Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist Out With A Concussion

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The injury ride continues in Pittsburgh as Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced that winger Patric Hornqvist is out with a concussion after leaving Friday’s game against Boston during the second period. While no timeline has been suggested, it’s just another blow for a team that is trying to turn around its slow start.

The Penguins find themselves tied for last place in the Metropolitan Division with an 8-8-5 record as the team has struggled out of the gate, while also dealing with multiple injuries, including injuries to Justin Schultz, Matt Murray, Derick Brassard and even losing Sidney Crosby for three games recently. The team lost nine of 10 games at one point and have done little to improve on that since.

Hornqvist’s loss won’t help either as the 31-year-old was putting up solid numbers as he has nine goals and 15 points in 21 games, providing the team with a reliable top-six presence. Concussions aren’t anything new for the veteran, however. This is Hornqvist’s third reported concussion in his career. He missed six games back in November of 2016 and then missed another five games during the same season in March of 2017.

Anaheim Ducks Return Max Comtois To Juniors

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Anaheim Ducks have finally decided the fate of rookie Max Comtois, who found himself on the outside of Anaheim’s top-six in recent weeks. Despite having already burned the first year of his entry-level deal and the fact that the team couldn’t send the 19-year-old prospect to the AHL, the team decided to return him to the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL, according to TVA’s Mikael Lalancette (translation required).

Comtois provided the Ducks with a young top-six forward at the start of the season when the team was overwhelmed with injuries to many of their veterans, including Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, Patrick Eaves, Ondrej Kase were placed on injured reserve to start the season. While some of those players starting getting healthy, other players went down after that, including Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg, allowing Comtois to continue his play. The rookie reached the 10-game mark with successful numbers, posting two goals and seven assists, before having to go on injured reserve himself with a lower-body injury. Once returned, the team sent him on a conditioning loan to the AHL where he scored just once in four appearances. However, with most of Anaheim’s veterans returned and the team starting to show success, there was little opportunity for playing time at the NHL level and the team was forced to make a decision about Comtois. While he had already burned the first year of his entry-level deal by one game, the team was not allowed to send him to the AHL permanently. So to guarantee quality playing time, the team had to return him to his junior team.

It’s a big deal for his new junior team, however, as he will return to the QMJHL for his final season there, but now joins the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who gave up a fortune in draft capital to acquire Comtois’ rights from the Victoriaville Tigres back in June. Drummondville gambled on moving their 2018 first and second-round picks as well as their 2019 first and second-round picks to get Comtois only to see him make Anaheim’s roster, which looked like a disaster in October. Instead, the gamble paid off as the Voltigeurs get the star forward after all for a team competing for a title this year as they currently boast the fifth-overall record in the QMJHL.

Edmonton Oilers Recall Jesse Puljujarvi From AHL Stint

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Well, it didn’t take that long after all. After sending 20-year-old Jesse Puljujarvi to the Bakersfield Condors to find his confidence on Nov. 10, the Oilers have announced they have recalled him just two weeks and four AHL games later.

While it’s not likely that Puljujarvi’s four-game stint solved any problems, the fourth-overall pick in 2016 fared well scoring two goals and two assists, but with the recent coaching change in Edmonton, new head coach Ken Hitchcock may feel that his defense-first coaching style can help further develop Puljujarvi to develop into the star the franchise had hoped for when they drafted him.

Unfortunately, Puljujarvi has underperformed in 104 NHL games over the course of his career, despite success in several AHL stints. He has just 14 goals and 29 points in the NHL, including just one goal this season in 11 games, in a year where the team had hoped he could develop into that high-volume scorer. Instead, he bristled at rumors that he might be sent to Bakersfield and made it clear that he would prefer working through his difficulties as a bottom-six option with Edmonton. However, with him getting little ice time, fewer opportunities and spending more time in the press box, the team opted to send the underperforming Puljujarvi as well as teammate Kailer Yamamoto to Bakersfield.

Central Notes: Schmaltz, Fiala, Hendricks

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Very little has gone right with the Chicago Blackhawks in their first 20 games this season. They have changed coaches after Joel Quenneville lost five straight and little has gone right since then as new head coach Jeremy Colliton has gone 1-2-2 since then. Regardless, Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) breaks down the play of every player through the first 20 games.

