Snapshots: Skinner, Rutherford, Matthews
Jeff Skinner has been relegated to the taxi squad in Buffalo, not even skating with the active roster on a regular basis. His agent recently spoke with the team’s GM to voice concerns, but Skinner spoke to the media directly today. When asked by Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News whether he would want to be on a different team he was clear:
No. I love being a Sabre. I love the city of Buffalo. I wouldn’t have chosen to stay here if that wasn’t the case, so that answer is simple.
Skinner handled the questioning as professionally as possible, not willing to detail any of the conversations he’s had with head coach Ralph Kreuger. Unfortunately, professionalism isn’t really the issue here, production is. The 28-year-old didn’t score a single goal in his 14 games earlier this season and is still sitting on just 24 points since signing the $72MM extension.
- Jim Rutherford still has “the bug” to work in a hockey front office again, as he explained to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The legendary executive resigned his position as GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this year, replaced by Ron Hextall. That transition seems to have been his plan all along, as he tells LeBrun he suggested Hextall to Penguins CEO David Morehouse as his eventual replacement several times both before and after his resignation.
- Auston Matthews has been dealing with a wrist injury for the Toronto Maple Leafs and today was absent at the team’s practice. Head coach Sheldon Keefe listed him as day-to-day but wouldn’t rule him out for tomorrow’s match against the Edmonton Oilers. The team did have some good news as Joe Thornton, Jack Campbell and Jake Muzzin (with a full shield after breaking a bone in his face), returned to practice.
“Good Chance” Vladimir Tarasenko Returns On Blues’ Upcoming Trip
The St. Louis Blues will start a six-game road trip tomorrow night against the San Jose Sharks and at some point during it, will likely get a big boost. Vladimir Tarasenko was a full participant in practice today and afterward, head coach Craig Berube told reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic that there is a “good chance” the sniper returns at some point during the trip.
Tarasenko last played in an NHL game during the postseason bubble but hasn’t suited up for a regular season game since October 24, 2019. He was limited to just 10 games last season, the first injury-riddled campaign of his career. The winger had played in at least 76 games in each of the five seasons previous, scoring at least 33 goals in each of them. That kind of offensive consistency is hard to come by, meaning his return should be an incredible addition for a Blues team looking to go on a deep playoff run.
When it was revealed that Tarasenko was likely to return this season, the question became how the Blues would fit him in under the salary cap. That question is at least partially answered now that Alex Steen and Carl Gunnarsson are out for the year, giving the team quite a bit more long-term injured reserve space. The Blues will still have to make a few transactions, but Tarasenko doesn’t push them over the top as much as once believed.
His return comes at a perfect time for the 2019 Cup champions, as they’re actually mired in a three-game losing streak and have scored just one goal in their past two. While they still sit second in the West Division standings, that’s in part due to playing 20 games already–only the Anaheim Ducks have played that many.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Filip Chlapik Placed On Unconditional Waivers
Feb 26: Chlapik has cleared waivers. His contract was terminated today; Senators GM Pierre Dorion released a short statement on the move:
After considerable dialogue with Filip and his representation, we have mutually decided to part ways. We’re appreciative of Filip’s efforts with the organization, both in Belleville and in Ottawa, and wish him the best as he moves forward.
Feb 25: CapFriendly reports that Chlapik is actually on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination. It was curious why the team would put him on waivers despite being in the minor leagues, which this answers. Chlapik will become an unrestricted free agent should the termination go through.
11:05am: According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the Ottawa Senators have placed Filip Chlapik on waivers once again, after he cleared at the beginning of the season. The young forward has played just one game at the NHL level this year.
Will the floodgates open now that a skater (Mark Friedman) has been claimed off waivers? Chlapik is not like many of the other players that hit waivers, given he is still just 23 years old. The 6’2″ forward was the 48th overall pick in 2015 but has just 57 games under his belt at the NHL level.
In all likelihood, he’ll pass through, but if a team is dealing with injuries and wants to take a chance on the young forward, they have another chance. Chlapik’s two-way deal costs just $735K this season while in the NHL and he’ll be a restricted free agent again this offseason.
Los Angeles Kings Looking For “Dynamic” Defenseman
The Los Angeles Kings are in third place. That’s not something anyone expected to read this season, but after winning their last six in a row, the Kings look to not only be in contention for a playoff spot but perhaps even the West Division crown. They sit just two points behind the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights and one behind the St. Louis Blues, though all three teams have different amounts of games played. Los Angeles GM Rob Blake is starting to see the payoff from the incredible prospect pool he has accumulated, with players like Gabriel Vilardi, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, and Mikey Anderson all making strong contributions this season.
