Oliver Bjorkstrand Out 8-10 Weeks
March 3: Bjorkstrand underwent successful surgery to repair his broken ankle, meaning the eight to ten week timeline starts now.
February 21: If you though the Columbus Blue Jackets’ injury luck couldn’t get any worse, you were wrong. The team announced today that Oliver Bjorkstrand will be out for eight to ten weeks with a sprained and broken ankle. They have not yet made a decision on whether surgery will be required.
Bjorkstrand, when eventually placed on injured reserve, will join a list that currently includes Cam Atkinson, Brandon Dubinsky, Seth Jones, Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Murray, Josh Anderson, Alexandre Texier, Dean Kukan and Joonas Korpisalo. It also will make it even more difficult for them to grab a playoff spot in a tight Eastern Conference race.
The Blue Jackets have been an impressive bunch this season, fighting through injury and finding a way to win on a regular basis. A big part of that success was thanks to Bjorkstrand himself, who easily leads the team in goals with 21 and is third in points. The 24-year old has become a legitimate top-six force and was on pace to blow by his career-high of 40 points. That won’t happen now, though perhaps he could return at some point in the playoffs if the Blue Jackets make it and advance past the first round.
James Neal Activated From Injured Reserve
The Edmonton Oilers are already on a two-game winning streak and scored eight goals against the Nashville Predators, but will get a little more offense injected into the lineup tonight. James Neal has been activated from injured reserve and will play against the Dallas Stars. Neal hasn’t played since January 29th.
Neal, 32, was actually in a goal slump when he was injured, with just five in his last 24 games played. Still, the consistent scorer is set to crack the 20-goal mark for the 11th time in his career, something he has done every season except 2018-19 when he struggled with the Calgary Flames. Neal has always found a way to contribute, and this season most of that has come on the powerplay with the Oilers.
Edmonton already possesses the most lethal powerplay in the entire league, with a season-long success rate of nearly 30%. If Neal’s return can improve that even further, the team will be hard to beat down the stretch.
The question now however becomes where does Neal fit into the lineup at even-strength. After Kailer Yamamoto‘s emergence as a running mate for Leon Draisaitl and Edmonton’s acquisitions of Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Ennis, the Oilers have more depth on the wing than they are used to.
General Managers Vote To Amend Offside Rule
During the second day of the general manager meetings in Florida, the group of NHL executives have voted to amend the offside rule, according to several reports including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The proposed change would see the rule no longer require a skate to be touching the ice, but over the plane of the blue line.
This does not mean that the rule is immediately changed. The amendment will have to go through the league’s Competition Committee and then be voted on by the board of governors.
Since the introduction of offside challenges, there has been much debate over whether the rule should be changed. Many reviews produce inconclusive evidence when the requirement is contact between the blade and the ice, leading to incredibly tough decisions for officiating crews. With the proposed change, one can imagine how much easier it would be to determine if a skate is still over the blue line, however there are obviously still going to be difficulties in certain situations.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic notes that other things on the agenda today at the GM meetings were reports on puck and player tracking which is set to begin in the playoffs, and on player safety.
Minor Transactions: 02/03/20
Ten games grace the NHL schedule this evening, including a couple of potential playoff previews. The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning will battle once again as they look to represent the Atlantic Division, while the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars face off in a war of two teams that believe they’re contenders in the west. With just a month left, every game is important for those with Stanley Cup aspirations. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.
- The Detroit Red Wings have sent Dennis Cholowski back to the minor leagues, after he played just 12 minutes last night. The 21-year old could be back up by the end of the week, as the Red Wings don’t play again until Friday evening. The Grand Rapids Griffins meanwhile play in San Antonio tonight.
- Jake Oettinger has been recalled by the Dallas Stars under emergency conditions with Ben Bishop dealing with a minor injury. The 21-year old netminder has never previously been recalled, and has played the entire season in the minor leagues posting a 12-16-4 record with a .912 save percentage.
- Anthony Angello has been recalled by the Pittsburgh Penguins under emergency conditions, giving them another body for their game against the Ottawa Senators. The 23-year old has played seven NHL games this season.
