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Pittsburgh Penguins Center Search Continues

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It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Penguins have been looking for a third-line center to augment their forward group for some time. GM Jim Rutherford has been clear that there were options for him stretching back into the summer, but that he wasn’t ready to make the deal until the right “impact” player surfaced. The Penguins are righting the ship after a rough start to the season, but have been relying heavily on their top-six to provide much of the offense.

Alex GalchenyukNow, in the latest version of “Insider Trading” on TSN, Darren Dreger connects the Penguins with much-maligned forward Alex Galchenyuk of the Montreal Canadiens. Dreger says that Galchenyuk’s name has “surfaced” though there is no clear report of any talks between the two clubs.

While the Montreal Canadiens continue to slump their way to a 1-5-1 record, bereft of any offensive threat, trading a talented forward like Galchenyuk may seem misguided. The problem is that though many have seen his offense in the past, none of it has appeared this season. Galchenyuk has just one goal—on the powerplay at that—and no assists this season through seven games, and has seen his ice time reduced to the lowest it has been in several years. At one point he was on the fourth line in Montreal, and he is clearly no longer a center in the eyes of head coach Claude Julien.

So the question is whether the Penguins believe that Galchenyuk could recover some of that lost offensive magic he showed in the 2015-16 season, when at the age of 21 he scored 30 goals and 56 points. Whether the team believes he is a true center is another story, as is his fit into their salary structure. This summer, Galchenyuk signed a three-year deal worth $4.9MM per season. The Penguins meanwhile have just under $2.2MM in cap space, though the longer they wait the less Galchenyuk would actually cost. Now that the season has started, every day that passes drops the prorated salary down another peg.

If a deal was to be made soon though, there would need to be salary going the other way. It would be interesting to see what Montreal would be after, as they would be able to find room for a defenseman or forward. In the meantime, Galchenyuk will have to try and get his game going on his own, and hopefully entice a buyer of some sort to come knocking at Montreal’s door.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Notes: Mironov, Van Riemsdyk, Svechnikov

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The Colorado Avalanche have sent Andrei Mironov to the San Antonio Rampage on a conditioning stint according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express. Mironov has been a healthy scratch for the Avalanche since the first game of the season, but as Mike Chambers wrote Tuesday for the Denver Post, was becoming acclimated to North America with the help of the other Colorado Russian-born players.

Now, he’ll have to fend for himself so to speak in the minor leagues as he tries to learn the defensive game on smaller rinks. Mironov was drafted in the fourth round a few years ago, but has shown solid upside as a potential shutdown defender. After playing five seasons in the KHL, Mironov signed with the Avalanche this spring to start his North American career.

  • Trevor van Riemsdyk has been activated as expected by the Carolina Hurricanes after recovering from a concussion suffered in the season-opener. The team had experimented with Trevor Carrick, but will likely plug van Riemsdyk back into the lineup tonight against the Calgary Flames. They had been carrying just six defensemen after sending Carrick back to the AHL, meaning there will be no corresponding move necessary.
  • Evgeny Svechnikov is also healthy after an injury held him out of the first part of the season. The difference is that Svechnikov has been sent to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin his season, not quite ready for the NHL just yet. Svechnikov made his NHL debut last season when he got into two games for the Detroit Red Wings, but was instrumental in the Griffins’ Calder Cup victory. In 93 total minor league games last year, the first-round pick scored 63 points. He’ll likely make it up to the NHL before long if he shows he’s healthy.
  • When the Buffalo Sabres brought in Jason Botterill as GM this summer, he promised that more emphasis would be placed on the Rochester Americans and their success. The organization has made another move to try and beef up the Amerks, bringing Stuart Percy in on a professional tryout. Percy was a first-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011, and has found solid success in the minor leagues previously. The Buffalo GM is intimately familiar with his game, as he played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last year, who Botterill ran for the Pittsburgh organization.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights have completed another goalie transaction, flipping Maxime Lagace for Oscar Dansk according to our friends at Roster Resource. Lagace didn’t get into a game as Malcolm Subban has taken the reins in Vegas, and this move likely allows both goaltenders to stay fresh.

Tuukka Rask Diagnosed With Concussion

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As many had feared, Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask has been diagnosed with a concussion and will follow the league’s protocols before getting back on the ice. The injury happened in practice when Anders Bjork crashed into the goaltender. Anton Khudobin will take the Bruins net tonight with Zane McIntyre on the bench backing him up.

Tuukka RaskRask has dealt with minor injuries over the last few years but has still been able to start at least 64 games for the Bruins in each of the last three seasons. The clear number one in town, the 30-year old won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best netminder in 2014 and has been one of the league’s most consistent for some time. In the summer of 2013, he signed an eight-year, $56MM contract which tied him with Pekka Rinne at the time for the league’s highest-paid goaltender.

