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Penguins Notes: Letang, Harkins, Malkin

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Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left practice today for what is being described as precautionary reasons. Not much else is known about the 36-year-old’s status, but head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that Letang is banged up a little bit.

Letang could be dealing with a nagging issue as his play has slipped as of late. He has just a single point in his last seven games despite having been elevated to the team’s top power-play unit in place of Erik Karlsson. Overall, he is having one of the finest seasons of his career with four goals and 26 assists in 49 games while playing some of his best defensive hockey. He has flourished in a different role this season even if his play has trailed off as of late.

In other Penguins notes:

  • Rorabaugh is also reporting that Penguins forward Jansen Harkins has been placed on the injured reserve with a concussion. The 26-year-old had become a regular on the Penguins fourth line alongside veterans Noel Acciari and Jeff Carter and had been taking much of the team’s defensive zone starts in recent weeks. Harkins has been okay in a depth role for the Penguins, although he hasn’t provided much in the way of offense with just four assists in 34 games this season. No word yet on a timeline for Harkin’s return but he will presumably miss the Penguins games this week.
  • Rorabaugh has also reported that Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin had a maintenance day today and did not practice with his teammates. The 37-year-old skated briefly in a sweatsuit before the team’s practice while he was monitored by Penguins medical staff. Malkin hasn’t been himself this season as it appears the aging curve has started to catch up with the former Hart Trophy winner. In the last ten games, Malkin has struggled with just a single goal, and this is the second maintenance day he has received in the last few weeks leading to speculation that he could be dealing with a nagging injury of his own.

Maple Leafs Notes: Giordano, Kämpf, Timmins

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David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano returned to team practice today after missing Saturday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators. The 40-year-old lined up on Toronto’s third defensive pairing alongside William Lagesson.

Giordano suffered a lower-body injury last Wednesday in a game against the Dallas Stars and took some time off to recover. Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters today that the team will see how Giordano is feeling tomorrow morning before deciding on whether or not he will play tomorrow night against the St. Louis Blues.

Giordano has a goal and five assists in 34 games this season and hasn’t registered a point in his past 12 games.

In other Maple Leafs notes:

  • David Alter is also reporting that Maple Leafs forward David Kämpf will likely return for tomorrow night’s game against the Blues. Kämpf is currently on the injured reserve with an undisclosed injury but will be activated prior to game time if he is good to go in the morning. The 29-year-old hasn’t played since January 27th and has had a disappointing campaign thus far with just four goals and four assists in 46 games.
  • Alter is also reporting that Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins will miss tomorrow night’s game with an illness. It will be the fifth game in a row that the St. Catharines, Ontario native has missed as he has appeared in just 16 games this season for Toronto. The 25-year-old had an appointment today to plan a path going forward as he tries to get back into the lineup. Timmins has dressed in just three games since Christmas and could certainly give the Maple Leafs a boost, especially with Morgan Reilly awaiting supplemental discipline.

Rangers Recall Matt Rempe And Adam Edstrom

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The New York Rangers made a series of moves late last night by recalling forwards Matt Rempe and Adam Edström from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. In addition to the recalls, New York also assigned forward Jake Leschyshyn to Hartford.

If he can get into the lineup, the 21-year-old Rempe will be looking to make his NHL debut during his recall. He is in his second AHL season and has a career-high eight goals and four assists in 43 games this season. On the surface, his eight goals don’t seem like much, but they actually have him tied for the team lead in five-on-five goals.

Edström is in his first full AHL season and has eight goals and two assists in 25 games this year. He made his NHL debut earlier this season with the Rangers and made it a memorable one by notching his first career NHL goal. The 23-year-old was a sixth-round pick of the Rangers back in 2019 and is an intimidating presence on the ice standing 6’8” tall and weighing 225 pounds.

Leschyshyn is being returned to Hartford after his latest NHL recall and hasn’t suited up for the Rangers since January 11th. The 24-year-old has spent the bulk of his season in Hartford suiting up in 19 games for the Wolf Pack. The native of Raleigh, North Carolina has four goals and six assists this season in the AHL as he continues to shuttle back and forth between the NHL and AHL for the third consecutive season.