- The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Guillaume Brisebois and Jalen Chatfield under emergency conditions, while assigning Justin Bailey to the minor leagues. The Canucks are back home tomorrow to welcome in the Arizona Coyotes for the first of a five-game home stand.
- Chris Driedger is back with the Florida Panthers after his recent conditioning stint in the minor leagues. The 25-year old goaltender has actually been outstanding in his limited NHL appearances, posting a .932 save percentage on the year.
St. Louis Blues Sign Tyler Tucker
Now that the calendar has turned to March, teams around the league can sign prospects to entry-level contracts that won’t officially start until next season. With that in mind, the St. Louis Blues have signed Tyler Tucker to his three-year entry-level deal. Tucker currently plays with the Flint Firebirds of the OHL.
The 20-year old defenseman was selected 200th overall in 2018, but took a huge step forward last season for the Barrie Colts. The 6’2″ 205-lbs Tucker not only led all Colts defensemen in scoring with 14 goals and 59 points, but also was the team leader in penalty minutes with 105. He has another 17 goals and 55 points this season split between his two clubs, and 83 penalty minutes to go along with it.
While you can already see why the Blues may be a perfect fit for Tucker, he’ll still have quite the road before getting to the NHL. Just earning a contract is a big step for someone drafted so late, but next season will likely be spent in the AHL polishing his game.
Tucker did play two games for the San Antonio Rampage at the end of last year and will likely get into some more this time should Flint be knocked out early.
Pius Suter Drawing NHL Interest
If you were a fan of the OHL’s Guelph Storm in 2014, you will remember what a powerhouse club they were. Led by future NHL talents like Brock McGinn, Tyler Bertuzzi, Jason Dickinson and Robby Fabbri, the team went 52-12-4 and walked through the playoffs en route to an OHL championship. One of the depth players on that team was a Swiss-born forward named Pius Suter, who would be one of the club’s best players the next season before returning to Europe.
Undrafted, Suter has spent the last five seasons playing for Zurich SC of the Swiss professional league, continuing his development as a top two-way center. In 2018 he suited up for Switzerland in the Olympics and this season has seen him take the jump to league superstar, leading the NLA in both goals and points. It comes as no surprise then that a report today has NHL teams showing interest in Suter, though there will be complications.
Suter’s contract with the Lions extends through the 2022-23 season, but the report indicates that it includes an out-clause this summer. Should he decide to exercise that and try his hand in the NHL, it will be interesting to see which teams pursue the 23-year old.
Much was made recently when the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Denis Malgin, a former teammate of Auston Matthews during his time in Switzerland. Well Suter was also on that team with Matthews and Malgin, one which took home the league championship. Malgin and Suter were on the Swiss World Junior team that year as well, alongside San Jose Sharks star Timo Meier and New Jersey Devils top center Nico Hischier, among others.
Snapshots: Three Stars, EBUG, Pittsburgh
The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week and a great story of redemption comes in at the top. Kevin Fiala, who was made a healthy scratch earlier in the year, had four multi-point games in one week and now sits at a career-high 49 points on the season. The 23-year old forward has always oozed talent, but would disappear for stretches during his time with the Nashville Predators. In eight games with new head coach Dean Evason, Fiala has six goals and 11 points.
Second place goes to a former teammate of Fiala in Ryan Ellis, whose return to the Predators lineup was a strong one after missing time with a concussion. The defenseman recorded seven points last week and now has 36 on the year. If you hadn’t realized just how well Pavel Francouz was playing for the Colorado Avalanche, how about a 3-0 week with a .946 save percentage to let the world know. The goaltender took home the third star after receiving the top honors last week.
- It is the first day of the GM meetings in Florida, and one of the topics of conversation was the emergency backup goaltender situation. Though there were some who have voiced concerns, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that there will be no changes to the protocol. Fans of Scott Foster and David Ayres will be relieved.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a terrible slump, but might be getting some reinforcements back soon. Brian Dumoulin, John Marino and Nick Bjugstad were all participating in full at practice today, though it is not clear exactly when they will return to action. With that news, the team has returned Zach Trotman to the minor leagues.
