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East Notes: Stamkos, Zadina, Islanders, Lundqvist

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are now down 1-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals and, of course, the question of Steven Stamkos’ availability came up in the most recent press conference. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said he doubted that Stamkos would be ready for Game 2, but did speculate further on the possibility that Stamkos could make an appearance for the Lightning at some point in the series, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith.

Cooper said that Stamkos is “inching closer” to a return and it’s “killing him” not to play, but the coach also said he refuses to put him in if he’s not ready. Cooper said the team needs to make sure his conditioning is up and both he and the medical staff are both comfortable with Stamkos on the ice.

  • The Detroit Red Wings sent 2018 first-round pick Filip Zadina to the Czech Republic to continue playing until the 2020-21 begins, but already have felt the danger of loaning out one of their players. HC Ocelari Trinec announced that Zadina will miss the next few weeks with a upper-body injury that he sustained during a game Sunday. While there is no word on how serious the injury is, the diagnosis that he will be out a few weeks likely means it won’t threaten his availability when the NHL begins their 2020-21 season, which likely now won’t be until at least January 2021. Zadina took over a top-six spot late in the season, scoring eight goals and 15 points in 28 games and is a key component to the team’s 2020-21 season.
  • With four pending unrestricted free agents coming up in the offseason, the New York Islanders have quite a few decisions to make about who they intend to keep. While general manager Lou Lamoriello was able to re-sign most of his UFA’s last season, that’s not likely to be the case. Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that the team may only keep one of them this time around, suggesting that forward Matt Martin could be the only one to retain. The team isn’t likely to bring back goaltender Thomas Greiss now that Ilya Sorokin is on board, although Gross does add that Lamoriello does have a long-standing relationship with Andy Greene, so the team could potentially bring him back as well.
  • USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano looks at the Rangers goaltending situation, suggesting the Rangers may have no choice but to buyout long-time Rangers icon Henrik Lundqvist when the buyout window opens on Sept. 25. General manager Jeff Gorton said he doesn’t plan to keep three goaltenders on the roster and word is the Rangers have not liked any offers they’ve received for Alexandar Georgiev, suggesting the team could save significant cap space in the future if they let go of Lundqvist, including $3MM next season and quite a bit more in 2021-22. With a trade unlikely for Lundqvist even if the Rangers retain half of his $8.5MM salary, the team could announce a buyout as soon as Friday, although at this point, anything is still possible.

 

Free Agent Focus: Calgary Flames

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With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  While the Calgary Flames have one or two key restricted free agents to deal with, they may have quite a few questions that will need answering among their unrestricted free-agent defensemen.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Andrew Mangiapane – Throughout his career, Mangiapane has done everything right and only continues to get better. A former sixth-round pick in 2015, he worked his way into permanent role in 2018-19 and solidified himself as a top-six forward this year and it showed, posting career highs in his second full season, scoring 17 goals and 32 points. He added another three goals in 10 playoff games this year. The 24-year-old is likely to get a raise after making $800K on his now-expiring entry-level deal. He has proven his value as a key future forward on this team.

F Mark Jankowski – There was a lot of hope for Jankowski, the team’s first-round pick from 2012, but his third season in the NHL was a bit disappointing. In fact, after his rookie campaign in 2017-18 in which the 26-year-old tallied 17 goals, he has seen a continual decline, posting 15 goals in 2018-19 and followed that up with just five goals this year and has seen his playing time continue to drop as he played just 11:06 of ATOI. And at 6-foot-4 and a bottom-line player, he doesn’t play much of a physical game with just 80 recorded hits over three full seasons. However, the team has to decide whether he is worth the $1.75MM qualifying offer to retain his rights.

Other RFAs: F Justin Kirkland, D Oliver Kylington, D Andrew Nielsen, G Tyler Parsons.

10.2(c) Players: F Glenn Gawdin, G Nick Schneider (ineligible for arbitration or an offer sheet)

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Travis Hamonic – The Flames gave up quite a bit to bring in the defensive-minded Hamonic back in 2017. While not particularly much of an offensive player, the 30-year-old blueliner is quite a defensive player and was second on the team in ATOI this season at 21:11. Of course, the team was without his services in the playoffs as he opted out due to COVID-19 and family concerns. His daughter has had a significant battle with a life-threatening respiratory virus in the past while Hamonic has a new baby boy as well. However, the blueliner also was dealing with an upper-body injury for a large chunk of the regular season as well. Will the team bring him back? He was quite an affordable commodity at $3.86MM for the last few years, but undoubtedly will be looking for a raise and how many years is Calgary willing to offer to someone who is already 30 years old? With a team as cash-strapped as Calgary, Hamonic may be too pricey to keep.