Perhaps the most expected criticism comes to Nick Schmaltz, who many people had pegged as having a breakout season this year. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened as he has just two goals and eight points so far this year. Yet Powers notes that while many criticize his play for a lack of shooting, Schmaltz has actually increased that to 5.17 shots on goal per 60 minutes — the highest in his career. Quenneville moved him to wing in hopes of sparking that offense, which Colliton has maintained, yet the team is still waiting for an increase in production.

“I think he can be more active away from the puck,” Colliton said. “He can be a little more engaged in 50/50s at times. But he’s showing flashes of that. I thought his third period after we moved him to Arty’s line there he was really good. I think look back to the Carolina game in their rink he was maybe our best player. That’s what we want out of him more consistently. We got to see if he can play center because I think he could really add a lot to our team. When that happens, I don’t know. There’s a lot of upside there, no question.”

  • Nashville Predators forward Kevin Fiala found himself getting very little ice time between the second and third periods Saturday against Los Angeles, getting only three shifts as Ryan Hartman took his place in 5×5 play, while he lost his power play role to Calle Jarnkrok. However, when asked about why Fiala lost playing time, head coach Peter Laviolette said it was just a coincidence, according to The Athletic’s Adam Vingan. “Sometimes it’s just the way the game is going inside of the lines and the numbers,” said Laviolette. “We made a move and put Ryan Hartman up there, and all of the sudden they had a good shift. We went into the game with the thought of Calle and Kevin splitting power-play time. Kevin got the first one, and Calle ended up getting the second one and looked good on it. We just stuck with it. It seemed to be working, so we made the switches.”
  • Mike Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Minnesota Wild might be better off without veteran Matt Hendricks who has gotten into two straight games for the Wild. However, the scribe points out that the team plays better when Hendricks is out of the lineup as the team’s fourth line of Marcus Foligno, Eric Fehr and J.T. Brown have been fantastic together. Minnesota is 10-2 when Hendricks is not in the lineup, compared to 2-4-2 with him. Coincidentally, Russo reports that Hendricks will be a healthy scratch today.

Pacific Notes: Quick, Raanta, Chychrun, Oilers, Miller

at CDT | by 3 Comments

The Los Angeles Kings could use some good news with their goaltending issues and they got some Sunday as NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes reports that Jonathan Quick skated today in full gear, which is the next step in his recovery after undergoing surgery on Oct. 31 to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Weekes reports that Quick just worked on his crease work, but did not go down and did not take any pucks. Regardless, that has to be good news for L.A. who are without both Quick and his backup, Jack Campbell, who went down with the exact same injury. Instead, the team is going with the AHL tandem of Peter Budaj and Calvin Petersen. However, the team would much prefer to see Quick return to the lineup as new head coach Willie Desjardins continues to try to turn around the Kings after a poor start.

Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen adds that Quick could take on a heavier load in practice on either Wednesday or Friday.

  • Cat Silverman of The Athletic reports that the Arizona Coyotes had two injured players return to practice Sunday as goaltender Antti Raanta and defenseman Jakob Chychrun both practiced. Raanta’s practice was a short one, but he did participate in full drills while he was there. He was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 7 with an undisclosed injury. Chychrun recently returned to the team after recovering from offseason surgery and then immediately was placed on injured reserve after one game with an upper-body injury. He was a full participant in practice today and with full contact. Both are considered likely to play Wednesday against Vegas.
  • Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson writes that it’s unlikely the Edmonton Oilers will get involved in the William Nylander sweepstakes with the Toronto Maple Leafs as the team would likely have to send back defenseman Adam Larsson, which the Oilers would not be willing to do. Instead Matheson believes the Oilers’ best course of action would be to wait for the trade deadline and make a play for the New York Rangers Mats Zuccarello, who will be a unrestricted free agent next year, but could be a good fit in Edmonton.
  • The return of Nate Schmidt to the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday is good news for defenseman Colin Miller, who has been forced to take over Schmidt’s role as a No. 1 defenseman, always in charge of facing opposing team’s top line. That has been a challenge for Miller, who is better off as a second-pair defenseman, according to SinBin’s Steve Carp. That role has altered the way Miller thinks as he has had to focus on defense first and put offense on the back burner. Miller, who had 10 goals and 41 points last season, currently has no goals and six assists in 20 games. However, with Schmidt taking his previous role starting tonight and expected to be paired with Shea Theodore, Miller can return to his old role, which could result in an offensive boost for Vegas.

