Anton Lundell Will Not Play In WJC
Those who wanted to get a closer look at one of the top European prospects available in the 2020 draft will be disappointed with the news that Anton Lundell will not play for Team Finland at the upcoming World Junior Championship. There was some hope that Lundell would be able to heal fast enough from his recent injury to join the team, but today saw the end of any chance he would be back to defend his gold medal.
Lundell, 18, actually assisted on the golden goal last year that Kaapo Kakko scored to secure the tournament win for Finland and was expected to be one of the best forwards on the ice this time around. The 6’1″ forward has 12 points in 20 games playing for HIFK at the highest level in Finland this season and is in consideration as a top-five selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Like many Finnish stars of recent years, Lundell has excellent puck protection skills and can shoot the puck from several different positions. Mike Morreale of NHL.com included the talented forward as his eighth-best prospect in a ranking from early October, and a strong performance at the World Juniors could have helped that stock even more. Unfortunately that won’t happen, though obviously a return to health is more important for his long-term future.
Finland lost 4-2 to Team Canada in the final pre-tournament game earlier today, and will kick things off against rival Sweden on December 26th.
Canada Announces 2019 Spengler Cup Roster
Dec 23: Canada has added Mathew Maione and Blair Riley to the club, two more players with plenty of international experience.
Dec 19: While most fans of international hockey are paying attention to the upcoming World Junior Championship, there is actually another high-level tournament that starts at the same time. The Spengler Cup, where several club teams from around the world gather to compete is held every year just after Christmas. Canada also submits a team in the tournament, and this year’s edition has quite a few names that should be familiar to NHL fans.
G Brendan Burke
G Zach Fucale
G Matt Tomkins
D Paul Postma
D Ian Mitchell
D Alex Grant
D Patrick Wiercioch
D Andrew MacDonald
D Maxim Noreau
F Adam Tambellini
F Kris Versteeg
F Dustin Jeffrey
F Eric Fehr
F Justin Danforth
F Scottie Upshall
F Cory Emmerton
F Daniel Winnik
F Kevin Clark
F Ben Maxwell
F David Desharnais
F Josh Jooris
F Chris DiDomenico
Mitchell immediately stands out in the group, given that unlike many of the other former NHLers, he hasn’t even had his chance at the highest level so far. The Chicago Blackhawks draft pick is still just 20 years old and in his junior year at the University of Denver.
Obviously the Spengler Cup doesn’t come with a whole lot of name recognition, but some of these players could be considered at the next Olympics should the NHL decide not to attend in 2022.
The tournament kicks off on December 26th in Davos, Switzerland.
Morning Notes: Three Stars, Wildcats, Czechs
The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, with a new name gracing the top spot. Florida Panthers forward Noel Acciari has been given the honor after scoring back-to-back hat tricks and seven total goals in three games. The 28-year old had never scored a hat trick in the NHL previously, making this quite the week.
Second place went to a familiar name in Roman Josi after his six-goal week from the Nashville Predators blueline, but third was another new face. Joonas Korpisalo of the Columbus Blue Jackets put up the best week of his short career, going 4-0 with a .939 save percentage and showing that he may be capable of handling the starting role going forward. The 25-year old goaltender is 16-10-3 on the season after the Blue Jackets watched veteran starter Sergei Bobrovsky leave via free agency.
- According to Mikael Lalancette of TVA Sports, the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL have a new head coach. Daniel Lacroix, a former enforcer and long time NHL assistant coach has taken the job, returning to the team that he worked with for several years after retirement. Lacroix actually served as head coach for a short time in the 2004-05 season but will now get a chance to really take control of the squad after they parted ways with John Torchetti earlier this month.
- The Czech Republic World Junior team has been finalized, after they cut five players earlier today. Jaroslav Broz, Filip Koffer, Martin Lang, Miroslav Kukla, and Jan Bednar have all been sent home. Bednar is just 17 and will likely be back at the tournament next season, given his status as a top goaltending prospect for the 2020 draft.
Minor Transactions: 12/23/19
Even though the NHL roster freeze is in effect, there are still a handful of transactions that will happen today. These are moves that are still allowed to maintain roster levels, as a huge chunk of the league will play today. Things kick off with an afternoon tilt between the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs, with Jake Gardiner returning to play his former team after signing a four-year deal in the offseason. As those few moves take place, we’ll keep track of them right here.
- Mathieu Joseph is back with the Tampa Bay Lightning, recalled today after just a few days in the minor leagues. Joseph was a regular in the Lightning lineup for the last year and a half, but was struggling to really find his game of late and needed a reset in the AHL.
