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Arber Xhekaj Out Indefinitely

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One of the bright spots for the Montreal Canadiens and their fans this season has been the emergence of Arber Xhekaj. The young defenseman basically came out of nowhere to make an impact at the NHL level, bringing an intimidating level of physicality to the rink every night.

Unfortunately, that rookie season may be cut short. The Canadiens have announced that Xhekaj will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers.

No clear timeline has been determined yet, but the injury appeared to be related to his right arm or shoulder after a fight with Vincent Desharnais.

Through 51 games this season, Xhekaj leads the NHL with 101 penalty minutes and has landed 159 hits to lead the Canadiens easily. Those numbers are despite averaging just 15 minutes a game on the back end, alongside several other of the Montreal youngsters.

Even though his toughness will stand out more than anything, Xhekaj has also impressed with real NHL ability. He has five goals and 13 points, even occasionally seeing some time on the powerplay. That is an incredible feat for an undrafted defenseman coming right out of junior hockey.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Spencer Martin Clear Waivers

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Feb 14: Both players have cleared and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Feb 13: According to Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness, who spoke with reporters including Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby has been placed on waivers today. The club needed room for the return of Dylan DeMelo and is “selfishly” hoping that Jonsson-Fjallby clears and can stay with the organization.

He isn’t alone. Spencer Martin has also been placed on waivers by the Vancouver Canucks, suggesting that Thatcher Demko will soon return from injury.

It’s a significant fall for Martin, who signed a two-year, one-way contract with the Canucks in April to serve as the team’s primary backup. At the time, it seemed rather undeserved given he had only played in nine NHL games, but the Canucks were confident in his ability to play at the highest level after posting a .950 save percentage in his short time with them.

Unfortunately, he’s come nowhere near that number this season, with an .871 through 29 appearances. The goaltending in Vancouver has been rather dreadful, even if their defensive performance has hung netminders out to dry far too often.

The move essentially signals that Collin Delia has passed him on the depth chart, and will remain as the backup for Demko moving forward.

For Jonsson-Fjallby, this could potentially lead to another fresh start somewhere else. Not only do the Washington Capitals have the option of re-claiming him and sending him directly to the minor leagues if they are the only team interested, but his play could draw the gaze of some other teams looking for depth forwards. Through 45 games with Winnipeg, the 25-year-old has four goals and 11 points, routinely showing off his speed to get in on the forecheck.

He won’t be a top-six impact player, but could be of interest for clubs looking to add penalty killing and energy to a fourth line.

Valtteri Pulli Drawing NHL Interest

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Most of the news right now revolves around the NHL trade deadline, as media members try to find out where everyone will be playing when the dust settles. But yesterday, Jeff Marek squished in another interesting nugget during the 32 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet.

Valtteri Pulli, an undrafted Finnish defenseman, is drawing interest from several NHL clubs.

A number of teams that have shown interest but at varying degrees. I’ve heard of a couple different teams that are really hot on him, and a couple that just will kick tires. I’m having a hard time trying to figure out who is really aggressive and who is just curious.

It sounds like the teams with interest (and again to varying degrees) are the San Jose Sharks…the Winnipeg Jets, the Boston Bruins, the Vancouver Canucks, the Nashville Predators, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the New York Islanders. 

Pulli, 21, is a 6’6″ left-shot defenseman who is in his first full season for TPS in the Finnish Liiga, and has three goals and 14 points in 47 games. While those numbers don’t sound too impressive, he has shown flashes of high offensive potential, as he learns to use his massive frame to protect the puck and get it to dangerous areas.

Of course, flashes of potential don’t get you NHL minutes, and Pulli is by no means a finished product. He’ll turn 22 next month, though, meaning teams will have lots of time to try and develop him into an impact player.

Since he turns 22 next month, Pulli will be limited to a two-year entry-level contract when he does sign.

Los Angeles Kings Reassign Tobie Bisson

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Feb 14: Bisson has been returned to the AHL without dressing for a game.

