Latest On Cole Caufield
Jan 18: General manager Kent Hughes added some more fuel to the Caufield rumor mill today, telling reporters at Canadiens practice that the team is interested in signing Caufield to a longer-term extension. The news makes the comparison to Boldy’s seven-year, $7MM cap hit contract even more relevant, and it will surely remain in the back pocket of both parties as they continue to negotiate a contract.
Jan 17: After falling to 15th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, the 22-year-old Cole Caufield now finds himself the focal point of the Montreal Canadiens’ rebuild.
The ups and downs of a chaotic 2021-22 season limited Caufield’s offensive production in his first NHL campaign. With coaching uncertainty and an improved locker room vibe, though, Caufield has excelled in his sophomore season. His 26 goals lead the team by a mile, and his 36 points are just one behind linemate Nick Suzuki.
Now, the team is lining up to sign one of its most crucial contracts for the next few seasons. TSN’s Darren Dreger said on Tuesday’s edition of “Insider Trading” that the Canadiens have had preliminary extension talks with Caufield’s agent, Pat Brisson. Dreger noted that the conversation started around a month ago.
Coming out of college to join the team at the end of the 2020-21 season, Caufield is now in the third and final season of his entry-level contract. In the event that contract talks between the two parties turn less than agreeable, Caufield is not eligible for arbitration.
The new management regime of Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton has largely been heralded since taking over the Canadiens, giving the team a bright future soon after plummeting from contention over the last 24 months. They haven’t been tasked with signing any big contracts yet, however, and this is a high-stakes first test.
Fellow 2019 first-round selection Matt Boldy just signed a seven-year, $49MM contract with the Minnesota Wild that could be comparable for Caufield and Montreal. However, in the eyes of Caufield’s camp, that’s likely a starting point, not an end goal. Caufield has shown greater goal-scoring ability than Boldy and is playing further up in the lineup on a struggling team. It wouldn’t surprise many to see a long-term extension for Caufield start with a greater cap hit than $7MM.
Washington Capitals’ Nic Dowd To Miss Time
In the midst of a defensively excellent season, there will be a significant setback for Washington Capitals forward Nic Dowd. Head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters today that Dowd “will be out a while” as he undergoes evaluations on a lower-body injury.
Dowd sustained the injury last night, leaving after just two shifts against the New York Islanders. It’s his second lower-body injury this season, as one earlier caused him to miss a December 17 contest against Toronto. It’s unclear if the two are related.
The Alabama product has been a consistent fourth-line pivot since joining the Capitals in 2018. He has ten goals and 19 points in 44 games this season and continues to be a cornerstone presence defensively for Washington’s forwards.
He’s added more points this season, though, and is on a solid pace to break his career-high mark of 24, set last season. Lars Eller will have to do a lot of heavy lifting defensively in Dowd’s absence, and getting the legendary Nicklas Backstrom back in the fold recently eases the loss.
Minor Transactions: 01/17/23
This Tuesday night is a busy day of games, as we’ve grown accustomed to such a pattern on the NHL schedule. The night is highlighted by two crucial divisional matchups between high-powered teams, with a Florida/Toronto and Seattle/Edmonton matchup on tap for this evening. Some notable tidbits are trickling in from outside the NHL transaction wire today, though. As always, we’ll keep track of them right here.
- The AHL’s Calgary Wranglers assigned forwards Rory Kerins and Matt Marcinew to the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush today, per a team tweet. The 20-year-old Kerins is in the first year of his entry-level contract with the Flames, and the 2020 sixth-round pick keeps up a strong scoring pace in professional hockey. He has 27 points through his first 26 games in the ECHL with Rapid City, and he’s gotten his first two AHL points in six games up with the Wranglers. Kerins finished second in OHL scoring last season, notching 118 points in 67 games with the Soo Greyhounds. Marcinew, an ECHL veteran, returns to Rapid City after serving as an extra body for the Wranglers. He hasn’t appeared with Calgary this season but has 37 points through 33 ECHL games.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Alex Nedeljkovic, Nicholas Caamano Clear Waivers
Jan 16: Both have cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.
Jan 15: A pair of players are on the waiver wire today. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Detroit Red Wings have waived former rookie sensation Alex Nedeljkovic, while the Dallas Stars have waived forward Nicholas Caamano.
Nedeljkovic’s storybook run in 2020-21 with the Carolina Hurricanes seems like a distant memory now. As a 25-year-old rookie, the 37th overall selection in 2014 led the league with a .932 save percentage and 1.90 goals-against average as Carolina starter Petr Mrazek missed most of the season with an injury.