Now, perhaps with an eye on the future and the present, Blake is ready to add. From Darren Dreger on TSN’s latest Insider Trading:
Rob Blake of the Los Angeles Kings is another one looking for a defenseman…25-and-under, he specifically wants a dynamic, left-shot defenseman. When you look at the Los Angeles Kings they do have an abundance of forwards, particularly at center ice. I’m reminded of the big trade that involved the Columbus Blue Jackets a few years back and the Nashville Predators. Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones. If something like that could be worked out for Rob Blake and the LA Kings, he’d do that in a heartbeat.
Taking out the obvious note that anyone would do Jones for Johansen right now if they were the one getting the defenseman, Dreger seems to be implying that Blake isn’t just looking for a depth defenseman to fill out the roster. Instead, the Kings may be looking for a more impact name and be willing to move another high-potential forward in the process. Remember at the time of the deal, Johansen was coming off a 71-point season with the Blue Jackets and had 26 through the first 38 games in 2015-16.
Interestingly, another young Nashville defenseman has been in the rumor mill lately, as Dante Fabbro was not ruled an untouchable. The 22-year-old is a right-shot though, so perhaps that wouldn’t be on the radar for Blake in Los Angeles. His teammate Mattias Ekholm shoots left but doesn’t fit into the 25-and-under club, meaning he’s probably off the list too.
Dynamic young defensemen aren’t on the block often, so Blake may be waiting a while. What this does signal though is that the time for a tear down may be behind the Kings as they look to compete instead of rebuild.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/26/21
There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.
West Division
- The Anaheim Ducks have recalled Adam Henrique from the taxi squad, per CapFriendly, while sending Vinni Lettieri down to the taxi squad. Henrique cleared waivers last weekend and is in the midst of a tough season with just three goals and an assist in 16 games.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have assigned Patrick Brown back to AHL Henderson. He was recalled to the taxi squad on Thursday but hasn’t played in the NHL this season. He has a goal and an assist in four games with the Silver Knights this season.
North Division
- The Ottawa Senators have kicked things off with their daily roster move, re-assigning Erik Brannstrom to the taxi squad. The young defenseman will be joined there by Filip Gustavsson, who is taking over the taxi squad goaltender from Kevin Mandolese for the time being. Brannstrom scored another goal last night for the Senators and will likely be back up by their next game.
- The Calgary Flames have assigned Glenn Gawdin and Zac Rinaldo to their taxi squad, per CapFriendly. Gawdin made his NHL debut last weekend and has played in four games since while Rinaldo has played just once this season, logging only 2:04 of ice time.
- The Montreal Canadiens returned Paul Byron to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. The move extends Byron’s waiver exemption and saves a bit of cap space although he’ll likely be recalled in advance of Saturday’s game against Winnipeg.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs returned Joseph Woll to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. He has been dressing as the backup goalie this week on an emergency recall although with Jack Campbell being close to returning, Woll may just remain with the taxi squad until Frederik Andersen returns.
Central Division
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Veini Vehvilainen from the AHL, sending Gavin Bayreuther and Matiss Kivlenieks back in his stead. The Cleveland Monsters play a back-to-back against the Rockford IceHogs over the weekend.
- The Dallas Stars have moved Landon Bow and Rhett Gardner back onto the taxi squad after Bow served as the backup last night. The 25-year-old goaltender hasn’t appeared in an NHL game since the 2018-19 season.
- The Nashville Predators have recalled Tanner Jeannot to the taxi squad, rewarding a young player that is off to a blistering start in the minor leagues. Jeannot has eight points through his first six games for the Chicago Wolves. The team has also sent Sean Malone back to the AHL, while moving Eeli Tolvanen and Ben Harpur to the taxi squad for the time being.
- The Chicago Blackhawks made several roster moves today, sending Nicolas Beaudin from the NHL roster to AHL Rockford along with Wyatt Kalynuk and Reese Johnson, who were loaned from the taxi squad. Brad Morrison, Mikael Hakkarainen, and Matt Tomkins were all recalled to the taxi squad from the IceHogs, the latter being required with Collin Delia being sent to Rockford on a conditioning assignment. He will officially remain on Chicago’s roster while he’s down there.
- The Detroit Red Wings continued their daily Mathias Brome moves, assigning the winger back to the taxi squad. He has been sent there on ten separate occasions this season but has played in all but two games with Detroit this season.
- The Carolina Hurricanes assigned Jake Bean and Steven Lorentz to their taxi squad, per CapFriendly. Both players suited up on Thursday against Tampa Bay and could be brought back with the team set to play Florida tomorrow.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning returned Gemel Smith to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. He played just over nine minutes versus Carolina and will likely be brought back up on Saturday.