Trade Deadline Primer: Florida Panthers

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With the All-Star break in the rear-view, the trade deadline looms large and is now just a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Florida Panthers.

The Florida Panthers have been an impressive team for a couple of seasons now and are once again having a terrific season. Many thought that they might take a step back this season after losing in the Stanley Cup Finals last spring, however, the club was able to overcome several injuries to key contributors early on and now have their full complement of impact players in the lineup. Panthers’ general manager Bill Zito hasn’t been afraid of pulling off blockbuster trades in recent seasons having made the move for Matthew Tkachuk and another move two years ago at the trade deadline for Claude Giroux. While the Giroux move didn’t work out, the Tkachuk trade has turned out great for the Panthers. All that being said, the Panthers don’t have the cap space or the assets to swing for the fences at this trade deadline, but that being said Zito will likely evaluate every option when it comes to improving his group. The Panthers will be a tough team to play in the playoffs as they are well-built and have finally figured out how to win in the playoffs. It will make for an interesting deadline in Florida.

Record

33-15-4, 2 in the Atlantic

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

 $5.72MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2024: FLA 3rd, FLA 4th,  FLA 5th, PHI 5th, FLA 6th, FLA 7th
2025: FLA 2nd, FLA 3rd, FLA 4th, CAL 4th*, FLA 5th, SJ 5, FLA 6th, FLA 7th

* If the 2025 1st RD pick that Florida sent to Calgary is a lottery pick resulting in Calgary receiving Florida’s 2026 1st RD pick instead, then the 2025 4th RD pick that Calgary sent to Florida also slides to 2026.

Trade Chips

Florida has ten players on their current roster who will be unrestricted free agents this offseason. Despite the amount of turnover that will happen this summer, Zito probably isn’t looking to move much off of the NHL roster in any trade deadline moves. However, they will likely need to shed some salary to acquire any high-priced talent. The Panthers’ big moves for Tkachuk and others have certainly paid off, but it also came with a high cost. They don’t have a first-round pick in either of the next two drafts and don’t have a second-round pick this year. While a lack of picks might keep them out of the running for some of the top available names at the deadline, they still possess all of their mid-round picks and should still be able to make some smaller moves.

The Panthers’ farm system also leaves a lot to be desired as they are ranked near the bottom third of the league in terms of prospect pipelines. The Panthers do have some decent draft picks from previous seasons that could entice teams to part with a bigger name.

Gracyn Sawchyn is an intriguing player for a number of reasons. He was drafted in the second round last summer and plays a very simple game that relies on speed and physicality. He could have been a higher pick but is undersized and doesn’t possess the offensive abilities of some of his peers chosen before him. That being said, he is 19 and has a lot of upside to his game that teams will covet.

Mackie Samoskevich is another name that the Panthers could float in a potential trade. He has dressed in seven NHL games this season and was the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2021. Samoskevich is in his first full season of professional hockey and has produced decent offensive numbers in the AHL with 12 goals and 17 assists in 37 games. Samoskevich has a high hockey IQ and should be able to translate that and his other skillset into a career in the NHL, it just remains to be seen if that will happen in Florida or if he will be dealt at the deadline.

Other Potential Trade Chips: D Ludvig Jansson, D Kasper Puutio, D Michael Benning

Team Needs

1) Top-9 Forward: The Panthers haven’t gotten what they need out of the third line and would probably like to add some scoring punch to it. They recently moved Evan Rodrigues there and elevated Nick Cousins to the top 6, but in a perfect world, they would acquire another forward and push Cousins onto the fourth line. The Panthers had this balance previously with Anthony Duclair but shipped him off to San Jose last summer. The Panthers likely won’t be able to make a Jake Guentzel-type addition, but a solid scorer with some speed might go a long way to helping them get back to the Stanley Cup Finals. A reunion with Duclair might be an option given how good of a fit he has been previously.

