Jarred Tinordi Recalled From Conditioning Stint
While most of the league is settling in for the short Christmas break, the New York Rangers have done a little bit of transactional housecleaning. Jarred Tinordi has been recalled from his conditioning stint, a move that had to happen before the end of the day. Tinordi was loaned to the AHL earlier this month and would have finished his two-week maximum after the full roster freeze takes effect at the end of today.
So while this means the 29-year-old defenseman is back on the active roster for the time being, it certainly doesn’t mean he’ll be there for long. To be assigned to the minor leagues he would need to clear waivers, again something that would need to happen after the freeze lifts on December 28.
Tinordi ended up playing in five games with the Hartford Wolf Pack, including a game last night against the Bridgeport Islanders. He actually recorded the primary assist on Jonny Brozinski’s tally in the third period, his only point at any level this season. The 6’6″ defender is known more for his fists than his skill with the puck, but didn’t record a single penalty minute during his conditioning stint.
When Patrik Nemeth is able to return from the COVID protocol, there seems to be a good chance Tinordi could find himself on the outside looking in. Even before that, if the team decides to turn to a younger player like Zac Jones, who has racked up 17 points in 21 games for the Wolf Pack this season.
Morgan Rielly Placed In COVID Protocol
The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently on pause with the rest of the league, but they are obviously still doing some testing of their roster. Morgan Rielly and an additional staff member have been placed in the COVID protocol today.
Rielly joins a growing list of Maple Leafs in the protocol. John Tavares, Alexander Kerfoot, Jason Spezza, Wayne Simmonds, T.J. Brodie, Travis Dermott, Jack Campbell, David Kampf, Ilya Mikheyev, Petr Mrazek, Rasmus Sandin, head coach Sheldon Keefe, and several assistants have all entered the protocol in the past few days. In fact, only Tavares and Kerfoot would be eligible to return for the team’s game on December 27, though that would require them to be activated at the soonest possible opportunity.
Because of those absences, it seems possible that the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets will also be postponed, though unlike some other teams the Maple Leafs actually could recall enough players to ice a roster because of the cap space opened up by Mitch Marner‘s LTIR designation. Still, with Rielly, Brodie, Dermott, and Sandin (who is also injured) on the shelf, that defense group would certainly leave something to be desired–not to mention the fact that they would need Michael Hutchinson and Joseph Woll in net.
Rielly is off to an outstanding start this season, playing 24 minutes a night for the team and racking up 26 points in 30 games. The veteran defenseman signed a long-term extension in October and has been on fire ever since, scoring at a point-per-game rate since the ink dried. Losing him for any length of time would be a crippling blow to the Maple Leafs.
Zach Senyshyn Requests Trade
The third member of the Boston Bruins’ infamous 2015 first-round trio, Zach Senyshyn is also the one with the fewest NHL games played. He’s played just 14 times at that level, recording a goal and three points. For the Providence Bruins, he’s been a strong contributor, wearing an “A” as an alternate captain the last two seasons and registering 92 points in 213 games. But now he wants out.
Speaking with Mark Divver of Rinkside Rhode Island, Senyshyn explained that he has requested a trade out of the Bruins organization. To be clear, he said that he will report back to Providence after the holiday break, but believes it would be best for both sides for him to get a fresh start.
Selected 15th overall, Senyshyn was the third-straight Bruins pick in the first round. Jakub Zboril and Jake DeBrusk were the other two, both players who have also at one point in their careers requested a trade out of Boston. While all three have been disappointments relative to their draft position, the picks were considered all the worse thanks to the three players that came directly after them. Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot were picked 16, 17, and 18. Senyshyn even touches on that specifically in his interview with Divver, which is understandable given that every media outlet (this one included) seems to mention the draft outcomes when he’s discussed.
In 21 games this season, the 24-year-old forward has 13 points with Providence and is tied with Oskar Steen or the team lead in goals with eight. He agreed to a new one-year, two-way contract in the offseason that normally would have left him a restricted free agent again, but, like Zboril, Senyshyn will become a Group VI unrestricted free agent should he fail to reach 80 NHL games by the end of the year. With 66 needed to hit that threshold, he’s not going to make it even if a trade went through in the coming days, meaning one way or another he’ll get a chance at his fresh start soon enough.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Montreal Canadiens
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season passes the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Montreal Canadiens (when it eventually resumes).
