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Metropolitan Notes: Hischier, Barzal, Murray

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Nico Hischier has been impressive in his first two years in the league since being drafted first-overall in 2017. However, while those numbers have been solid, they haven’t been exceptional either with a 20-goal rookie season the highlight of his career so far. That might make it look like the New Jersey Devils would have preferred to sign a bridge deal with their young prospect, which might give the team more flexibility in the short-term.

However, Chris Ryan of NJ.com writes that both sides made it clear to each other they both wanted a long-term deal, which is what he got in the end when Hischier signed a seven-year, $50.75MM contract on Friday. The 20-year-old made it quite clear that he wanted to stay in a Devils’ uniform and made it clear that signing an extension was a top priority.

“I felt really welcomed since day one here. I was really happy, was treated well,” Hischier said. “They give me the confidence a player needs. So I had no reason why I wouldn’t want to stay here. I was happy they felt the same way, so there wasn’t a lot of back and forth.”

Obviously, if Hischier continues to improve on his game, the $7.25MM AAV could end up being a bargain.

  • Speaking of Hischier’s contract, one person who took note of the deal was New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal, who has been watching numerous pending restricted free agents already sign long-term deals. Barzal, represented by CAA’s Pat Brisson, will be a restricted free agent this summer, but so far has not signed an extension yet. Barzal says that while he’s noted the RFA signings, he isn’t worried about his contract, according to Newsday’s Andrew Gross. “At this point, it’s really just between my agent and Lou [Lamoriello] right now,” Barzal said. “I don’t talk to Lou about contract stuff. If it happens in the next two months or if it happens in June, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m just focused on the season right now. “It’s something that eventually is going to happen,” Barzal added. I’m pretty good at just kind of pushing that stuff aside and just worrying about what’s going on right now.” While Hischier walked out with a $7.25MM AAV, Barzal could be getting something even higher, with Gross suggesting he could command a comparable contract to the one that Colorado Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen signed this summer (six years at $55.5MM, a $9.25MM AAV).
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets were without defenseman Ryan Murray Saturday and will remain day-to-day with an upper-body injury after being injured in Friday’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, according to the team. Murray left the game in the third period, playing only one shift and missing the final 17 minutes of the game. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports it’s not considered to be a serious injury. Dean Kukan came in to replace him in the lineup.

New York Islanders Place Jordan Eberle On Injured Reserve

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With no appearance by forward Jordan Eberle at the team’s morning skate, the New York Islanders decided to make a roster move to insure the team has enough depth by announcing they have placed the injured Eberle on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The move is retroactive to Oct. 12 when he was initially injured, meaning he could be activated at any time. The team needed some extra depth after realizing that Leo Komarov was also expected to miss Saturday’s game.

Eberle, of course, will not play against the division-rival Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. The 29-year-old winger has yet to score in five games with the Islanders this season, but has three assists. While some were expecting that the streaky Eberle might be the odd man out with four key unrestricted free agents to deal with this summer, Eberle was one of the first to sign on the dotted line, agreeing to a five-year, $27.5MM deal.

With the move to IR, the Islanders have recalled 26-year-old Cole Bardreau, who is expected to make his NHL debut tonight. Bardreau has played in four games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and hasn’t registered a point. However, he put up seven goals and 12 games in 40 games last year with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. While the forward isn’t considered to be a scorer, he’s expected to provide some grit and excels at the penalty kill.

Nashville Predators Sign Egor Afanasyev To Entry-Level Deal

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The Nashville Predators announced that the team has signed forward Egor Afanasyev to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 2019 second-round pick has been dominant so far in his first season in the OHL with the Windsor Spitfires.

Afanasyev had a solid rating before the NHL draft and wouldn’t have surprised too many people had he gone in the first round. Instead, the Predators were able to draft the 6-foot-3 left-hander with the 45th overall pick and the 18-year-old has fared well so far. After two seasons playing in the USHL, Afanasysev has moved over to the OHL where he has posted five goals and 12 points in 11 games. The 18-year-old has had an impressive week with Windsor, scoring five points over his last two games. Armed with a hard shot and the ability to dominate with his size and strength, Afanasyev could be a provide Nashville a solid power forward if he can reach expectations.

The Russian native adds to a key need for the Predators, who need to build up their pool of forward prospects. The team still has Eeli Tolvanen playing in Milwaukee of the AHL and is close to arriving to the team, but have few significant prospects that can help provide Nashville some low-cost options beyond him.