2) Depth Defenseman: Florida is the second-best defensive team this season and has done so without two of their top defensemen for a good portion of the season. That being said, their current alignment relies on two veteran defensemen in their bottom pairing group who could wear down during a long playoff drive. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is averaging almost 19 minutes a night and Dmitry Kulikov is playing 16:33 per game. Both veterans could stand to either play a little bit less or get some nights off leading into the playoffs. A depth defenseman could allow Florida to put their veterans in a spot where they are the likeliest to succeed and give them a chance to get back to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blue Jackets Activate Adam Boqvist Off IR

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are set to welcome back defenseman Adam Boqvist as they’ve activated him off of the injured reserve. The 23-year-old will re-join the team tonight when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning and should line up on the top defensive pairing alongside Zach Werenski. He will also likely see time on the team’s second power-play unit.

Boqvist suffered an upper-body injury on January 25th in a game against the Calgary Flames. While the injury was classified as upper-body, Boqvist suffered a head or facial injury after taking a puck to the face while sitting on the bench. The timing of the injury meant that the former eighth-overall pick only missed three games due to the All-Star break. It was the second time Boqvist has been sidelined this season as he missed four weeks of play in December due to a shoulder injury.

A native of Falun, Sweden, Boqvist has provided some offense from the backend as he has seven assists in 20 games this season. While his offensive numbers throughout his career have been decent, he has never been able to remain in the lineup for an entire season for a variety of reasons. Now in his fifth NHL season, Boqvist has yet to play more than 52 games in any one year.

Boqvist was one of the pieces acquired in the trade with the Chicago Blackhawks that sent Seth Jones to the Windy City and looked like he was turning the corner last season. But this season, injuries and healthy scratches have limited his playing time and he has had a hard time settling into a groove.

Trade Deadline Primer: Edmonton Oilers

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With the All-Star break in the rear-view, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Edmonton Oilers.

For the second consecutive season, the Oilers started slowly. The team started so poorly this season that it resulted in the firing of head coach Jay Woodcroft after just 13 games. Since their 3-9-1 start to the season, Edmonton has rebounded under Kris Knoblauch with a 27-7 record that includes a near-record 16-game winning streak. The Oilers now once again look like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and will no doubt be looking to add to their lineup at the trade deadline. The club has already been linked to Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel and will surely be in on some of the other big names in the upcoming weeks. The Oilers don’t have much in the way of cap space and will need to get creative to fill in some of the remaining holes on their roster. But with the uncertainty around the futures of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they are likely to do everything they can to add to an already formidable lineup.

Record

30-16-1, 3rd in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

 $2.374MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2024: EDM 1st, EDM 2nd, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, NASH 6th
2025: EDM 1st, EDM 3rd, EDM 4th, EDM 5th, EDM 6th, EDM 7th

Trade Chips

Edmonton probably isn’t looking to move much off of their NHL roster to facilitate a trade, however, they will likely need to shed some salary to acquire any high-priced talent. There have been rumors in recent weeks that they would like to shed Cody Ceci and his $3.25MM cap hit, and they also have Jack Campbell toiling in the AHL with his $5MM cap hit, but if Edmonton wanted to move on from either player it would require a sizeable asset to move the money out.

The Oilers do have some assets if they want to make a big move, as they still possess their first-round pick in the next few drafts and have most of their other draft capital as well. There will also be interest in defenseman Philip Broberg despite his lack of NHL success. The 22-year-old hasn’t exactly had a seamless transition to professional hockey, but he is having a strong season in the AHL.

Edmonton has one of the worst farm systems in the NHL, but it isn’t without a couple of intriguing players. Xavier Bourgault is not having the type of season he or the Oilers were hoping for with just six goals and 10 assists in 39 AHL games. The 2021 first-round pick is ranked by many as the Oilers’ top prospect and has shown that he is a great special teams player, but his scoring just isn’t there at even strength. He along with Broberg could be pieces of a bigger package to acquire a big-name player. But if they are the central pieces, it might require the Oilers to give up multiple first-round picks.

Another Oilers prospect is Raphael Lavoie whose size will certainly be alluring to teams who are looking for a big center with untapped potential. Lavoie is having a decent season in the AHL with 15 goals and 11 assists in 33 games, but at 23 years of age, it is hard to consider him a prospect at this point, especially one that can fetch to top-6 forward such as Guentzel.