- The San Jose Sharks, who don’t play again until Friday, returned three players to the minor leagues today. Noah Gregor, Joel Kellman and Jacob Middleton will all spend the break as part of the San Jose Barracuda, though it would come as no surprise to see at least one of them recalled again later in the week.
- Jayce Hawryluk has been recalled by the Florida Panthers ahead of their game against the Lightning tonight. Hawryluk has three points in eight games with the Panthers this season but was injured earlier in the year. His conditioning stint has now come to an end, after six games with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
- The Detroit Red Wings have sent Filip Zadina, Brian Lashoff and Calvin Pickard down to the minor leagues. With the Red Wings off until Saturday, they’ll have plenty of time to make the decision on who to bring back up after Christmas.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Jeremy Bracco from the minor leagues, while giving an ominous update on Trevor Moore. Moore will be out of today’s game with a mysterious injury, likely related to the issue he was dealing with recently after getting bumped in practice.
- The Vancouver Canucks have returned Jalen Chatfield to the AHL over the break. Chatfield has been recalled several times by the Canucks this season, but has yet to actually play in an NHL game.
Latest On Nicklas Backstrom
While all of the focus may be on Taylor Hall as the top player headed for unrestricted free agency, the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals have two big names of their own on expiring deals. Braden Holtby is in the final year of his deal and could be the next goaltender to land a huge contract on the open market, and franchise icon Nicklas Backstrom is about to see his current 10-year contract come to an end with the only team he’s ever known. Backstrom notably is negotiating with the Capitals on his own and as Samantha Pell of the Washington Post reports, the two sides are still trying to find common ground when it comes to contract length.
Pell suggests that the 32-year old Backstrom would prefer a five-year term, while the team may be looking at a three-year deal for their long-time center.
Since being selected fourth overall in 2006, Backstrom has been nothing but outstanding for a Capitals organization that put faith in him from the very beginning. Debuting in the NHL during the 2007-08 season, the slick playmaker recorded 69 points in 82 games and established himself as a star right out of the box. In the decade plus since, Backstrom has been a consistent presence at the top of the lineup, scoring at nearly a point-per-game over more than 900 contests.
If he can stay healthy, Backstrom will likely hit the 1,000 point and 1,000 game mark next season, be it in Washington or elsewhere. He’s still playing at a high level and impacting the game positively, though any team would have to move forward with caution given his age.
Having just turned 32, any contract extension at this point is buying years of decline and could bite the Capitals if there is a precipitous drop in his effectiveness. The team is already dancing with the salary cap ceiling and notably has another big contract nearing its conclusion. Alex Ovechkin‘s 13-year, $124MM deal comes to an end after the 2020-21 season, the same time that young snipe Jakub Vrana will be looking for his final deal as a restricted free agent. Any deal for Backstrom (or Holtby, for that matter) will impact how much flexibility the Capitals have down the road, though at this point it seems both sides are on track to work something out.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Senators Notes: Nilsson, Hainsey, Prospects
The Ottawa Senators will be without Anders Nilsson for a while, as GM Pierre Dorion told TSN radio that the goaltender has suffered a concussion. Nilsson has been excellent for the the Senators this season even with a leaky defense corps, putting up a .909 save percentage and 9-9-2 record.
Craig Anderson will be back in the net for the Senators, but Nilsson is going on injured reserve.
- The team also is dealing with a minor injury to Ron Hainsey, after the 38-year old logged at least 24 minutes in each of his last four games. Hainsey is going to be out until after Christmas, a tough break for a Senators group that is already missing Nikita Zaitsev and Dylan DeMelo. Maxime Lajoie will be recalled to give them another option on the roster.
- Still, that leaves the Senators without many healthy defensemen on NHL contracts in the organization. With that in mind, Dorion admitted that they are considering recalling Lassi Thomson or Olle Alsing, who are both playing in Europe. While the team obviously doesn’t want to give up future assets for NHL players right now, they may be forced to if the injuries continue.
Darcy Kuemper Out Week-To-Week
4:08pm: Craig Morgan of The Athletic reports that Kuemper’s injury may keep him out until the All-Star break at the end of January.
1:30pm: The Arizona Coyotes have relied on their incredible goaltending this season to get them to first place in the Pacific Division, but they’ll have to show they can do more than just keep the puck out of their own net now. Darcy Kuemper, one of the Vezina Trophy favorites at this point, has suffered a lower-body injury and will be out on a week-to-week basis.
