Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Three Players
The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Luke Schenn, Cory Conacher and Alexander Volkov from the minor leagues as they deal with last night’s injuries. Victor Hedman and Pat Maroon both left the game and did not return, though they have been listed as day-to-day along with Anthony Cirelli.
While Schenn has more than 700 games of NHL experience and Conacher has been around professional hockey for a decade, Volkov’s name is the most interesting one of the group.
The 22-year old forward was picked by the Lightning in the 2017 draft and has excelled in the minor leagues for the last two seasons. This year in training camp he came oh-so-close to securing a roster spot, but ended up back in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch. After three points in his first three games for that team, he’ll try his hand at the NHL level for the first time.
The Lightning continue to produce NHL caliber players through their strong development system, filling in the gaps behind their stars on the roster. Volkov is just the latest player drafted outside the first round to get an opportunity, however short. He joins Mathieu Joseph, Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Cedric Paquette and Cirelli as Lightning draft picks from round two or later on the current roster.
Kirby Dach To Stay With Chicago Blackhawks
After impressing in his first six games in the NHL, Kirby Dach is here to stay. The Chicago Blackhawks have confirmed that Dach will stay with the team for the “foreseeable future” instead of returning to the CHL. When the young forward plays his tenth game, the first year of his entry-level contract will be burned.
Dach, 18, was the third overall pick in June after an outstanding season for the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL. The 6’4″ forward could have gone back to dominate that league again, but a concussion during training camp actually may have changed that plan. With the injury, Dach was able to not only stick around the NHL team but get a conditioning stint in the minor leagues with the Rockford IceHogs. After showing well in the AHL, his strong six-game NHL career has come as no surprise.
Scoring his first NHL goal and recording two points, Dach will stay with the Blackhawks and try to get them out of their early season funk. The team is 3-6-2 through their first 11 games and have only scored 25 goals. Hopefully the young forward will be able to change those fortunes, but at the very least he’ll be continuing his development at the highest level.
Pittsburgh Penguins Expected To Extend Marcus Pettersson
As always, Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet has plenty of interesting hockey nuggets spanning the entire league. Most important to Pittsburgh Penguins fans however might be the fact that an extension with Marcus Pettersson is “all but done.” Pettersson, because he signed a one-year deal last month, isn’t techincally able to sign an extension until January 1st, but the two sides can still agree to terms.
The 23-year old defenseman has had a very strong start to the season, continuing the play he showed after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks last year. Stepping into a bigger role for Pittsburgh he is now averaging close to 19 minutes a night on the season and trails only Kris Letang and Justin Schultz in terms of points from Penguins defensemen.
Snatched out of Anaheim in exchange for Daniel Sprong—who cleared waivers at the beginning of the month and is playing in the minor leagues—Pettersson looks like an absolute steal by GM Jim Rutherford. He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the year and will be arbitration eligible for the first time, but is starting to look like a core piece for the team.
Interestingly, Friedman also writes that the Penguins are going to add another piece at some point. The team recently rid themselves of Erik Gudbranson—another addition that didn’t work out quite as well as Pettersson—and now actually have a little bit of flexibility in terms of their cap structure. While defense may be a target, Pettersson has worked his way into their plans for the future and should have a new contract in a few months.
Snapshots: Gregory, Johansen, Canada-Russia
Legendary NHL executive Jim Gregory passed away today at the age of 83. The former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager joined the league offices in 1979, coming to shape both the Central Scouting Service and the overall hockey operations department. Not only was he instrumental in building the NHL into what it is today, but Gregory was revered by almost everyone who knew him as one of the most gentlemanly people associated with the sport, and in general.
A beloved figure in the hockey community, Gregory was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. Everyone at PHR gives their best to his wife and family.
- The Washington Capitals don’t have much opportunity for young players thanks to a cap situation that limits movement, and Lucas Johansen knows it. The 2016 first-round pick is stuck in a rotation in the AHL and spoke to J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington, explaining that he hopes to find a way to the NHL with the Capitals but knows that chance may come somewhere else. The 21-year old will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season and to this point hasn’t had a sniff of NHL action.