Vancouver Canucks Recall Sam Gagner From Toronto Marlies

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The Vancouver Canucks announced that they have recalled center Sam Gagner from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. The 29-year-old failed to earn a spot on the Canucks NHL roster out of training camp, but rather than bury him in Utica with their AHL team, the Canucks opted to loan him to the Marlies where he could be closer to his home in Toronto.

While a team that loans a player out has the right to recall them at any time, that’s a rare occurrence as it usually means the team intends to break it off with the player. Gagner signed a three-year, $9.45MM deal last summer, but struggled with Vancouver, finishing with just 10 goals and 31 points in 74 games and with a rebuild underway and a team loaded with a number of talented centers on the roster and in the AHL, the team opted to go a different direction.

Regardless, the recall also could have more to do with Gagner’s success with the Marlies as he has posted seven goals and 15 points in 15 AHL games and has proven to be a dynamic player as one of the Marlies’ top players. While the team does have a plethora of players on injured reserve at the moment, the team may also be recalling him to showcase him to other teams that may be looking for a bottom-six center. If the Canucks can unload Gagner’s contract at any point, that would free up more cap space in the future as he still has another year at $3.15MM.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Gardiner, Bergeron, Zadina

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs got some good news as star center Auston Matthews practiced with the team Sunday in a red non-contact jersey, suggesting that his return could come sooner than later, according to TSN’s Kristen Shilton. He has been out for three weeks and has already missed nine games after separating his shoulder during Toronto’s Oct. 27 game against Winnipeg.

“It feels a lot better,” Matthews said (via Shilton). “I think its progressed quite well. It’s still not all there, but hopefully it continues to progress and I get back out there as soon as possible.”

Matthews was seen taking part in a full practice, which included practicing his shot on both goaltenders, including Frederik Andersen and Garret Sparks. However, Matthews said that his shot still needs work.

“Not all there,” Matthews said. “Little mechanics of it, the strength in your arm is still coming back, not fully there. Accuracy is a little off, but I think all that stuff will come back soon.”

Toronto head coach Mike Babcock said there is no timetable yet for his return and can’t even really think about it until Matthews can be a full contributor in practice. Saturday will be four weeks, which was the minimum amount of time listed as a potential return, however, Matthews didn’t sound optimistic he’ll be ready to go at exactly the four-week point of the injury.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Matthews said. “Kind of just taking it day by day. Depends how I’m progressing.”

  • Sticking with the Leafs, The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel (subscription required) wonders what might happen with Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. While the Maple Leafs have bigger worries amongst their own free agents, Gardiner has compiled quite a resume with the Maple Leafs over the years and is currently the 10th-highest scoring defenseman in Maple Leafs’ history. However, with the sudden improved play of Travis Dermott, the scribe wonders if Dermott could be a cheaper option for Toronto which could allow the team to avoid giving the 28-year-old a big payday which they likely can’t afford anyway. While inexperienced, he’s done an admirable job in his role that doesn’t include any power play time and he might be able to replace Gardiner completely within a year.
  • The sudden loss of Patrice Bergeron has had a greater affect on the team than many have thought, writes The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required).  The 33-year-old, who is considered day-to-day after taking a hard check from Dallas’ Radek Faksa, is the focal point to the Bruins offense and was missed Saturday, despite squeaking out a 2-1 victory. The scribe writes that Boston immediately broke up the first line without Bergeron in the lineup as Patrnak was teamed with David Krejci, while Marchand moved to the second line to work with Jake Debrusk. Regardless, the entire lineup was shaken without Bergeron, who may be the most valuable piece to their team.
  • Max Bultman of The Athletic (subscription required) looks at the progress made by prospect Filip Zadina who is playing with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL who is starting to heat up. Zadina, the sixth-overall pick in this year’s draft, has been displaying confidence recently in Grand Rapids and the fact that he’s posted six goals in his past five games may have something to do with it. With the Red Wings playing well, Zadina will likely stay in Grand Rapids, but according to Griffins head coach Ben Simon, he has quite a bit to work on still. “That’s great to look at a box score and see, but if you’re a scout in the building or you’re a coach watching the game, there’s still a heck of a lot more room for improvement to get to the NHL for him,” Simon said. “Now, that being said, he has gotten a lot more confident, a lot more settled in with what this league’s all about. I think it took him a little bit of time to figure that out.