Adam Erne Out With Broken Hand
The Detroit Red Wings don’t have much to play for down the stretch, but it was still a period where young players could show the organization they deserve to be kept around. Adam Erne won’t get that chance, as head coach Jeff Blashill announced today that the forward has suffered a broken hand and may miss the rest of the season.
Erne, 24, followed Steve Yzerman to the Red Wings this season after becoming a full-time option for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but hasn’t been able to deliver the same sort of impact. In 56 games he has just five points for Detroit, and though his 142 hits are still impressive, it’s not exactly clear where his role will be moving forward.
Earning $1.05MM on a one-year deal, Erne will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. That’s a common situation among Detroit forwards, as seven of the 14 currently on the roster are scheduled to become RFAs. That sort of uncertainty in the forward ranks will make for quite the interesting offseason, especially if Yzerman and the rest of the front office plan to take a step forward next season.
If they decide not to bring back all of their free agents, who will end up going unqualified? Erne’s qualifying offer will actually be just shy of $1MM thanks to some signing bonuses, and because of this injury could potentially be a two-way offer (depending on whether he misses the rest of the year or not).
Minor Transactions: 03/02/20
The calendar has turned to March and things are still not settled in playoff races across the league. The Pittsburgh Penguins have fallen apart at the worst time of the year while their cross-state rivals in Philadelphia play the best hockey of their season. The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally distanced themselves from the Florida Panthers, while the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche continue to show why they are Stanley Cup contenders. The last month of the season should be extremely exciting. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled Filip Gustavsson from the minor leagues, with Marcus Hogberg not at practice for the team. The 21-year old Gustavsson was seen as the goaltender of the future when acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but has struggled over two seasons in the AHL. Hogberg meanwhile will be returning to Sweden for family reasons, according to Sportsnet contributor Wayne Scanlan.
- The Ontario Reign and Manitoba Moose have swapped players, though not in an actual trade. Michael Spacek has been loaned to the Reign while Daniel Brickley has been loaned to the Moose. The move gives each team some depth at a different position, but doesn’t remove them from the NHL organization.
- Speaking of minor league trades, the Charlotte Checkers have made another move to change their makeup. The team has acquired Ryan Bourque from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in exchange for Terry Broadhurst and Cedric Lacroix. Charlotte’s forward group was weakened at the NHL trade deadline and they have made moves recently to fill it back up.
This story will be updated throughout the day
Poll: Which Team Was The Biggest Trade Deadline Winner?
The trade deadline this season was more eventful than usual. After a number of deals went down in the days leading up to February 24th, the actual event was still something to behold. 32 transactions went down, including names like Vincent Trocheck, Brady Skjei and Jean-Gabriel Pageau switching teams. Several of the rebuilding squads added assets for the future, while contenders loaded up for a chance at the Stanley Cup.
But who was the biggest winner?
The first team that may come to mind is the Carolina Hurricanes, who added three legitimate NHL talents to their already impressive group. Skjei, Trocheck and Sami Vatanen join a team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago, making them even more dangerous. But it’s important to remember that the Hurricanes aren’t even guaranteed a playoff spot at this point in the crowded Metropolitan, and had to give away several future pieces to bring in this new talent.
At the other end of that spectrum of course are the Ottawa Senators, who parted with a few pending unrestricted free agents but added five more draft picks to the cupboard. While re-signing Pageau may have been more exciting for a fanbase that has watched so many players leave over the years, getting first- and second-round picks for him is an impressive accomplishment. The Senators did exactly what they hoped to do at the deadline, even if it won’t result in an improved product this season.
There are other teams too that had interesting days, including the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights. Ken Holland and the Oilers front office brought in some extra talent to play with Connor McDavid and company, while the Golden Knights nabbed the best goaltender on the market to secure their net in the postseason. The Anaheim Ducks sold off several pieces to bring in some high-upside talent, though few of the moves seem to really push the needle at this point.
With a few days of clarity on the situation, which team do you think “won” the trade deadline? Which team executed their plan and filled their needs? Cast your vote below and make sure to explain in the comments. The full trade deadline breakdown can be found here, though feel free to explain why some of the other recent deals could influence your vote.
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