AHL Shuffle: 11/29/21
It’s a new week in the NHL and four games kick things off this evening. That includes the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens battling while headlines swirl around each franchise, and the Pittsburgh Penguins taking the ice for the first time since announcing an approved sale. As those teams and others prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling right here.
Atlantic Division
- The Florida Panthers have recalled Matt Kiersted and Aleksi Heponiemi, as Aleksander Barkov continues to work on his recovery. The Panthers captain was at practice but skating with the extras, which also included Heponiemi. Now 22, Heponiemi has played just nine games at the NHL level but has 11 points in 18 games for the Charlotte Checkers this season.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Gabriel Fortier from the AHL, as Mathieu Joseph deals with an injury. Fortier, 21, has yet to make his NHL debut but has 11 points in 17 games for the Syracuse Crunch this season. The 2018 second-round pick was a strong performer in junior and has been in the system for years, making his AHL debut back in the 2018-19 season.
- Following a California road trip, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have at least one well-rested skater when they take on Colorado on Wednesday. The team has announced that Joey Anderson has been recalled from the AHL Marlies with Kirill Semyonov heading the other way.
Metropolitan Division
- The Philadelphia Flyers have sent Connor Bunnaman and Max Willman back to the AHL, with the team off until Wednesday. Philadelphia is plummeting in the standings, losing six in a row and dropping to seventh in the Metro. The group is 2-6-2 in their last ten and now has a -12 goal differential.
- With a pair of starting defenders entering COVID Protocol earlier today, the Carolina Hurricanes have called in reinforcements. Maxime Lajoie and Jalen Chatfield have been recalled to the NHL from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, the ‘Canes announced. The duo has 80 NHL games between them, but neither has suited up for Carolina yet. One or both could get their first opportunity in the team’s next game.
Central Division
- The Colorado Avalanche have activated Martin Kaut from injured reserve, loaning him to the AHL in the process. Kaut has played a handful of games at both levels this season but will get his feet back underneath him in the minor leagues.
- With Philipp Kurashev struggling to get going in his sophomore season, the Chicago Blackhawks have opted to send him to the AHL for the time being. Coming up from the Rockford IceHogs is a familiar name – or at least a familiar last name. Rookie Josiah Slavin, younger brother of Carolina Hurricanes star defenseman Jaccob Slavin, has earned his first NHL recall after leaving Colorado College last year. Slavin leads the IceHogs in plus/minus by a wide margin and is a top-five scorer as well.
Pacific Division
- Benoit-Olivier Groulx has been added back to the San Diego Gulls roster for the time being, with the Anaheim Ducks off until tomorrow. Groulx, 21, has three points in 16 games during his rookie NHL season but has been bounced back and forth on off-days.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Pesce, DeAngelo, McKegg Added To COVID Protocol
The Carolina Hurricanes have lost another two defensemen, as both Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo have been added to the COVID protocol. The two will remain in Raleigh while the rest of the team travels to Dallas, suggesting they won’t be available tomorrow night at the very least. If the pair has tested positive–which the Hurricanes did not confirm–and have experienced any symptoms, they will be held out for a minimum of ten days.
The New York Rangers also have an unavailable player, as Greg McKegg will not skate today after entering the protocol. Like the Hurricanes, the Rangers have not confirmed whether or not McKegg tested positive for coronavirus, only that he will miss today’s practice with a COVID-related absence.
Ethan Bear had already been unavailable for the Hurricanes after entering the protocol a week ago, meaning a huge swathe of the team’s defense corps is now out of the lineup. The Hurricanes had been using Brendan Smith more than they likely expected, but now will also likely have to make some additional recalls. Like with the San Jose Sharks, New York Islanders, and Ottawa Senators, who have all faced severe outbreaks this season, the Hurricanes aren’t likely to receive any help from the league in terms of postponements unless things get much worse.
Already the Hurricanes had been faltering a bit of late, losing the Metropolitan Division lead after a 6-3-1 run. If they want to catch the Washington Capitals (who have played two more games) in the coming days, they’ll have to do it with a defense group that isn’t quite as established. Pesce logs more ice time than anyone not named Jaccob Slavin, while DeAngelo has been one of the best point-producing defensemen in the league this season with 19 in 20 games.
Brad Marchand To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
The Department of Player Safety still has Brendan Lemieux to deal with tomorrow, but will focus on Brad Marchand today. The Boston Bruins forward will have a hearing today for slew-footing Vancouver Canucks defenseman Oliver-Ekman Larsson.