Pacific Notes: Oilers Cap Space, Bjornfot, Mangiapane

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The Edmonton Oilers have two major contracts already on their roster and a handful of reasonably well-paid players, leaving them little wiggle room this past summer when they tried to upgrade their roster. Instead, general manager Ken Holland spent much of the summer finding bargain-bin players and veterans to fill their ranks to stay under the cap.

Well, what about next year? What about the team going out and bringing Taylor Hall back into the fold?

The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis (subscription required) breaks down the Oilers’ future cap situation this coming summer where the team could have as much as $26MM available in cap space. However, that’s with 13 roster players still to sign, and if Hall costs the team approximately $11MM AAV, that would leave little room to fill out the rest of their roster, which includes a number of RFA’s such as Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning, who would likely command raises, suggesting that going after Hall is likely a pipedream. The scribe does add that the team could attempt to unload a contract like Kris Russell, whose $4MM AAV with one year remaining might be moveable.

Regardless, it looks like quite a longshot and that doesn’t even factor on whether Hall would want to return to the Oilers in the first place.

  • The Los Angeles Kings demoted 18-year-old Tobias Bjornfot Friday to the Onatrio Reign of the AHL, which The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman (subscription required) writes is a positive sign for the 2019 first-round pick. Bjornfot shocked quite a few people when the team opted to keep the Swede on the NHL roster. He played the first three games, picking up a minus-four plus/minus, but much of that can be attributed to the team’s lack of defense. However, general manager Rob Blake said that the initial talk during training camp was to return Bjornfot to his SHL team this season. With Bjornfot being instead sent to the AHL, it suggests the team still feels that the youngster might have a future in the NHL still this season.
  • Eric Francis of Sportsnet reports that forward Andrew Mangiapane did not join the Calgary Flames for their road trip against the Kings and Ducks this weekend. However, the scribe suggests that Mangiapane should be available to play at some point next week, possible early as Tuesday against the Washington Capitals. Mangiapane has been out with an undisclosed injury. The forward scored a goal in each of his last two games before taking injury.

Eastern Notes: Eberle, Ho-Sang, Jokiharju, Malgin

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The New York Islanders are still awaiting the status of first-line winger Jordan Eberle, who appeared to injure his right leg in the third period of their game Saturday against the Florida Panthers. Eberle took a late-game check from Florida’s Mike Matheson that forced him out of the game as he was in obvious pain. However, Eberle did stay on the bench for the remainder of the game, but Newsday’s Andrew Gross wonders whether Eberle could miss some time.

“I couldn’t give a time frame,” coach Barry Trotz said after the game. “He got hit in a strange spot. We’ll evaluate it.”

Eberle, who signed a five-year, $27.5MM contract during the offseason, had three assists in his first five games. However, the team would lose an impact top-six player from their lineup. One possibility would be for the Islanders to recall top prospect Oliver Wahlstrom, who has a goal and three points in four games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL.

  • In the same article, Gross notes that Islanders prospect Joshua Ho-Sang who has requested a trade after not making the Islanders’ opening day lineup, still hasn’t reported to the Sound Tigers in the AHL per instructions from president and general manager Lou Lamoriello. He was requested to stay away from the team while the Islanders looked for trade partners, but no trade has been made and the 23-year-old has been sitting for two weeks so far. Lamoriello said on Friday that there was still no update. Ho-Sang has languished in the AHL for three years, but because of a questionable reputation, was not claimed when New York passed him through waivers.
  • The Buffalo Sabres could have a logjam at defense once they get back some of their injured players, including Brandon Montour, Zach Bogosian and Lawrence Pilut. While they aren’t yet ready to return, the team is already loaded with depth at that position. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski, in his mailbag column, writes that the easy answer would have been for the team to send Henri Jokiharju down to the AHL after Montour is ready to return from his hand injury. However, Lysowski reports that Jokiharju has been told be management to find a place to live in Buffalo as it looks like he’s expected to stay with the Sabres long-term.
  • Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville has been mixing up his line combinations after the team struggled out of the gate, especially on offense, according to George Richards of The Athletic (subscription required). One find for the head coach has been winger Denis Malgin, who jumped into the lineup on Friday, replacing 22-year-old Henrik Borgstrom on the third line. The coach was impressed enough that Borgstrom was back in the press box a second night on Saturday as Queeneville moved Malgin to the second line where he immediately scored a goal.

Poll: Would Firing John Hynes Solve The Devils Problems?

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The New Jersey Devils slow start out of the gate isn’t good for anyone. The team must show their star player, Taylor Hall, that the team is competitive in order to convince him to stay and sign a long-term extension, and the team must now worry even more that Hall may choose not to re-sign if they can’t get things together. However, what about their head coach, John Hynes?

