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We’re now almost two months into the NHL season and plenty has happened in recent weeks. The Montreal Canadiens have completely new front office leadership, Jack Eichel finally found his way out of Buffalo and things are going off the rails in Vancouver. Big names like Evander Kane and Matt Murray have cleared waivers in recent days, while the COVID situation around the league continues to throw doubt on the upcoming Olympic participation.
With all that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. If you missed the last one, it was broken into two parts. In the first, our Brian La Rose examined the slow start in Seattle, gave his Golden Knights thoughts pre-Eichel trade, and discussed Marc-Andre Fleury‘s play in Chicago. The second part touched on Filip Hronek‘s place in Detroit, Tomas Hertl‘s pending free agency, and listed a few potential fantasy keepers that have yet to make an impact at the NHL level.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend and answer as many questions as possible.
Tyler Johnson Undergoes Neck Surgery
Jack Eichel may have been the first NHL player to undergo an artificial disk replacement surgery, but he certainly won’t be the last. The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that Tyler Johnson underwent neck surgery this morning and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that it was the same ADR procedure as Eichel. Blackhawks team physician Dr. Michael Terry released the following statement:
After trying to manage his neck pain conservatively for the past couple of weeks, Tyler underwent neck surgery today. The prognosis is good and his anticipated return to play is approximately three months.
Johnson, 31, has played just eight games this season for the Blackhawks after they acquired him in a trade this offseason that saw Brent Seabrook‘s contract go to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had three points in those games, but ended up on the wrong end of quite a few lopsided scores. In fact, Chicago lost all eight of the games Johnson participated in before he was taken out of the lineup due to injury at the end of October.
Now, as he faces a three-month recovery timeline, it’s unclear how many times he’ll actually get to suit up for the Blackhawks at all. The veteran forward has two more years on his contract that carries a $5MM cap hit but will be a prime buyout candidate this summer unless he really shows an increased ability down the stretch. It’s been years since he was the high-flying player that twice scored 29 goals for the Lightning, and he has just 25 points since the start of 2020-21. A serious injury like this won’t help his case as the Blackhawks will be looking to shed money in the offseason.
Of course, there is hope that this new surgery can help a player’s long-term outlook when compared to the traditional fusion procedure. Eichel was spotted back on the ice yesterday just three weeks out from surgery, and though there are obviously plenty of hurdles before he resumes play for the Vegas Golden Knights, hopefully, things are progressing well in that direction. Johnson now faces the same process of rehabilitation and won’t be helping the Blackhawks for the next few months. His contract was already on long-term injured reserve and it will stay there for the time being.
Joonas Korpisalo Placed On Injured Reserve
Dec 3: Following Tarasov’s debut, the Blue Jackets have placed Korpisalo on injured reserve retroactive to December 1 with a non-COVID illness. He’ll have to miss seven days, meaning he’s out for a few more.
Dec 2: EBUG alerts all over the league today. The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Daniil Tarasov from the AHL and expect to have him starting tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars, after both Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins were ruled out with a non-COVID illness. The team has an emergency goalie–Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch identifies him as Casey Sherwood, a 36-year-old who was briefly under contract in the ECHL nearly ten years ago–on the ice at morning skate. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic tweets that if possible, Merzlikins will serve as the backup, but Tarasov is expected to arrive in Dallas around 2 pm and start tonight.
The 22-year-old Tarasov has just 15 starts at the AHL level under his belt, after being selected by the Blue Jackets in 2017. The Russian netminder split last season between Salavat Yulaev Ufa in the KHL and the Cleveland Monsters, though his time in the minors was not very impressive. This year hasn’t been much different, with an .897 save percentage in nine appearances, but there are still high hopes for the 6’5″ goaltender.
In fact, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff mentioned Tarasov in his latest trade targets column, which lists Korpisalo at the very top. With Merzlikins taking over the starting role completely and Tarasov “eventually waiting in the wings,” teams have called the Blue Jackets about Korpisalo’s availability. According to Seravalli, Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen is aware that the netminder would be “open to an opportunity to play elsewhere,” though there has been no formal trade request to this point.
While decisions shouldn’t be made on one performance, Tarasov will at least get a chance to show where his development has taken him to this point by suiting up for his NHL debut.
