Robin Lehner Close To Returning
During his media availability today, Vegas Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer revealed that netminder Robin Lehner is medically cleared to play after he was activated from injured reserve on March 30th. While DeBoer defines Lehner as “capable of playing,” he said that Lehner needs more time and practice before returning as the team’s starter.
In the meantime, this means that Logan Thompson will retain the starting role in a stretch of games where every point matters. Thompson has been impressive in recent games, improving his save percentage on the year to .920 in 11 games played. With veteran Laurent Brossoit also injured, Thompson remains the team’s best option as they attempt to salvage a playoff spot out of a hectic, injury-marred season.
Vegas sits one point behind Dallas for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, but Dallas has three games in hand. A divisional spot may actually be more realistic for the Knights, as they sit three points behind Edmonton with the Oilers having just one game in hand, but Edmonton is surging with a 7-2-1 record in their last ten games.
Whatever the outcome, Lehner is a large puzzle piece in this team beginning to return to full health for the first time all season.
San Jose Sharks Re-Sign Nikolai Knyzhov
The San Jose Sharks announced today that the team has re-signed defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov to a one-year contract. PuckPedia reports the deal is one-way in nature, with a cap hit of $850,000 ($750,000 salary, $100,000 signing bonus).
Knyzhov, 24, was a pending restricted free agent. If his name doesn’t sound familiar, it would be because Knyzhov has been out of the lineup for the entire 2021-22 season with a lower-body injury sustained during training camp. However, this contract suggests that the team expects him to make a recovery for next year.
Knyzhov broke into the league as a regular in 2020-21, playing in all of the team’s 56 games that year, oftentimes finding a role in the team’s top-four alongside Erik Karlsson. He recorded two goals and eight assists for 10 points and finished the year with a -9 rating. He played his first 3 NHL games the season prior, earning a call-up from the AHL’s Barracuda in his first North American professional season.
The undrafted defenseman was in the final season of his three-year entry-level deal that carried a cap hit of $796,667. He’ll likely return next season to fill out the team’s left defense, forming a group with Mario Ferraro and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Brian Halonen Signs With New Jersey Devils
March 28: The Devils have officially announced the Halonen contract, noting that he will also join the Comets this week on an amateur tryout.
March 27: One of the top undrafted free agents out of the NCAA is already off the board. Michigan Tech’s Brian Halonen has signed a two-year, two-way entry-level deal with the New Jersey Devils starting in 2022-23, per CapFriendly. It’s a $925,000 cap hit, with Halonen earning $832,500 in base salary and $92,500 in signing bonuses each year.
Halonen, a 23-year-old, finished the 2021-22 campaign at Michigan Tech with 44 points (21 goals, 23 assists) in just 37 games. It was a breakout year for the Delano, Minnesota native, who had yet to eclipse 25 points in his college career.
A natural left winger, Halonen weighs in at 6’0″ and 207 pounds. He was a Hobey Baker Award finalist this season for the best player in college hockey.
Given the one-season jump for Halonen in his senior year, it’s a long shot for him to crack the NHL lineup during Devils training camp this summer. However, he should get a prominent role with the AHL’s Utica Comets as he joins a deep New Jersey developmental system.
Snapshots: Strome, Abruzzese, McDonough
Some bad post-Deadline news for Rangers fans strikes, as forward Ryan Strome left today’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return. He’s having another productive season playing alongside Artemi Panarin in the team’s top-six, and that line looked to be bolstered by the addition of Andrew Copp at the deadline. If Strome misses any game action, Copp could be thrust back into a center position for the time being. Strome’s health, especially for the playoffs, is of the utmost importance right now for him and the Rangers.
Some more notes, now from the college world:
- New addition Nick Abruzzese will join the Toronto Maple Leafs in Boston tomorrow, according to head coach Sheldon Keefe. The Harvard standout signed his entry-level contract with the Leafs yesterday. There’s a solid chance he could slot into the lineup sooner rather than later, and could help bring some more speed and energy to a bottom-six that’s looked lethargic at times with both Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds in the lineup. He’s currently the team’s only extra healthy skater on the roster.
