Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz Returns To Game Action
New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz is back behind the bench for game action tonight after a personal leave of absence from the team for the death of his mother and clearing COVID protocol, reports Newsday’s Andrew Gross.
The team placed Trotz in COVID protocol on January 11, not getting a chance to coach the team after returning from his leave of absence. The last Islanders game Trotz coached was against Buffalo on December 30th, taking his leave of absence the next day.
However, due to a rash of postponements, Trotz has been absent only for the last three of the team’s games. Assistant coach Lane Lambert took over head coaching duties in the process.
With Trotz back at the helm, the Islanders continue a long road back toward a potential playoff spot. By standings points, the team is third-last in the Eastern Conference and 18 points behind Boston for the last wild card spot. However, they have as many as 10 games in hand on some teams, ample room to make up some difference. The eighth-place points percentage in the conference is Washington’s .654, though, and New York’s .467 mark still lags far behind.
Anaheim Ducks Interviewing Internal GM Candidates
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported today that the Anaheim Ducks have started the process of interviewing internal options to fill the general manager position, currently filled by assistant GM Jeff Solomon. LeBrun named Solomon, Dave Nonis, and Martin Madden as the candidates they’ve interviewed.
The position opened up last November when Bob Murray, their GM of 12 years, resigned from the club to enter a treatment program for alcohol abuse.
The 64-year-old Solomon is actually in his first year with the Ducks organization. He was named assistant general manager and VP of hockey operations this past summer after a 14-year career with Los Angeles’ hockey operations department.
Nonis is the only one of the named candidates who have general manager experience in the NHL. He was the GM of the Vancouver Canucks from 2004 to 2008 and the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2012 to 2015. He’s worked in the NHL since 1998 and has been with Anaheim ever since departing Toronto in 2015.
Madden was also mentioned as a prospective candidate for Montreal’s GM vacancy, but those rumors have since cooled. The Québec City native was Anaheim’s director of amateur scouting from 2008 to 2020 before transitioning to his role as assistant general manager.
LeBrun mentions that Anaheim hasn’t yet begun the process of interviewing external candidates, but that should begin soon. He also notes that they haven’t yet reached out to the Tampa Bay Lightning for permission to interview their assistant general manager, Mathieu Darche, who’s one of the hotter candidates on the managerial market.
Snapshots: Rust, Byron, Sharks
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust practiced with the team today after missing their last four games while in COVID protocol, per team reporter Michelle Crechiolo. The Penguins face off against Vegas tomorrow night, but head coach Mike Sullivan said today that he’s unsure whether or not he’ll insert Rust into the lineup. Rust’s yet again been lethal when in the lineup, although he’s been limited to just 15 games this season. He has nine goals and 11 points, on pace for his second career season above a point-per-game pace.
More from around the league:
- Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme issued a further update today on injured winger Paul Byron, stating that he’s probable to join the team at some point during the upcoming week. Byron’s been absent the entire 2021-22 season after having offseason hip injury, and he was expected to miss about five months. He’s now missed about five-and-a-half, so it’s a good sign that he won’t be out much longer. The 32-year-old winger has 26 points in 75 games over the past two seasons and will provide valuable leadership presence to a struggling Canadiens team.
- The San Jose Sharks could be getting a pair of players back into the fold. Head coach Bob Boughner said today that goalie James Reimer — who’d been out with a lower-body injury for over a week — and forward Alexander Barabanov, who was on COVID protocol, could be back in the team’s lineup for their Monday night game against Los Angeles. Both Reimer and Barabanov have been valuable parts of an impressive Sharks team this season. Reimer’s posted strong numbers in a tandem with Adin Hill, and Barabanov has 20 points through 32 games.
Adrian Kempe Enters COVID Protocol
Los Angeles Kings forward and Pacific Division All-Star Adrian Kempe entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today, as tweeted by the Kings communications department. In a corresponding move, they’ve brought up forward Martin Frk from the AHL’s Ontario Reign, assigning him to the taxi squad.
Frk himself had recently cleared COVID protocol, entering the list on January 10th.
Kempe is the team’s leader in goals with 17, although he has just seven assists for 24 points in 38 games. The goal-scoring factor is evidently the main reason for his selection to the All-Star team, the first in his career. He’s been playing in the top-six on the wing, most recently alongside Anze Kopitar on the team’s top line.
The Kings have no other healthy forwards on the active roster to insert into the lineup, however, one of Frk, Samuel Fagemo, or Jaret Anderson-Dolan could come up from the taxi squad to fill his spot.
Seattle’s Chris Driedger Enters COVID Protocol
Seattle Kraken goaltender Chris Driedger entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today according to a tweet from the Seattle Kraken public relations team, continuing what’s been a rocky season in net for Seattle.
The Kraken had no players in COVID protocol prior to Driedger’s placement. In response, per the ECHL’s transactions page, the Kraken recalled goalie Antoine Bibeau from the Allen Americans.
Driedger is the less porous of Seattle’s two main goaltenders this season, and he’d had a save percentage above .900 in three of his past four decisions. On the year, Driedger has a 3-6-0 record through nine starts, a .896 save percentage, and 3.18 goals-against average. The save percentage and goals-against average marks are career-worsts for Driedger in seasons where he’s played more than one NHL game.