AHL Shuffle: 12/03/21
There are five games on the schedule around the NHL tonight, including the Edmonton Oilers traveling to face the Seattle Kraken. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are still battling away for the league scoring crown, with 40 and 41 points respectively on the year. The pair will try to one-up each other again this evening as they go against the team with the worst save percentage in the league (.874). As the Oilers and other teams prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- Jeff Petry will not be traveling with the Montreal Canadiens as he deals with an upper-body injury, which means Corey Schueneman has been recalled from the Laval Rocket. The 26-year-old Schueneman has played 18 games in the AHL this season and has seven points. A great story of perseverance, the former Western Michigan star signed a one-year NHL contract with the Canadiens in April. The AHL transactions page also has Laurent Dauphin coming up for the Canadiens ahead of their trip to Nashville.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially sent Petr Mrazek to the AHL on a conditioning stint, the last step before he returns to NHL action. The netminder has played just five periods so far this season for the Maple Leafs, allowing seven goals on 57 shots.
- The Florida Panthers have loaned Olli Juolevi to the AHL on a conditioning stint, given he’s played in just a single game at any level this season. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks earlier this. year but has yet to make his Panthers debut.
- The Buffalo Sabres have sent Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen back to the minor leagues now that Malcolm Subban has arrived. Luukkonen can continue to develop in the minor leagues while Subban, Aaron Dell and the injured Craig Anderson hold down the fort for the Sabres.
Metropolitan Division
- The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Max Willman and Connor Bunnaman under emergency conditions, with Joel Farabee absent from practice today. It’s not clear yet why Farabee is missing, but the team will have a couple of extra bodies in case he’s unavailable for Sunday’s game.
Central Division
- The Arizona Coyotes have recalled Hudson Fasching, just a few days after sending him down. The 26-year-old is probably used to that by now, having bounced up and down from the AHL throughout his professional career. In parts of seven seasons, he’s played just 34 games at the NHL level.
- Calen Addison has been swapped for Kevin Czuczman on the Minnesota Wild roster, per the team. The move is an effort to get Addison some more playing time with Iowa, where he has six assists in 10 games.
- With Bowen Byram sitting out due to concussion symptoms, the Colorado Avalanche had no healthy extra skaters left. That’s changed, as the team’s recalled Jacob MacDonald from the Colorado Eagles. He has no points in three NHL games this season.
Pacific Division
- Travis Hamonic was recalled by the Vancouver Canucks, now that they’re at home for tomorrow night’s game. Hamonic is reportedly fully vaccinated now and will be able to travel with the team on their next road trip. However, the team sent Hamonic back to AHL Abbotsford later in the day so he may not travel with them just yet.
- Per a team tweet, the Los Angeles Kings activated forward Akil Thomas from season-opening injured reserve and have assigned him to the Ontario Reign. The 21-year-old Thomas had 26 points in 40 games there last season.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Danny DeKeyser Removed From COVID Protocol
The Detroit Red Wings have announced a reinforcement, as Danny DeKeyser has been removed from the league’s COVID protocol. DeKeyser hasn’t taken the ice for the team since November 20, but can now return for their match tomorrow night if needed.
The 31-year-old has suited up 19 times for the Red Wings this season and is still averaging close to 20 minutes a night in his tenth season. On the final season of a six-year, $30MM deal, he’s played a good chunk of the year with young Moritz Seider, giving him a veteran partner to lean on as he learns the league. There have also been healthy scratches for DeKeyser though, as the team is clearly moving away from the old guard toward a new, young group of defensemen. Whether he goes directly back into the lineup isn’t clear at this point.
Still, after Tyler Bertuzzi entered the protocol recently, it’s good news that the Red Wings are also getting an extra body back. The team may be surprising some with a 12-9-3 record through their first 24, winning each of the last four games, but with two star rookies and a legitimate goaltending tandem, things are looking up in the Motor City.
Montreal Canadiens Will Not Make Coaching Change This Season
The new executive vice president of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens met with the media today, as Jeff Gorton did his best to work through an opening statement in French before taking questions. While there were nearly a half dozen questions about the potential of Patrick Roy joining him as general manager–something Gorton would not commit to or rule out–eventually he was also asked about the future of head coach Dominique Ducharme.
Gorton explained that he will not be making a coaching change this season, allowing Ducharme to play out the year before making a decision. There is no question that the position will be evaluated at that point, but Gorton repeatedly said that he needs more time to evaluate the whole organization before making any big decisions like that.
On the topic of general manager, Gorton told reporters that he won’t be making any hire until after Christmas and noted that the team will be potentially looking for an “outside the box” candidate. He and team president Geoff Molson have not yet made a list of candidates, as he continues to get familiar with the organization.
