Mats Zuccarello Ruled Out For Minnesota Road Trip
The Minnesota Wild have gotten off to a dreadful start this season and will now be without their major offseason addition for at least a few games. The team has already ruled Mats Zuccarello out for this week’s three-game road trip with a lower-body injury, announcing that he did not travel with the team. The trip starts with a game this afternoon against the Ottawa Senators, which will serve as Gerry Mayhew‘s NHL debut in place of Zuccarello.
Signed to a five-year, $30MM contract by former Minnesota GM Paul Fenton, Zuccarello has been a relative disappointment for the team so far this season. The 32-year old winger is seeing the fewest minutes of his career (an average of just 14:52) and has zero points through four games. Beyond the lack of offensive production he has also been weak in his own end and already has three minor penalties. That’s a tough start for a player that was supposed to change the look of the forward group.
Fenton, who was fired suddenly and replaced by GM Bill Guerin, handed Zuccarello the five-year term despite his team failing to make the playoffs last season. The Wild were involved in several trades down the stretch that broke up the core of the team, sending Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle packing, only to bring in another veteran in Zuccarello who is heading into his mid-thirties. Though he is coming off a strong season split between the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars, it’s hard to imagine him getting any better from this point on in his career.
For now though, the team desperately needs him back on the ice if they’re going to turn their early season struggles around. The Wild have lost their first four games by a combined score of 21-10 and find themselves already in a deep hole in the competitive Central Division.
Andy Greene Placed On Injured Reserve
The New Jersey Devils will have to operate without a captain for at least a few more days, as Andy Greene has been placed on injured reserve. Matt Tennyson has been recalled in Greene’s place, after starting the year with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. Players are required to spend at least seven days on injured reserve, though Greene’s stint is retroactive to his last game on Wednesday.
Greene suffered an upper-body injury against the Philadelphia Flyers, missing the end of that game and yesterday’s tilt against the Edmonton Oilers. The Devils lost both, taking them to a disappointing 0-2-2 start in a season that they were expected to compete for a playoff spot. Those higher expectations came with the additions of players like P.K Subban, whose presence has given head coach John Hynes another workhorse defenseman to lean on. Even discounting the game against the Flyers, Greene had already been asked to play a little less than in recent years, failing to even receive 20 minutes of ice time in a game that went to overtime against the Winnipeg Jets.
The 36-year old may be taking on less responsibility, but he is still an extremely important part of the Devils and will be missed while he deals with this injury. The team needs desperately to secure a win to keep pace in the Metropolitan Division, but have the tough test of heading into Boston to face the Bruins tomorrow night. Greene will miss at least that game and Monday’s tilt against the Florida Panthers, though it is not clear exactly how long he will be out after that.
Tennyson, 29, signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Devils as soon as free agency opened this year and carries an NHL cap hit of just $700K. The veteran defenseman has played 124 games at the NHL level, but just four last season.
2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Fourth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)
17th Overall: Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (168)
18th Overall: Lars Eller, St. Louis Blues (13)
19th Overall: Alex Killorn, Anaheim Ducks (77)
20th Overall: Nick Bonino, Pittsburgh Penguins (173)
21st Overall: Pat Maroon, Edmonton Oilers (161)
22nd Overall: Paul Byron, Montreal Canadiens (179)
23rd Overall: Sam Gagner, Nashville Predators (6)
Despite currently being in the AHL, Gagner managed to hold onto his status as a first-round pick in our 2007 redraft and goes to Nashville. Originally Edmonton’s first of three picks in that round, the London, Ontario native carved out quite the early career for himself in the NHL, even if it has quickly evaporated.
Back then, Gagner was an easy pick at the top of the draft. The somewhat undersized forward had just combined with Patrick Kane and Sergei Kostitsyn for the London Knights to make one of the most dynamic offensive attacks in the OHL, recording 118 points of his own in 53 games. Gagner’s 83 assists tied him with Kane for the most by any OHL rookie, and got him onto the CHL All-Rookie squad. Even at his young age he landed a roster spot on Canada’s World Junior team, something he’d never have another opportunity to do.
That’s because after he was drafted, Gagner stepped right into the NHL and became an impact player for the Edmonton Oilers. Unfortunately, the 49 points in 2007-08 as a rookie would be his highest total until many years later, as the talented center faced injury after injury that kept him out for various stretches. In fact, Gagner has never played all 82 games in a single season, only ever failing to miss time in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign. Still, it’s hard to argue with his offensive consistency for the Oilers. Scoring at least 41 points in each of his first five seasons, he would finish his first stint in Edmonton with 295 points in 481 games. Just that total would make him the 14th-highest scoring player from the 2007 draft, but Gagner wasn’t done quite yet.
After a few more seasons bouncing around the NHL—playing for the Arizona Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks—Gagner has found his way back to the Edmonton organization and is now playing with the Bakersfield Condors. In 802 career games he has 446 points, making him the eighth-highest scoring player from the 2007 draft. You can bet if the Predators received that kind of production from this spot they’d be extremely happy.
