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Central Notes: Fabbro, O’Reilly, Polak, Seguin

August 4, 2018 at 7:41 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

While Predators prospect Dante Fabbro is set to return to Boston University next season, he is not planning on pushing his way into free agency in 2020, notes NHL.com’s Robby Stanley. The team tried to convince the defenseman to turn pro this summer, but the 20-year-old wanted to stick around for his junior campaign.

“I’ve always said that I want to play in Nashville and I want to be a Predator,” Fabbro said during Predators development camp in June. “I honestly don’t think it’ll come to that, but a lot of things can happen. Nashville was my favorite team. So I have no reason to want to go somewhere else. With their record of developing defensemen in the League, I think it would definitely be a perfect fit for me. I’m excited to play here. I want to play here. It’s definitely going to be a dream come true if I can.”

He would be eligible to suit up in Nashville late in the year once his NCAA season wraps up which is a route a few teams have taken with their top prospects in recent years (including the Preds last year with winger Eeli Tolvanen) so that could certainly be an option come March or April.

  • Evan Sporer of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that one side benefit from the St. Louis Blues trade to acquire center Ryan O’Reilly is his special teams skills. Those skills will be critical for the Blues, who finished 30th in the league in power play as they converted goals on just 15.4 percent of the time. One problem, according to Sporer, is that the team had trouble getting to star forward Vladimir Tarasenko. O’Reilly has the passing skills to make Tarasenko the focal point on offense. Most important, his ability to win face-offs will be critical to the team’s chances of making major improvements on their power play.
  • The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) breaks down the play of veteran defenseman Roman Polak, who signed with the Dallas Stars this offseason. The 32-year-old blueliner has always been loved by coaches for his old-school style and excellent locker room demeanor, but his statistical breakdown always looks questionable and he outlives his usefulness. Regardless, Shapiro writes that he is a perfect fit in Dallas, who have two young defensemen in Miro Heiskanen and Julius Honka, who look NHL-ready, but if one of them isn’t, Polak is the perfect fill-in. Regardless, the veteran should provide much-needed mentoring to the young players.
  • SportsDay’s Joshua Friemel breaks down the Tyler Seguin trade from five years ago and how the Dallas Stars stole away a franchise player for next to nothing from the Boston Bruins.

Boston Bruins| Dallas Stars| NHL| Nashville Predators| Players| St. Louis Blues Eeli Tolvanen| Julius Honka| Miro Heiskanen

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Pacific Notes: Sutter, Karlsson, Talbot, Stone, McPhee

August 4, 2018 at 6:30 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

Much of the attention that has come towards the Vancouver Canucks this offseason either fell to their plethora of prospects, many of which seem to be ready to contribute next season, or their highly criticized signings of Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel and Tim Schaller on the first day of free agency (not including the resignation of Trevor Linden). Regardless, The Athletic’s J.D. Burke (subscription required) writes that forgotten man Brandon Sutter’s stock is definitely heading up this season.

The 29-year-old forward has provided the Canucks with a physical and defensive presence, but hasn’t been required to show his offensive skills. Suddenly, with scoring becoming a great team need and the addition of players like Beagle, Roussel and Schaller, the opportunity to play a more offensive role is suddenly in front of him.

One suggestion is to have Sutter center the team’s second line with Elias Pettersson playing next to him to start the season. Then once, Pettersson has adjusted to North American play, allow the two to switch places.