Feb 13: Of all the defensemen that the Los Angeles Kings could recall, it is something of a surprise that Tobie Bisson will be joining them ahead of tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Bisson, 26, only earned his first NHL contract last summer and has never been recalled to the league. Through 41 games this season for the Ontario Reign, the undrafted defenseman has 12 points and 31 penalty minutes.

It’s not that Bisson is undeserving; he plays hard minutes for the Reign and recently played for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup. But the team has been recalling several other defensemen all season long, and sent down Jacob Moverare just yesterday.

Perhaps it is as simple as rewarding a player for his AHL work this season. Bisson is excellent in his own end and willing to engage physically when challenged. But with so much smoke swirling around the Kings and a potential Jakob Chychrun deal, an unexpected recall like this will raise some eyebrows.

Either way, it means NHL pay and a great moment for Bisson, who worked his way up from the AHL after going undrafted. After nearly five full minor league seasons, he finally gets a chance to go up to the biggest stage.

Colorado Avalanche Recall Ben Meyers, Brad Hunt

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With Erik Johnson moving to injured reserve, the Colorado Avalanche have recalled Ben Meyers and Brad Hunt to give them a little more depth. The club had been carrying barely enough players to dress a full lineup and went with only 11 forwards over the weekend (plus Kurtis MacDermid, who plays both defense and forward).

Meyers, 24, has played in 28 games for the Avalanche this season but can’t seem to find his way onto the scoresheet. He has just one goal and has yet to record an assist in the NHL. During his time in the minor leagues, he had eight points in 14 games for the Colorado Eagles. The undrafted college free agent is still getting his feet wet in professional hockey and will get another chance with the Avalanche.

Hunt, meanwhile, has played 27 games for the Avalanche this season and 22 more for the Eagles, playing in the minor leagues for the first time since 2016-17. The depth defender can rack up points at will in the AHL, and has six on the year with the Avalanche so far. Now 34, he certainly isn’t the long-term answer for Colorado, but Hunt is a reliable veteran call-up that can play games without much risk.

Johnson suffered a lower-body injury over the weekend but no timeline has been given for his return yet.

Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Three Players

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Feb 14: All three players are back up today, ready to rejoin the team and participate in tomorrow’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. During their short stint in the AHL, Steeves scored the game-winner (assisted by Holmberg), and Woll picked up his 14th win in 15 appearances.

Feb 13: The trio of players that came up for Toronto’s last couple of games have been returned to the minors, as the team announced Pontus Holmberg, Alex Steeves, and Joseph Woll have all been loaned to the Toronto Marlies. The Maple Leafs don’t play until Wednesday and are now home until Sunday.

Woll’s inclusion could indicate that Matt Murray will return to the team this week after skating with the club in recent days. The injured netminder hasn’t played since January 17, leaving Ilya Samsonov to carry the load almost every night. Woll got his first game action of the season on Saturday in the second half of a back-to-back, but the Maple Leafs left him out to dry, allowing 40 shots from the Columbus Blue Jackets, which resulted in four goals.

Steeves, 23, also landed his first NHL action of the season, playing in both games against Columubs and registering three shots on net. The young forward is still looking for his first NHL goal but will be hard-pressed to earn regular minutes in the Maple Leafs lineup this season.

That’s partly because of the strong rookie season for Holmberg, who has 13 points in 35 games as the team’s fourth-line center. The emergence of Holmberg has been a nice bonus for a Maple Leafs team that hasn’t added a homegrown regular to the forward group for a few years now, instead securing depth through free agency.

With the team off for two days, this is essentially a cost-saving move, as all three are on two-way contracts. Still, because of the long-term injured reserve relief they are using, there’s no cap accumulation by sending them down. The Marlies play tonight, and you may see at least Holmberg back up for Wednesday’s game.

Trade Deadline Primer: Dallas Stars

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With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is just a few weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Dallas Stars.