The 27-year-old goalie’s first season with the Kraken hasn’t been smooth. He’s been limited to just 11 games played overall, sitting out of the lineup three separate times with a lower-body injury. Driedger signed a three-year, $10.5MM contract this offseason with trade protection to join the team as an unrestricted free agent, counting as their selection from the Florida Panthers in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
If only a five-day quarantine is required for Driedger, he’ll miss the team’s next three games, paving the way for a return to the lineup against Florida on January 22nd.
Rangers Place Alexis Lafreniere In COVID Protocol
Per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, New York Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere is now in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Forward Lauri Pajuniemi is now on the active roster, being recalled from the taxi squad today.
Lafreniere continues to struggle to work his way out of a depth role on this Rangers team, but he has 11 points through 37 games this season. Anthony Greco will draw into the lineup for his first game of the season.
Assuming Lafreniere is only subject to the five-day quarantine, he’ll only miss two games and be ready for the January 19 game against Toronto.
He’s the fourth Ranger to enter COVID protocol right now. Forwards Julien Gauthier, Barclay Goodrow, and Ryan Reaves were put on the list earlier in the week.
Snapshots: Hertl, Allen, Byron
The San Jose Sharks’ unexpected rise back to relevancy this season has answered a lot of questions, but the Tomas Hertl situation still hangs over the team’s heads. On TSN’s Insider Trading program today, Pierre LeBrun says he expects the Sharks to “circle back” with Hertl and give him an extension offer. The pending unrestricted free agent has 31 points in 37 games this season. The team’s lone 20-goal scorer so far is in the final year of a four-year, $22.5MM contract. In the case that Hertl doesn’t agree to an extension prior to the trade deadline, though, LeBrun notes the trade front is still an option. Hertl has a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of three teams to which he’ll accept a trade. LeBrun believes the New York Rangers would be an option, a team that would obviously be heavily interested in some added forward depth.
Some other notes, this time out of Montreal:
- After leaving last night’s loss against Boston, Canadiens goalie Jake Allen will be out of the lineup for at least a week, per coach Dominique Ducharme. It’s been a really tough season for Allen, who’s faced injuries and COVID that have limited him to 24 games. He’s Montreal’s undisputed starter, still posting a save percentage above .900 on the worst team in the league. The team has a compressed schedule in the near future, meaning Allen could miss three or four games before he’s ready to dress again.
- Montreal could be getting a name back from injury soon, though, as forward Paul Byron, who hasn’t played all year due to offseason hip surgery, could be cleared from COVID protocol by the weekend and could join the team on the road. Byron had six points in 22 games last year during Montreal’s playoff run. He’s one of the bigger voices in the room for the Habs, and his leadership presence will be greatly appreciated during this tough season.
Kirby Dach, Dylan Strome Enter COVID Protocol
5:38 pm: The placements are now official, according to The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus.
5:27 pm: NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis reports that Chicago Blackhawks forwards Kirby Dach and Dylan Strome entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today, meaning they’re unavailable for tonight’s contest against Montreal.
Dach is a humongous loss for this Blackhawks team. The 20-year-old center is averaging 19:34 per game, a great indicator of the trust placed in him by the team’s coaching staff. He has six goals and eight assists for 14 points through 36 games.
Strome was a healthy scratch at many points during the beginning of the season, but he’s found himself in the lineup more often under new head coach Derek King. Through 26 games, he has three goals and seven assists for 10 points.
In their absences, forward Sam Lafferty could draw in and make his Blackhawks debut. The team acquired Lafferty over a week ago (January 5) from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Alexander Nylander.
If Strome and Dach are subject to just a five-day quarantine, they could return on January 21 against Minnesota.
Boston Bruins Place Three In COVID Protocol
Jan 13: Matt Grzelcyk has now entered the protocol, along with another staff member. The Bruins recalled Tyler Lewington and Jack Ahcan today; the former would be making his Bruins debut should he enter the lineup as expected.
Jan 10: The Boston Bruins placed defensemen Connor Clifton, Derek Forbort, and a team staff member into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol within an hour of puck drop of their game against the Washington Capitals tonight, per a team tweet.
In their absences, it’s likely that Urho Vaakanainen and John Moore will make up the bottom pair for tonight’s game. Warmups have already begun and the Bruins have no other defensemen on the active roster to fill in.
Forbort, who’s in his first season as a Bruin, has seven points through 31 games this year and has bounced around the team’s defensive pairings. He offers little offensively, but he’s had really good defensive impacts since joining Boston. His ability and versatility will certainly be missed while he’s in protocol.
Clifton has played in just 22 games, scoring two points, but he’s also been rather reliable defensively when in the lineup. Vaakanainen and Moore will need to play a responsible game in his and Forbort’s absences.
If all goes well, Clifton and Forbort could return January 18th against Carolina, the team’s first game after the conclusion of what could be five-day quarantines for them.
2022 NHL All-Star Game Rosters To Be Revealed Tomorrow
The four divisional rosters for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game will be revealed Thursday exclusively on ESPN’s SportsCenter program, the TV network tweeted today. The reveal program will be hosted by Steve Levy, along with analysts and former NHLers Chris Chelios and Mark Messier.
Each division’s roster features nine skaters and two goaltenders, and the tournament continues to be played in a 3-on-3 format. The coaches for the four divisions have already been named — Andrew Brunette (Atlantic), Rod Brind’Amour (Metropolitan), Jared Bednar (Central), and Peter DeBoer (Pacific).
All but one player from each division will be revealed during the roster announcement. Fans have the opportunity to vote for the last player on each squad, known as the Last Men In voting campaign. Details for that will also be revealed during the show.
The All-Star weekend takes place February 4 and February 5.