The incident occurred partway through the first period of last night’s game and Marchand did not receive a penalty on the play. Ekman-Larsson also did not suffer a serious injury, going on to play more than 24 minutes in the game.
This is not the first slew foot to draw the attention of the DoPS this season, in fact, it appears as though this season is going to be ruled by the offense given how often it has been in the headlines so far. P.K. Subban has been involved in several incidents (which were notably referred to as trips, not slew foots), while Ryan Hartman earned a $4,250 fine recently. Kevin Labanc is the only one to have earned a suspension for a slew foot this season, drawing a one-game ban for his incident earlier this month.
In Labanc’s video explanation, the league used the following language to explain the suspension:
What causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the speed the players are traveling, and their proximity to the boards.
Ekman-Larsson also collided with the boards after the Marchand incident, though the pair weren’t traveling at an exceptional speed. It will be interesting to see if the league decides on a fine or suspension in this case.
Fenway Sports Group Approves Purchase Of Pittsburgh Penguins
Nov: 29: After receiving unanimous approval from the FSG board earlier this month, the team has officially announced the agreement, which is still subject to approval from the NHL’s board of governors. In today’s release, it confirms that Lemieux and Burkle will remain part of the ownership group, and that management–from CEO David Morehouse all the way to head coach Mike Sullivan–will be maintained as is. The sale is expected to go through before the end of the year.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the sale is expected to be worth around $900MM.
Nov 16: The Pittsburgh Penguins majority owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux are in talks to sell the team to Fenway Sports Group, the company that owns Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, according to Cara Lombardo and Laine Higgins of the Wall Street Journal. Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Lemieux will likely retain a minority stake and will continue to be involved in the hockey operations.
It’s been more than two decades since Lemieux and Burkle effectively saved the Penguins, taking control of the team in 1999 after converting more than $32MM in deferred salary into equity. While it has certainly not been a smooth ride since then–the Penguins have been close to selling or relocating several times over the years, including a notorious saga with Jim Balsillie in 2006–Lemieux has held the team together, helped orchestrate a rebuild, and eventually brought multiple Stanley Cup victories to the club as an executive.
Forbes estimates the Penguins value at $650MM, the same price that the Seattle Kraken recently paid as an expansion fee. Sportico meanwhile valued them at $845MM recently, ranking them 15th in the NHL. The details of this sale are not public, but the report suggests that the deal could be finalized by the end of the week. It would also need to be approved by the NHL.
Fenway Sports Group was formed in 2001–then called New England Sports Ventures–when John Henry, among other investors, took control of the Red Sox. In 2010 the company purchased Liverpool FC, and they also own other smaller sporting ventures and venues. Henry has previous experience in sports ownership and was involved in an expansion bid for a Florida-based team that eventually went to another group and became the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Of note, the NHL has a standard agreement in place that prevents new owners from relocating a franchise for seven years.
Montreal Canadiens Fire Marc Bergevin And Others, Hire Jeff Gorton
The Montreal Canadiens have made another front-office change following Scott Mellanby‘s resignation yesterday. Per the team, they’ve fired general manager Marc Bergevin as well as assistant GM Trevor Timmins and senior VP of public affairs Paul Wilson.
Bergevin’s been the GM and executive VP of hockey operations for the Canadiens since 2012-13. Under his term, the team made the playoffs six out of nine seasons.
Timmins was named assistant GM in 2017 but had been with the organization in various capacities since 2002.
Jeff Gorton has been hired as executive vice president of hockey operations. Bergevin is expected to be replaced by another French-speaking general manager, as the release states. Gorton will oversee operations on a day-to-day basis while the search for a new general manager continues.
Gorton, 53, was the GM in New York from 2015-2021 and had previously worked with the Rangers and Boston Bruins in several different roles, including scout, director of scouting, director of player personnel, and assistant general manager. His multiple decades in NHL front offices have now led him to one of the most coveted positions in the NHL, but also one with some of the highest pressures.
The Canadiens, the league’s most historic franchise with 23 Stanley Cup championships, made it all the way back to the finals last season but were unable to capture their first title since 1993. Just months later and the organization has collapsed, losing 17 of its first 23 games and owning the league’s second-worst goal differential. The absences of Phillip Danault, Shea Weber, and Carey Price from last year’s playoff team have been catastrophic, with almost no one playing up to their potential on an already underwhelming roster.
Yet, this move comes a day after the Canadiens won their sixth game of the season, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3. It needed a 47-save performance from Jake Allen to do it though, and three of the goals were of the empty-net variety, meaning the final score was not indicative of how the game played out. Still, Gorton walks into a fan base that has at least been temporarily subdued, despite some season-long failure.