Usually, when a team is leading an entire conference 50+ games into the season, there is more chatter about them adding significant talent at the deadline to go on a long Stanley Cup run. But the Stars, sitting first in the West with 70 points, are somehow usually still left out of the conversation.

Fans and media are focused on what the Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, or Winnipeg Jets may be up to. Dallas slowly hides in the shadows with a team that could rival anyone in the league. Over the next few weeks, that could change, with the Stars emerging as one of the most exciting deadline teams to watch, given a reasonable cap situation and interesting prospect pool.

Record

30-14-10, 1st in the Central

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$1.15MM today, $1.64MM in deadline space, 0/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2023: DAL 2nd, DAL 4th, DAL 5th, DAL 6th, DAL 7th

2024: DAL 1st, DAL 2nd, DAL 3rd, DAL 5th, DAL 6th, DAL 7th

Trade Chips

When the Stars traded a first-round pick for Nils Lundkvist in September, it removed their most significant chip for this season. Without a 2023 first to give up, it isn’t easy to get involved in some of the biggest deadline names. Bo Horvat and Vladimir Tarasenko, for instance, both returned first-round selections for the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues, with names like Timo Meier expected to do the same.

But the interesting side effect of adding Lundkvist was how it clogged the path for some other defense prospects in the organization. The assumption when Dallas let John Klingberg go last summer was that Thomas Harley would likely establish himself as a full-time NHL defenseman this season, taking some of the easy minutes that Klingberg had been given in the past. But Harley, the 18th overall pick from 2019, has spent the entire season in the AHL with the Texas Stars.

Lian Bischel, their 2022 first-round pick is even further down that depth chart, and will have a number of players to leapfrog before he sniffs NHL minutes. He isn’t even signed at this point, meaning there are still years until he makes an impact.

Either of these defense prospects could be flipped in a deal, given Dallas has five defensemen signed through next season and looks like a legitimate contender this year.

A forward prospect like Mavrik Bourque could be dangled, too, after his first minor league season has been just okay. That likely isn’t the case with Wyatt Johnston, who has made an NHL impact as a rookie and looks like a long-term building block for the group, or Logan Stankoven, who was recently ranked ninth overall among drafted prospects by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.

One interesting name is Denis Gurianov, who continues to frustrate the organization. The talented 25-year-old forward has moments of pure brilliance when he looks like a dominant NHL player. That’s how he scored 20 goals as a sophomore and nine more in the bubble playoffs as Dallas went to the Stanley Cup Final.

But his game is just rife with inconsistency, leading to regular scratches and just two goals in 38 games this season. The 12th overall pick from 2015 might be an interesting reclamation project for a rebuilding club, though it’s hard to see someone pay a premium for him at this point.

(As an aside, this isn’t the first time a big, talented winger has frustrated the Stars front office. After Valeri Nichushkin failed to score a single goal in the 2018-19 season he was bought out by Dallas, only to find an organization in Colorado that would patiently develop him into one of the best two-way forwards in the league. Gurianov certainly doesn’t look like that right now, but neither did Nichushkin during those frustrating years.)

Other trade chips: F Ty Dellandrea, F Christian Kyrou, G Anton Khudobin

Team Needs

1) Top-six forward: Even with the return of Jamie Benn as a top-end player and Tyler Seguin’s recovery from injury going better than many imagined, the Stars could still use a little bit of punch upfront. The nice part about this is the versatility that some of their players bring, meaning it could be any of the three forward positions they add. If Mason Marchment had brought last season’s scoring touch with him, this might not be an issue, and Johnston could be an internal option for more offensive minutes.

But adding a difference-maker from outside the organization seems the most likely outcome for Dallas at the deadline if they’re willing to part with the assets to get one.