- The Vancouver Canucks won’t be getting a college boost to their lineup, however. The Vancouver Sun’s Ben Kuzma reports that Northeastern’s Aidan McDonough will likely return to the school for his senior year instead of turning pro with Vancouver. McDonough was incredible this season with 25 goals in 38 games, and the 2019 seventh-round pick is quickly rising up the team’s prospect ranks.
Anaheim Ducks Sign Josh Lopina
After his University of Massachusetts was eliminated from the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament on Friday, 2021 draft pick Josh Lopina signed his entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks today, per the team. Lopina will sign an amateur try-out contract (ATO) with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls for the remainder of the season, getting a sneak peek of hockey life within the Ducks organization. The terms of his NHL deal are not yet available.
Lopina was a bit of a surprise pick last year in the fourth round, but the double-overager came into the draft with a strong freshman season at UMass under his belt (23 points in 29 games) and an NCAA championship. He’s improved on those numbers this season, scoring 12 goals and 27 points in 27 games, the first time at any recorded level that Lopina has had a point-per-game season.
Undoubtedly a late bloomer, Lopina will get a chance to continue his upward rise in the Ducks organization. Likely destined for a full-time AHL role next season, he’ll get a chance to grow there alongside other Ducks youngsters like Jacob Perreault and the newly-acquired Drew Helleson.
Injury Notes: Benning, Wood, Sorokin
The Nashville Predators announced this afternoon that the team activated defenseman Matt Benning off injured reserve. Benning has been listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury for almost two weeks now, last playing in the team’s March 13th win against Minnesota. In his second season in Nashville, Benning has tallied 10 assists in 53 games and is again providing solid defensive depth at the bottom of the lineup. The team’s defensive depth is being stretched thin with injuries to both Mark Borowiecki and Dante Fabbro, so his return to the lineup carries some extra importance as the Predators look to lock down a playoff spot as the season winds to a close.
More from around the NHL today:
- Another name is coming off injured reserve — New Jersey Devils forward Miles Wood. He’ll play his first game of the season tonight against the Canadiens, sitting out all year up until this point with a hip injury sustained during training camp. Wood is likely to draw in on the fourth line alongside youngsters Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian, and his physical game should give New Jersey’s forward group an edge that it’s lacked all season long. Up until this year, Wood had at least 10 goals and 20 points in four straight seasons.
- New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said after today’s game against Tampa Bay that goalie Ilya Sorokin suffered an upper-body injury that took him out of the game after the second period. It’s unclear whether Sorokin will travel with the team to Columbus for their next game. If he’s out of the lineup, it’s a huge blow to any sliver of hope the Islanders had at making a miracle run into the playoffs. Quietly, Sorokin has been one of the NHL’s best this season, buoying the Islanders with his six shutouts and .927 save percentage in 42 starts. Coming into the game against Tampa Bay, he hadn’t had a save percentage under .929 in his last five games.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Noah Cates
The Philadelphia Flyers have signed forward prospect Noah Cates to his entry-level contract, per the team. It’s a two-year contract that begins this season and will take him through to the summer of 2023.
Noah is the younger brother of Jackson Cates, also in the Philadelphia system, playing mostly with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season. Both brothers attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth. They were eliminated from the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament yesterday, paving the way for the younger Cates to join the Flyers.
Drafted 137th overall in 2017, the 23-year-old native of Stillwater, Minnesota joins Philadelphia after serving as Duluth’s captain for back-to-back seasons and scoring a goal in four games for the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics. In his final season at Duluth, Cates tallied 11 goals and 13 assists for 24 points in 37 games, nine points short of his career-high (33) that he set in 2019-20.
Cates can join the Flyers immediately, and could potentially play his first NHL game as soon as Tuesday, which is ironically in Minnesota against the Wild.