There was also a discussion of building out the analytics and player development departments, with Gorton explaining that it’s necessary to have as much support as possible for players from the moment they are drafted. That could prove very important in the coming years, as Montreal looks like they may need to go through at least a partial rebuild after losing their 19th game of the season last night. The team was outshot 33-20 by the Colorado Avalanche, who were in the second half of a back-to-back. That was the first time Gorton was with the team in person since being hired, but he is headed out on the road with them to Nashville to continue his evaluations.
Ducharme, who is safe through the end of the season, now has a 21-33-9 regular season record overall as head coach of the Canadiens, though he was also the one who took them all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. In July, he signed a three-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2023-24 and pays him approximately $1.7MM per season.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 12/02/21
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s live chat with PHR’s Gavin Lee.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Zach Dean
The Vegas Golden Knights have signed one of their 2021 draft picks, inking Zach Dean to a three-year entry-level contract. Dean currently plays for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL, where he will remain this season.
Selected 30th overall in the most recent draft, the 18-year-old forward has actually only played seven games for Gatineau so far after suffering an injury in Golden Knights camp. He’s been outstanding in those games though, racking up nine points and 21 shots on goal. He’s also been playing center, despite sometimes being listed as a winger, an important distinction for the young prospect.
Signing his entry-level deal means he’s part of the Golden Knights family, but it doesn’t mean he’ll be in the NHL anytime soon. His contract will slide forward and it’s likely that Dean stays in junior for the 2022-23 season as well. Recently invited to Canada’s World Junior selection camp, if he doesn’t make the squad this year he’ll be a leading candidate for an impact role a year from now.
Jack Eichel Resumes Skating
If you doubted Jack Eichel‘s suggested three-month recovery timeline after his artificial disk replacement surgery, perhaps you should think again. The Vegas Golden Knights center was seen back on the ice today in North Carolina (at what appears to be the Extreme Ice Center just outside of Charlotte) by one of the scouts for Brandon Wong Hockey, just three weeks after going under the knife.
Obviously there is still a long way to go for the 25-year-old center, but seeing him back skating has to be encouraging for a Golden Knights squad that took a huge chance and acquired Eichel last month. The team sent Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs and a package of draft picks to the Buffalo Sabres while taking on Eichel’s entire contract, one which pays him $10MM every season through 2025-26.
The last time Eichel played an injury-free season, he racked up 36 goals and 78 points. Unfortunately, that was in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season, which seems like a decade ago after the saga that has transpired since. His 2020-21 campaign ended after 21 games and a neck injury, leading to months and months of fighting with the Sabres over his preferred treatment. Even before that he had expressed a desire to potentially go elsewhere if the team was going to go through another rebuild, and he eventually got his wish on both, sent to the Golden Knights who allowed him to get the neck procedure his representatives had been pushing for.
Now, Vegas faces a massive cap crunch if Eichel is to return in the regular season, something that is still clearly up in the air despite his appearance on the ice. There is at least the possibility that he could return only for the playoffs where there is no salary cap–similar to what the Tampa Bay Lightning did with Nikita Kucherov last season–but if the three-month timeline is correct, he’ll be ready far sooner than that.
Dustin Tokarski Placed In COVID Protocol
Malcolm Subban can’t get to the Buffalo Sabres fast enough. The team has announced that Dustin Tokarski has been placed in the COVID protocol, forcing them to recall Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from the AHL. Buffalo made a trade for Subban earlier today but will have to go with Luukkonen and Aaron Dell until he arrives.
Casey Mittelstadt has also been activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers.
It’s certainly not an ideal situation for Buffalo, given that Tokarski was the more reliable of the two they currently had healthy and in the NHL. The 32-year-old journeyman has a .903 save percentage in 14 appearances this season, compared to Dell’s brutal .862 in five games. While Luukkonen was always supposed to take over the net at some point, the issue so far has been his own struggles in the minor leagues. The 22-year-old netminder has an .888 in 12 appearances with the Rochester Americans, and adding Subban was very clearly about allowing the Sabres to keep him in the AHL to develop further.
Now with Tokarski out that’s not possible, at least for today. The team did not confirm whether Tokarski has tested positive for coronavirus, but if he has and is experiencing any symptoms, he’ll be held out for a minimum of ten days. That would mean at least five games, meaning when Subban does arrive, he very well may immediately become the NHL starter for the next little while.