2) Defensive depth: Defense? Didn’t we just finish saying how Dallas has a full blueline? Well, yes – but if the team isn’t comfortable with Harley as the next man up for this playoff run, it might make sense to add another depth piece. The kind of veteran player who can step in and give you 12-15 hard, mistake-free minutes is a valuable thing to have at playoff time, and if they aren’t making a big splash up front, Dallas might pivot to defense.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Devin Shore Clears Waivers

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As most sports fans prepared nacho dips and buffalo wings ahead of the Super Bowl, the Edmonton Oilers quietly placed Devin Shore on waivers to help clear additional cap space. The veteran forward has cleared and can now be sent to the minor leagues.

The demotion of Shore, 28, should come as no surprise. He hasn’t scored a single goal through 29 appearances and has just three points on the year, a far cry from the player that was once a 30-point contributor in Dallas. He is averaging fewer than nine minutes a night and has been held without a single shot on goal in half of his games.

By waiving him and sending him down, the team is getting closer to having enough cap room to activate Kailer Yamamoto. It will still require an additional transaction, though, which could end up being Jesse Puljujarvi hitting waivers as well tomorrow.

Because of their cap situation, every move from here on will be complicated for the Oilers. Adding anyone before the deadline will require money to go the other way, unless more players end up on long-term injured reserve.

Jakob Chychrun Remains Out Of Arizona Lineup

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Though he still hasn’t been traded, it appears as though Jakob Chychrun’s time as an Arizona Coyote is over. According to Adam Vingan of Sportsnet, head coach Andre Tourigny confirmed Chychrun will remain out of the lineup “until something happens.”

Notably, Karel Vejmelka will start tonight. Vejmelka has also been the center of trade rumors recently, but the team will not pull him out of the lineup like Chychrun.

It appeared as though there was a deal in place for Chychrun over the weekend, but nothing has happened to this point. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast today speculated that a different contract or trade situation was holding up a deal (potentially with the Los Angeles Kings). Brandt Clarke, who had his name reported as a return for Chychrun, has apparently been told by the Kings he is not involved in any deal and will not be traded.

At the very least, it appears as though the months-long speculation about Chychrun will soon come to an end. The young defenseman wanted a trade out of Arizona to play for a contender, but general manager Bill Armstrong would never rush to move him. If a team wanted Chychrun, they would have to pay a high price that Arizona set.

With 28 points in 36 games and outstanding possession numbers, Chychrun has certainly made the Coyotes’ job easier. His play coming back from injury has warranted interest, and it appears as though someone is finally willing to meet that price.

Remember that Arizona already has a huge number of high picks over the next few seasons, and should only add more at this year’s deadline. No rebuild is guaranteed to work, but the management group there has at least set itself up for future success by pulling off creative transactions to add future value. The trade of Chychrun could be the capstone to that strategy, as a 24-year-old defenseman under control for two more seasons at a reasonable cap hit is one of the most valuable assets in the league. Risking that return by playing him the next few nights doesn’t make much sense.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Francouz, Forsberg

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, led by New York Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin. The 31-year-old winger had nine points in four games including a five-point effort against the Carolina Hurricanes in a very important game. With that, he’s up to 59 points in 53 games and once again on pace to break 90 this season.

Even that might not catch second place though, as Erik Karlsson once again gets a star as his incredible season continues. The San Jose Sharks defenseman is up to 73 points on the season, an 82-game pace of 110 points. It’s hard to follow that, but Clayton Keller did his best to earn third, after scoring seven points in three games for the Arizona Coyotes. Despite the Coyotes’ struggles, Keller has a chance to set career highs in goals and points this season.

  • The Colorado Avalanche have listed Pavel Francouz out with a lower-body injury, and recalled Jonas Johansson from the AHL to replace him. It is not clear how long the former will be out, but it likely means that Alexandar Georgiev will be starting tomorrow’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Avalanche on a back-to-back Wednesday in Minnesota, Johansson’s services may be required.
  • After Anton Forsberg needed a stretcher to leave the ice for the Ottawa Senators, the worst was feared. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia gives something of a promising update though, reporting that the veteran goaltender will actually not require surgery on his knees. His recovery timeline is set at two to three months as he recovers from MCL tears in both legs.

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