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Juuse Saros Will Not Play Again In Regular Season

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The Nashville Predators will not have star goaltender Juuse Saros for the last two games of the regular season, ruling him out today with a lower-body injury. Connor Ingram has been recalled to take his spot for the next few days, though it is not clear yet if Saros will be ready for the start of the postseason.

The 27-year-old, who has played in more games this season than any other netminder, left last night’s game against the Calgary Flames in the third period after sustaining what appeared to be an injury to his left leg. There was no update given (and likely none forthcoming) from head coach John Hynes after the game, but if he misses any extended length of time, the Predators would obviously be in trouble.

With 67 appearances, Saros has been incredibly important to a Predators team that is still jockeying for position in the Western Conference playoff race. Two games remain and they are currently tied with the Dallas Stars in the wild card chase, meaning they’ll play either the Colorado Avalanche or Calgary Flames in round one, depending on how the next two games go.

Given how much responsibility Saros has received, it’s hard to fathom the Predators competing without him. David Rittich, the normal backup, has posted an .883 save percentage in 16 appearances, only 11 of them starts. Ingram, the third-string option, has a .906 save percentage in two career NHL games. While improbable goaltending stories seem to happen every year, filling Saros’ pads would be an extremely difficult ask for either one.

Hopefully, at least for Nashville’s sake, the next week is enough rest to get him back into the net. The team will finish their regular season schedule on Friday.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Seth Jones Will Play For Team USA At World Championship

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Now that the NHL season is coming to an end, some players will be focused on joining new teams. The IIHF World Championship is right around the corner, scheduled to start on May 13, and players eliminated from the playoffs have already started discussing it with their respective country’s management groups. In Chicago, Seth Jones told reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago that he will be on the U.S. squad at the tournament next month.

Jones, 27, was acquired by the Blackhawks last summer in a blockbuster deal that saw multiple first-round picks and top prospect Adam Boqvist change hands. He was supposed to elevate Chicago to a legitimate playoff contender for years to come, as signaled by the eight-year, $76MM contract extension they quickly signed him to. His $9.5MM cap hit next season will tie him for the fourth-highest among defensemen.

Unfortunately, playoff contention didn’t follow Jones to Chicago. The Blackhawks are currently 27-42-11 on the season and closer to the bottom of the league than the postseason, with a clear mandate from new general manager Kyle Davidson to rebuild this offseason.

For Jones, the Worlds will be a relatively unfamiliar experience. He hasn’t taken part in the tournament since 2015 when he was still a member of the Nashville Predators, as four out of the six years he was in Columbus the team qualified for the postseason. He does however have plenty of experience suiting up for Team USA, and won gold medals at the U18 and U20 events.

He might have another Team USA standout coming with him, as Cole Caufield told reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that he also received a call from the management group. The Montreal Canadiens sniper would “love to play” according to Engels, though he won’t make a final decision until after the season is actually finished.

Joe Snively Sent To AHL On Conditioning Loan

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The Washington Capitals could be getting Joe Snively back as a depth option in the next little while, as the injured forward has been sent to the Hershey Bears on an LTIR conditioning loan. Snively is coming back from wrist surgery and will be eligible for the Bears first-round playoff series, should they want to insert him into the lineup.

Of course, while it’s great news for the Bears and their Calder Cup hopes, there is a bigger prize that the Capitals have their eyes on and Snively could potentially help them get there. This is a player that recorded four goals and seven points in his first 12 NHL games, and could potentially step into an offensive role should the Capitals suffer any injuries along the way.

For now, he’ll need to get back up to speed in the AHL. Snively had 38 points in 35 games to start the year with Hershey and should immediately give them another top-line player to help their playoff run. The team had middling success through the second half of the year and ended up going 34-32-10 on the year, good enough for fifth place in the Atlantic Division.

AHL Shuffle: 04/27/22

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Just a few days of action remain in the 2021-22 NHL regular season, and today has five games on tap. Notably, both the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights are back in action after their thrilling game last night. The Stars need just a single point (or a Vegas loss) in their last two games to clinch the playoffs, and tonight’s opponent is the lowly Arizona Coyotes, fighting for last in the entire league. As those teams and others prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Detroit Red Wings have sent Riley Barber back to the AHL, a near-daily transaction at this point. Barber has played in just four games this season and is still without a point.
  • With nothing really to play for, the Florida Panthers have recalled Matt Kiersted, Aleksi Heponiemi, and Cole Schwindt from the AHL. The team has clinched first place in the Eastern Conference, though technically the Colorado Avalanche could still take the Presidents’ Trophy from them, depending on what happens in the next few days.