Kuemper, 29, trails only Ben Bishop among starting goaltenders with a .929 save percentage this season, one that dropped dramatically when he allowed seven goals on 32 shots last night. The Coyotes ended up losing the game 8-5, exactly the opposite of the type of score head coach Rick Tocchet has been chasing this season.
In his place the Coyotes have recalled Adin Hill from the minor leagues, but the starting job will now go back to Antti Raanta. Acquired from the New York Rangers in the summer of 2017, Raanta was brought to Arizona to be the starter. After an incredible debut season with the Coyotes, last year was lost almost completely to injury and Kuemper ended up staking his claim to the job.
Even with only 13 games played this season, Raanta has still been quite impressive. His own .919 save percentage is nothing to scoff at and he clearly has the ability to keep the Coyotes in the division title race. That said, Raanta hasn’t been able to stay healthy and will now be tested on a regular basis.
Sebastian Repo Placed On Unconditional Waivers
Friday: Repo has cleared waivers and will be joining Lukko back in Finland.
Thursday: The Florida Panthers have placed Sebastian Repo on unconditional waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. This designation usually precedes a mutual contract termination.
Repo, 23, signed his entry-level contract with the Panthers in 2017 after being selected in the sixth round, but hasn’t made it out of the AHL. In fact, he has played just 17 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds this season.
Though this makes him an unrestricted free agent allowed to sign with anyone in the league, Repo will likely return to Europe for the time being. The winger had 26 points in 71 games for his AHL career, but was a much more efficient offensive weapon playing in Finland.
Snapshots: Gardiner, Clutterbuck, Enroth
It was a long summer for defenseman Jake Gardiner after a long career with the Toronto Maple Leafs ended with heartbreak at the hands of the Boston Bruins once again. Gardiner became an unrestricted free agent and ended up waiting until September to sign a four-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. In a long interview with The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required), Gardiner explains exactly why he chose to leave a hockey hotbed for quieter Carolina, even confirming that he turned down a bigger offer from the Montreal Canadiens.
After the piece was published, Mirtle’s colleague Pierre LeBrun tweeted that there are teams around the league wondering if they can pluck Gardiner out of Carolina given his relatively low usage behind stars like Jaccob Slavin and Dougie Hamilton. Gardiner is currently averaging just over 16 minutes a night for the Hurricanes. The 29-year old comes with a $4.05MM cap hit and holds a seven-team no-trade list.
- The New York Islanders will not issue an update on Cal Clutterbuck‘s status until tomorrow, other than he was allowed to fly home with them following their game against the Boston Bruins. Clutterbuck had his wrist sliced by the skate of Patrice Bergeron, immediately dropping his glove and leaving the game. Injuries caused by a skate blade are always hard to watch, especially after the recent incident involving junior goaltender Tucker Tynan. As always, Clutterbuck has been a solid contributor for the Islanders this season, leading the team in hits and all forwards in blocked shots.
- Former NHL goaltender Jhonas Enroth could return to the SHL after having his KHL contract with Dinamo Minsk terminated. The 31-year old actually posted a .909 save percentage during his 153-game NHL career, but struggled in his most recent stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016-17. The undersized netminder was originally a second-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2006 and has regularly suited up for Sweden in international competitions.
Ryan Murray Placed On Injured Reserve
In what has become a familiar refrain, the Columbus Blue Jackets have placed Ryan Murray on injured reserve. The defenseman suffered a back injury last weekend against the Ottawa Senators and is listed as week-t0-week. Columbus has also sent Marko Dano down the minor leagues.
Murray’s name has been in the trade mill for years now, but it’s hard for any team to know if he’s even still an effective option. There haven’t been many stretches of healthy play long enough to really evaluate the 26-year old, as he spends just as much time in the trainer’s room as on the ice. Since debuting in 2013, Murray’s game totals by year have gone: 66, 12, 82, 60, 44, 56 and he’s played just 24 of the Blue Jackets’ first 35 games this season. While it is obvious he has skill to compete in the NHL, there’s just no guarantee that he’ll even be available at this point.
The injuries for Columbus are piling up but the team has actually won their last three and are trying to save a season that was quickly getting out of hand. The team now sits at 15-14-6 after their recent hot streak but are still seventh in the Metropolitan Division. If they at any point decide to move some of their assets Murray’s name will come up again, but he’ll have to be healthy enough to play in order to attract any buyers before the deadline.