  • After signing a one-year deal for $5.25MM this morning, Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson remained positive about staying in Las Vegas long-term, according to Jesse Granger of the Las Vegas Sun. He hopes he can duplicate the 43-goal season from last year, which should hand him the long-term deal he wants when he goes through restricted free agency again next season. “In an ideal world I would’ve liked a long term deal, but I like to bet on myself and that’s what this is. Now I can go prove myself,” Karlsson said.
  • The Edmonton Sun’s Robert Tychkowski interviewed Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot about the team’s signing of Mikko Koskinen to a one-year, $2.5MM deal. Koskinen is likely to take a much bigger role than the 15 games that Talbot didn’t play in. That signing likely had something to do with Talbot’s on-ice struggles as he went from a 2.39 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 2016-17 to a 3.02 GAA and a .909 save percentage. However, Talbot welcomes the challenge. “I like the competition,” Talbot said. “I enjoy it. It pushes everyone to be better. Maybe it will take a little bit of the starts away from me and I can be at the top of my game.”
  • The Athletic’s Kent Wilson (subscription required) writes that the Calgary Flames made a poor move last offseason when they signed defenseman Michael Stone to a three-year, $10.5MM deal. The veteran defenseman was thought to be a top-four defenseman, but once the team added Travis Hamonic via trade, Stone was sent to the team’s third pairing and truly struggled last year. Now, with $7MM remaining on his deal over the next two years, Stone stands in the way of multiple young defenseman, including Rasmus Andersson. With little trade value, things could get ugly at some point in the next year.
  • In another tweet, Granger interviewed Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee about the talent at the forward position. The team added center Paul Stastny, but lost two quality players in James Neal and David Perron. Despite the losses, the team has several in-house candidates like Alex Tuch and Tomas Tatar ready to step up. “I like where we are, but if there’s an opportunity to upgrade at the forward position at any time over the next year we will,” McPhee said.

Calgary Flames| Edmonton Oilers| George McPhee| Vancouver Canucks| Vegas Golden Knights Alex Tuch| Antoine Roussel| Brandon Sutter| Cam Talbot| David Perron| Elias Pettersson| James Neal| Jay Beagle| Las Vegas| Michael Stone| Paul Stastny

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Sabres Notes: Botterill, Skinner, Reinhart, Smith, Okposo

August 4, 2018 at 4:28 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres acquisition of winger Jeff Skinner only suggests to a defeated Buffalo fanbase that the Sabres intend to shake things up and improve on their inability to even reach the playoffs since the 2010-11 season. However, Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News takes it a step further as he suggests that general manager Jason Botterill and the Sabres fleeced the Carolina Hurricanes in their stealing of Skinner and it shows how Buffalo means business.

The key to the deal is the fact that Buffalo didn’t give them anything off their current rosters for a top-line left wing. The only player they did hand over will be playing in the NHL next season. Of the picks that Botterill did give to Carolina, the GM didn’t give up one of the three first-rounders that Buffalo has in the 2019 draft. And for Buffalo, Harrington writes, it’s a no-lose for the Sabres. If Skinner signs a long-term deals, they win. If they trade him at the deadline, they should be able to get a similar return than what they paid for him in the first place.

  • The Athletic’s Jon Vogl (subscription required) writes that Skinner is currently focused on getting integrated in Buffalo and coach Phil Housley’s system and his mind is not on his contract. The 26-year-old has said he is not focused on his contract. “Our focus with Jeff is to make this transition into Buffalo as easy as possible for him,” general manager Jason Botterill said, “for him to get settled in, focused in on the start of the season, go through the process here for him to get to know his teammates, get to know Phil (Housley), get to know myself, and we’ll talk about things such as extensions or contract down the road.”
  • The Athletic’s Joe Yerdon writes that there is little movement on a contract for Sabres’ restricted free agent Sam Reinhart. Botterill said the team would be waiting until all arbitration cases are completed, which suggests that Reinhart and his camp wanted to see how everyone did before agreeing to a new deal. Reinhart is coming off a career-high 25 goals and 50 points.
  • In another Yerdon piece, the scribe writes that the Sabres are expecting a lot of development from their defensemen now that they have assistant coach Steve Smith aboard for this upcoming season. The former Carolina Hurricanes’ assistant is well known for working well with young defensemen including Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin and Noah Hanifin to name a few. He could have a positive affect on a number of players in Buffalo, including Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nathan Beaulieu, Marco Scandella and Brendan Guhle.
  • Scott Billeck of NBC Sports writes that this will be a big year for high-priced winger Kyle Okposo to prove himself. After suffering through two major concussions over the past two years, the 30-year-old needs a bounce back season after posting just 34 goals over the past two seasons. He’s likely going to start on the team’s second-line next to rookie center Casey Mittelstadt. However, he must show he can stay healthy to even come close to showing he’s worthy of the $6MM AAV he’s carrying for the next five years.

