Chris Drury Named GM Of 2021 U.S. Men’s National Team
After removing his name from consideration in the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager search, Chris Drury is getting the title somewhere else. USA Hockey has announced that Drury will return as GM of the Men’s National Team, choosing and managing the squad that will take part in the 2021 IIHF Men’s World Championship later this year. The event is set to take place between May 21 and June 6 in Riga, Latvia.
Drury, who also recently received a promotion with the New York Rangers to associate GM, has served in the same role with USA Hockey for the last two years, though the 2020 tournament was canceled. This year, he will be joined by an advisory group that includes John Vanbiesbrouck, David Poile, Don Waddell, Stan Bowman, Jeff Gorton, Lou Lamoriello, Bill Guerin, Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Zito, and Kevyn Adams, a veritable who’s-who of American-born NHL executives. Vanbiesbrouck, who is the assistant executive director for USA Hockey, released this statement:
It’s great to have Chris back as the general manager of our men’s national team. He’s transitioned from his days as a player and emerged as one of the bright young stars on the management side of the game. Together with our Men’s National Team Advisory Group, we’re very fortunate to have an experienced and passionate group involved to help us put together a team that will compete for a gold medal.
The continued selection of Drury is another signal that he is one of the most respected up-and-coming executives in the game and will likely be given the reins to an NHL franchise eventually. For now, he told the Penguins that he was happy with his role in New York (receiving a promotion just days after withdrawing his name from consideration).
Like every year, the team that Drury will be able to put together for the World Championship is dependant on the outcome of the NHL regular season and playoffs. The schedule currently has the regular season ending in early May, meaning players that don’t make the postseason could be eligible to travel (and quarantine) to the tournament in time. Usually, those that are eliminated in the first round also join the event, but that may be more difficult with health restrictions this time around. It will be interesting to see if Drury embraces the youth movement that Hockey Canada spoke about recently, or if they will bring along a more veteran lineup.
Marlies, Senators Approved To Host AHL Games
While the first part of the AHL schedule for both the Toronto Marlies and Belleville Senators has already been released, with the two teams traveling outside of the province of Ontario, it still wasn’t clear how long they would have to wait to host home games. That problem seems resolved now, as Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Minister, tweets that the chief medical officer has approved a return-to-play plan for both teams to host games.
This is huge for the AHL, who had a Canadian Division of teams all circling Ontario, hoping that they would be able to play in the province before the end of their shortened season. It also provides some hope for the Ontario Hockey League, which is still on pause even while the QMJHL continues and the WHL prepares to start. There was some hope that the OHL has formed a start plan recently, but the league threw cold water on any speculation by announcing they have “not yet arrived at an approved return to play framework for the coming season.”
That speculation is going to ramp up again now that the province has allowed the Marlies and Senators to play, especially with pressure from the NHL. The OHL is one of the biggest sources of draft picks for the professional leagues and many of its players haven’t been on the ice in a competitive game in nearly a year. As explained the other day though, if the OHL does restart it will pose an interesting predicament to NHL squads that have junior-aged players suiting up in the AHL currently. Those players would need to return to their junior team once it restarts or go to the NHL, even if they’re handling themselves at the minor league level.
At any rate, this is strong news for the AHL. It happens to come on the same day that Belleville will start their season, hitting the ice against the Laval Rocket later this evening.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 02/11/21
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s live chat with PHR’s Gavin Lee.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/11/21
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. The list is in:
Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter
Colorado – Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Edmonton – Jesse Puljujarvi*
Florida – Anthony Duclair*
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota – Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brad Hunt, Marcus Johansson, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri*, Pavel Zacha*
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil*
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Morgan Frost*, Jakub Voracek*
Vegas – Tomas Nosek
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: Marcus Foligno, Minnesota Wild; Yegor Sharangovich, New Jersey Devils
With Puljujarvi’s addition, the NHL has pushed back the start time for Edmonton-Montreal to give them more time to process testing. It is not clear yet if the two teams will play. It would be the first postponed game in the North Division should it be pushed back.
Two more Philadelphia players isn’t a great sign for the Flyers, who are now just ten days away from the scheduled Lake Tahoe outdoor game. It is currently still scheduled as planned, as is the Flyers game on February 18 against the Rangers. We’ll have to see whether that changes, but New York has also had a player pop up on the list today in Chytil.