While it’s unclear when Rask will return, his play this season hadn’t been up to his high standards. In four starts he had allowed 12 goals on 102 shots for an .882 save percentage, leading his team to a 1-3 record. Unfortunately for the Bruins and Rask, he’ll have to wait at least a few days to try and right those numbers. While the concussion protocol varies widely, Khudobin will likely have the net for tonight and Saturday. The team then doesn’t play until Thursday, a nice bit of scheduling as they also look to get Patrice Bergeron back into the lineup.

Speculating on the effect of concussions is a fool’s errand, as players react in a wide spectrum after sustaining head injuries. Rask was pulled from a game last year after taking a puck to the neck against the Nashville Predators, but passed the tests and played two days later. It will be important to watch when he returns to practice, and how he feels the next day.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Derek Forbort Signs Extension With Los Angeles Kings

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In the wake of the Los Angeles Kings’ bad news on Jeff Carter, the team has something else to cheer up their fans. Derek Forbort has signed a two-year contract extension that will pay him an average of $2.525MM per season.

Forbort has quickly become a fan favorite in Los Angeles, as he made the jump right from the minor leagues to Drew Doughty’s left side. After playing in 14 games for the Kings in 2014-15, Forbort suited up for all 82 last year and averaged over 20 minutes a night. This year he’s back for even more, playing sidekick to Doughty and being relied on as the team’s #1 penalty killer. The 25-year old was a long time coming for the Kings, who drafted him in the first round in 2010.

"<strongHis first stop was at the University of North Dakota, where he was part of their NHL factory that churns out professionals every year. He spent three seasons with the Fighting Hawks, while also skating key minutes for Team USA in the World Juniors in two consecutive years. Forbort began to hone his simple two-way style then, and made an immediate impact for the Manchester Monarchs upon turning pro. He helped lead the team to a Calder Cup championship in 2015, before making his NHL debut the next season.

Recently there has been speculation that the Kings could deal one of their other defensemen—Jake Muzzin or Alec Martinez in particular—for scoring help. That ability comes directly because of the quick transition Forbort has made to their top pairing, and his ability to play in all situations. While the team continues to lose offensive pieces to injury, their defense remains rock-solid. The Kings have allowed just 10 goals all season, easily the fewest in the entire league.

Forbort is in the final season of his two-year two-way deal he signed in the summer of 2016, just 14 games into his NHL career. Over that span it has been one of the most valuable deals in the league, paying him just $650K at the NHL level each season. Importantly, the new contract will take him to free agency in the summer of 2020 at the age of 28, when he can really cash in with a long-term deal. While there will likely be debate over how much of his success is directly tied to Doughty, he has positioned himself in a strong negotiating position for unrestricted free agency.

The Kings, on that same note likely didn’t want to commit to Forbort long-term on an expensive contract when they have Doughty’s own deal to worry about. Doughty will hit unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019, and if the Kings intend on keeping him they’ll have to give him one of the biggest contracts in the league. The 27-year old is coming off a Norris Trophy win in 2016 and is generally regarded as one of the best all-around defensemen in the NHL.

Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider first reported the deal on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Philadelphia Flyers Recall Matt Read

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Matt Read is back with the Philadelphia Flyers after his short stint in the minor leagues, as the team recalled him from Lehigh Valley today. Read had cleared waivers just before the start of the season, after finding himself on the outside looking in on a roster that decided to go young this year.

Since debuting in 2011, Read has played 418 games for the Flyers but has generally been met with ire from the fanbase. The 31-year old forward has 186 points during that time, but never was really able to fulfill the potential he showed in a 24-goal rookie campaign. Despite ample powerplay time, Read’s numbers slowly decreased to where he only scored 19 points last season in 63 games. His four-year, $14.5MM extension signed in the fall of 2013 comes to an end this season.

Hopefully for Flyers fans, the fact that he’s in a contract year will provide Read with a little more tenacity as he looks to secure his NHL future. In five games in the minor leagues he scored just one point, but he’ll look to improve on that if given the chance with the Flyers. The team is currently carrying 14 forwards.

Jeff Carter Out Indefinitely Following Surgery; Kings To Sign Brooks Laich

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As a follow-up to this morning’s note on Jeff Carter, the Los Angeles Kings sent out a press release to LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen clarifying the situation somewhat.

Kings center Jeff Carter sustained a cut to his left leg during the first period of last night’s game and today is undergoing a surgical procedure to repair the injury. He is out indefinitely.

For what it’s worth, John Shannon of Sportsnet was hearing earlier today that it was tendon damage for Carter, which would likely keep him out long-term. While we don’t have a clear timeline yet, the Kings will have to move on without one of their star forwards for the time being. Bob McKenzie of TSN relays a six to eight week timeline as a best case scenario.