Buffalo Sabres| Carolina Hurricanes| Phil Housley Brett Pesce| Casey Mittelstadt| Jaccob Slavin| Jeff Skinner| Justin Faulk| Kyle Okposo| Marco Scandella| Nathan Beaulieu| Noah Hanifin

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Snapshots: Pacioretty, Lucic, Simmonds, Vilardi

July 29, 2018 at 5:58 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens look like they have no choice but to trade their star player in Max Pacioretty. With the 29-year-old entering the final year of his contract and little interest from Montreal to lock him up to a long-term deal, this is their only chance to move him. However, what makes things challenging for general manager Marc Bergevin and the Canadiens is that Pacioretty is coming off a disappointing year in which he produced just 17 goals in injury-plagued season after posting four straight years of 30 or more goals.

However, time is not Bergevin’s friend and the team has little choice but to try to move his contract now rather than wait to trade him as a rental in February. NBC Sports Joey Alfieri suggests five teams that might be good fits for Pacioretty with the Chicago Blackhawks leading the way. Pacioretty would be the perfect fit for Chicago considering the team’s biggest acquisition this offseason has been backup goaltender Cam Ward. However, the Blackhawks might be challenged to put together a quality package for Pacioretty.

However, another more interesting option would be the New Jersey Devils, who have the cap space to make it work and Pacioretty, a native of Connecticut – a mere 70 miles away — might be willing to stay with a team that already has an intruiging cast including Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall.

  • In a recent podcast on Spittin’ Chiclets, Edmonton Oilers forward Milan Lucic talked about his disappointing season in Edmonton which has his name and his contract being thrown around in potential trade rumors. Regardless, Lucic had nothing but great things to say about the Oilers’ organization and takes a lot of the blame for his poor season. Lucic, who signed a seven-year, $42MM deal in 2016, still has five years remaining at $6MM AAV. However, after posting 23 goals and 50 points in the first year of his deal, Lucic’s numbers took a nosedive as he tallied just 10 goals and 34 points and he didn’t miss a single game all season. “I think it was definitely more of a mental thing,” Lucic said. “It was almost like everything that could have gone wrong went wrong for our team and for me personally and it was the snowball effect or the quicksand effect. I think my mindset got very negative last year. So I was almost my own worst enemy, where this year I’m just going in with a happy, healthier mindset.”
  • Dave Isaac of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post writes that Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall has kept a close on the New York Islanders and John Tavares situation and isn’t interested in letting any of his players go. With winger Wayne Simmonds entering the final year of his contract, will probably price himself out of Philadelphia and the fact that he likely will end up on the team’s third line this year, don’t be surprised if Hextall trades Simmonds at the trade deadline next year. The 29-year-old has put up 28 or more goals for the past four years in Philadelphia, but struggled with nagging injuries last year, tallying 24 goals.
  • The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman reports that Los Angeles Kings prospect Gabe Vilardi will not be participating in the World Junior Showcase for Hockey Canada after Vilardi suffered a back injury. While not considered serious, Vilardi has had issues with his back before as he missed all but 32 games this past year with the OHL Kingston Frontenacs. Vilardi, the team’s first-round pick in 2017, will have a chance to break into the Kings’ lineup if he has a good showing in training camp.

Chicago Blackhawks| Edmonton Oilers| Injury| Los Angeles Kings| Marc Bergevin| Montreal Canadiens| New Jersey Devils| Philadelphia Flyers| Snapshots Cam Ward| Gabe Vilardi| Max Pacioretty| Milan Lucic

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Vegas Golden Knights Building Winner From Within

July 29, 2018 at 4:38 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The Vegas Golden Knights had an incredible season last year, but with just one offseason between a Stanley Cup Finals appearance, there are many who feel that the Golden Knights fortunes are folding. A recent poll by PHR that asked what NHL playoff team won’t make the playoffs next year has the Vegas Golden Knights receiving the most votes after the team allowed James Neal and David Perron to walk away this offseason. Much of that has to do with Neal’s 25 goals last year, while Perron himself contributed 50 assists in Vegas.