- The Canada-Russia series begins next week, and each of the three CHL leagues have named their captains for the short showcase. Los Angeles Kings’ prospect Aidan Dudas will lead Team OHL, New Jersey Devils prospect Ty Smith dons the “C” for Team WHL, and top 2020 draft prospect Alexis Lafreniere captains the QMJHL contingent. Dudas may not have the sort of name recognition of the other two after falling to the fourth round of the 2018 draft, but the Owen Sound Attack forward is off to a great start and has routinely represented Canada through his junior career.
Minor Transactions: 10/30/19
Six more games are on the schedule for this evening in the NHL, including Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers heading into Columbus to try and stop their recent skid. The Oilers haven’t won a game in regulation in almost two weeks, going 2-3 in their last five games. While that has been good enough to stay in first place in the Pacific Division, five teams are now within three points of them in the standings. As they and the rest of the league prepares, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.
- With Brendan Perlini expected to join the lineup, the Detroit Red Wings have sent Givani Smith to the minor leagues. The 21-year old forward played in three games with Detroit, getting his feet wet at the NHL level. He’ll return to Grand Rapids to await his next opportunity.
- After recalling him yesterday as an insurance policy, the Nashville Predators have returned Colin Blackwell to the minor leagues. The minor league veteran has yet to play an NHL game this season.
Latest On Alex Pietrangelo
The St. Louis Blues have already made some big splashes this season, acquiring Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes and then extending both Faulk and Brayden Schenn to long-term contracts. Now all eyes are on captain Alex Pietrangelo who stands as easily their most notable player scheduled for unrestricted free agency after this season.
Pietrangelo’s camp met with the Blues front office a few weeks ago, but according to Bob McKenzie of TSN on last night’s edition of Insider Trading, there has been no contact since. While that certainly doesn’t mean that an extension can’t be worked out further down the line, it does still keep the spotlight on the veteran defenseman.
In terms of what it might take to retain Pietrangelo, an easy comparison can be made to yesterday’s eight-year, $72.5MM extension for Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators. In fact, there is an argument to be made that Pietrangelo could deserve even more than the $9.059MM cap hit that Josi secured, given his longer track record and recent playoff success.
Both drafted in 2008, Pietrangelo was picked 34 spots ahead of Josi as the fourth-overall selection. While it took a little while for the Predators to insert their second round pick into the lineup, Pietrangelo got a taste almost immediately and recently played his 700th game (Josi is at 575). The Blues captain also has more overall points with 405, though they have come at a slightly lower rate.
Both players will be 30 when their next contracts kick in, making these types of commitments dangerous, but Pietrangelo is such an integral part of the Blues team that it seems unlikely they would want to watch him walk out the door.
Still, the Blues have traded key players on expiring contracts before. At the 2018 deadline they moved Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets for a package of picks and prospects, and just a year before that moved Kevin Shattenkirk for a similar return. Obviously doing the same with Pietrangelo would be a different level of decision entirely, but there at least is some precedent.
In all likelihood however, there will still be an extension between the two sides at some point. The longer this goes on however, the more speculation will continue to bubble up to the surface.
New York Islanders Place Martin, Kuhnhackl On IR
The New York Islanders have placed both Matt Martin and Tom Kuhnhackl on injured reserve with lower-body injuries, retroactive to October 25th. In their place, the team has recalled prospect Otto Koivula from the AHL for the first time in his career.
Martin and Kuhnackl are both expected to miss four to six weeks after suffering serious injuries, meaning Koivula and other young players may get a chance with the Islanders.
Selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, the 21-year old forward didn’t join the Islanders organization until last season. The wait was worth it though as he performed quite well for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the AHL, recording 21 goals and 46 points in 69 games.
Not only does Koivula have some offensive upside, but he also brings a 6’4″ 225-lbs frame to the table for the Islanders, helping them replace some of the size they lost through injury. Whether he can contribute at the NHL level is still to be see, but he should get his chance.