One of the decisions that Gorton will have to make in this newly announced position is on the future of head coach Dominique Ducharme, who signed a three-year contract extension earlier this summer. Ducharme now has a 21-31-9 record in the regular season as head coach of the Canadiens, a dreadful number that is only partially masked by his playoff success. Yes, he is the coach that led Montreal to the Stanley Cup Finals (though even then, he was replaced for a short period by assistant Luke Richardson), but there have been clear signs that Ducharme either does not know how to properly deploy the roster he has or that the roster is unwilling to accept that deployment.
Mellanby, meanwhile, left the organization after initially believing he would be the next general manager of the team. Marc-Antoine Godin of The Athletic examines the way that team president Geoff Molson handled the situation, including “deep talks” with Mellanby to become Bergevin’s successor. When things pivoted to a president of hockey operations and Gorton, Mellanby’s “trust was broken” according to Godin. That means Gorton will not only need to replace Bergevin but also Mellanby’s position of assistant GM.
The focus of incoming front office members will be interesting, as it is unclear whether the Canadiens brass believes the team to still be in a contending window. There are talented youngsters like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Alexander Romanov, but also too many bloated contracts for players that have not shown an ability to be true difference-makers. The roster should be better than 6-15-2, but it was always going to be a challenge to make the playoffs after some of the key offseason departures.
Poor play from several previously reliable defensive options–including Jeff Petry and newcomer David Savard–may have to be at the top of the list of concerns for the Canadiens. The team got through the playoffs with stingy defense and timely counterattacks, neither of which appear likely on any given night this season. With several long-term deals on the books, including more than $70MM committed to 2023-24 (though that’s counting Shea Weber‘s LTIR-bound deal), there is a lot of work to do for a new front office.
Schultz Placed On Injured Reserve; Eller Returns From COVID Protocol
The Washington Capitals have moved Justin Schultz to injured reserve, after the veteran defenseman left Wednesday’s game with an upper-body injury. Schultz had already missed the Capitals last game and his IR stint is likely retroactive to November 24, meaning he could return partway through next week if healthy.
The team has not announced a recovery timeline, but moving Schultz to injured reserve would open a roster spot for Lars Eller who is set to return from the COVID protocol and play this afternoon. Eller has missed six games, last playing on November 14 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The two-way center had eight points in his first 15 contests and is an important piece of the Capitals lineup.
Schultz meanwhile has been moved down in the lineup this season, averaging just over 17 minutes a night before exiting early in his last game. The 31-year-old has just two points in 20 games this season, a far cry from the 27 he registered in 46 during the 2020-21 campaign. Still an effective enough option at even-strength, Schultz will be missed for the next few games even if he’s not relied on to the same level as years past.
In his place, Dennis Cholowski moved into the lineup on Friday night and played just over 16 minutes. The 23-year-old former Detroit Red Wing has just two games at the NHL level this season.
AHL Shuffle: 11/28/21
Sunday in the NHL will bring some more afternoon action, with two top-tier matchups just a few hours from now. The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes do battle for the Metropolitan Division lead, while the Central-leading Minnesota Wild take on the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Four more games will follow this evening, including the reeling Vancouver Canucks trying to find any sort of positive. As those teams and others prepare, we’ll keep track of all the day’s minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- Ottawa Senators goalie Matt Murray cleared waivers, per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. He’ll be assigned to the Belleville Senators after going winless in five games this season.
- Per the team, the Buffalo Sabres loaned forward Arttu Ruotsalainen to the Rochester Americans today. The move comes after they signed Mark Jankowski, who was on an AHL contract in Rochester, to an NHL deal today. Ruotsalainen had just four points in 16 games this season.
Metropolitan Division
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Drew O’Connor from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, reports Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He’ll take the place of Bryan Rust who was placed on injured reserve. O’Connor has five points in five minor league games so far this season plus five more points in a dozen contests with Pittsburgh.
Central Division
- The St. Louis Blues have moved Klim Kostin to injured reserve, recalling Logan Brown from the AHL in his place. Brown, acquired from the Ottawa Senators before the season began, has been excellent at the minor league level with 17 points in 19 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds. Kostin meanwhile is headed to LTIR, meaning he’ll have to miss a minimum of ten games and 24 days.