Palmieri and Zacha were only removed from the protocol yesterday but now find themselves back on it (though, Corey Masisak of The Athletic tweets that this was a clerical error). The Devils are currently scheduled to play on February 16, similarly against the Rangers.
*denotes new addition
Snapshots: COVID, U18, O’Ree
The NHL has sent out a memo to its teams detailing further enhanced COVID measures, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The memo includes specifically recommended masks, virtual meetings, removing the glass from the penalty box, further recommendations about remaining at home except for practices/games, and, perhaps most importantly, rapid testing on game days.
Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone spoke about the rapid testing change this morning, one that should hit close to home given his team had a player pulled mid-game recently. Tomas Nosek played two periods before his positive test results forced him out of a Golden Knights game, a situation that rapid testing can hopefully help avoid. Today, the Edmonton Oilers-Montreal Canadiens game has been pushed back an hour to give the league more time to process tests after one Edmonton player was added to the COVID protocol.
- While the NHL continues to try and navigate their season, international events are starting to be planned for later this year. USA Hockey has announced the 2021 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship, to be held in conjunction with the Dallas Stars in Texas. The event is scheduled for April 26-May 6 and will primarily be held in Frisco, Texas at the Comerica Center.
- The Boston Bruins will postpone their banner raising ceremony for Willie O’Ree until next year, retiring his number 22 on January 18, 2022, instead, in the hopes that he will be able to attend the event in front of a full arena. That date will be 64 years after O’Ree made his debut as the first Black player in the NHL.
Scott Perunovich To Undergo Shoulder Surgery
This is certainly not the rookie season Scott Perunovich was hoping for. The St. Louis Blues defenseman will undergo shoulder surgery tomorrow and is out for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. He is expected to be healthy and ready for the 2021-22 season.
It’s brutal news for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award winner, who ended up signing a two-year entry-level contract in July after three years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Selected 45th overall in 2018, the 22-year-old defenseman has huge offensive upside and was expected to challenge for a spot on the Blues roster right away. Instead, he won’t even play his first professional game until next season.
Perunovich seemed to be on the verge of recovery when he was moved to the minors last month and then recalled to the taxi squad, but it appears as though the decision has been made for surgery over rehab. He’ll be in the mix for a job next season, though with the crowded blue line in St. Louis, it won’t be an easy task to crack the NHL roster.
Andrew Shaw In Concussion Protocol
The Chicago Blackhawks announced some unfortunate injury news today, noting that Connor Murphy will be out for 10-14 days with a right hip issue and Andrew Shaw is in the concussion protocol. Murphy didn’t play in the team’s last game, but Shaw did, hitting the ice for nearly 15 minutes in their overtime win against the Dallas Stars.
The important thing here is Shaw’s health, given his history of concussions. The bang-and-crash forward has been sidelined by head injuries many times in the past, and head coach Jeremy Colliton (whose playing career was also ended due to concussions) was “visibly distraught” when he updated reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago on Shaw’s status today.
It’s not clear at all what this mean’s for Shaw’s future, but for now, he won’t be in the lineup when the Blackhawks host the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening.
The team announced two other transactions: Wyatt Kalynuk has been recalled to the taxi squad from the AHL, while Anton Lindholm has gone the other way, assigned to the Rockford IceHogs.
Loui Eriksson, Artem Anisimov Among Those On Waivers
Feb 11: All three players have cleared waivers. They can now be assigned to the taxi squad or AHL.
Feb 10: The Vancouver Canucks have placed Loui Eriksson on waivers again, after clearing just before the season began. Eriksson has played in just one game, but the team has decided to reset his waiver clock so that they can continue to move him to the taxi squad. He isn’t alone on waivers today. Artem Anisimov of the Ottawa Senators and Taylor Fedun of the Dallas Stars have also both been placed on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Seeing Eriksson there shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Despite carrying a $6MM cap hit, tied for the highest on the team, the 35-year-old forward is basically a practice player at this point in his career. He suited up 49 times last season for the Canucks but recorded just six goals and 13 points. Eriksson received an odd chance to skate beside Bo Horvat on the weekend, but was quickly moved back off that line and scratched the following game. He won’t be claimed, not at that price.