Yet, the Vegas Golden Knights, aside from signing center Paul Stastny to a three-year deal, have made it clear they don’t want to be locked into long-term deals and would prefer to see their young players continue to grow. That’s why the team let Neal go to Calgary for five years and Perron to St. Louis for four. Instead, the team feels they can build from within. The only reason that Vegas didn’t trade Neal and Perron away at the trade deadline is the team decided they would use them as their own rental players, which seemed to have worked as they went to the finals.

While the team probably has to wait another year for their top prospects in Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki, Erik Brannstrom and Nicolas Hague to start paying dividends for the team, the Golden Knights already have two players in place who they know are ready to take that next step as the team expects to move Alex Tuch and Tomas Tatar up to the second line, according to Gary Lawless of NHL.com.

Tuch, who came over in a trade with the Minnesota Wild in an expansion draft deal, played a big role on the team’s third line last year and often got playing time on the second line while Neal and/or Perron were injured. The 22-year-old winger is eight years younger than Neal as well as two inches taller. Tuch posted 15 goals, playing just almost two minutes less than Neal. Tuch’s 37 points was just seven shy of Neal’s totals of 44 points. And Tuch doesn’t have Neals’ injury issues, which kept the veteran out of 11 games last season.

Tatar came over at the trade deadline as the team unloaded a first, second and third-round pick to acquire the 27-year-old winger, but he struggled to adjust to the Golden Knights lineup and found himself a healthy scratch during much of the team’s playoff run and even when he did play, he only saw time on the team’s third line. Regardless, Tatar has proven to be a capable winger, who has tallied 19 goals or more for five straight years. With a full training camp to adjust to the team, it’s extremely likely, he should be able to take a bigger role on Vegas’ second line as well.

Lawless also suggests that fourth-line energizer Tomas Nosek is another candidate to take a larger role next season and could blossom in the right situation. The 25-year-old center has been one of the keys to Vegas’ successful fourth line, but only averaged 11:06 of playing time through the season, posting seven goals. However, his presence is the playoffs suggests he could be ready for an increased role after scoring four goals in 17 games.

Throw in the fact that many of their players are just starting to hit their prime, most of their players should continue to improve and get better.

Expansion| Injury| Vegas Golden Knights Alex Tuch| Cody Glass| David Perron| Erik Brannstrom| James Neal| Nick Suzuki| Paul Stastny

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Central Notes: Tarasenko, Schmaltz, Keith

July 29, 2018 at 3:25 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The St. Louis Blues have done everything they can to retool their team to not only get them back into the playoffs, but make a deep run of it. They went out and acquired Ryan O’Reilly, signed Tyler Bozak, David Perron and Patrick Maroon and have two top prospects on the brink of joining their team in Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.

However while answering mailbag questions, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) suggests that the biggest improvement to the team should come from within as he believes that Vladimir Tarasenko has just scratched the surface of what he’s capable of. The 26-year-old has posted goal totals of 37, 40, 39 and 33 goals over the past four seasons, but he is more than capable of becoming the superstar that many felt he could be when he was drafted in the first round in 2010. Rutherford even compared him to Brett Hull.

However, the scribe says he needs to fix a few things if he wants to take that next step, including playing more relaxed and not let everything around him frustrate him. He also feels that although he’s coming off shoulder surgery this offseason, he needs to get into the best shape of his life and be more engaged on the ice.

  • Chicago Blackhawks’ Nick Schmaltz has come a long way since being viewed as a prospect two years ago. Now the team’s second-line center, who many view as the eventual successor to Jonathan Toews on the first line, Schmaltz feels he’s ready to take on a bigger role with the team, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. However, the first thing the 22-year-old must do is improve on his faceoffs. Schmaltz has struggled with faceoffs for two straight years, winning just 31 percent of his faceoffs in his rookie year, while improving to 40 percent this year (321 faceoffs won out of 801). Unfortunately, that number is still not good enough as the team hopes for closer to 50 percent.  “I’ve got some stuff that I’m going to continue to work on, especially in the faceoff circle,” Schmaltz said. “If I can continue to get that up, that’ll only help our team game with the puck.”
  • John Dietz of the Daily Herald interviewed Duncan Keith at the 11th annual Fan Convention on Friday and Keith, who scored just two goals on 187 shots, was quick to take the blame for the Chicago Blackhawks’ struggles last season that had them missing the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. The 35-year-old defender has averaged 25:13 of ATOI throughout his career, but saw those numbers decline to 23:50 last year and it might drop even further in the future. “I definitely take some of the blame from last year, knowing that there were certain things I could do better,” Keith said. “On the good things, I’ll continue to do that. Other things, I’ll try to work on and be better at.”

