricted agent himself this offseason. Konecny has already tallied 42 career goals over the course of his career, while Nylander is a year older and only has six more goals in that time. With similar numbers, Konecny could easily equal that contract next summer.
  • Ryan Pike of FlamesNation adds that another beneficiary in the Nylander signing could be Calgary Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk. The 20-year-old already has 49 career goals and will also hit restricted free agency next year. He also has better point production as he averages .741 points per game, compared to the .729 points per game by Nylander over his career.
  • Michael Augello of HockeyBuzz writes that in spite of the $10.2MM cap hit the team will take this season, the team still has the option of placing Nathan Horton’s contract on long-term injury reserve, which should free up some money to add some rental players at the trade deadline this season.

 

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Colorado Avalanche

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Colorado Avalanche. 

What are the Avalanche most thankful for?

The continued improvement. Last season the Colorado Avalanche had an incredible season, going from one of the worst teams in the league to just squeaking into the playoffs. Colorado found themselves matched up with the top team in the league in the Nashville Predators and while no one gave the Avalanche any chance to beat the powerhouse squad, but the team still managed to take two games from them. This year has only gotten better for the franchise as they are currently tied for first place with the Predators in the Central Division and have started to show that they have an impressive team that is only getting better.

Who are the Avalanche most thankful for?

Their top line. Colorado’s top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog was impressive last year, but they have only gotten better this year. MacKinnon, who had a breakout season last year after posting 39 goals last year, already has 18 goals and is on pace for an even bigger year. MacKinnon, the runner-up for the Hart Trophy, could take the award this year with the way he is playing as he has 41 points already and he’s not even at the half-way point of the season.

Rantanen already has 11 goals and 43 points in just 26 games as he’s on pace for an even bigger season. He could be one of MacKinnon’s biggest challengers for the Hart Trophy if the 22-year-old continues to play the way he has. Landeskog, on the other hand, is playing well with 15 goals already, which likely has him headed for a career-high. While they were a very good line a year ago, the pairing has become one of the top lines in the NHL now. With Landeskog only being 26 and the veteran of the group, the line could be together for a long time.

What would the Avalanche be even more thankful for?

Secondary scoring. One of the team’s biggest problems is getting more scoring from its other lines. Many people felt that Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher might step up as well as other players, including Alexander Kerfoot and Colin Wilson. While they each have made some contributions, none of them have taken the next step. Jost has shown to be impressive when moved to the second line, yet he has just four goals and 10 points this season. Compher could be the answer, but has been out with a head injury. However, he has seven goals in the 10 games he’s played this year. Kerfoot has 18 points in 26 games, but only four of those are goals, while Wilson has seven goals and 10 points in 26 games.

The team needs one or two of these players (and preferably everyone) to take that next step and start providing the team with secondary scoring so when the first line gets shut down, the team doesn’t get shutout.

What should be on the Avalanche’s Holiday Wish List?

A young impact player. The team is quite young, but there is more talent on the way. The team could get a significant boost from 2017 first-round pick Cale Markar. The 20-year-old defenseman has been lighting up the college scene this year with the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. After posting respectable numbers as a freshman of five goals and 21 points in 34 games for the Minutemen, he has already topped those numbers in just 13 appearances. He already has six goals and 18 points with more than half a season to go. If the team can convince him to turn pro after the season, there is a good chance the fourth-overall pick could step right onto the ice during the stretch-run of the season and give the team another impact player on their defense.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nashville Predators Place Filip Forsberg On IR; Out 4-6 Weeks

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The Nashville Predators big name injury list continues. The team has placed winger Filip Forsberg on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and will be out for four to six weeks, according to The Athletic’s Adam Vingan. Already without Viktor Arvidsson, P.K. Subban and Kyle Turris, Forsberg is just another big loss for a team that has lost three of their last four games.

While he wasn’t forced from the game, Forsberg injured his hand during Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Arizona where the 24-year-old played a season-low 15:08 of ice time. He then missed practice Friday and he didn’t participate in Saturday morning’s optional skate. Forsberg’s injury means that 34.77 percent of the team’s cap hit is on injured reserve, according to Vingan.

Forsberg has been having a solid season so far this far this year, posting 14 goals in 26 games this season for the Predators, good enough for the team lead. Those 14 goals are way ahead of the pace he has had in previous years. He scored 26 goals a year ago and broke 30 goals the previous two years before that.

 

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