A poor start in a season (0-2-2) in which the team went out and traded for P.K. Subban and Nikita Gusev, while drafting Jack Hughes with the first-overall pick, is a disaster. While four games is hardly a reasonable sample size to immediately shake up the team with a coaching change, a few more losses and changes might be required to get the team to bounce back before the Devils fall into too deep a hole that might be impossible to get out of.

In fact, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that Hynes is already on the hot seat if things continue heading south. Hynes has been with the Devils since the 2015-16 season and has only made the playoffs once, and that was the year that Hall carried the team on his back to squeak into the playoffs. With the amount of talent that general manager Ray Shero has brought in, many fingers will be pointed at Hynes for not being able to unlock the team’s offense, which hasn’t been able to put things together as of yet.

Of course, Brooks also points out that Shero is not prone to firing coaches during the season very often as the GM is a loyal man to his coaches, which likely suggests that Hynes will be given every chance to turn the team’s success around. On top of that, Shero hired Hynes back when he was an assistant GM in Pittsburgh and he hired the coach to be an assistant coach with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Hynes has worked his way up the ladder with Shero and eventually moved over to New Jersey in 2015.

Regardless, Hynes could be the first coach who could see a pink slip this season. Unfortunately, another issue with firing their head coach, the Devils also have to consider Hall as well. There aren’t a whole lot of quality options who could take over that might necessarily be better than Hynes, although Brooks wonders whether Scott Stevens could be a solid candidate if the team does want to go that way.

So, the question is, would firing Hynes solve the Devils problems?

PHR app users, click here to vote.

Pacific Notes: Hjalmarsson, Subban, Middleton

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The Arizona Coyotes could be without one of their defensemen for a while as The Athletic’s Craig Morgan noted last night that Niklas Hjalmarsson left Pepsi Center last night on crutches. The 32-year-old blocked a shot last night from Erik Johnson against Colorado Saturday and was forced to leave the game. He only played 4:32.

Morgan reported that Hjalmarsson did not join the team on their flight to Winnipeg last night and while there is no word on the severity of the injury, he is expected to miss some time.

“At this point I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be day to day,” said head coach Rick Tocchet after the game Saturday. “That’s a big loss for us. Nik is a good defenseman.”

The team is expected to recall a defenseman to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman while Hjalmarsson is out. The scribe followed that report up that Kyle Capobianco, who was assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners Saturday, will be returning to the team.

  • Sinbin’s Steve Carp suggests that the Vegas Golden Knights could be in trouble in goal in the near future with the constant injury problems that backup Malcolm Subban has dealt with over his career in Vegas. Subban left after the first period Thursday against Arizona with a lower-body injury. The team brought Oscar Dansk up as an emergency recall, but the problem is 34-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury has received no rest so far this year, which could continue with the team likely hesitant to give Dansk a start. The team also has Garret Sparks in the AHL, who they can recall, but have not done so yet. However, with Subban unable to remain healthy, the team may have some issues to come down the road if they can’t get a solid goaltender to take a significant amount of playing time from an overworked Fleury.
  • San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer gave an update for defenseman Jacob Middleton, who has been out with an undisclosed injury, and is just one of a number of defensive injuries that has depleted the Sharks’ depth there so far this year. The blueliner is expected to miss between four to six weeks, according to Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka. The scribe writes that the team is more likely to get back veteran Dalton Prout sooner as he has already started skating again.

Metropolitan Notes: Kempny, Kreider, Gavrikov

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Michal Kempny’s name has become a constant when it comes to injury updates for the Washington Capitals. Yet after skating today at an optional practice, the blueliner stated that he believes he’s ready to return to game action and intends to talk to the trainer, doctor and the coaches today in order to make a plan on when he can come back, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.

“I feel like I can play a game right now, so we’re going to discuss everything today with (head athletic trainer Jason Serbus) and (team physician John Klimkiewicz) and we’re going to pick a game, pick a day. It’s real close.”

The Capitals face off Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, which could be a possibility for Kempny, who has been out with a hamstring injury. If not, then he’s expected to return to the lineup sometime this week.