What are the Canadiens thankful for?
Carolina’s playoff position.
There’s no getting around it, the Canadiens and Hurricanes have beef (manufactured for social media or not). After Montreal signed Sebastian Aho to an offer sheet in the summer of 2019, Carolina came back two years later and signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an outlandish offer that the Canadiens simply couldn’t afford to match. The Hurricanes didn’t make any attempt to hide the fact that it was a revenge play, even including the same verbiage Marc Bergevin had used initially in Don Waddell‘s press release and adding a $20 signing bonus (an homage to Aho’s jersey number) in the Kotkaniemi contract.
It’s ironic then, that the Canadiens have so much riding on Carolina’s performance this season.
When Montreal traded for Christian Dvorak almost immediately after declining to match the Kotkaneimi offer sheet, they included a first-round pick in the package sent to the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes will receive the better of the two picks Montreal owns–their original selection and the one received from Carolina in compensation. That is of course unless one or both of the picks end up in the top-10, in which case the Coyotes will receive the worse of the two. Montreal looks destined to have a pick in the top-10 after this dreadful season, meaning it’s Carolina’s pick that will eventually transfer to Arizona. But there’s no additional protection involved; if Carolina somehow slipped out of the playoff race and fell down the standings, there’s a chance Montreal could be giving up quite the pick. Remember, the new lottery rules come into effect this year, meaning that teams outside the playoffs can only jump up a maximum of ten spots, but it would still be quite the nervous night if the Hurricanes managed to miss the postseason somehow.
Who are the Canadiens thankful for?
There hasn’t been much to celebrate in Montreal this season. Cole Caufield, the odds-on favorite to win the Calder Trophy according to many before the season, has just a single goal and six points in 23 games. Mike Hoffman, brought in to provide some offensive firepower has been injured, sick or ineffective and has just eight points so far. David Savard, brought in to stabilize the defense in Shea Weber‘s absence, has been brutal and his four-year deal looks like a massive mistake.
Even Suzuki, the brightest star in a sea of dim light, has been underwhelming. He leads the team with 18 points through 31 games, but it’s his long-term contract that is something to look forward to in Montreal. Even if the team goes through a rebuild, they will know exactly how much their top center costs and how long they have him. Suzuki is signed through the 2029-30 and invested in the Canadiens success. Sure, had they waited until after this poor season to sign him it may have been a bit cheaper, but who knows if he commits to eight years after this dreadful campaign.
A comparison could be made to Dylan Larkin, who made it through the bad years in Detroit only to return to his explosive self this season when given some more talent to work with. Larkin hit a career-low of 23 points in 2020-21 and has 29 already this year. Even if it’s a forgettable year in Montreal and for Suzuki, he’s too good to be kept that way forever.
What would the Canadiens be even more thankful for?
A lottery win.
Listen, players like Matthew Savoie, Logan Cooley, and Danila Yurov are great talents and should have long productive NHL careers. But there’s a reason why all 10 scouts surveyed by Bob McKenzie of TSN put Shane Wright at the top of their board for 2022. The Kingston center was in a tier by himself in Corey Pronman’s rankings for The Athletic and colleague Scott Wheeler wrote that he is “not worried about his place at the top of this draft class” despite a rather pedestrian start by his standards (30 points in 22 games).
With the Canadiens now in 31st place, just a few points ahead of the Coyotes for last in the NHL, that first-overall pick is a legitimate possibility in 2022. Selecting second or third would certainly still help the rebuild, but nabbing Wright would lock in another top-six, two-way center that could give Montreal a considerable duo down the middle for 2022 and years to come.
What should be on the Canadiens’ Holiday Wish List?
Stalled young players.
While the Canadiens could and should target draft picks at the upcoming deadline, the team already does have quite a few to work with this year. They’ll pick seven times in the first four rounds even if they don’t make a single move, adding quite a few prospects to the pipeline. A more interesting strategy might be going after some of the young players around the league who have stalled in their development or need fresh starts.