Toronto Willing To Let William Nylander Sit Out Season

at CDT | by 17 Comments

If the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t find a deal that they like, the team is willing to allow restricted free agent holdout William Nylander to sit out the entire season, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston on Hockey Night in Canada.

“If there isn’t a trade that presents itself — and we spoke last week about the fact that they are gauging the market on William Nylander, and William Nylander’s demands don’t come to the range that they’re comfortable paying — they’re comfortable letting this player sit and I think that’s significant with the fact that it’s 13-plus days remaining and tensions only to get a little higher as we get closer to Dec. 1,” Johnston said.

For a team with the potential to win now while they have many players on entry-level deals, that may not be the best course of action. Nylander is a major free agent and the team could use Nylander or the potential returns from a trade, whose situation must be decided on by Dec. 1. With the emergence of Kasperi Kapanen, who also will be a restricted free agent next season, the team may not need Nylander’s offense, but with a struggling defense, the team could use a trade to bring in much needed defensive help for a team attempting to challenge for a Stanley Cup now.

The last player to sit out an entire season due to a contract dispute was Michael Peca when he sat out the 2001-02 season while at a contract impasse with the Buffalo Sabres.

Of course, Toronto may be sending that message out to teams with the hope of increasing offers from other teams who hope to get Nylander at a reduced price as that Dec. 1 deadline nears. If teams believe that Toronto will let him sit, teams may be willing to hand over more assets to get a deal done before the deadline.

Pacific Notes: Pavelski, Schmidt, Carlyle, Juolevi

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Joe Pavelski has seen a number of teammates play through their expiring contracts and not let it affect them. Joe Thornton has done it twice in the last two seasons, while Patrick Marleau did it recently as well, although he opted to find a new home.

Now the San Jose Sharks’ center is in the exact same situation, explains Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required). The 34-year-old Pavelski is in the final year of a five-year, $30MM contract and so far, there have been no talks of an extension with the long-time Sharks’ veteran. Just like Thornton and Marleau at the time, the lack of a deal isn’t affecting Pavelski’s play as he’s put up 11 goals so far this season, which is already half way to the 22 goals he scored last year.

“(Thornton and Marleau) handled it different times throughout their careers, and they’ve handled it well,’ Pavelski said earlier this week. “Obviously, you probably understand some of the things that they’ve gone through in the past a little bit better. But they’ve never taken away from the group. It’s never been a distraction. You just respect them as people for how they want to contribute to the group.”