He was then dealt to Detroit, where while his numbers dropped last season, they were still quite respectable as he neared 60 starts behind a team with many holes. It hasn’t been the same results this year, though, as a .880 save percentage and 2-4-2 record in just eight starts have caused him to slip to third on the team’s goalie depth chart behind Ville Husso and waiver claim Magnus Hellberg.
Nedeljkovic has already spent six games in the minors this season on conditioning stints, but he will now need to clear waivers to continue playing there. Even as a pending unrestricted free agent, his $3MM cap hit is likely prohibitive for any team needing goalie help making a claim. He has strong numbers with the Grand Rapids Griffins, posting a shutout, a .920 save percentage, and 3-2-2 record. An extended stay in the minors could help Nedeljkovic regain confidence long-term.
Regarding Caamano, the 24-year-old has yet to play this season and was just activated from season-opening injured reserve. A 2016 fifth-round pick, Caamano had just 14 points in 47 AHL games last season with the Texas Stars. He was a taxi squad fixture for Dallas during the shortened 2020-21 season, recording an assist in 24 games in the NHL.
Gino Odjick Passes Away At 52
Unfortunately, there’s some very sad news to report on this Sunday. Legendary Vancouver Canucks enforcer and fan favorite Gino Odjick has passed away at 52, according to the team.
Odjick played in 444 games with the Canucks between 1990 and 1998 and was a member of the team that reached the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. He made a strong impression after being drafted in the fifth round in 1990, making the team the following year as a 20-year-old and playing 45 games.
Odjick’s best offensive season came during the 1994 run, where he chipped in a career-high 16 goals and 29 points. Throughout stops with the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, and Montreal Canadiens, Odjick maintained a hard-nosed game that resulted in 2,567 career penalty minutes in just 605 NHL games.
Vancouver Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini spoke on the devastating news:
Gino was a fan-favourite from the moment he joined the organization, putting his heart and soul into every shift on and off the ice. He inspired many and embodied what it means to be a Canuck. Personally, he was a close friend and confidant, someone I could lean on for advice and support. He will be deeply missed.
He will be sorely missed by the Canucks community, and the PHR team sends their absolute best wishes to the Odjick family.
Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Avalanche, Carrier
Originally slated to be out for at least a month, St. Louis Blues star winger Vladimir Tarasenko could be back in the lineup sooner than expected. Lou Korac of NHL.com and Inside the Blues reports that Tarasenko was a full participant in Blues practice on Sunday morning, just two weeks after sustaining a hand injury on New Year’s Eve.
Now 31, Tarasenko is having another solid season after missing the majority of play between 2019 and 2021 with injuries. While he’s not on his point-per-game-plus pace from last season, he does have a respectable ten goals and 29 points in 34 games. The six-time 30-goal scorer could be important trade bait for the Blues in March if they continue to slip out of the playoff race.
- While injury news for the Colorado Avalanche has been rather bleak, there was a tidbit of good news today when head coach Jared Bednar told reporters that Valeri Nichushkin is “potentially” an option tomorrow when they host the Detroit Red Wings. He’s been limited to 15 games this season but has played extraordinarily well when healthy, recording seven goals and 16 points. The news wasn’t so positive for Darren Helm, however, who’s re-injured the lower-body ailment that caused him to miss the start of the season. The team isn’t positive that Helm will return to play in 2022-23.
- The Vegas Golden Knights will be without forward William Carrier tomorrow, as he has an upper-body injury that will keep him out against Dallas. Carrier seemed to sustain the injury late in yesterday’s tough loss against the Edmonton Oilers. He’s already set a career-high in goals, scoring 11 times in 43 games in largely a fourth-line role to provide important depth scoring.
Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Rudolfs Balcers On Conditioning Stint
The Tampa Bay Lightning assigned forward Rudolfs Balcers to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch today on a conditioning stint, according to a team release.
The move signifies Balcers could be close to returning from an upper-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since Thanksgiving. Claimed on waivers earlier in the season from their intrastate rival Florida Panthers, Balcers has suited up just three times for his new team.
It has been a very tough go of things for Balcers in 2022-23. He was somewhat of a surprise free agent, left unqualified by the San Jose Sharks after a respectable 23 points in 61 games last season. Florida picked Balcers up but then waived him after he scored twice in 14 games. He’s added one goal in his three Lightning appearances.
This figures to be Balcers’ first AHL action since 2019-20 as a member of the Ottawa Senators organization. He scored 36 goals in 33 games with AHL Belleville, and he’ll hope to keep up strong numbers in a short stint with Syracuse to show the Lightning he’s still ready for NHL action.
Senators Notes: Norris, Zub, Bernard-Docker
It’s been an important practice today for the Ottawa Senators, with numerous updates from head coach D.J. Smith relayed by the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. The most consequential of them surrounds the status of star center Josh Norris, who Smith says is closing in on a return to the lineup, which could come this week.