Again, an example in Detroit could be of use here. The Red Wings acquired Robby Fabbri in 2019 for Jacob de La Rose, a player that now finds himself playing in Sweden. Fabbri had been a highly-touted youngster, but major knee injuries had stalled his career in St. Louis. Snatched for almost nothing, he rebuilt himself in Detroit by receiving top-six playing time that he wasn’t likely to get elsewhere and recently signed a new three-year, $12MM contract extension. If the Canadiens are going to clear some of the veteran names off the books, there will be opportunities in the lineup for young players to get back on track.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Canadiens, Kane, Sustr
In their final game before being shut down, the Montreal Canadiens welcomed the Philadelphia Flyers to town. Things were going normally until the provincial government instructed that the game be played without fans. That caused “a lot of grumbling” according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, who writes that there is real worry about the reduced capacity in Canadian markets affecting the league’s revenue projections.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds that if the Canadiens are still not allowed to have fans at their home games in January, some of them could be rescheduled to later in the season. Montreal is set to return after the holiday break on a three-game road trip, before the Washington Capitals come to town on January 4.
- COVID-19 outbreaks are obviously not limited to the NHL, as many AHL teams have also seen players move in and out of the protocol throughout the year. One notable name today was Evander Kane, who entered the protocol along with Nick Cicek and Jasper Weatherby of the San Jose Barracuda. Kane, if you’d forgotten, has been playing in the AHL since his suspension ended last month and has eight points in five games with the Barracuda–the first five minor league games of his entire career. Now 30, Kane remains a potential trade candidate but he’ll have to isolate for the time being as he goes through the protocol.
- There won’t be many minor league transactions today as the league goes dark, but the Tampa Bay Lightning did sneak in one more before things closed. Andrej Sustr has been reassigned to the AHL for the break, saving the Lightning a few dollars. The 31-year-old has been used in spot duty throughout the year, playing eight games for Tampa Bay and 12 for the Syracuse Crunch.
AHL Cancels 2022 All-Star Game
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation in Quebec and across the continent, the AHL has announced that they will not hold the scheduled All-Star festivities in Laval this year. The events were set to take place over February 6-7 and though they have technically been listed as “postponed” that is only in regard to returning to Laval at some point in future years.
AHL president Scott Howson released a statement:
The Laval Rocket and Place Bell have done an outstanding job preparing to host our All-Star Classic festivities this year,” said Howson. “But with the event only six weeks away and faced with ongoing challenges pertaining to health and safety, international travel, and group gatherings, the League and the Rocket organization feel it is in everybody’s best interests to postpone the event. We remain committed to bringing the All-Star Classic to Laval in the future.
This will be the second year in a row that the AHL will not hold an All-Star Game after last year’s event was also canceled during the shortened season. The NHL, on the other hand, is very much committed to hosting its event in Las Vegas at the beginning of February. In fact, with the Olympics now out of the way, the All-Star festivities may be an easier logistics project for the league.
For those players that would have been headed to the AHL celebration, there actually may be a better event to attend this year. Since the NHL isn’t going to the Olympics, AHL players might end up being selected for their respective countries. Likely only those on AHL contracts will be able to attend, as they did in 2018, but for many, that would still be a dream come true (despite the obvious challenges of these Games).
NHL Officially Withdraws From Olympic Participation
Though there have been signs for weeks and reports over the last few days, the NHL had not officially confirmed whether or not they will be participating in the Olympics–until now. The league has issued a statement from commissioner Gary Bettman explaining their withdrawal from the Games, noting the same “profound” disruption that they had warned about:
The National Hockey League respects and admires the desire of NHL Players to represent their countries and participate in a ‘best on best’ tournament. Accordingly, we have waited as long as possible to make this decision while exploring every available option to enable our Players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Unfortunately, given the profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events — 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 — Olympic participation is no longer feasible. We certainly acknowledge and appreciate the efforts made by the International Olympic Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Beijing Organizing Committee to host NHL Players but current circumstances have made it impossible for us to proceed despite everyone’s best efforts. We look forward to Olympic participation in 2026.
Our focus and goal have been and must remain to responsibly and safely complete the entirety of the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs in a timely manner. Therefore, with stringent health protocols once again in place, we will begin utilizing available dates during the Feb. 6-22 window (originally contemplated to accommodate Olympic participation) to reschedule games that have been, or may yet be, postponed.