Chicago Blackhawks| St. Louis Blues David Perron| Duncan Keith| Jonathan Toews| Jordan Kyrou| Nick Schmaltz| Patrick Maroon| Robert Thomas| Tyler Bozak| Vladimir Tarasenko

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Tampa Bay May Still Be Looking For More Defense

July 29, 2018 at 1:58 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

With the current high demands from Ottawa in a possible Erik Karlsson trade making it less and less likely that anything will happen, the Tampa Bay Lightning must choose whether they should be content with their defense or need to find another fit.

On paper, the team seems more solid than most as the team boasts Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh to go with promising Mikhail Sergachev and a host of solid blueline depth, including Anton Stralman, Dan Girardi, Braydon Coburn, Jake Dotchin and Slater Koekkoek. Yet when looking a step further, their elite defensemen are all left-handed. Hedman, McDonaugh and Sergachev are all left-handed, leaving Stralman, Dotchin and Girardi on the right, which isn’t nearly as solid. While Sergachev has proven he can play on the right side, that isn’t ideal for the Lightning, which was another reason why the team was intent on adding the right-handed Karlsson.

In a mailbag segment, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) suggests the team needs to continue looking for a right-handed defenseman to even out both sides, suggesting the team should monitor the Jacob Trouba situation in Winnipeg since the stud defenseman refuses to sign a long-term deal with the Jets. Trouba, who received a one-year, $5.5MM deal from an arbitrator last week will have to go through the same process next year as he will be a restricted free agent again. If the two sides can’t reach long-term agreement then, he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2020-21 and might force his way out of Winnipeg.

Another option, Smith writes, would be prying Justin Faulk away from the Carolina Hurricanes. The right-shot defenseman has two years remaining on his contract at $4.83MM AAV, but with the acquisition of Dougie Hamilton and Calvin de Haan and the plethora of young defensive talent on the roster, including Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Haydn Fleury and Jake Bean, the team is expected to move Faulk for more help in other areas.

One final option and perhaps the cheapest would be to trade for Vancouver Canucks’ Chris Tanev. The 28-year-old stay-at-home defender has been solid for the Canucks, but is being overpaid at $4.45MM for the next two seasons. The right-handed defenseman would be a reliable presence.

Regardless, the team needs to shake up their defense. Coburn and Girardi, who have played bigger roles in the past, are better off as third-pairing defenders, while Sergachev played the best hockey of his career during the playoffs, suggesting he’s likely going to move into the top-four. Dotchin and Koekkoek are also both likely going to fight for time in the top-six, so something needs to change.

 

Carolina Hurricanes| Tampa Bay Lightning| Vancouver Canucks| Winnipeg Jets Anton Stralman| Braydon Coburn| Brett Pesce| Calvin de Haan| Chris Tanev| Dan Girardi| Dougie Hamilton| Erik Karlsson| Haydn Fleury| Jaccob Slavin| Jacob Trouba| Jake Dotchin| Justin Faulk| Mikhail Sergachev| Ryan McDonagh| Slater Koekkoek| Victor Hedman

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Metropolitan Notes: Capitals, Nelson, Zibanejad, Myers

July 29, 2018 at 12:53 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

If it ain’t broke. Don’t fix it. At least that seems to be what the Washington Capitals believe. After capturing the Stanley Cup last season, the team completed one of its final moves when it locked up forward Tom Wilson to a six-year, $31-year deal. And suddenly, the team miraculously has managed to bring back almost its entire roster for next season, according to J.J. Regan of Yahoo Sports.

