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Kyle Clifford To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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Kyle Clifford missed nearly the entire game last night for the Toronto Maple Leafs after earning a misconduct early in the first period, and he’ll have to sit even longer. The Department of Player Safety has announced that Clifford will have a hearing today for boarding Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ross Colton.

After delivering a hit in the corner, Clifford raced up the ice and hit Colton, late, directly from behind, into the boards. While the Tampa Bay forward did not appear to suffer a serious injury, the on-ice officials gave Clifford a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Toronto managed to climb their way out of the whole that the veteran forward put them in, but now will have to likely use a different look on the fourth line in game two.

Notably, just a few games ago Clifford was involved in another incident that included the Lightning. On April 22 he was handed a fine for his high-stick on Corey Perry during a scrum. That recent history, despite being of a different nature, will likely factor into the punishment for Clifford.

The Maple Leafs do have several other options for the lineup, though none bring the same kind of physicality as the 31-year-old winger. Even more, head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke glowingly after the game about how much Clifford adds defensively to that group, noting that the line has been the best when it includes him.

Dylan Larkin Undergoes Core Muscle Surgery

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May 3: Larkin explained today that the surgery has been a success, and that he looks forward to a full summer of training ahead of camp in the fall.

April 18: The Detroit Red Wings will be without captain Dylan Larkin for the rest of the season after he underwent core muscle surgery today. The successful procedure was carried out in McLaren Hospital in Michigan, and Larkin is now facing a recovery timeline of eight to ten weeks.

It was a noticeable step in the right direction for Larkin and the Red Wings this season, even though they are set to miss the playoffs once again. The team was buoyed by the arrival of several impactful rookies, while the captain himself rebounded from a terrible 2020-21 season. Larkin recorded his second 30+ goal season by scoring 31 times in 71 games, and was on pace to set setting a new career-high in points.

Now facing a serious recovery, it will be interesting to see whether this summer brings an extension for the 25-year-old center. Larkin is only signed through the 2022-23 season and will be eligible for an extension in July, though there is at least some concern over whether that is truly the plan of general manager Steve Yzerman and the rest of the Red Wings brass.

Detroit has basically no long-term commitments at this point, with Robby Fabbri the only player in the entire organization signed to a one-way contract or 2024-25. While Larkin seems an obvious choice to break that trend and sign a big extension, the team could have different plans for the future. Should he sign, it would likely be quite a hefty contract for the 15th overall pick from 2014. Larkin has 358 points in 504 career games, but has only reached the playoffs on one occasion–way back in 2016. With Tyler Bertuzzi, Pius Suter, Oskar Sundqvist, and Alex Nedeljkovic also scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2023, there could still be some drastic changes to the core group as they look to move into the next era of competitiveness.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Saros, Andersen, Bunting

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The Nashville Predators already had an incredibly daunting task ahead of them when they drew the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, but now it might seem an impossible task. Head coach John Hynes told reporters including Adam Vingan of The Athletic that Juuse Saros, injured in the last week of the season, will miss at least the first two games of the series. Saros is on the trip but it is not yet clear when he will be back for the Predators.

In his absence, Hynes explained that they are still discussing whether to start David Rittich or Connor Ingram in game one. A decision that might be easy for most teams that have a regular backup, the Predators are in a sort of a unique situation. No other team relied on their starter more heavily than Nashville, who had Saros start 67 games this season. Rittich posted an .886 save percentage in 17 appearances, while Ingram had a .879 in three. The series starts tomorrow night.

  • Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports that Carolina Hurricanes starter Frederik Andersen has a sprained knee, though there is no structural damage. She believes it is highly unlikely that the primary Jennings winner will be ready for game two. Antti Raanta will get the start tonight, though with his own history of injuries the team has brought along an extra goaltender. Jack LaFontaine has been recalled from the minor leagues, and will likely serve as the emergency backup tonight. Unlike the regular season, where each venue hosts an EBUG that can end up dressing for either team, in the playoffs teams can carry their own.
  • It appears as though the Edmonton Oilers will have Darnell Nurse in the lineup tonight, despite him not actually confirming it at his press availability. Pierre LeBrun and Ryan Rishaug of TSN discuss the situation, noting that while the top defenseman is technically a game-time decision, they both believe he’ll be available this evening. Nurse hasn’t played since April 22, when he left early against the Colorado Avalanche. As they have many times in the second half, the Oilers could dress seven defensemen, especially if Nurse is still not at 100 percent.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Raivis Ansons

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It’s been a very complicated few days for Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Raivis Ansons. On Friday, he was handed a one-game suspension for a high stick, meaning he missed the last game of the regular season in his final year of QMJHL hockey. Today, he was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins. He will remain with the Saint John Seadogs through their QMJHL playoff and Memorial Cup run.