The updates surrounding Norris’ injury status have been growing consistently more positive since the original shoulder injury occurred in late October, with the original fear being that Norris could miss the entire season. It was later determined that Norris wouldn’t require surgery, and he eventually returned to Senators practice in a full-contact jersey in mid-December.
Signed to an eight-year extension before the season, Norris is coming off a 35-goal season. Although he had just two points in five games before sustaining the shoulder injury, team chemistry is much-improved after their offseason additions have had time to settle in.
- On the flip side of things, an injury-plagued season for defensive stalwart Artem Zub may be continuing. He wasn’t present at practice today according to Garrioch, He left Ottawa’s 7-0 blowout loss at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche yesterday with a lower-body injury, and his availability is in doubt for their game tomorrow against the Blues. Zub’s missed exactly half of Ottawa’s season thus far, only playing in 21 out of 42 games.
- In response to the Zub injury, the team recalled Jacob Bernard-Docker from the AHL’s Belleville Senators. The 22-year-old first-round pick has one assist in nine games with Ottawa this year and could slot in Zub’s top-pairing role alongside Thomas Chabot.
Evening Notes: Dumba, Wiesblatt, Meyer
It seems as though Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba has been on the trade block for years on end. Now, rumors are once again starting to build up regarding the 2012 seventh overall pick. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on today’s edition of Insider Trading that both the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers have shown interest in Dumba, who is a pending unrestricted free agent.
Both teams still have playoff aspirations, desperately trying to add defensive depth. Dumba’s offensive production has taken a step back this season, as he’s recorded just 11 points in 39 games. It’s a far cry from his 50-point campaign in 2017-18, as injuries have mounted up.
Ottawa seems to have a larger hole of the two teams mentioned on the right side, but they do sit further out of playoff positioning than the Oilers. With Minnesota solidly in playoff positioning, they would undoubtedly be looking for roster players in return for the 28-year-old Dumba.
- San Jose Sharks 2020 first-round pick Ozzy Wiesblatt has spent the entirety of 2022-23 in the professional ranks but is still technically eligible for another year of junior hockey. In anticipation of a potential return to juniors, the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks traded for Wiesblatt’s rights today. In 17 games with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, Wiesblatt has managed five points in a limited role. A return to junior hockey for the latter half of the season would likely make some sense, especially on an already-strong Winterhawks squad.
- Even more injury troubles struck the Columbus Blue Jackets today, as forward Carson Meyer left their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an upper-body injury, per the team, and did not return. The Ohio-born forward had yet to record a point in 12 NHL games this year, but mustered over a point per game in the minors. A sixth-round pick in 2017, Meyer is continually challenging his way up the organizational ranks.
Latest On The Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers have been one of the most-watched stories in the league this season. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl continue to put up generational scoring numbers. Still, old issues have reared their ugly heads, and the team remains on the fringes of the playoffs as the calendar turns to 2023.
Edmonton has two big dates circled on their calendar over the next weeks: the return of elite power forward Evander Kane to the lineup and the NHL Trade Deadline on March 3.
In terms of making trades, the Oilers are “working the phones” well before the deadline, writes Pierre LeBrun in a piece for The Athletic. LeBrun says Edmonton has been connected to Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun, as well as Montreal’s Joel Edmundson, and about “every selling team you can think of with a defenseman potentially up for grabs.”
With the team’s swath of promising young defensemen, it does seem that adding just one bigger name into the mix could offer Edmonton the ability to optimize their pairings and solidify defensive issues that have plagued them for years.
However, they can’t expect to keep pucks out of the net without goaltending, which is still somewhat of a concern. Jack Campbell still hasn’t been able to figure things out in Edmonton, now completely losing the starting job to Stuart Skinner just months after signing a five-year, $25MM contract. Skinner himself has been passable at worst and lifesaving at best, maintaining a .914 save percentage through 25 starts.
Kane’s return from a horrifying wrist injury could shore up another issue – depth scoring. Edmonton’s fourth-ranked offense in the NHL comes courtesy of McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Zach Hyman, who have scored 95 of their 147 goals (a staggering 65%). No other Oilers forward has more than five goals – which is Kane, who’s played in just 14 games.
His return is likely coming this month, meaning his activation (and salary cap implications) remains untouched by any potential deadline trade.
PuckPedia outlined potential scenarios for the cap-strapped Oilers today, which would allow Kane to come off long-term injured reserve. It would be a tricky scenario, requiring them to place defenseman Ryan Murray on LTIR, assigning Devin Shore and Vincent Desharnais to the minors, and sending one more player down who makes more than $1.125MM against the cap. This would likely be Mattias Janmark, who has nine points in 28 games and failed to make the team out of training camp.