East Division
- The Washington Capitals have sent Ilya Samsonov back to the AHL, where the Hershey Bears have a game tonight against the Binghamton Devils. Samsonov has played three AHL games as he works his way back, but hasn’t fared all that well, posting an .859 save percentage.
- The New Jersey Devils have assigned Matt Tennyson to the AHL, recalling Joshua Jacobs in his place. Jacobs, 25, played in two games for the Devils last season but has been in the minor leagues for the vast majority of his professional career.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins shuffled up their taxi squad, sending Jordy Bellerive to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while sending Josh Currie down to the taxi squad. Both had been up on the taxi squad since last Friday but hadn’t seen any game action with Currie getting a one-day stint on the NHL roster yesterday.
- The Buffalo Sabres have returned Rasmus Asplund and Jacob Bryson to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. Both players were brought up on Thursday and could be recalled again with a pair of games against Philadelphia on tap this weekend.
- The New York Islanders have sent Oliver Wahlstrom back to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. It’s a familiar assignment for the 20-year-old who has four points in a dozen games so far this season.
- The New York Rangers made another large series of roster moves, recalling Colin Blackwell, Libor Hajek, and Jonny Brodzinski from the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. Tarmo Reunanen and Tim Gettinger were recalled to the taxi squad from AHL Hartford.
- With Jakub Voracek, Oskar Lindblom, and Scott Laughton all being instated, the Philadelphia Flyers returned Connor Bunnaman and Andy Andreoff to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly. Meanwhile, Isaac Ratcliffe was assigned to Lehigh Valley of the AHL.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Vancouver Canucks Looking For Young Forward
The Vancouver Canucks will take the ice tonight on a three-game losing streak and in danger of falling even further behind in the North Division standings. The team has already been on the wrong end of the scoreboard in 15 of their 23 games and is spiraling out of control with a 2-6-2 record in their last ten. With that–not to mention previous reports that Jake Virtanen and Adam Gaudette were on the block–in mind, it comes as no surprise that GM Jim Benning is calling all around the league for a temperature check well before the midseason trade deadline.
Pierre LeBrun reported as much on the latest Insider Trading for TSN:
[Benning] certainly has been busy. There hasn’t been a result yet but I can tell you from talking to teams around the league that isn’t a single team that hasn’t heard from Jim Benning over the last couple weeks. Really this is more about doing his due dilligence and knowing what’s out there ahead of April 12, still lots of time. But right now, with so many teams in LTIR it’s so difficult to make an ‘apples for apples’ trade, but if he can, what he’s looking for is a top-nine forward in that age 25-and-younger group that can fit with his young core.
Virtanen and Gaudette of course both fit that designation at 24, but seemingly don’t work with the group at this time. Whether they could be flipped by players around the same age with the same potential isn’t clear, but Benning is obviously trying his best to improve the squad while also keeping an eye on the future.
It’s that pesky salary cap that will be a tough obstacle for the Canucks or whoever they want to trade with. Vancouver is deep into LTIR already with Micheal Ferland, Travis Hamonic, and Tyler Motte all sidelined. So are 16 other teams in the league, making every deal complicated from a financial standpoint as well as a performance one.
Even though it feels like nothing but doom for the Canucks right now, it’s important to remember that they do still have high-level pieces like Elias Pettersson, Nils Hoglander, and Quinn Hughes to build around. Sure, two of those players are set to become restricted free agents at the end of this season, but just because they’re going to get paid doesn’t mean they will disappear.
If Benning can land another player to develop and grow with them, filling the expectations that many had for Virtanen, it would go along way to helping the Canucks turn things around. If he can’t, well, they’re still ahead of Ottawa (for now).
Sharks-Golden Knights Game Postponed
Feb 25: The Sharks have released a statement on their future schedule:
As of Thursday afternoon, no additional tests have come back as confirmed positives. If the team and staff continue to receive negative results, the NHL and NHLPA have approved the team’s resumption of practice on Friday. In such event, Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues will move forward as scheduled.
The San Jose Barracuda have also received no positive test results and are also scheduled to resume practicing on Friday, and will host the Ontario Reign on Saturday at Sharks Ice at San Jose.
Tomas Hertl remained the only Sharks player on the COVID Protocol list today.
Feb 24: Tomorrow’s San Jose Sharks-Vegas Golden Knights game has been postponed after a Sharks player entered the COVID Protocols earlier today. The league will continue to analyze the test results of the rest of the team in the coming days. Further precautions:
As an appropriate precaution, the team’s training facilities have been closed, effective immediately, and will remain closed until further notice. The League is in the process of reviewing and revising the Sharks’ regular season schedule. The Sharks’ organization has, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, state and national agencies.