  • The Vegas Golden Knights should get a defensive boost Sunday night when No. 1 defenseman Nate Schmidt returns to the team after sitting out with a 20-game suspension. However, Adam Hill of The Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that the return of Schmidt won’t be some magic elixir, however, for a struggling Vegas team that sits at 8-11-1 this season. However, Schmidt should help the team out in two key areas, offense and defense. “He’s one of our best players so he’s going to make a difference all over the ice — I hope,” head coach Gerard Gallant said. “Always a solid guy, moves the puck, skates well. You know what kind of player he is and he’s a big part of our group, so hopefully he’s going to make a big difference.”
  • With an 8-9-4 record, many people wouldn’t be surprised if the Anaheim Ducks chose to make a coaching change and move on from head coach Randy Carlyle. However, while that thought is apparent in the Ducks’ locker room, Carlyle isn’t worrying about his job. “We’re at the 20-game mark and we said that you do an evaluation of where you’re at with our group. We’ve been inconsistent and nobody’s going to be here waving the banners but we have some positives within that group too,” Carlyle said. “We have some players that have never played before now (and) have some NHL games and NHL experience. We’re not that far away from the pack. We’re still hanging around. The key is now is to stay with the pack until we can get our group playing at a higher level and having some personnel back that we can grow our group as a team. We haven’t created an identity for our hockey club yet, and that’s been the most frustrating part for us.”
  • Mike Halford of The Athletic (subscription required) looks at the play of defenseman Olli Juolevi, who has been putting up quite a few points in his first season with the Utica Comets of the AHL, and wonders when the Canucks may be ready to bring the prospect up to the NHL squad. So far, Juolevi has 13 points in 16 games and the Canucks, who lack any offensive weapons on defense, could really use one for a team that has fared quite well so far this season with a 10-9-2 record so far. However, defense is also an issue as the 20-year-old sports a minus-11. Utica assistant coach Gary Agnew admits that he needs time to develop his game still. “Certainly he’s not fully responsible for all those minuses, Agnew said. “But when there’s a little bit of a trend, there’s a trend. Obviously it’s a part of the game that we’re working hard with him at, and he’s very receptive to coaching. He’s eager to learn and he wants to be better. He’s doing all the things that you hope a high prospect does, in terms of his coachability.”

Central Notes: Jost, Zadorov, Nichushkin, Kane

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With a dominant top line that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, the Colorado Avalanche can’t be happier as they have combined for 75 points so far this season. However, the biggest concern for the team has been their secondary scoring, which most recently seems to have improved when the team re-inserted center Tyson Jost together with wingers Alex Kerfoot and Colin Wilson, according to Kyle Newman of the Denver Post.

Jost had spent some time with that line earlier this year, but between a demotion to the team’s fourth line and an injury that kept him out for four games, Jost finally got a chance to center the two wingers and has made the most of his opportunity with a pair of goals in the past week as well as improved play from both Wilson and Kerfoot.

“It’s tough to score every night, but I want to see them generate chances every night and I want to see them doing the right things defensively,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. “They’re starting to earn more trust on the defensive side of the puck as a young line, and they’re finding ways to chip in, and the last (few games) are a prime example.”

  • Sticking with the Avalanche, Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Bednar has lost faith for the time being in defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who led the league in hits with 278 last year and averaged 19:28 of ice time last season. However, his role has changed as he is averaging just 15:12, was benched in the third period Wednesday against Boston and then finally was a healthy scratch for the team’s game against Washington on Friday. “We’ve got some D that are playing well,” Bednar said. “Like I said, we’ve got the depth at D now, seven (defensemen) and sometimes you gotta make tough decisions. … Sometimes that means moving around the lineup, elevating guys, lowering guys in the lineup with their minutes. Other times it means you have to make tough decisions and scratch some guys. That’s what we did with Nikita. He’s going to get an opportunity to go back in and continue to play. We’ll see how the game goes.”
  • Dallas Stars winger Valeri Nichushkin hasn’t scored an NHL goal in 989 days. Granted, he just spent the last two season in the KHL, which has something to do with that statistic. However, Nichushkin went 26 combined regular season and playoff games without scoring back in 2016 and now has gone 14 straight goalless games this season, according to SportsDay’s Matthew DeFranks. His struggles are not stopping him, however. “Tough start, but I feel better every game, especially the last three games, I had a lot of moments,” Nichushkin said. “I need to score and I think everything will be good. Team’s winning so I don’t care. I know I will be better.”
  • Chicago Blackhawks new head coach Jeremy Colliton has utilized the strategy of playing Patrick Kane as much as possible since he’s taken over, but another interesting stat is that Colliton has used Kane almost entirely on the power play, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Jimmy Greenfield. In fact, Kane has been used for 16:50 of power play time under Colliton in a total of 17:52, an unbelievable usage rate for a 30-year-old player. “I don’t think it’s been a problem so far, and I think the power play’s moving in the right direction,” Colliton said. “I thought the power play was better tonight than it was against St. Louis, but we scored against St. Louis so it (wasn’t) a talking point. We’ve just got to work on it.”

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top