Ansons, 20, has been great for the Sea Dogs after a midseason trade brought him over from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. The Latvian winger had 12 goals and 36 points in 37 games down the stretch, adding his usual level of physicality to every puck battle. Ansons isn’t a brilliant offensive piece, but his size, strength and skating make him an interesting NHL prospect all the same, even if it will be a limited ceiling for the young forward.

An entry-level contract was the next step toward that ultimate goal, though there is still plenty of work to be done. Selected 149th overall in 2020, he’ll be eligible for the AHL next season, where he’ll try to test himself with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. While his game may translate quickly, the grind and improved defense of that level will be a good indicator of whether he has enough upside to carve out a bottom-six role with Pittsburgh in the future.

For now, the Sea Dogs are not only trying to win a QMJHL championship, but as the host city, they’ll also get an automatic bid to the Memorial Cup. Those high-pressure matchups will certainly be a strong opportunity for growth, as he continues on an encouraging development path.

Nashville Predators Recall Philippe Myers

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In an interesting move, the Nashville Predators have recalled defenseman Philippe Myers from the AHL. He’s not coming back from the Milwaukee Admirals though, as Myers had been loaned out to the Toronto Marlies earlier this season. The move appeared to be connected to the Predators’ acquisition of Alex Biega at the deadline, one which cost them nothing more than future considerations. Given that Myers and the Marlies didn’t end up qualifying for the Calder Cup playoffs, however, it makes sense for him to re-join Nashville for the postseason.

Of course, he also could have been sent back to the Admirals, who start their own playoff series on Friday. Perhaps he still will, but for now, he’s with the NHL squad as they prepare for game one tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche.

Myers, 25, was one of the two big pieces acquired in the offseason for Ryan Ellis, along with Nolan Patrick (who was then flipped for Cody Glass). Unfortunately, things didn’t work out in Nashville for the big defenseman, who played a total of 27 games with the club before being sent down. He cleared waivers just before the trade deadline, likely because of the contract that he still carries that comes with a cap hit of $2.55MM through the 2022-23 season.

It wasn’t so long ago that Myers looked like a player who could make that deal a bargain. The undrafted, 6’5″ defenseman was a star with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for two seasons before making his mark as a full-time option for the Philadelphia Flyers. While the multi-year deal was perhaps a bit premature, it still looked like a decent bet on a player who appeared to be a classic late bloomer. Unfortunately, things have gone the opposite direction, and Myers had just four points in those 27 games before his demotion this season.

Now, with a back-loaded contract set to pay him a salary of $3.8MM next season, Myers appeared to be a prime buyout candidate. If the Predators did so, they would actually earn a cap credit of $616,666 next season, before taking a penalty of $633,334 the year after. If the team is giving him a chance to join the group for the playoffs, perhaps he can change that future.

Bruce Boudreau Hoping To Return As Canucks Head Coach

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Though it had been trending this way for quite a while, Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau made it very clear what his intentions are for next season. Boudreau has an option in his contract for next season, though it hadn’t been expressly stated that he even wanted to come back. Any debate was put to rest today, as he spoke with reporters during his end-of-year availability:

Listen I told Patrik (Allvin) and Jim (Rutherford) that I wanted to coach here next year. We’re just talking right now. Hopefully things get done, but I think they want me back, and I know I want to be back, so I think it should work out. 

While Boudreau failed in his bid to bring the Canucks all the way back to the playoffs, the work that he did do was incredibly impressive. The club was 8-15-2 when he took over in early December, last in the Pacific Division and so far from the playoffs that no one really expected them to even be competitive down the stretch. Then came the 2008 Jack Adams award winner, who found a formula that worked and led the Canucks to a 32-15-10 record. That .649 points percentage would have put the Canucks squarely between the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers league-wide, had it been the pace for the entire season.

That kind of record isn’t anything new for Boudreau either. The veteran coach has routinely led his teams to outstanding regular season success, and he sits right near the top of the all-time list in terms of winning percentage. It is of course the postseason where he has still struggled, with his clubs rarely even progressing past the first round. In 2015, the Boudreau-led Anaheim Ducks came within one game of the Stanley Cup Final, but he hasn’t even sniffed the second round since.

Still, the change in leadership–both behind the bench and in the front office–has breathed new life and optimism into the Canucks organization. Boudreau is a big part of that, and many will see a core that still has the likes of Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko as a potential playoff candidate once again in the 2023-24 season.

AHL Shuffle: 05/02/22

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One might think, given that the NHL season is over and playoffs are about to begin, that most clubs will be finished their minor league shuffling. Well, that quite transaction wire will likely start tomorrow, as today several clubs out of the postseason have sent players back to help with the AHL playoffs. Only players who were on the AHL roster (or quickly sent down and then recalled) at the NHL trade deadline are eligible to join their minor league clubs. As always, we’ll cover those moves right here.

Atlantic Division

  • Mathias Brunet of La Presse reports that Mattias Norlinder will join the Laval Rocket for the playoffs, after his Swedish season came to an end. The young defenseman played six games with the Montreal Canadiens and six games with the Rocket before heading overseas, but will return to help chase down a Calder Cup.