If Edmonton does want to make a splash, it may require moving out young forward Dylan Holloway, who hasn’t found his offensive game in the NHL but does have good underlying numbers and will almost certainly be an NHL player. Holloway has posted good offensive numbers in the AHL but hasn’t spent of ton of time playing in Edmonton’s top-9 and could find that side of his game if given a chance.

One other intriguing prospect who could draw some interest is Matvei Petrov. The 20-year-old has had a slow start to his professional career with Bakersfield this season, and had a terrific, albeit brief OHL career with the North Bay Battalion. The former sixth-round pick has just five goals and three assists in 30 AHL games with the Condors but had 67 goals and 116 assists in 128 career OHL games. Petrov has good vision and hockey sense but is on the lighter side at the moment and could become much stronger on the puck if he could fill out his 6’2” frame.

Other Potential Trade Chips: D Beau Akey, F Maxim Berezkin

Team Needs

1) Top-6 Forward: The Oilers shuffled their lines yesterday and moved Corey Perry onto their second line. While Perry still has a role in the NHL, his days of being a top-6 forward are well behind him. The Oilers have a considerable gap between their top five forwards and all the remaining ones. Therein lies the need for another top-six winger. The Oilers would probably love to get a right shot forward, however, the market may force them to look at the left side which is why Guentzel’s name is being thrown around. If Edmonton can’t land a top-six forward, they could opt for a top-9 forward as a fallback option. Something they thought they were getting last summer when they signed Connor Brown.

2) A Reliable Second Goaltender: An argument could be made for an additional defender, but goaltending has been problematic for the Oilers for quite some time, which is why they signed Campbell two summers ago. Stuart Skinner has performed admirably for the Oilers and has earned the starter net. However, Edmonton would do well to find a solid backup who could take the net if Skinner were to falter or be dealt an injury. Alex Nedeljkovic out of Pittsburgh could be a good option should the Penguins falter and opt to sell at the deadline.  The Vegas Golden Knights showed last year that a team can never have too much reliable goaltending, and while the Oilers have three goaltenders who can play in the NHL, two of the three have a history of seeing their play fall off considerably. Something the Oilers can’t have as their contention window gets smaller and smaller.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Flames Place Daniel Vladař On IR, Recall Dustin Wolf

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Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg is reporting that the Calgary Flames have placed goaltender Daniel Vladař on the injured reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled netminder Dustin Wolf from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.

According to Julian McKenzie of The Athletic, Vladař’s injury occurred in warm-ups last night and not in any game action. The 26-year-old hasn’t played since a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on January 20th. The native of Prague, Czech Republic has struggled this season with a 7-7-2 record with a 3.27 goals against average and a .888 save percentage. While those metrics sometimes don’t paint the whole picture of a goaltender’s performance, Vladař’s underlying numbers have been poor as well. In 16 games this season, Vladař has posted a goals saved above expected of -6.7 (Money Puck).

Wolf hasn’t fared any better at the NHL level, going 1-2-1 in five games with a 3.46 goals against average and an .893 save percentage. His underlying numbers have been even worse as Wolf has given up 5.2 more goals than expected despite playing just five games. At the AHL level, Wolf’s numbers have been a different story, as the 22-year-old has appeared in 28 games and has a sparkling .927 save percentage to go along with a 2.27 goals-against average and an 18-7-2 record.

The Flames used an EBUG today at practice as they are out East to take on the New York Islanders tomorrow and Wolf has yet to arrive. There has been speculation that the club could move out a goaltender and it will be interesting to see if Vladař’s injury cools those rumors.

Jonas Brodin Returns To Lineup, Adam Beckman Reassigned

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Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting that Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin is set to return tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins after missing the past few games with an illness. The 30-year-old hasn’t played since before the All-Star break back on January 27th against the Anaheim Ducks and should slide into the lineup on the team’s second pairing alongside Zach Bogosian.