Metropolitan Division

  • The New York Rangers have recalled Zac Jones from the AHL, as the team may end up resting some players in the next few days. The Rangers have clinched second place in the Metropolitan Division and will now wait to see whether they play the Pittsburgh Penguins or Washington Capitals in the first round.
  • The New Jersey Devils have recalled Alexander Holtz from the AHL, now that there is no danger of him burning the first year of his entry-level contract. With seven games played so far and just two remaining in the Devils’ season, Holtz can’t hit the ten-game threshold that would start his deal. Still, he’ll get a chance to prove himself in the NHL over the next couple of contests.

Central Division

Pacific Division

This page is updated throughout the day

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Ivan Morozov

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The Vegas Golden Knights have landed an interesting Russian prospect, signing Ivan Morozov to a two-year entry-level contract. The deal begins in 2022-23, and Morozov has signed a professional tryout with the Henderson Silver Knights for the rest of this season.

Selected 61st overall in 2018, Morozov has been playing in the KHL for the last few seasons and even scored 31 points in 55 games during the 2020-21 campaign. Unfortunately, he ended up demoted to SKA St. Petersburg’s VHL team for part of this year and then was moved to HK Sochi, where he had three points in five games to end the year.

A representative for Russia at two World Juniors and last summer’s World Championship it was a curious fall for Morozov this season in the SKA program. Even in his 17 games with the KHL club he managed eight points, a fine performance for someone who was receiving just 15 minutes a night. Those minutes skyrocketed in his short stint with Sochi, as the young forward averaged over 20 minutes for his five games there, with the brief glimpse in January showing that he could still compete at that level.

Coming to North America now certainly seems like the right move, especially given how the Golden Knights will be desperately looking for inexpensive contributions next season as they continue to deal with salary cap issues. Morozov could very well break camp with the team in the fall should he perform well enough, or at least come up at some point during the regular season.

Tucker Poolman Placed On LTIR; Arturs Silovs Recalled

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The Vancouver Canucks are not technically eliminated from the postseason. When Timo Meier scored with 0.9 seconds left for the San Jose Sharks, who then went on to win in a shootout against the Vegas Golden Knights, the slimmest sliver of hope was saved for the Canucks. If they win out, the Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars tonight and then both of those teams lose the rest of the way, the Canucks would get in on a complicated tie-breaker. It’s not much, but it’s hope.

Unfortunately, it appears they’ll have to do their part without Thatcher Demko, at least for tonight. The team has moved Tucker Poolman to long-term injured reserve in order to recall Arturs Silovs from the minor leagues. Silovs is expected to serve as the backup for Spencer Martin tonight, as Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV tweets that Demko is dealing with an undisclosed injury.

The 21-year-old Silovs has never played a game at the NHL level and has just 11 appearances in the AHL, not many of which have gone very well. He’s spent more than half of this season with the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions, where he has a .920 save percentage in ten appearances.

Poolman, meanwhile, has played in just one game since January and lasted just seven shifts. The 28-year-old defenseman was signed to an inexplicable four-year contract in the offseason and averaged 17 minutes a night through the first half of the season, recording three points in 40 games overall. His first year with the Canucks has certainly not gone to plan, and the team has been much better without him on the ice (though he hasn’t had much of a chance to play for head coach Bruce Boudreau, who turned the team around and has them this close to the playoffs).

For Martin, it is a bit of a showcase for next season, when he figures to be the regular backup for Demko at the NHL level. The 26-year-old netminder signed a new two-year, one-way contract extension earlier this month and Jaroslav Halak’s deal will expire at the end of the season. With Michael DiPietro likely needing more time in the minor leagues before he really pushes for an NHL opportunity, it’s likely Demko-Martin for 2022-23, unless the team acquires another option in net. So far, so good, as Martin had a .958 save percentage in three appearances earlier this season.

Marc Staal Placed In COVID Protocol

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It appears as though Marc Staal’s season is over, as today the Detroit Red Wings announced that the veteran defenseman has been placed in the COVID protocol. Staal would have had to test to travel with the team to Toronto for tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs. The team recalled Riley Barber and Kyle Criscuolo under emergency conditions earlier today.

Staal, 35, played just nine minutes in a game on Monday against the New Jersey Devils, his 71st appearance of the season. He actually recorded 16 points in those games, his highest single-season total since 2014-15. Never much of an offensive presence, he was relied on in Detroit to provide stable defensive minutes while the team sheltered younger options, but will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Recently nominated for the Masterton Trophy, it will be interesting to see if the Red Wings decide to bring him back on another one-year deal, given the influx of younger talent. Simon Edvinsson recently signed his entry-level deal, while deadline acquisition Jake Walman has played regularly since arriving. With Staal and Danny DeKeyser both on expiring deals, the team’s blue line could lose quite a bit of its “veteran presence” in the offseason.