Carter, 32, was coming off one of the best seasons of his career in 2016-17 when he scored 32 goals and 66 points, single-handily almost dragging the Kings’ offense to the playoffs. This year had started out a little slower with just three points in his first six games, but he was obviously still a huge part of their team. Before missing most of last night’s game, he had been averaging over 18 minutes per game and was a key part of both special teams.

Perhaps most importantly, Carter’s absence will put an immense strain on the Kings at the center position, where he and Anze Kopitar provided so much ice time. Nick Shore, the third line pivot will now be thrust into an even larger role while Nic Dowd and youngster Adrian Kempe will step into the bottom two spots. For a team that was already lacking scoring depth, losing perhaps the best pure goal man on the team is an incredibly unlucky blow.

In his absence, the team will be signing Brooks Laich to an NHL contract according to Rosen. The two-way deal will be worth $650K at the NHL level. Laich had attended training camp with the Kings but hadn’t earned a contract. The 34-year old forward played the entire 2016-17 campaign with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, buried by Toronto thanks to his hefty cap hit. Scoring just nine points in 27 games, he battled both injury and a lineup of prospects that he couldn’t crack. The Marlies clearly were acting as a development program for the Maple Leafs, and didn’t have much ice time for several of their buried veterans.

Still, he did only score 14 points in the 2015-16 season that was split between Washington and Toronto. Laich was once a perennial 20-goal man, but hasn’t scored more than 20 points in a season since 2011-12. He had been practicing with the team still, and was likely always going to be one of the first injury replacements. Interestingly, McKenzie notes that the team had actually agreed to terms with Laich before the game. The timeline on getting him to the NHL though is obviously accelerated.

Boston Bruins Make Three Transactions

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The Boston Bruins have completed three injury-related transactions, moving Ryan Spooner to injured reserve, activating David Backes and recalling goaltender Zane McIntyre to serve as backup in tonight’s game. Tuukka Rask, injured at practice yesterday will not dress for the Bruins when they take on the Vancouver Canucks.

Backes’ activation means that the veteran forward will make his season debut tonight after dealing with a bout of diverticulitis to start the year. His return will be a handy one for the Bruins, who have been leaning more and more on their young players recently. Patrice Bergeron, also close to a return is apparently a game-time decision but seems unlikely to play.

Rask’s injury has not been updated, but McIntyre will be on the end of the bench tonight as Anton Khudobin gets his second start of the year. Khudobin has stopped 38 of 40 shots in his two appearances this year, and may have to carry the load for at least a few games. The 27-year old has done it before, and actually has a .917 save percentage during his two separate stints in Boston.

If Khudobin falters McIntyre does actually have eight games of NHL experience, all of which came last season. The 25-year old has posted strong numbers in college and the minor leagues, but only posted a save percentage above .900 in one of his eight appearances. In the three games he started, he allowed 12 goals on 84 shots. Sufficed to say, the Bruins will cross their fingers that Rask’s injury is minor.

Snapshots: Josefson, Megan, Foligno

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Injury news out of Buffalo today has Sabres’ forward Jacob Josefson out “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury sustained on Sunday. Josefson had been held scoreless through the first six games, but had been a key penalty killer for the team. The 26-year old signed a one-year, $700K contract with the Sabres this summer after not receiving a qualifying offer from the New Jersey Devils, and is looking to prove that he can be an effective bottom-six player for the team long-term.

Week-to-week doesn’t instill confidence that he’ll be back anytime soon, so the Sabres will have to find another way to fill out their forward group. Today at practice Sam Reinhart was back at center, with Justin Bailey jumping up beside Ryan O’Reilly on the second line. The Sabres are looking for some answer to their early season struggles as they take on Vancouver tomorrow night.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Zach Trotman

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Zach Trotman from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton today, giving the team a 23-man roster with Matt Hunwick on injured reserve. The team is heading down for a pair of games in Florida against the Panthers and Lightning, and likely just wanted insurance for a group that includes the recently returned Ian Cole. The team had sent Chris Summers back to WBS yesterday, after he went unneeded for a few days.

Even without playing, call-ups like this are important for players on two-way contracts. Trotman will earn an NHL paycheck for the few days he’s with the big club, and keep him hungry for the next opportunity. The 27-year old played 67 games for the Boston Bruins from 2013-16, but never could quite overcome the moniker of depth defenseman. He signed a one-year deal with the Penguins this summer, and will provide a veteran option should someone injure themselves in warm up.

The Penguins, 4-2-1 on the season, have turned things around after a shaky start to the year. The defense has still been porous at times, with 12 goals allowed in their last three games, but the depth up front has been able to overcome it. With Cole back in the swing of things, that group should be able to start tightening up.

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