In 2007, the Calgary Flames were up next and picked their own steal late in the first round. Mikael Backlund was ranked second among all European skaters by NHL Central Scouting coming into the draft, but he ended up falling thanks to a strong North American contingent. The Flames had actually traded back from their spot at No. 18, gaining a third-round selection in the process, and still got the two-way center.
It took a while for the move to really pay off though, as Backlund was a project that needed to be developed correctly. After spending another season in Sweden, Backlund split the 2008-09 season between his Swedish team, the Flames and the Kelowna Rockets, making quite the impression as a late addition to the WHL squad. The Rockets would actually take home the WHL title that season, thanks to a playoff-leading 13 goals from Backlund. It still would be another several years before he really broke out in the NHL, scoring 18 goals and 39 points in 2013-14. Since then he has been quite the consistent presence for the team, and even recorded three 20+ goal seasons.
Unfortunately for Calgary, Backlund already went to Colorado in our redraft and they’ll have to pick another name. The talent is starting to really thin out, showing just how difficult it is to even get an NHL regular out of the draft. With the twenty-fourth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Calgary Flames select? Cast your vote below!
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*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.
Noah Juulsen Cleared To Join Laval Rocket
It’s been a rough few seasons for Montreal Canadiens prospect Noah Juulsen, but hopefully things are starting get back on track. The team announced today that Juulsen has been medically cleared to return to action and will be joining the Laval Rocket of the AHL tonight in Milwaukee.
The 22-year old defenseman had been dealing with ongoing headaches this summer, after a vision-related injury kept him out for much of last season. Juulsen took two pucks to the face last November and ended up playing just 24 total games between the Canadiens and Rocket in 2018-19. Originally selected 26th overall in 2015, the young defender has looked promising whenever he gets on the ice, that just hasn’t ever lasted very long. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Juulsen has only played in 78 games at any level.
His return to the ice comes at a good time for Montreal, who are struggling to find much consistency on defense. The team has obvious talent among their NHL group, but have now given up 20 goals in their first five games and gotten off to a 1-1-2 start. Even that sole win was in a shootout, meaning things could have easily looked even worse had it not been for some Carey Price heroics against the Toronto Maple Leafs. While there’s no telling what kind of impact Juulsen will have right away, he’ll certainly be in the mix for NHL minutes if he can prove he is healthy again.
Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
The 2019-20 NHL regular season is underway and already there have been some surprises and disappointments. Most shocking perhaps are the injuries that have occurred early on, including Adam Larsson, Evgeni Malkin and Nate Schmidt. That has already made the rumor mill start churning over who will be the first to make a big trade—unless of course Vladislav Namestnikov heading to Ottawa is considered that already.
With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of our mailbag. You can submit your query by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. Make sure you get your questions in early and we’ll try to get through as many as possible when the mailbag runs on the weekend.
If you missed our last edition you can read it right here. Brian tackled questions regarding potential waiver candidates, correctly suggesting that Pheonix Copley, Casey DeSmith, Charlie Lindgren and Eric Comrie could all be available at the end of training camp. He also explained why Julius Honka was the only then-unsigned RFA that had a real chance of a long dispute, did his best at explaining the complicated cap situation the Toronto Maple Leafs created this summer, and gave his predictions on how the Metropolitan Division standings would look at the end of the year.
Josh Anderson Placed On Injured Reserve
The Columbus Blue Jackets have made a roster move to give them another option up front for tonight’s game. Josh Anderson has been placed on injured reserve while Markus Hannikainen has been recalled. Anderson’s IR stint is retroactive to October 5th when he suffered an upper-body injury against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blue Jackets take on the Anaheim Ducks tonight at home, then travel to Carolina to face the Hurricanes tomorrow night.
Even if the Blue Jackets hadn’t lost so many pieces in the offseason, Anderson would still be a huge part of their forward group. The 25-year old winger has developed into one of the league’s premiere power forwards, scoring 27 goals last season while recording more than 200 hits. Fast, heavy and fearless, Anderson routinely drives the puck towards the net and creates chances for himself and his line mates. His 22 even-strength goals actually ranked him 38th in the entire league, tied with names like Aleksander Barkov, Kyle Connor and Sean Monahan.
A player has to stay for seven days on injured reserve, meaning that Anderson should be eligible to return following tomorrow night’s matchup.
Hannikainen meanwhile was waived at the end of training camp and has already played two games with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. The 26-year old winger played 44 games for the Blue Jackets last season but was beat out by other, younger forwards this time around. With Anderson out he’ll serve as just the 13th forward tonight, but will continue to try and prove he belongs at the NHL level in practices.
Jimmy Schuldt Assigned To AHL
The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled Jake Bischoff from the minor leagues, while assigning Jimmy Schuldt to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Schuldt has yet to play for the Golden Knights this season, meaning the team may just want him to get some game action before he sits too long.