Pacific Division
- After a one-day stint in the minors, Benoit-Olivier Groulx is back up with the Anaheim Ducks, per the AHL’s transactions log. Groulx has played in 16 games with Anaheim so far this season but they have been trying to get him into AHL contests here and there to get him some extra playing time.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Brendan Lemieux Offered In-Person Hearing For Biting
Los Angeles Kings forward Brendan Lemieux has been offered an in-person hearing (via Zoom) by the Department of Player Safety following the incident from last night. After engaging Brady Tkachuk, Lemieux appeared to bite the Ottawa Senators captain and was given a match penalty which brings an automatic review from the league. The in-person hearing, however, opens the door for the league to suspend Lemieux for more than five games.
Tkachuk did not mince words after the game when discussing his assailant with reporters including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia:
It was the most gutless thing somebody could ever do. This guy, you can ask anyone of his teammates, nobody ever wants to play with him. This guy is a bad guy and a bad teammate, he focuses on himsef all the time. The guy’s a just a joke. He shouldn’t be in the league. This guy’s gutless. No other team wants him, he’s going to keep begging to be in the NHL but no other team is going to want him, he’s an absolute joke.
It’s outrageous. Kids don’t even do that anymore. Babies do that. I don’t even know what he was thinking, he’s just a complete brick head. He’s got nothing up there. Bad guy, bad player but what a joke he is.
The time and date of the hearing have not yet been set, meaning Lemieux is currently suspended. He does not need to accept the in-person offer, but declining it does not stop the league from issuing a suspension of more than five games. There will be an appeal process available to Lemieux after the decision is made.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Calgary Flames
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads towards 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 Calgary Flames.
What are the Flames most thankful for?
A healthy start.
Injuries are a part of sports, and they’re going to happen for every team in the NHL at some point. But so far, the Flames have escaped relatively unscathed. Fifteen different players have suited up in at least 19 of the team’s 20 games, including basically every important member of the group.
In fact, since they started the year, Calgary has completed just two recalls from the minor leagues. Jacob Markstrom and Daniel Vladar have been the two dressed goaltenders in all 20 matches, meaning not only have they had a consistent effort, but also a consistent group in the locker room.
Who are the Flames most thankful for?
It’s hard to believe that a coach can make such a huge difference, but the Stanley Cup-winning bench boss appears to have secured a complete buy-in from his squad and a commitment to playing his low-event checking style. The Flames have allowed just 38 goals through 20 games and have the best goal differential in the league.
Not everything is because of Sutter, as there have been some very strong performances–perhaps even unexpected–from the defensive unit, but the veteran coach has the entire group moving in the right direction.
What would the Flames be even more thankful for?
Sean Monahan‘s re-emergence.
The one concern some have when discussing the Flames, a team that has dominated the league so far, is the disappearance of Monahan’s offense. Through the first seven seasons of Monahan’s career, he had 194 goals, good for more than 29 per 82 games. Since the start of the 2020-21 season, he has 12 (just seven since Sutter took over).
His minutes have dropped to the lowest of his career and he has generated just 25 shots on goal through 20 games this season. For a player carrying a cap hit of $6.375MM, that’s simply not acceptable even if the overall Flames group is still churning through opponents. The idea of Monahan returning to some semblance of the 30-goal scorer he once was, without disrupting the defensive structure the Flames currently have would make them all the more imposing.
What should be on the Flames’ Holiday Wish List?
A Matthew Tkachuk extension.
Johnny Gaudreau has been outstanding this season, leading the team in scoring with 23 points in 20 games. He’s also an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, so his future should be front and center when discussing any contract negotiations in Calgary. But it’s Tkachuk, who has been a lynchpin of Sutter’s structure and once again seems like the obvious choice as the team’s future captain that will really decide how much they could spend on Gaudreau.
Already the team’s highest-paid player, Tkachuk is about to hit restricted free agency for the last time, a year away from the open market. He won’t even turn 24 until next month, but is already in the midst of his sixth season in the league, meaning any extension would buy out almost exclusively UFA seasons. It will be a massive contract if Tkachuk does agree to something long-term with the Flames, a number that would limit them elsewhere or cause other cost-cutting measures (perhaps like a bottom-six center that makes more than $6MM next season).
There’s nothing that would be more important for the Flames this winter, so they can also go into the trade deadline with some sort of cap certainty moving forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Doug Wilson Taking Temporary Medical Leave
The San Jose Sharks have announced that general manager Doug Wilson is taking a temporary medical leave from his day-to-day duties with the club. In the interim, assistant general manager Joe Will will be handling the daily operations.
Wilson, 64, was recently inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to the game as both a player and executive. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic tweets that Wilson has been dealing with a persistent cough since September, but this absence is not believed to be COVID-related.
Across the hockey landscape, fans, media, and players are extending their support for the Sharks GM. The staff at PHR is no different, and hope to see him back to work soon.