Metropolitan Division

Central Division

  • The Winnipeg Jets have reassigned Dylan Samberg and Morgan Barron to the Manitoba Moose, giving them two huge pieces for their playoff run. The Moose will go right to the Central Division semi-finals against the Milwaukee Admirals, a series that starts Friday.
  • Now that his OHL season is over, Oskar Olausson has been assigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. The 19-year-old first-round pick had 49 points in 55 games during his first (and likely only) OHL season, but was unable to help the Oshawa Generals advance in the playoffs.

Pacific Division

  • The Seattle Kraken have sent Dennis Cholowski to the Charlotte Checkers, who won’t know their opponent for another few days after receiving a bye to the second round. Cholowski had 18 points in 31 games for the Checkers this season, the best output of his career.

This page is updated throughout the day

Colorado Avalanche Sign Danila Zhuravlyov

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The Colorado Avalanche have joined in on the signing spree, inking one of their own Russian draft picks. The team has announced that Danila Zhuravlyov has signed his two-year entry-level contract.

It’s been four years since the Avalanche selected Zhuravlyov in the fifth round of the NHL draft, but after another full season in the KHL, they’ve finally added him to the organization. The 22-year-old left-shot defenseman had six points in 43 games for Ak Bars Kazan this season in a limited role, but saw that playing time increase significantly in the playoffs.

For a system that is set to lose several minor league veterans–Roland McKeown, Dennis Gilbert, Jordan Gross, and Jacob MacDonald are all scheduled for unrestricted free agency–there perhaps will be an opening for a player like Zhuravlyov to quickly make an impact. Whether his play can translate, or even improve, at the AHL level remains to be seen, though the young defenseman will come with three full seasons of KHL action under his belt.

Washington Capitals Sign Bogdan Trineyev

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The Washington Capitals have finished a bit of business before starting their first-round playoff series, signing Bogdan Trineyev to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $859,167.

Trineyev, 20, was a fourth-round pick of the Avalanche in 2020 and has barely even played at the KHL level. He spent most of this season in the MHL with Dynamo Mosco, scoring 18 points in 21 games. Despite his lack of experience though, he was involved in this year’s KHL playoffs, where he recorded his first point at that level. A member of the 2020 Hlinka-Gretzky team that won gold, it will be interesting to see just what Trineyev can bring to the Capitals system, given how little professional action he has to this point.

There’s plenty of time for him to develop though, as Washington certainly isn’t rushing a prospect like this to NHL minutes. The team already has 13 forwards signed to one-way contracts for next season, with several youngsters in the mix on their entry-level deals. The team is always looking for some additional depth, but a young player like Trineyev will have time to establish himself, should he come to North America next season.

Winnipeg Jets Not Expected To Retain Coaching Staff

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The Winnipeg Jets decided that the blame for this season’s collapse was not on general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, or at least not enough to stop them from signing the executive to a three-year extension. It’s a very different story for the coaching staff. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that interim head coach Dave Lowry and assistants Jamie Kompon and Charlie Huddy will not return next season. Wade Flaherty, also an assistant, is expected to remain with the team. Speaking to the media today, Cheveldayoff explained that the club will conduct an exhaustive search and that Lowry has at least done enough to earn an interview.

Lowry of course is more than just the interim coach of the team, he’s also the father of Jets’ center Adam Lowry who is currently signed through the 2025-26 season. The coach took over from Paul Maurice when he resigned from the team in December, but posted a record of just 26-22-6 down the stretch, not quite good enough for a team that was expected to be a Stanley Cup contender at the beginning of the year.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the future of the group in Winnipeg, not the least of which is Mark Scheifele, who seemed to suggest at yesterday’s media availability that he could be open to a change of scenery this offseason. That isn’t really in his hands, given the veteran center is signed through 2023-24, something you can say for basically the whole core group in Winnipeg.

The sole outlier is Pierre-Luc Dubois, who is a restricted free agent and could be after quite a big contract this summer. If he is going to commit long-term, or if the team expects Scheifele and others to continue to be interested in the path forward, the coaching staff is obviously a big problem to solve. With Lowry out, Cheveldayoff and company will have to conduct a search to find a suitable replacement, something that he hasn’t had to do for a decade.

Just a few years after Cheveldayoff took over in 2011, he fired Claude Noel and hired Maurice, who then served parts of nine seasons behind the Winnipeg bench. A future Hall of Fame coach, Maurice is one of the most experienced bench bosses in NHL history, having coached nearly 1,700 regular season games. Replacing him was always going to be a difficult job, and especially so for someone like Lowry, who had only ever been an assistant at the NHL level.

Now a more permanent replacement will have to be found, one that is in lockstep with a front office that has several difficult decisions to make. If the Jets don’t believe they can compete with the group they have, it could be a long few years for whoever is brought in.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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