While all teams are forced to shake up their roster and allow for the losses of free agents after each season, the Capitals are an unusual situation, considering the number of potential free agents as well as how tight their salary cap has been over the past two years. It wasn’t going to get any better, yet still, the team still was able to re-sign stud defenseman John Carlson (eight years, $64MM) as well as find a creative way to trade defenseman Brooks Orpik to Colorado and then bring him back after the Avalanche waived him. They also managed to hold onto trade deadline acquisition Michal Kempny (four years, $10MM).

Sure, the team did suffer a couple of losses, including the loss of fourth-line center Jay Beagle and backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer. However, the team has people ready to step into those positions, including prospect Travis Boyd, free agent acquisition Nic Dowd as well as place long-time minor leaguer Pheonix Copley to fill in for a year, while the team waits for superstar prospect Ilya Samsonov to develop in the AHL for a year.

  • Andrew Gross of Newsday wonders whether the New York Islanders would consider moving center Brock Nelson for a defenseman, now that the 26-year-old has agreed to a one-year, $4.25MM deal with the team. With quite a bit of youth in the wings and the team in desperate need for blueline help and the fact that Nelson could walk away from the team as an unrestricted free agent next season, a trade might make a lot of sense. Nelson has been quite productive for New York, posting at least 19 goals in his last four seasons.
  • The Athletic’s Rick Carpinello (subscription required) analyzes and grades the season of New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, who took over the team’s No. 1 center position last season after the team traded away Derek Stepan. Many of the same questions about Stepan not being a No. 1 center now have fallen to Zibanejad. Yet, the 25-year-old definitely took his game up a notch, posting a career-high 27 goals in 72 games, but once again suffered an injury that interrupted his season. It marks the second straight year that Zibanejad has struggled with injuries, which is a concern and the center still must work on his consistency, including the fact that he posted no goals and one assist in the final seven games.
  • Dave Isaac of the Cherry Hill Courier Post writes that if the Philadelphia Flyers are impressed by the play of 6-foot-5 prospect Philippe Myers in training camp this year, that could impact the role of defenseman Radko Gudas, who could then be on his way out as Myers physicality could replace Gudas role as well as the fact that Myers and Travis Sanheim were a great pair when they were together with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL.

New York Islanders| New York Rangers| Philadelphia Flyers| Washington Capitals Brock Nelson| Brooks Orpik| Derek Stepan| Ilya Samsonov| Jay Beagle| John Carlson| Michal Kempny| Mika Zibanejad| Nic Dowd| Pheonix Copley| Philipp Grubauer| Philippe Myers| Radko Gudas| Tom Wilson| Travis Boyd| Travis Sanheim

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Atlantic Notes: Reinhart, Panthers, Forsbacka Karlsson, Canadiens

July 29, 2018 at 11:24 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 5 Comments

The recent restricted free agent deals signed by Calgary’s Elias Lindholm (6-year, $29.1MM deal) and Minnesota’s Jason Zucker (6-year, $27.5MM deal) may be interesting, but no one might be more intrigued by those deals than Buffalo Sabres restricted free agent Sam Reinhart.

The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington cites that Reinhart has quite similar numbers to that of both Lindholm and Zucker. Reinhart is coming off a 25-goal, 50-point season, while Lindholm tallied 16 goals and 44 points. Zucker potted 33 goals for 66 points. So a long-term extension could look similar to those two deal.

However, Harrington also adds that the Sabres are likely maneuvering for a shorter bridge deal as the team still isn’t sure what they have in Reinhart. He was drafted in the same 2014 draft that produced Detroit’s Dylan Larkin, who is also looking for a long-term deal. Yet, Larkin is the face of Detroit’s franchise, while Reinhart is not with players like Jack Eichel and Rasmus Dahlin around.

