Tyler Ennis Out Indefinitely
The Edmonton Oilers won’t have Tyler Ennis back in the lineup tomorrow as they try to stave off elimination, and even if they win he likely won’t be available for a while. The team has announced that Ennis is out “indefinitely” with the injury he sustained last night. The speedy forward was hit behind his own net by Kirby Dach and was forced to leave the game.
That may very well be the end of the line for a trade deadline acquisition that worked out very well for the Oilers. Ennis recorded four points in nine regular season games following the trade and already had two in the qualification rounds. The 30-year old helped provide the much-needed speed upfront that the Oilers had been lacking for years (other than Connor McDavid, of course).
There is always a chance that he returns if the Oilers can come back and win against the Blackhawks, but the question could now become whether or not the team wants to bring him back in free agency. An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, Ennis is coming off consecutive one-year contracts that each paid less than $1M in salary. After putting up 16 goals and 37 points total this season he’ll obviously be looking for something bigger than that moving forward.
Overseas Notes: Swedish U20, Stutzle, Kozun
Sweden will hold a training camp for World Junior hopefuls later this month and today published a roster for the event. That group includes top 2020 draft prospects Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond who both could be selected in the first ten picks. Outside of that dynamic duo, however, there are several other interesting names that could be relatively high picks.
With events like the World Junior Summer Showcase and Hlinka-Gretzky tournament canceled, the scouting season for NHL teams will be much different.
- Tim Stutzle, another top prospect for the upcoming draft, spoke with Craig Button and J.D. Burke for the new Elite Prospects podcast. The German forward spoke about learning a lot from former NHLer Ben Smith, and touched on his insatiable drive to win (or perhaps hatred of losing). Stutzle took home the DEL Rookie of the Year award this season after scoring 34 points in 41 games and is the top-ranked international skater according to NHL Central Scouting.
- Brandon Kozun will remain in the KHL, this time signing a contract with Dynamo Minsk for the 2020-21 season. The 30-year old forward played just 20 games in the NHL before leaving for the KHL in 2015 but has had a ton of success overseas. An Olympic bronze medal with Team Canada in 2018 and three All-Star games has been the reward for Kozun, who had 22 points in 47 games this season.
Injury Notes: Carlson, Schmaltz, Huberdeau
The Washington Capitals are getting closer to having their Norris Trophy finalist back in the lineup, as John Carlson will be a game-time decision when the team takes on the Philadelphia Flyers later today. Carlson missed the team’s first round-robin game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a match they ended up losing in a shootout.
The team will also be without Lars Eller after he left the bubble for the birth of his child, and head coach Todd Reirden told reporters including J.J. Regan of NBC Sports that Travis Boyd will be inserted in his place. While the round-robin doesn’t carry the same weight as an elimination series, the Capitals don’t want to end up at the bottom of the seeding and have to take on tougher opponents throughout the playoffs.
- After defeating the Nashville Predators yesterday and coming within a game of advancing to the first round of the playoffs, the Arizona Coyotes must be feeling pretty good about themselves. Now they’re getting more good news as Nick Schmaltz is set to skate again today as he continues his recovery from a hit in the exhibition game. The team’s leading scorer during the regular season, Schmaltz has yet to get into a qualification game. Antti Raanta, who left yesterday’s game with an injury despite only being the backup, will not skate today according to Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider.
- Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau left yesterday’s game against the New York Islanders with an apparent injury, but head coach Joel Quenneville told reporters including Dan Rosen of NHL.com that he should be ready for game four. The Panthers staved off elimination with an impressive win, but now have to try and become one of the only teams to ever climb all the way back from 0-2 in a five-game series.
NHL Announces Date For Draft Lottery Phase 2
August 10, 2020. That’s the day one franchise will earn the right to pick first in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, a selection that will almost surely be used to pick superstar prospect Alexis Lafreniere. The league will hold Phase 2 of their draft lottery on Monday at 5pm CT, giving each of the eight teams that are eliminated in the qualification round a 12.5% chance at the first-overall pick. The seven teams that are not awarded the top pick will receive draft positions between 9-15 based on inverse order of their regular season points percentage.