  • After blocking numerous shots during Saturday’s loss to the Edmonton Oilers, it was noted that New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider wasn’t at practice. According to New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis, head coach David Quinn said the forward is considered day-to-day and the undisclosed injury isn’t considered “long term.” The 28-year-old, who could find himself on the trade block when the trade deadline nears, has yet to score a goal this year. He has two assists in three games.
  • The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) writes that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov has won the No. 6 defenseman job. The 23-year-old blueliner has broken through and has bonded with David Savard to form a shutdown pair and look like they will both hold down their third-pairing role. “Savvy’s just a really good player. He understands how we have to play,” head coach John Tortorella said. “Gavi’s made tremendous improvement in the last couple of games in making the decision and going with it, being more aggressive in his thinking and not playing in between.”

Evening Notes: Gudbranson, Lehner, Patrick, Gurianov

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With nine defensemen on the roster, the Pittsburgh Penguins are loaded in blueliners. It also can make things difficult with multiple players being forced to sit in the press box. One player that has spent the last two games on the sidelines as a healthy scratch is Erik Gudbranson. The 27-year-old has had to give way to give playing time to rookie John Marino, which frustrates Gudbranson, according to Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“It’s frustrating. Very frustrating,” Gudbranson said. “It’s part of being an NHL player, I guess. I’ve worked hard, did a lot of really good things this year. I feel pretty much back to what I used to be. I’ve got a few years of separation from my surgeries and whatnot. I put a lot of work into being here. So it’s frustrating.”

Gudbranson, however, isn’t taking his frustration out on the rookie either, as the veteran has tried to help Marino and refuses to give the cold shoulder to him either, recalling that Keaton Ellerby did the same thing to him with the Florida Panthers when Gudbranson was breaking into the league back in 2011.

  • John Dietz of the Daily Herald writes that many Chicago fans assumed there would be a goaltending controversy after the Blackhawks signed Jennings and Masterson Trophy winner Robin Lehner to a one-year deal in the offseason, giving them two impressive goalies along with Corey Crawford. However, Lehner is making it clear that he wants to play as much as he can this season. “No one has told me that I have come in as a backup or a starter,” said Lehner. “What I like is when you come to a team that has been underperforming for a few years after being so great, you come in to a position where you (earn) your starts. If you play well, you’re probably going to play.”
  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com writes that Philadelphia Flyers forward Nolan Patrick skated with his teammates for the first time. Patrick, suffering from a migraine disorder, took an encouraging step, but still remains far away from returning to game action. “It’s still a week-to-week process, but it was real good to see him on the ice with the guys,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault. Patrick has been skating on his own for about a month. The team hopes to get him back soon and fill their third-line center role.
  • After netting a hat trick on the day after being demoted to the AHL, Dallas Stars forward Denis Gurianov now must prove to the Dallas Stars that he can be a consistent player. The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro suggests that his performance tonight for the Texas Stars could suggest where the young forward is at with the organization. Gurianov, who started the season with Dallas, didn’t record a point in three games. However, his history after big games is to disappear the next.

Pacific Notes: Marleau, Sorenson, Eakin, Crouse

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The San Jose Sharks lost a key piece of their core this offseason when veteran Joe Pavelski signed with the Dallas Stars. The Sharks were looking to bring in some of their young prospects to fill the gaps on their team. However, it didn’t take long for San Jose to realize that those pieces might not be ready yet.

The team rectified that issue when it went out and inked former Sharks’ veteran Patrick Marleau to a one-year deal. The veteran immediately made quite an impact, scoring two goals in his return to the franchise. However, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski writes that head coach Peter DeBoer felt that was a major need.

“One hundred percent. You’re not replacing Pav. But he’s definitely of that ilk,” said DeBoer, who said he had several conversations with general manager Doug Wilson after he was bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes this summer. “There was a commitment here to give the young guys an opportunity. The reality is sometimes it takes a bit longer.”

  • Sticking with the Sharks, Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News reports that forward Marcus Sorensen, who has been out for the past two games with an undisclosed injury after taking a collision into the boards, could be ready to return to the lineup on Sunday against the Flames. Sorensen scored 17 goals last season and could help the struggling Sharks get back into the win column. The scribe also reported that defenseman Tim Heed is also close to returning, but likely won’t be available Sunday.
  • Vegas Golden Knights have activated center Cody Eakin as the team expects to insert the veteran into their lineup tonight, according to Las Vegas Review Journal’s David Schoen. The team is expected to have him step onto the third line with youngster Cody Glass moving to the wing. Eakin had a career-year last year, scoring 22 goals and 41 points last year. The 28-year-old has been out with an undisclosed injury that he sustained during the preseason.
  • NHL.com’s Alex Kinkopf writes that Arizona Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The 22-year-old forward is expected to play today against Colorado. Crouse finished last season with 11 goals, 25 points and 288 hits.

 

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