Travis Hamonic Will Not Negotiate Extension During Season
The Calgary Flames are off to a slow start this season, allowing 39 goals in 13 games. If that continues they’ll have some tough decisions to make with their current defense core, as both Travis Hamonic and T.J. Brodie are set to become unrestricted free agents after the season. According to Darren Dreger of TSN on the latest installment of Insider Trading, any discussions there have been with Hamonic are now over; the defenseman will not negotiate during the season.
Just like general managers that state they won’t trade a certain player, sometimes agents and players are bluffing when they shut down negotiations as well. If that’s not the case with Hamonic, he could very well become a top trade deadline target given his relatively low cap hit and expiring contract. The 29-year old carries just a $3.86MM cap hit, a reasonable amount for almost any team looking to add defensive help.
Obviously Calgary may decide to keep Hamonic and attempt to re-sign him in the offseason, but even that may prove difficult due to Brodie’s presence and the cap situation the team finds themselves in. The Flames will have some money coming off the books at the end of the year but also have to consider a new contract for young defenseman Rasmus Andersson and a potential extension for David Rittich down the line.
Hamonic isn’t a big offensive presence on the blueline, but has been considered one of the better shutdown options for years now. The right-handed defenseman now has 600 regular season games under his belt and is logging close to 22 minutes a night for the Flames. That includes more than four minutes of short-handed ice time, something teams are always looking to improve at the deadline.
Gabriel Landeskog Out Indefinitely With Lower-Body Injury
3:55pm: Landeskog is out “longer than week-to-week” according to head coach Jared Bednar. The injury will cause him to miss “significant time” though there is no exact timetable yet. The team has recalled Jayson Megna from the AHL in the meantime.
10:27am: The Colorado Avalanche are already without star forward Mikko Rantanen for a while, and now captain Gabriel Landeskog will be joining him in the rehab room. The team somewhat ominously announced that Landeskog is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury.
Though the details are few at the moment, a lengthy injury would be a disaster for the Avalanche as they try to hold onto first place in the Western Conference. The team added depth this offseason to deal with this sort of situation, but removing two of the top three forwards from any team would put them in a difficult situation.
Landeskog, 26, actually wasn’t off to quite as dominant of a start this season, despite having seven points in 11 games. His possession numbers hadn’t been quite as good as usual, and that top line—which has been one of the best in the NHL for the last few seasons—hasn’t been quite as impressive. A step down from greatness is still good however, meaning the Avalanche were still safely one of the best teams in the NHL through the first month of the season.
That claim will be tested without Landeskog and Rantanen, though the additions of Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi are paying dividends already. The trio has 23 points through 11 games and has made Colorado look like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender from top to bottom.
Alex Galchenyuk, Brian Dumoulin Activated From Injured Reserve
Unlike the Boston Bruins, who have breezed past the competition this season even without their second line center, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had to fight just to hold their heads above water as they deal with injuries. Some of that is coming to an end however, as today the Penguins activated both Alex Galchenyuk and Brian Dumoulin from injured reserve.
Add in a returning Evgeni Malkin before long and the Penguins are close to full health as they enter November. The team currently sits at 7-5 on the season but find themselves out of a divisional playoff spot in the tough Metropolitan.
Galchenyuk, 25, was off to a strong start with his new team before injury struck, recording two assists in his first three games. The former 30-goal scorer was acquired in the offseason in the Phil Kessel trade and has big expectations as a top-six winger. Originally selected third overall in 2012, Galchenyuk has scored at least 17 goals in each of the past five seasons and can be a difference-maker on the powerplay.
Dumoulin meanwhile is expected to jump back onto the top pairing alongside Kris Letang and reclaim his position as the team’s Swiss army knife. The 28-year old can do a little bit of everything for the Penguins, including move the puck and play the powerplay when required. Still one of the more underrated players in the league despite his strong play in consecutive Stanley Cup runs, his return to the lineup may be as important as anyone else. The Penguins have gone 1-3 since his injury but will try to get back on track tonight against their state rival Philadelphia Flyers.