The first 15 selections currently work out like this:
1. TBD*
2. Los Angeles Kings
3. Ottawa Senators (from SJS)
4. Detroit Red Wings
5. Ottawa Senators
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Buffalo Sabres
9. TBD*
10. TBD*
11. TBD*
12. TBD*
13. TBD*
14. TBD*
15. TBD*
Lafreniere of course is seen as the ultimate consolation prize for those who drop out of this best-of-five qualification round. Teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers are both in danger of losing to 12 seeds, but could each end up with another first-overall pick to slide in alongside Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid.
Lars Eller Leaves Bubble
The Washington Capitals will be without one of their centers for the next while, as Lars Eller has left the bubble in Toronto to return to Washington for the birth of his second child. Eller will be required to quarantine in his hotel room for four days and provide four consecutive negative COVID-19 tests before rejoining the Capitals.
This was expected, but it still doesn’t make it any easier for the Capitals who will have to try and win their final two round-robin games without Eller. Washington lost their first game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, in which Eller played more than 17 minutes, recording an assist and five hits.
While the round-robin is obviously not as important as elimination games, securing a top seed would only help the Capitals in their pursuit of another Stanley Cup. For now, they’ll have to wait and see how long it takes Eller to return to quarantine before seeing if he’ll be available to start round one of the playoffs.
This may not be the only time the team has to deal with something like this, depending on how the playoffs go. Carl Hagelin is also expecting the birth of a child in September.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Schedule, Dostal, Brome
The NHL has released their schedule for Friday, giving us a slate of game fours that lasts all day. Things will get kicked off with the Florida Panthers trying to stave off elimination once again after defeating the New York Islanders earlier today. The full schedule will be (all times central):
Florida Panthers vs New York Islanders – Game 4, 11:00am
Arizona Coyotes vs Nashville Predators – Game 4, 1:30pm
Montreal Canadiens vs Pittsburgh Penguins – Game 4, 3:00pm
Chicago Blackhawks vs Edmonton Oilers – Game 4, 5:45pm
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Toronto Maple Leafs – Game 4, 7:00pm
Minnesota Wild vs Vancouver Canucks – Game 4, 9:45pm
For some more intermission reading, here are some other notes from around the hockey world:
- Lukas Dostal will stay overseas “for the time being,” after being loaned back to Ilves in the Finnish Liiga by the Anaheim Ducks. Dostal won the Urpo Ylonen Award as the top goaltender in the league last season after posting a .928 save percentage in 43 games and jumped up many prospect rankings with the performance. Selected 85th overall in 2018, the 20-year old netminder will get a chance to play in North America eventually, but is obviously doing just find continuing his development in Finland.
- More interesting perhaps on the international wire is Mathias Brome, whose name was brought up in a report from Sweden. The 26-year old forward signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings in April but could end up playing in Sweden for Orebro HK until training camp begins. That decision hasn’t been finalized yet according to the report from hockeynews.se, but certainly would give Brome a chance to keep skating while waiting for his opportunity in Detroit. After scoring 43 points in 52 games this season, he’d certainly be welcome back into the Orebro lineup for as long as they can keep him.
Arttu Ruotsalainen Staying In Finland
While hockey fans in North America drink in 10-12 hours of playoff (or round-robin) action every day, other leagues around the world continue to prepare for a 2020-21 season. In Finland, Ilves has announced that Arttu Ruotsalainen will be back after a loan from the Buffalo Sabres. The release notably does not indicate that it will be for the entire season, using the term “until further notice” instead, meaning Ruotsalainen could be back for Sabres training camp in November.
The 22-year old forward signed his three-year entry-level contract in the spring of 2019, but spent this season back in Finland continuing his development. That’s the same arrangement they’ll go with now, but after dominating offensively once again you can bet the Sabres want to get a look at him on North American ice eventually.
Ruotsalainen is undersized, standing at just 5-foot-8, but has continued to find success as he climbs the levels in Finland. This past season he recorded 43 points in 44 games. With the Sabres having trouble finding offensive talent to surround players like Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Victor Olofsson, taking a chance on a player like Ruotsalainen makes sense.