D Erik Gustafsson – With five unrestricted free-agent defensemen, the team is likely to have to make some tough decisions in the near future. The Flames picked up Gustafsson for just a third-round pick at the trade deadline, which looked like a steal when Hamonic opted out of the playoffs. The team was expecting to lean on the once-high scoring defenseman. Instead, Gustafsson got just third-pairing minutes and wasn’t a big contributor down the stretch, suggesting the team may move on from him. While the 28-year-old’s price tag likely has dropped since posting a 17-goal, 60-point season back in 2018-19 and then following that up with a six-goal, 29-point season this year, a reunion would seem less likely considering the team has limited means as it is.

D T.J. Brodie – A constant trade-rumor candidate last summer, Brodie has found a way to remain with the team and produce quality minutes and may be the best option for Calgary if they were able to re-sign just one starter in the offseason. While his minutes have declined significantly since 2014-15, he still can put of solid defensive numbers and potentially provide solid play for less than the cost of either Hamonic or Gustafsson. He is capable of playing either side of the ice and plays a game that might suggest he could play deeper into his career than other defensemen.

G Cam Talbot – The Calgary Flames added Talbot to their roster as a veteran backup for young David Rittich and instead, Talbot walked away with the starting job, playing in all 10 of the team’s playoff games with Rittich getting just 16:35 of ice time in the final game before they were eliminated by Dallas (he gave up three goals on six shots). Talbot, who posted solid numbers this year, with a 2.63 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 26 regular season games, put up even better numbers in those 10 playoff games, including a 2.42 GAA and a .924 save percentage. The 33-year-old UFA made it clear he is looking for a starting job, but is Calgary willing to give up on Rittich just yet? And are they willing to pay up to keep Talbot, who could have quite a few suitors after his impressive season?

Other UFAs: F Austin Czarnik, D Derek Forbort, F Byron Froese, G Jon Gillies, F Ryan Lomberg, F Alan Quine, F Tobias Rieder, F Zac Rinaldo, F Buddy Robinson, D Michael Stone, D Rinat Valiev.

Projected Cap Space

The Flames only have about $16MM in available cap space and plenty of players they need to sign, including at least one or two defensemen and a starting/tandem goaltender. That doesn’t leave much money left for the team to spend on potential free agents unless the Flames find a way to move out some salary or some key players. Of course, with several rumors spreading about the availability of Johnny Gaudreau, it could be an interesting offseason for the Calgary Flames.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ottawa’s Andreas Englund Signs In Allsvenskan

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The Ottawa Senators may have lost one of their defenseman as Vasterviks IK announced (translation required) they have signed defenseman Andreas Englund, who is expected to hit restricted free agency on Oct. 9. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the deal has an out-clause in which he can return to the Senators, but only if the team gives him a qualifying offer next month, which is no certainty. The wording on the announcement also suggests the Allsvenskan team hopes to keep him around permanently.

“24-year-old Andreas Englund played in (Ottawa) last season but his contract has now expired so he is now a free agent,” according to the press release.

Englund did manage to play a career high in games played in the NHL this season. He appeared in 24 games for the Senators, who drafted the blueliner in the second round back in 2014. However, the blueliner was also placed on waivers on multiple occasions throughout the year and didn’t see much time on the ice in Ottawa regardless. Englund averaged just 10:54 of ATOI and due to his lack of offensive ability, many believe that he doesn’t have the ability to win himself a permanent spot as a top-six defenseman in the NHL. That, along with a number of new faces on Ottawa’s defense this year, including a permanent role for Erik Brannstrom, a healthy Christian Wolanin and the overseas signing of Artem Zub, there may not be a place in the NHL for Englund, leaving many questions whether the team will hand him a qualifying offer.

Englund has played in the Allvenskan before when he played for Djurgardens Stokholm squad and then followed that year up with two years in the SHL before coming over to North America. He does have some size at 6-foot-4, but lacks significant offensive skill as he managed just three assists in 24 NHL games and went scoreless in 22 AHL games and his career high in AHL scoring has been 14 points (back in 2018-19).

 

Jimmy Howard Expects To Play Elsewhere, But Not Ready To Retire

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While admitting that his time with the Detroit Red Wings is at an end, goaltender Jimmy Howard said that he isn’t ready to retire, suggesting that “someone is going to have to tell me I can’t play anymore,” according to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

An unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9, the 36-year-old Howard admitted that he was “probably not” going to return to Detroit after a disastrous season in which Howard had career lows with a 4.20 GAA and a .882 save percentage in 27 appearances. Some of those struggles could be attributed to playing for one of the worst teams in NHL history which finished with a 17-49-5 record last season. Howard has played with the organization his entire 14-year career since he was taken in the second round of the 2003 NHL draft where he has averaged a solid .912 save percentage over those years.