It appears as though the league is reacting more proactively when a player enters the protocol, as previously teams were allowed to continue playing games. Widespread transmission appeared to occur in those contests as both the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres had outbreaks, though that obviously can’t be confirmed. In this case, the two teams will not play.
The list of postponed games in the NHL continues to grow, with this being the 40th game that will need rescheduling. In fact, tomorrow’s game was actually a reschedule of an earlier game missed between the two teams. Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press reports that the AHL will also postpone tomorrow’s San Jose Barracuda game out of an abundance of caution.
Ethan Bear Activated Off Injured Reserve
The Edmonton Oilers have shot up the North Division standings of late, winning their last four and passing every Canadian team not named the Maple Leafs. They’ve had all that success without the services of young defenseman Ethan Bear, who hasn’t played since January with a head injury. Bear was struck with the puck (while sitting on the bench) and has been on injured reserve for the last three weeks. That IR stint ended today as the Oilers activated him ahead of tonight’s match against the Vancouver Canucks.
Bear, 23, had an outstanding season in 2019-20, racking up 21 points in 71 games and actually finishing tenth in the Calder Trophy voting as the league’s best rookie. While this year wasn’t going quite as smoothly in the early going, he was still averaging more than 20 minutes a night for the Oilers as an efficient puck-moving option. His return will only strengthen a back end that has still allowed too many goals against, getting the puck quickly up to those all-world forwards.
To make room, the team has moved William Lagesson to injured reserve, likely retroactive to his last game on February 15. Even if he was healthy and playing, most Oilers fans would happily swap him out for Bear.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/25/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Here are today’s results:
NY Rangers – Kaapo Kakko, K’Andre Miller
Ottawa – Ryan Dzingel
Philadelphia – Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom
San Jose – Tomas Hertl
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers have cleared one more player off their board and are inching their way to having a full contingent again.
Really the best news of the day is that Hertl remains alone on the Sharks list. The league preemptively postponed tonight’s game against the Golden Knights after he entered the protocol and hopefully any spread has been contained.
*denotes new addition
Latest On Jeff Skinner
Often, a big regulation win can calm the sea for a team that’s trying to bail water from a sinking ship. The Buffalo Sabres got that kind of a win on Tuesday night when they dispatched the New Jersey Devils 4-1, but it took 41 saves from Linus Ullmark and there still wasn’t a goal from their two top forwards. Their ankles, at least, still seem to be submerged.
Today, after sitting out the last three games as a healthy scratch, Jeff Skinner was absent from the morning skate. The $72MM dollar man seems completely forgotten by head coach Ralph Krueger, who denied having a “doghouse” today but didn’t share any real insight on the situation. That doesn’t mean people aren’t looking for answers.
Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News reports that Skinner’s agent, Don Meehan of Newport Sports, had a “lengthy conversation” on Wednesday with Sabres GM Kevyn Adams, expressing his concerns over the situation.
It has been an incredible fall from grace for Skinner, who signed his eight-year, $72MM deal with the Sabres in 2019 after scoring 40 goals in his first year in Buffalo. Those goals mostly came while riding shotgun with Jack Eichel, but it’s not like it was the first time he had performed at the NHL level. Skinner had been a 30+ goal scorer on three previous occasions, including a 37-goal campaign in 2016-17.
But after signing it, and since Krueger took over as head coach, Skinner has just 14 goals and 24 points in 73 games. He now finds himself out of the lineup completely, certainly not something he expected after 734 career NHL games and at the age of 28.
So to hear that concerns were expressed shouldn’t come as a shock, not at this point.
But what can be done? The Sabres would likely have to eat a huge portion of the deal to trade Skinner, and even that would have further complications. The player holds a no-move clause, meaning his camp would have to be involved in the conversation, and very few teams are looking to add salary right now. Though Skinner’s money drops off at the end of the deal, he’s still owed $10MM in each of the next four seasons.
One has to wonder whether a buyout, as historic as it would be, is a possibility at this point. The money would be paid out over 12 seasons, but the highest cap charge would be in 2022-23 at $8.97MM. Two other seasons would have boosted numbers, but the vast majority would have something under $2.5MM. That’s doable, especially for a team that doesn’t really look close to contending anyway.
A move like that is far down the road–the buyout window doesn’t open until the summer–but it’s obvious there needs to be some kind of resolution to this issue. The best solution would be Skinner getting back to his top-six, goal-scoring ways; but that seems like an era ago at this point.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images