Still, while Finland’s top league is competitive, it’s not the NHL. The young forward will be in tough trying to replicate those offensive totals when he eventually does come over, if he even gets an opportunity with Buffalo at all.
Jesse Puljujarvi Re-Signs In Finland
The Jesse Puljujarvi saga continues, with the Edmonton Oilers prospect re-signing with Oulun Karpat in Finland for one more season. While that seems to contradict his recent statements about potentially returning to play in the NHL, Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the new contract does include an out-clause that would allow Puljujarvi to return for the 2020-21 season.
The 22-year old Puljujarvi recently revealed that he had a long conversation with Oilers GM Ken Holland and head coach Dave Tippett, explaining that “it may be possible” for him to return to Edmonton at some point—something he had vowed against in the past.
Selected fourth overall in 2016 by the previous Oilers front office regime, Puljujarvi’s usage and development was inconsistent and frustrating for both the player and the team. He did play in 139 NHL games over three seasons but was rarely given opportunities alongside the team’s more offensive players, and when he did find himself in those situations he didn’t take advantage of them.
When he became a restricted free agent in 2019, Puljujarvi returned to Finland and played the entire 2019-20 season with Karpat, scoring 53 points in 54 games. From all accounts, he was a difference-maker on a nightly basis for the Finnish squad, ending the season fourth in league scoring.
For now, he’ll get to continue being that game-changing presence for Karpat, with an eye on a return to the NHL. The Oilers continue to hold his rights, but Puljujarvi has asked for them to be traded in the past. While the focus is on the Edmonton playoff roster at the moment, there will surely be plenty of attention placed on the young forward once the season is over.
Florida Panthers Agree To Terms With Henry Bowlby
The Florida Panthers have taken advantage of the college hockey exodus, agreeing to terms with Henry Bowlby on a two-year entry-level contract. The deal will begin with the 2020-21 season, when Bowlby will be making the transition to pro hockey. For the last three years, he has been playing for Harvard but with no hockey season scheduled many of the school’s top players are heading elsewhere.
Bowlby, 23, is signing as an undrafted free agent and will quickly enter the conversation for the Panthers as a depth forward. His offensive game isn’t what got him onto the radar of the Panthers—his career-high at Harvard was just 16 points—instead, it’s his ability to play the middle of the ice and contribute defensively that has earned him this deal.
He’s not eligible to participate in this season, but you can bet that Bowlby will be trying to prove himself when training camp opens in November. The likeliest scenario has him heading to the AHL to start his pro career, but what happens after that is something of a mystery.
Snapshots: Schedule, AHL All-Star, Spacek
The NHL has released game times for Thursday, though at least one of them may not even be needed. The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes will open things with game four of their series if the underdogs can extend it tomorrow. The full schedule is as follows (all times central):
Carolina Hurricanes vs New York Rangers – Game 4, 11:00am
Minnesota Wild vs Vancouver Canucks – Game 3, 1:30pm
Philadelphia Flyers vs Washington Capitals – Round-robin, 3:00pm
St. Louis Blues vs Vegas Golden Knights – Round-robin, 5:30pm
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Toronto Maple Leafs – Game 3, 7:00pm
Winnipeg Jets vs Calgary Flames – Game 4, 9:30pm
Another few notes from around the hockey world:
- The AHL has already canceled the 2021 All-Star Game because of its truncated calendar. The league is hoping to start the season at the beginning of December, meaning there won’t be a ton of extra time to fit in events like this. Laval, which was supposed to host the event, will instead receive the 2022 All-Star festivities.
- Minor league forward Michael Spacek has signed a one-year contract in Finland for the upcoming 2020-21 season. The 23-year old is currently under contract with the Winnipeg Jets, but is scheduled to become a restricted free agent after the season and has yet to receive an NHL opportunity. In fact, Spacek had his worst AHL season this year as well, recording just nine goals an 20 points with the Manitoba Moose. Winnipeg will be able to retain Spacek’s rights with a qualifying offer.