However, Howard told Friedman that he doesn’t want to end his career the way it did and wants another chance to prove his value. The veteran has been training for two months and has discussed moving away from his family for a year if he can’t get a job close to home.

It’s been clear for several months that Detroit is ready to move on from their long-time goaltender and intends to put more responsibility on Jonathan Bernier and bring in another goaltender without throwing a significant amount of money at one of the top free agents.

As for Howard, the veteran will have to hope that he can get a team to give him a chance to win the backup role with their franchise, which becomes even more challenging as many teams are starting to put more faith on goaltending tandems.

Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks

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With free agency now less than a month away, many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Vancouver has several big decisions to make concerning their team, especially in goal.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Jake Virtanen – Virtanen is an interesting case in which the former first-round pick has made improvements every year and this year was no different. After a 15-goal, 25-point season in 2018-19, Virtanen improved to 18 goals and 36 points this season. However, while that’s a definite improvement, his playoff performance this year left a lot to be desired. He managed just two goals and three points in 16 games and saw his playing time fluctuate while spending some time on the fourth line. His time with the Canucks could be up as the 24-year-old could end up being trade bait as he has slowly worn out his welcome with Travis Green and the coaching staff. Regardless, the forward still has the potential to become a top-six forward.

F Tyler Motte – A fan favorite in Vancouver had an up-and-down year, missing a chunk of the regular season with a shoulder injury, but is a key player for the team’s fourth line. The 25-year-old only posted four goals in 34 regular season games, but then was more impressive in the playoffs with four goals in just 17 games. However, he does bring the team some much needed physicality with 318 hits over his last 108 regular season games. At just $975K, he shouldn’t require the Canucks to break the bank to sign him.

D Troy Stecher – The blueliner will be an interesting test for GM Jim Benning, who has quite a few unrestricted free agents to make decisions on and limited cap room for that. One suggestion that has been made by many is sending the 26-year-old off in a trade. He made $2.33MM the past two years and that is money that might be better spent elsewhere to retain some of their other players. Stecher also only averaged 15:21 of ATOI, not exactly the type of playing time you’d hope for for someone making that much money. With younger defensemen ready to step in such as Olli Juolevi and Jack Rathbone, the team may look to trade him during the offseason.

Other RFAs: F Justin Bailey, F Reid Boucher, D Guillaume Brisebois, D Jalen Chatfield, F Adam Gaudette, F Nikolay Goldobin, G Jake Kielly, F Zack MacEwen, F Francis Perron, F David Pope.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

G Jacob Markstrom – What once was considered a slam dunk of a re-signing has now become less of a certainty after a three-game performance from young backup Thatcher Demko. Granted, Benning did admit that bringing Markstrom back was a priority, regardless of what Demko did in the playoffs, but with so little cap space to work with, there have to be some doubts whether signing the all-star goaltender to a long-term deal is a good idea if Demko is ready to be a No. 1 goalie. The 30-year-old Markstrom, however, has been consistent in net, boasting a .912 save percentage during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons and followed that up with a .918 save percentage this year, looking almost as impressive in the playoffs before going down with an injury. It could also be more costly for Vancouver to re-sign him with several other teams reportedly interested in bringing him aboard. While his $3.67MM AAV was a nice one for their cap, he is likely ready to move into the $5-6MM range, a costly one when someone behind him might be ready to move into his place for quite a bit less.

F Tyler Toffoli – After an inconsistent career in Los Angeles, the Canucks snagged the 28-year-old forward at the trade deadline and he was exactly what the team needed, posting six goals and 10 points in 10 regular season teams with Vancouver. He provided four points in seven games too and Vancouver would like to add Toffoli as a long-term piece. That could prove to be expensive and the Canucks will likely have to move some of their other pieces to make that happen. There is also rumors that Toffoli would like to return to Southern California, which will make his status interesting to watch during the offseason. At $4.6MM for the past three years, could he make more than that now?

F Chris Tanev – The 30-year-old blueliner has spent his entire career in Vancouver and been a solid defensive player. The team would like to bring back the veteran, but again, much depends on what other moves the team makes. If the team does re-sign both Markstrom and Toffoli, it’s possible that Vancouver just won’t have the money to sign him. At $4.45MM, that’s a high price to pay for a player that is likely to begin to see his game decline over the next few years.

Other UFAs: G Richard Bachman, G Louis Domingue, D Oscar Fantenberg, F Tyler Graovac, F Josh Leivo, D Ashton Sautner.