Brodin missed a few weeks back in December with an upper-body injury and has dressed in just 32 games this season. The native of Karlstad, Sweden has averaged almost 24 minutes of ice time per game when he has been healthy and has a goal and 12 assists this season, nearly matching last season’s offensive output in half the games.

Brodin’s return will likely push Alex Goligoski into the press box and has also led the Wild to reassign Adam Beckman to the AHL. Beckman was recalled earlier in the week and was healthy scratched on Wednesday night when the Wild took on the Chicago Blackhawks. Beckham was once viewed as a solid prospect for Minnesota, but it appears time could be ticking on his chance of playing in the NHL for the Wild. The 22-year-old has just a single assist in 12 career NHL games and in the AHL this season he has nine goals and 10 assists in 37 games.

Beckham has received four NHL recalls in his career but has been passed over on multiple occasions recently when the Wild have needed to recall a player from their AHL affiliate.

Morning Notes: Johnson, Lindholm, Lightning

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Mike Harrington of Buffalo News Sports is reporting that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson isn’t looking to move on from the Sabres and has not approached management for a trade. The 35-year-old is a former Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche and could be in demand according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Johnson was the 2006 first-overall pick, and although he never reached the levels scouts had predicted for him. He has remained a stable defensive defenseman and solid penalty killer throughout his career. He was a good offensive contributor early in his career but hasn’t topped 27 points in a year since the 2013-14 season.

Things could change for Johnson, but at this point, he told Harrington that his focus is on Buffalo, and he doesn’t want to abandon the team midseason. Johnson signed a one-year contract in the off-season as a free agent with an AAV of $3.25MM.

The Sabres entered the season with hopes of competing for a playoff spot but currently sit in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and are 10 points back of the Detroit Red Wings for the final playoff spot.

In other morning notes:

  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wrote today that newly acquired Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Lindholm and the team are both comfortable with waiting to see how he adjusts to the team and how the rest of the season and the playoffs go. It makes for both sides given that Lindholm is just four and a half months away from unrestricted free agency and the Canucks have to also consider a potential long-term extension for superstar Elias Pettersson. LeBrun adds that he believes the Canucks want to sign both players long-term and have coveted Lindholm for quite some time. The 29-year-old had an incredible debut with Vancouver, notching two goals in a 3-2 win. However, his second game was a disaster as Lindholm went -4 in a 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins.
  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wrote today that he believes that the injury to Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev could prompt Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois to enter the market for a defenseman as there is a possibility that Sergachev could be out for the rest of the regular season due to injury. If the young defenseman is done playing until the playoffs it would open the door for BriseBois to go $8.5 million to go above the cap on LTIR. The issue Tampa Bay might run into is having the assets to make the move given that they don’t have a first-round pick until 2026 and their farm system is one of the worst in the NHL.

Bill Guerin Named GM Of U.S. Four Nations And Olympic Teams

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Minnesota Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin has been named the general manager of Team USA for the upcoming 2025 NHL Four Nations Face-Off as well as the 2026 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. The announcement was made official this morning and allows the three-time U.S. Olympian to take some time before selecting his first six players for the Four Nations tournament, which is something the NHL has asked each team to do early this summer.

Guerin is no stranger to donning the American sweater as he suited up for three Olympics in 1998, 2002, and 2006, winning a silver medal in 2002. He was also a member of the 1996 Team USA World Cup team that shocked the hockey world and created one of the most iconic moments in USA hockey history when they beat Team Canada to win the tournament. Guerin is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, having been inducted back in 2013.

Guerin retired from playing in 2010 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins and then spent eight seasons with the team in management, winning two Stanley Cups. He was then named general manager of the Wild in August 2019 and guided Minnesota to four consecutive playoff appearances before being named president of hockey operations and general manager last July.

Guerin made sweeping changes in Minnesota during his nearly five years with the franchise with his biggest moves being the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Now he is tasked with putting together a collection of American players who can bring home gold in two separate tournaments and could be the favourite in both. Team Canada will have arguably the best forward group in both tournaments; however, the Americans will likely boast the most well-rounded team, something that Guerin and his staff will start to look at in the coming months.

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