Anisimov’s story isn’t all that different. Now 32, Anisimov hasn’t been a regular in the Senators lineup this season and has just one point in four games. His contract carries a $4.55MM cap hit (though the actual salary remaining is very low) and he is a shell of his former self. There was a time when Anisimov could be relied on for 20 goals and forty points, but that seems to be in the past—at least while he remains in Ottawa.
Fedun is a much different kind of player, still scratching by for any chance he can get in the NHL. The 32-year-old undrafted defenseman has played in just 127 games over the course of his long professional career and none this season with the Stars. He does have some interesting possession statistics over the last two seasons and has recorded 20 points in 81 games, but it seems unlikely that anyone would claim him, given the other names that have slipped through waivers already this season.
Elvis Merzlikins Activated From Injured Reserve
The Columbus Blue Jackets are off to a rocky start, going 6-5-3 through their first 14 games. Not only have they struggled on the ice, but they’ve also been swirling in controversy since the start of the year. After trading Pierre-Luc Dubois, benching Patrik Laine, and watching Mikko Koivu retire just a few weeks into the season, the Blue Jackets are due for some good news.
Perhaps they got it today when Elvis Merzlikins was activated off injured reserve. The 26-year-old goaltender, who finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting as a rookie last season, last played on February 2 in a relief role, before suffering an upper-body injury in practice. Joonas Korpisalo, his tandem partner, hasn’t been playing up to his high standard this season and has just a .901 save percentage through nine appearances.
If there was anything that stood out about the 2019-20 Blue Jackets, it was their excellent tandem, who posted outstanding results regardless of who was in the net. In the postseason, they combined for a .942 save percentage in ten games, winning a qualification round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and even stealing a game from the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Getting Merzlikins back should help to right the ship in Columbus whenever he gets back into the crease, as even his early-season results were much better than Korpisalo’s.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/11/21
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 San Jose Sharks have recalled a trio of players, bringing up John Leonard, Jacob Middleton, and Alexei Melnichuk. Leonard is expected to be put back into the lineup tonight, though Martin Jones will still be starting in net.
- Like always, the Los Angeles Kings have made several moves, recalling Lias Andersson, Tobias Bjornfot, and Austin Strand from the taxi squad. Mark Alt, Mikey Eyssimont, and Tyler Madden have been brought up from the AHL to fill the empty taxi squad spots.
- Calen Addison has earned his first NHL recall, as the Minnesota Wild announced that he has been reassigned from the AHL’s Iowa Wild to the taxi squad. Addison, acquired last season from the Pittsburgh Penguins, was quietly the centerpiece in the return for Jason Zucker, which also included Alex Galchenyuk and a first-round pick. The talented defenseman was a point-per-game player or better in each of his last three junior seasons in the OHL as well as thus far in the pros with Iowa.
North Division
- The Winnipeg Jets have swapped David Gustafsson and Tucker Poolman, with the latter joining the active roster. Poolman, 27, has played just a single game this season after suiting up 57 times in 2019-20 with the Jets.
Central Division
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Andrew Peeke from the taxi squad, meaning a season debut could be coming for the 22-year-old defenseman. Peeke, the 34th overall pick from 2016, recorded three points in 22 games last season for the Blue Jackets.
- The Detroit Red Wings have made their daily swap, bringing Mathias Brome and Givani Smith up from the taxi squad. The team continues to move them off the roster to save some cash and cap on off days.
- The Dallas Stars have recalled Ty Dellandrea and Nicholas Caamano from the taxi squad. To make room, Taylor Fedun has been loaned to the squad after clearing waivers and Alexander Radulov has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to February 4. Andrej Sekera has also been officially activated from the non-roster/COVID list.
East Division
- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled C.J. Smith from the AHL to the taxi squad after he played for the Rochester Americans last night. Smith recorded an assist and could be on his way back down tomorrow when the AHL squad plays again. Dustin Tokarski, who was recalled to the taxi squad yesterday, has been flipped back down to the AHL.
- The New Jersey Devils have recalled Kevin Bahl and Nolan Foote to the taxi squad after they too played in the AHL last night. The two young prospects are important parts of the Devils’ future after acquiring them in trades for Taylor Hall and Blake Coleman over the last year.
- After losing Jared McCann to injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Frederik Gaudreau from the taxi squad. McCann has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to February 6.
This page will be updated throughout the day.