Projected Cap Space

At the moment, Vancouver has about $14.3MM in cap space to spend with a half dozen-or-so players they must re-sign. There is little room to maneuver. The team could try to find a taker for Loui Eriksson, who is killing the team’s cap situation at $6MM for the next two years, but with the cap flattening out, it could cost the team quite a bit to unload a contract like that. Throw in two more years of Roberto Luongo’s recapture penalty at $3.04MM, the team may have to watch as several free agents either walk away or the team trades away others to hold onto them.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mark Giordano Wins Mark Messier Leadership Award

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Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano was named the winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award Sunday, presented to the player who most exemplifies great leadership qualities both on and off the ice.

“This is a huge honor for me and my family,” Giordano said. “To have my name on an award, the Mark Messier Award … and knowing that (former Flames teammate) Jarome Iginla won this award as well, a guy that when I came into the League was my captain and my leader and learned so many great things from him on the ice, but more importantly off the ice, the way he treated people and acted in the community.”

Giordano worked with the Calgary Board of Education to support improved physical fitness and academics as well as playing a role in multiple other endeavors, including the Flames literacy program, the You Can Play Project and Calgary Pride Parade. On the ice, Giordano has been one of the team’s top defensemen for years, which includes winning the Norris Trophy last year.

 

Islanders’ Cizikas, Kuhnhackl Will Miss Remainder Of Playoffs

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The New York Islanders sent out an injury update just before their Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team announced that injured forwards Casey Cizikas and Tom Kuhnhackl are both injured, have left the bubble and will not return for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Those are two key blows for the Islanders, who are trying to even up their series against Tampa Bay.

Cizikas missed Game 3 with an undisclosed injury and was thought to be a game-time decision for Game 4, but obviously, the injury was worse than anyone thought. The forward played in 18 games so far throughout the playoffs. While boasting just two assists during the playoffs, the forward has been invaluable as a fourth-line center next to Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin. Both Clutterbuck and Martin have been playing next to Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the meantime. However, with Cizikas out, the team loses an impressive defender who plays with much-needed physicality and matched up well against Tampa Bay’s size on the other side. He finished the regular season with 113 hits and a 53.5 percent faceoff win percentage and has been a candidate for the Selke in his career twice.

Kuhnhackl is another loss, albeit less significant. However, with the loss of Cizikas, Kuhnhackl’s injury is even more important. The 28-year-old forward has only appeared in three playoff games this season and splitting his regular season time between the Islanders and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL. He has been a healthy scratch often when with the Islanders. However, with team depth being of utmost important with injuries mounting, Kuhnhackl might have seen more and more playing time.

No word on what type of injury each player has sustained.

Atlantic Notes: Krug, Point, Kulak, Ruggiero

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After falling just short of winning the Stanley Cup in 2019, the Boston Bruins went home a little earlier than they hoped for this season, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. However, much of the criticism in Boston falls to the team’s lack of physicality against the Lightning’s bigger forwards, who really took advantage of the Bruins, especially against their smaller defenseman, Torey Krug and Matt Grzelcyk.

The Bruins saw this issue coming and traded for Nick Ritchie at the trade deadline to give the team a little added size, but Ritchie had some issues adjusting to the team immediately after the trade as the league was shutdown shortly thereafter and still didn’t fully adjust in the bubble during the playoffs.

With the need to get bigger and stronger this offseason, NBC Sports Joe Haggerty writes that the Bruins may be already thinking that it might make more sense to let the undersized Krug walk via free agency this year and take the money to invest in a blueliner who can provide more size and physicality rather than invest $7-8MM on bringing Krug back.

  • Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point remains an unknown before Game 4 today. Head coach Jon Cooper refused to give an update on Point, saying “You’ll see in a couple hours,” Cooper said (via NHL.com’s Bryan Burns). Point sat out Game 3 with an undisclosed injury, although he has been practicing. Point has picked up 23 points in 15 playoff games so far and would be a big boost for the team if he returns.
  • Assuming the Montreal Canadiens are able to sign defenseman Joel Edmundson after acquiring the blueliner in a trade with Carolina Saturday evening, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) writes that could be bad news for defensemen Brett Kulak and Victor Mete. With Ben Chiarot, rookie defenseman Alexander Romanov and potentially Edmundson playing on the left side, both Kulak and Mete will either have to fight for the seventh spot or the team could move one of the blueliners over to the right side. The scribe notes that Kulak, who was impressive in the playoffs, might be a potential trade candidate. He has averaged more than 17 minutes of ATOI over the past two years with the Canadiens. General manager Marc Bergevin wasn’t that posiitve on Kulak’s outlook, however, pointing out after the playoffs that while he could be a solid defender if he continues to play like he did, his inconsistency over the regular season has to be kept in mind as well.
  • While the Florida Panthers eventually hired Bill Zito to be their new general manager, it did do an extensive search for candidates, looking at former Islanders GM Garth Snow to NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday, also added another former candidate in Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medalist Angela Ruggiero. “During their search, the Panthers contacted four-time U.S. Olympian and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Angela Ruggiero and asked her if she wanted to interview,” Friedman reported during Saturday’s Headlines. Ruggiero, 40, is the current CEO and co-founder of Sports Innovation Lab and asked the Panthers for a few days to consider whether she wanted to interview. By the time she got back to Florida, they had already hired Zito. Ruggiero has some experience in the front office with the New York Islanders years ago before going to Harvard for her MBA, but she could be a future candidate for other GM positions.