  • Jameson Olive of the Florida Panthers website reports that he recently interviewed Panthers’ general manager Dave Tallon, who said there are still a number of players available out there that the GM likes, so don’t be surprised if the Panthers aren’t done dealing. The Panthers have been relatively quiet this offseason, although they did trade for Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman earlier this year as well as sign goaltender Michael Hutchinson to a one-year deal through free agency. The team’s biggest addition is likely to come from their youth as prospects like Henrik Borgstrom and Owen Tippett are expected to take on full-time roles with the team this season. However, could a trade still be in the works?
  • The Athletic’s Joe McDonald (subscription required) writes that the Boston Bruins expect that prospect Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson will challenge for the third-line center job in training camp this year. The 21-year-old, who was a second-round pick back in 2015, posted 15 goals and 32 points in his first season in the AHL and hopes to make the jump next season. “He’s got the ability,” Providence Bruins coach Jay Leach said. “He has a high level of skill and can make high-end plays, the kind of plays you need your third-line center to make at the NHL level. He went through a year last year where he turned into a professional hockey player. He was playing against men, and there were some adjustments, and he still had a pretty solid year.”
  • Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette notes that many people are wondering why the Montreal Canadiens left $8MM in cap room sitting around last season when they could have spent it to upgrade their team. With no free agents to worry about, the team has almost the same amount of money available to spend this season, but once again seems content not to spend that money, suggesting the team would rather save that money for their profits. He wonders if Montreal fans are willing to accept a bargain-basement team.

Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Florida Panthers Dylan Larkin| Elias Lindholm| Henrik Borgstrom| Jack Eichel| Jason Zucker| Michael Hutchinson| Mike Hoffman| Owen Tippett

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Snapshots: Dallas Trades, Milano, Armia

July 28, 2018 at 8:53 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

The Dallas Stars have been deep in talks with the Ottawa Senators for the right to trade for Erik Karlsson this offseason, although negotiations seems to have died down after Ottawa supposedly insisted on Dallas including top defensive prospect Miro Heiskanen in the deal. However, Dallas, who has been rather quiet this offseason looks to be still working the phones on adding talent through the trade market, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski.

The scribe writes that general manager Jim Nill said in an interview that he is still talking to teams about potential trades.

“I can’t name things, but there is still lots out there,” Nill said. “We’re talking to teams. There is still a lot of movement happening within the business. I can’t say there is anything happening overnight, but there is a lot of dialogue still.”

Nill has said that he likes the team, which has added former first-rounder Valeri Nichushkin, Heiskanen, Blake Comeau and backup goaltender Anton Khudobin. However, with many big names still available in trades, it wouldn’t be surprising if Dallas was looking to make one more big move.

  • The Hockey Writers’ Mark Scheig writes that if the Columbus Blue Jackets must part with Artemi Panarin, the team will likely have to look in their own organization for a potential replacement player who can take that next step on offense for them — namely Sonny Milano. While a year ago, the fans were ready to move on from the prospect after two long years in Cleveland with the AHL, Milano is the team’s best left wing offensive talent who could step in and replace Panarin. However, the scribe writes that the problem is that his defense has been holding him back, but if Milano shows that he can improve on that aspect of his game, he might thrive in a top-six role. The 22-year-old averaged just 11:39 ATOI per game last year and still managed to score 14 goals. If he could find better minutes, he might be the breakout player many thought he would be years ago.
  • With a new team and new opportunities in front of him, NHL.com’s Matt Cudzinowski interviews Joel Armia, who was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens a month ago from the Winnipeg Jets. The 25-year-old Armia said while his goal is to always improve on the season before, he is concentrating his training on improving his speed.  “I’ve been working a lot more on my skating and speed,” Armia said. “I think that’s going to help me more and more on the ice. The game is getting faster every year, so skating and speed have been the main focus. I’m training with a couple of guys in Pori who play pro in Finland. I’ve also been working in Helsinki with Teuvo Teravainen and Esa Lindell, and a couple of young guys who’ve been drafted. In Helsinki, they have some good skating coaches. That’s where I go every other week to work. I’ll spend about three days there at a time. I also get my off-ice workout programs there and train in Pori.”

Columbus Blue Jackets| Dallas Stars| Montreal Canadiens| Ottawa Senators| Snapshots Anton Khudobin| Artemi Panarin| Blake Comeau| Erik Karlsson| Esa Lindell| Joel Armia| Miro Heiskanen| Sonny Milano| Teuvo Teravainen| Valeri Nichushkin

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