For now, hopefully, Staal is not presenting with any serious symptoms and he can get back to normal in the coming days. He will be held out for a minimum of five though, meaning tonight’s game and Friday’s finale are out of the question.

Anaheim Ducks Extend Sam Carrick

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The Anaheim Ducks have announced a two-year contract extension for Sam Carrick, keeping him from unrestricted free agency this summer. PuckPedia reports that the deal carries an NHL cap hit of $850K.

Carrick, 30, finally established himself as an NHL regular this season after a long career in the minor leagues, playing 64 games for the Ducks. The bang-and-crash forward racked up 122 hits and 85 penalty minutes, but also added 11 goals, a strong performance for a bottom-six option that was averaging just over 11 minutes a night. That performance has been rewarded, as the Ducks obviously see him as a useful depth piece to keep around for the next two seasons.

It’s not like Carrick is completely unfamiliar with scoring, despite having just four NHL goals before this season. He has routinely been a strong contributor at the minor league level, racking up 138 goals and 309 points in 467 career AHL games. For the last three seasons, he has been the captain of the San Diego Gulls, though it doesn’t really seem like he’ll be reprising that role next season with this new deal and his breakthrough campaign.

One has to wonder whether a signing like this is in response to some of the things that have happened to the Ducks over the last month, namely the incident between Jay Beagle and Troy Terry. When the team traded Nicolas Deslauriers and Josh Manson at the deadline, they got rid of a lot of the tough, physical players that could help “protect” their young stars. Carrick, who has 11 fighting majors this season, tied for third in the league behind only Deslauriers and Tanner Jeannot of the Minnesota Wild, can fill that type of physical role in the bottom six while also adding a bit of offense.

For the player, this is obviously a huge win. Carrick hasn’t had a multi-year contract since a two-year deal he signed with the Ducks in 2017, and that contract was a two-way deal that saw him earn only a handful of days of NHL pay. This new two-year, one-way contract represents the biggest payday of his career, and a nice reward for one of the organization’s heart-and-soul players.

Michael Hage Headed To USHL

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The USHL’s Chicago Steel landed a top CHL prospect when they signed a tender agreement with Macklin Celebrini earlier this month, and now they’ve done it again. Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that Michael Hage has also signed a tender with the Steel, and will pass on the chance to play in the OHL.

Hage, 16, was expected to be a top-five pick in the upcoming OHL draft after his incredible performance at the 2022 OHL Cup, a tournament for the best U16 teams from Ontario and the United States. The young forward registered seven goals and 16 points for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens, only trailing Michael Misa–the latest player to be granted exceptional status into the CHL–in both categories.

While Misa is a top prospect for the 2025 draft, Hage is eligible for the 2024 event and figures to be a potential first-round selection at this point. While there’s still lots of time for that to change, joining the powerhouse Steel program should certainly help his development. It also means that Hage will retain his NCAA eligibility, perhaps leading to an opportunity to play college hockey in the future–something that disappears when a player suits up in the OHL.

At any rate, Hage will still likely be selected at some point in the OHL draft later this week and a team will hold his rights to try and convince him down the road. Fans in Chicago will be lucky enough to see him as he takes the next steps toward NHL relevance.

New Jersey Devils Recall Reilly Walsh

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The New Jersey Devils could have another player make his NHL debut in the coming days, as prospect Reilly Walsh has been recalled from the Utica Comets. The young defenseman has joined the team in Ottawa and is available for tonight’s game.

It wasn’t always even clear if the Devils would be able to sign Walsh at all before he reached unrestricted free agency but in 2020 when it became clear that Harvard may not even play the 2020-21 season, the college standout signed his entry-level deal. That brought him into the Devils system after three outstanding years in the NCAA, and Walsh picked up right where he left off.

In 33 games last season he registered five goals and 15 points, numbers that are now dwarfed by his production this year. Walsh has 42 points in 69 games with Utica in 2021-22, good for fifth among all AHL defensemen. The right-shooting puck-mover will now likely get a chance to dip his toes into the NHL waters before competing for a full-time role with the team next season.

Remember, the Devils have P.K. Subban coming off the books at the end of the season and will need someone to replace him. While Walsh likely isn’t the top candidate, a good showing in the last few games could certainly move him a spot or two up the depth chart. During his time in college he was seen as almost a can’t-miss prospect, and his performance at the AHL shouldn’t really dull that shine.

Notably, he also is still signed to his entry-level deal for next season, meaning these games pose no risk of affecting summer negotiations. He’ll also still be waiver-exempt next season, meaning he can pop up and down when needed. While there is no playoff chase for the Devils, they’ve at least made the last few games more interesting.

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