Of note, this is not a joint release with the NHLPA. The NHL has taken the lead here, even though there were obvious concerns from the players as well. For their part, the NHLPA has released a statement from executive director Don Fehr:
Since the CBA extension was reached 17 months ago, NHL players have looked forward with great anticipation to once again participating in the Winter Olympics. Until very recently, we seemed to be on a clear path to go to Beijing. COVID-19 has unfortunately intervened, forcing dozens of games to be postponed this month alone. No matter how much we wish it were not the case, we need to utilize the Olympic period to reschedule these games.
Certainly, the players and hockey fans are quite disappointed. But playing a full 82-game season this year, something the pandemic has prevented us from doing since the 2018-19 season, is very important. We expect that NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2026.
The players will continue to push for NHL participation in the 2026 Games, something that seems very far away at the moment. Those games will be held in Italy, hopefully with the best players in the world participating. To be clear, players are not allowed to individually opt into attending the 2022 Games without facing punishment from the league.
With the vast amount of postponements recently, there will be serious changes to the schedule in February.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Minnesota Wild
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season passes the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Minnesota Wild (when it eventually resumes).
What is Minnesota thankful for?
Finally having a true star to market.
Throughout the history of the Minnesota Wild, there have been some excellent players. Marian Gaborik, the team’s first-ever draft pick, stepped into the spotlight as a teenager and scored 30 goals in his sophomore season. He would hit a career-high 42 in his last full, healthy season with the Wild, but was never really even close to any individual awards. Mikko Koivu was picked sixth overall in 2001, but it took him several years to reach the NHL and when he did, his two-way ability was probably never appreciated as much as it should have been. He was a Selke finalist once in a long career, but never received a single vote for any other individual award–not exactly a superstar, even if he was the heart and soul of the franchise.
In 2012, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise put the Wild on the NHL map by signing massive free agent contracts to head back to the State of Hockey, but even they blended into a mediocre team that would make the playoffs on a yearly basis without ever really contending.
Now things have changed, with their marketable, dynamic star forward Kirill Kaprizov. There’s no doubt that signing Kaprizov to a five-year, $45MM contract this offseason was a risk; after all, he had played just 55 regular season games to that point. But there was no doubting Kaprizov’s obviously ability, not only to put the puck in the net but also to invigorate the Minnesota market. Kaprizov was called “the most exciting player in franchise history” almost from the moment he arrived, and with 36 points in 30 games, he’s on pace to set a team record in just his second year. Only one player in Wild history has registered more than 80 points–Gaborik, exactly once. Kaprizov looks like that won’t be much of a problem for him should he stay healthy throughout this contract.
Who is Minnesota thankful for?
There’s no doubt that Kaprizov is the most marketable, and arguably the most important player on the team. That doesn’t, however, mean that the team is most thankful for him in particular. For that, we come to Hartman, who has figured it out at age-27 and now looks like one of the most incredible bargains in the league.
After two mediocre seasons with Minnesota, Hartman actually accepted a three-year contract that saw his cap hit go down this offseason, dropping from $1.9MM to $1.7MM. He’ll carry that number through 2023-24 and actually earns just $1.1MM in actual salary this season. What do you get for $1.1MM? How about 14 goals and 26 points through 30 games, all while driving possession and contributing defensively. If plus-minus is more your thing, Hartman leads the entire league at +22 to this point and has done nearly all of his damage at even strength. It’s an impressive accomplishment for a player that is on his fourth team and has a career-high of 31 points. If this is what Minnesota is going to get from Hartman moving forward, he’ll be one of the most valuable contracts out there.
What would Minnesota be even more thankful for?
A consistent Kevin Fiala.
Make no mistake, when at his best, Fiala is one of the most dynamic offensive players in the entire league. There’s good reason to believe that he could have become that marketable star that Minnesota longed for, had he been able to find any level of consistency to this point. But it just hasn’t been there for him this season, as he struggles to find the back of the net despite plenty of good chances.
It’s not that Fiala is having a terrible year–20 points in 30 games is certainly nothing to turn your nose up at–but it’s those flashes of superstardom that leave fans wanting so much more out of the 25-year-old forward. Decision time is coming quickly as Fiala is a restricted free agent after the season, owed a qualifying offer that would open up a potential arbitration award even higher than his current $5.1MM salary. With whispers about his future in the organization (or lack thereof) coming out earlier this year, a more consistent performance over the second half of the year would go a long way to securing the next stage of his career.
What should be on Minnesota’s Holiday Wish List?
More center depth.