Calgary Flames Leaning Towards Keeping Geoff Ward As Head Coach

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The Calgary Flames are one of four teams that still don’t have permanent coaches in place, but that number could change soon. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday that while the Calgary Flames say there is “no comment” on the team’s coaching situation, there is a growing belief that the Flames will hire interim coach Geoff Ward as their permanent head coach soon.

“Word is beginning to seep out that it’s trending towards Geoff Ward returning as the head coach of the team for next season,” Friedman said.

After Bill Peters resigned as head coach on Nov. 29, the team handed the interim coaching reigns to Peters’ assistant, Ward, who took a struggling 12-12-4 team (good for fifth place in the Pacific Division) and led them to a 24-15-3 record, getting them into the playoffs. They even won their play-in series, knocking out the Winnipeg Jets before getting eliminated by the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs. However, even that series, Calgary had its moments, coming within 12 seconds of taking a 3-1 series lead against Dallas.

With that success and backing from Flames players, Ward seems like a solid candidate to remain with his team especially with his focus on physicality and defense philosophy. Not only did he have success with the team, but he had quite an impact on several of the team’s players to take that next step, especially in the playoffs, including Sam Bennett, Milan Lucic and Dillon Dube.

Assuming the Flames do hire Ward on permanently, then only three other teams currently lack a permanent head coach, including the Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals and the San Jose Sharks.

Snapshots: King Clancy Trophy, Kucherov, Bishop, Holzapfel

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Now that the NHL has reached the conference championship phase of the playoffs, so too can the NHL awards, which are expected to be handed out day-by-day over the next couple of weeks. First up is expected to be the King Clancy Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community. The trophy will be awarded this evening before the start of Game 1 between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars. The three finalists for the awards are Minnesota Wild’s Matt Dumba, New York Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist and New Jersey Devils’ P.K. Subban.

Dumba has been committed to racial and social justice and the Hockey is for Everyone initiative and helped form the Hockey Diversity Alliance with seven current and former NHL players. Lundqvist supports several different initiatives, including aid for children’s health, education, underprivileged youth, Hockey Fights Cancer and the Make a Wish Foundation. Subban also supports several groups, including initiatives for underprivileged youth, medical support and promoting racial and social injustice.

  • Despite the bad news that the Tampa Bay Lightning will have to go through the Eastern Conference Finals without Steven Stamkos, the team did get some good news, however, on the injury front. The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that first-line forward Nikita Kucherov is expected to be available Monday for the Lightning’s first game against the New York Islanders. Kucherov was forced to leave Game 5 against the Boston Bruins with an undisclosed injury, but has had almost a week to recover. The 27-year-old has been quite effective in the playoffs so far with four goals and 16 points in 13 games.
  • The Dallas Stars will be without starting goaltender Ben Bishop once again as The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro reports that Bishop and defenseman Taylor Fedun remain “unfit to play.” Both skated today, but neither appear ready to play. The scribe did add that forwards Andrew Cogliano and Mattias Janmark are both expected to be game-time decisions today. Bishop has appeared in just three games during the playoffs and hasn’t made an appearance since Aug. 31 against Colorado when he allowed four goals in 13 minutes before being replaced. The team will rely on Anton Khudobin once again, who is 8-5 with a .909 save percentage in 14 games during the playoffs.
  • Former AHL forward Riley Holzapfel announced his retirement after spending his four years with the Vienna Capitals of the Austrian League. Holzapfel was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers in 2006 and five season in the AHL before opting to play overseas in 2013, playing three seasons in the SHL before joining Vienna in 2016. He was never able to break into the NHL, however. The 32-year-old was still productive with Vienna, scoring 18 goals and 46 assists in 48 games.

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