Mark Borowiecki Out Week-To-Week
Just as he was getting healthy again, another injury has sidelined Nashville Predators defenseman Mark Borowiecki. The team announced that he won’t be in the lineup tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights and that he’s week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Borowiecki returned to the lineup on March 21st against Anaheim after missing over two weeks with a lower-body injury. However, he suffered a second injury the following night against Los Angeles, limiting him to just eight shifts and 5:53 of ice time in that contest.
With Borowiecki out of the lineup, expect the hulking Ben Harpur to draw back into the lineup. He’s only gotten 18 NHL games this season, but he has some experience in the Nashville organization now and his size is an asset.
Now, Nashville hopes Borowiecki, a vocal presence in the locker room, can get healthy for the playoffs. ‘Boro Cop’ has two assists in 44 games this season and signed an extension last month to remain with the team through 2022-23. The team is also dealing with injuries to Matt Benning and Dante Fabbro on defense as their depth on the back end thins at the worst possible time.
Snapshots: Drouin, Laughton, Lindenwood
The Montreal Canadiens won’t have forward Jonathan Drouin in the lineup tonight, as he’s returned home due to a close COVID-19 contact, the team announced. Drouin’s battled through injury this year, missing around two months with a wrist injury, but has been fairly productive with 20 points in 34 games when in the lineup. It’s another tough break for Drouin, who’s put up points over the past few seasons but can’t stay in the lineup. Waiver claim Rem Pitlick could get an elevated role in the Montreal lineup while Drouin is out.
More from around hockey on this Thursday night:
- Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton “didn’t get great news” during his latest doctors’ appointment, said head coach Mike Yeo today. The forward has been out with a concussion for roughly two weeks, and it’s looking increasingly likely that he won’t return this season. The team has shut him down for the time being as he focuses on his recovery. If it is the end of the year for him, he finished 2021-22 with 28 points in 54 games.
- Division I college hockey is officially coming to the St. Louis area. Lindenwood University officially unveiled its program today, after more than a year of rumors surrounding the school. In its first season, the school will be coached by former St. Louis Blue Rick Zombo.
NHL General Managers Could Discuss Closing LTIR Playoff “Loophole”
Next week holds in store an NHL general managers’ meeting in Manalapan, Florida, and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the agenda may include a discussion around altering the long-term injured reserve “loophole” used by teams to build legal, but non-salary-cap-compliant rosters for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
As it stands, teams are allowed to gain cap relief from players on injured reserve for the end of the regular season before the salary cap disappears for the playoffs, then bringing those players back once healthy for playoff runs. It theoretically allows teams to exceed the hard cap by several millions of dollars during the playoffs due to the salary cap not being in effect at the end of the regular season. Seravalli says at least one general manager has requested that this be included on the meeting’s agenda, with that GM believing “strongly that wasn’t the intended spirit of the CBA when it was written.” It’s a rule that’s been taken advantage of by multiple Stanley Cup-winning teams in the past, including the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 with Nikita Kucherov and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 with Patrick Kane.
The anonymous general manager cited in the article doesn’t think a complex solution is required to fix this inequity, however. While they don’t advocate for overall financial roster limits, they put forth a proposal that the 20-man roster on the ice for each team during a playoff game can’t exceed the salary cap. This would provide a boost to essentially all playoff teams, considering that during the regular season, any healthy scratches or players on regular injured reserve count against the salary cap as well. It gives teams flexibility, allowing them to make roster decisions freely during the playoffs among healthy players within the constraint of a combined $81.5MM cap hit for the on-ice lineup.
However, as Seravalli notes, any modification to this rule requires negotiation with the NHLPA, as it constitutes a “material change” to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
While no surefire playoff team this season is taking advantage of this loophole in earnest, it was widely assumed the Vegas Golden Knights’ playoff lineup would benefit from this ability due to captain Mark Stone‘s long-term back injury that’s expected to keep him out through the regular season. Now, with additional injuries continuing to pile up for the Knights, it’s feasible the team misses the playoffs entirely.