While this may actually come from an internal source, if the Wild decide that Marco Rossi is ready for the NHL, there’s little doubt that the center ice position is still an area of weakness for Minnesota. Joel Eriksson Ek‘s upcoming diagnosis after leaving with injury last night will likely decide what kind of player the Wild need to target on the trade market, but a center of some level is needed even if he’s healthy enough to quickly return to action.
The clock has struck midnight on Victor Rask‘s 2020-21 performance, with the veteran center now receiving just around 10 minutes a night when he’s even in the lineup, Nick Bjugstad is basically a fourth-line winger at this point, and the combination of Nico Sturm and Frederick Gaudreau doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence when it comes to long playoff runs. If Eriksson Ek is out long-term, the team will desperately need to add a top-six center to the mix at some point. If he’s coming back, some extra depth will still be required.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
USA Hockey Names Captains For WJC
Another defenseman will lead his squad into the World Junior Championship that starts this weekend. Jake Sanderson has been named captain of the U.S. National Junior Team, where he can show exactly why the Ottawa Senators picked him fifth overall in 2020. He’ll be joined by Matty Beniers, Brock Faber, and Landon Slaggert who will serve as alternates for the tournament.
Head coach Nate Leaman explained that it’s not just these four who will lead the team:
The strength of this team is its leadership and we have a group of guys that have earned the letter on their jersey both on and off the ice. There are even more leaders in our locker room. We’re excited about this group overall, and for us to be successful, every player will need to find a way to lead.
Sanderson, a sophomore at the University of North Dakota, has improved his offensive game this season to go with a defensive repertoire that could likely have him hold his own in the NHL right now. In 15 games for the Fighting Hawks, he has 19 points and is obviously processing the game at a higher level when the puck is on his stick. There’s still work to be done if Sanderson’s going to become the true top-pairing player that the Senators hope for, but there’s little doubt he will dominate this tournament as a do-it-all defender for Team USA.
Beniers, the second-overall pick from 2021, is in his sophomore season at the University of Michigan and is once again playing at a point-per-game pace. With 22 points in 20 games he needs just two more to match the total he set in the shortened 2020-21 season, one which left many Michigan players wanting another crack at the NCAA tournament. The Seattle Kraken were happy to see him return but will likely be looking to sign Beniers as soon as possible, in order to start building their brand around the 19-year-old forward.
Faber, another member of the Los Angeles Kings’ huge number of high-end prospects, is a defenseman for the University of Minnesota, where he is in his sophomore season. While he has just nine points in 18 games this season, he showed at last year’s World Junior tournament that he can step directly into an offensive role if given the opportunity as well. It’s his mobility on the defensive end that stands out with Faber though, as he smoothly closes gaps and disrupts plays with extremely quick feet.
Slaggert, the lowest draft pick of the bunch, is a returnee to the team (they all are) after he played his way in during selection camp last year. The Chicago Blackhawks third-round pick from 2020, Slaggert has continued to take steps forward in his overall game while playing at Notre Dame but doesn’t provide the kind of offensive upside some of his teammates will. That doesn’t matter, as there’s absolutely no quit in Slaggert’s high-energy play which will set the tone for the U.S. squad every game.
Brent Burns Placed In COVID Protocol
Dec 21: Burns has been joined by Tomas Hertl and Jonathan Dahlen, both added to the protocol today. An additional Sharks staff member has also been added.
Dec 20: When the San Jose Sharks experienced their COVID outbreak earlier in the season, one of the key names that went unaffected and helped carry them through was Brent Burns. The veteran defenseman has played in all 30 of the team’s games so far this season, but that could be about to change. Burns has been added to the COVID protocol, though his placement there is apparently retroactive to December 17. That means he would be technically eligible to return for the Sharks’ next game, currently scheduled for December 27, should he pass all of the medical testing.
Burns, 36, has averaged nearly 26 minutes a night this season for the Sharks and is once again racking up points at a strong pace. The roving defender has 17 points in 30 games, good for 23rd in the league among defensemen. Should he have to miss any games after the holiday break, it would be a huge blow to San Jose’s chances.
Given that no other players have entered in the past few days for the Sharks, the hope is that this is a contained case. If that proves incorrect and other players enter the protocol in the coming days, they wouldn’t be available when the season resumes. For a team just barely hanging on in the Pacific Division playoff race, losing any more bodies could have a dire impact.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images