Schuldt, 24, was one of the prizes of college free agency in the spring and ended up choosing the Golden Knights after most of the league shows interest. He ended up playing in one game with the team down the stretch, but didn’t suit up in the playoffs. After his one-year entry-level deal expired he was in for another negotiation, this time as a restricted free agent with the Golden Knights. That negotiation took all summer, and Schuldt finally inked a one-year, one-way deal worth $850K.
Unfortunately, that contract hasn’t secured him a spot on the roster as others have seemingly passed him on the depth chart. Even with Nate Schmidt dealing with injury the team has turned to Nicolas Hague instead of Schuldt, giving the 20-year old three games so far this season. If he wants to get back into the rotation, Schuldt will have to prove what he can do at the minor league level first.
Minor Transactions: 10/11/19
Patrick Marleau and Brayden Point sure didn’t seem like they had any rust on them when they returned for San Jose and Tampa Bay last night, both scoring a pair of goals and leading their teams to victory. Thursday was filled with high-scoring matchups and tonight’s action could be the same as six teams battle in three games. The Carolina Hurricanes will welcome in the New York Islanders and try to stay perfect, while the Buffalo Sabres aim to prove their explosive start isn’t a mirage. As teams prepare for tonight and a big weekend around the NHL, we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.
- The Winnipeg Jets have returned Sami Niku to the minor leagues, now that both Dmitry Kulikov and Josh Morrissey are back playing. Even with a ravaged defense corps, the Jets have won two games in a row and now sit just a single point behind the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division. Niku, 23, will have to wait patiently for his next opportunity, which will likely come whenever the team faces another injury.
- Gustav Bouramman has landed on his feet in Sweden after accepting a contract termination earlier this month. The 22-year old defenseman has signed a six-week contract with Farjestad BK of the SHL to cover an injury absence, but will have a chance to earn an extension if he plays well enough. In 23 games with the Iowa Wild last season, Bouramman recorded just two points.
- With Corey Perry approaching a return, Denis Gurianov has been assigned to the Texas Stars after playing in three games with Dallas to start the year. Gurianov didn’t score, but did get some more valuable development time with the NHL as he looks to take the next step in his career. Selected 12th overall in 2015, Gurianov has played 25 games in the NHL so far.A
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Joseph Blandisi under emergency conditions, returning Andrew Agozzino at the same time. Agozzino played just five shifts (1:44 TOI) in yesterday’s win over the Anaheim Ducks. Blandisi meanwhile played six games with the Penguins last year and has 80 under his belt at the NHL level.
- The Arizona Coyotes have flipped depth defensemen, recalling Ilya Lyubushkin from Tucson (AHL) and sending Kyle Capobianco to the Roadrunners. Lyubushkin played in 41 games with the Coyotes last season but was left in the minors to start this season to get some playing time while Capobianco sat as a healthy scratch with the Coyotes. Now it appears that those roles will be reversed.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have assigned Nicolas Roy to Chicago of the AHL, reports SinBin.Vegas. He was called up more than a week ago but didn’t get into any action. Roy was the key part of the trade return for Erik Haula over the offseason following a strong showing with Carolina’s farm team in the playoffs. He’ll likely see a big role with the Wolves and should be in line for another recall at some point later on in the season.
Landon Ferraro Signs In Germany
It must have been a frustrating offseason for Landon Ferraro, after his two-year contract expired with the Minnesota Wild and he became an unrestricted free agent. Contracts were rare for veteran depth players looking for work, given the tight salary cap system and limit of 50 contracts per team. Ferraro would eventually sign a professional tryout with the Vancouver Canucks, but failed to crack the roster or even earn an NHL deal. Now, he’ll take his talents overseas and sign with Berlin of the German DEL.
Ferraro, 28, was the 32nd overall pick in 2009 thanks to his goal scoring ability and famous last name—his father is Ray Ferraro, who scored 408 NHL goals over a long career—but had trouble catching on at the highest level. Though he has performed admirably in the AHL, the younger Ferraro has only been given 77 games at the NHL level. The vast majority of those games came in 2015-16 with the Boston Bruins when he suited up 58 times, recording ten points in the process.
A career marred by injury recently, playing in Germany will not only give him some financial stability but also allow him to showcase the upside he has left in his game. If Ferraro can prove he is able to compete at a high level still, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be an option for an AHL or even perhaps an NHL team down the road.
Anaheim Ducks Sign Benoit-Olivier Groulx
Though the contract had been reported several days ago, Benoit-Olivier Groulx has now been officially signed by the Anaheim Ducks. Groulx has inked a three-year entry-level deal, but he will remain in the QMJHL this season. Groulx plays for the Halifax Mooseheads and can’t be recalled unless the Ducks face an emergency situation.
Selected 54th overall in 2018, Groulx has had big expectations as a future NHL player for a long time. A first-overall pick in the QMJHL draft, he has slowly but surely grown into a dominant junior player. Scoring 31 goals and 80 points last season with Halifax, his two-way hockey sense is what many believe will carry him to the next level. Given he’ll be 20 before the 2020-21 season begins, it seems likely that the San Diego Gulls will have another forward on their hands next season.
In fact, depending on what Halifax does Groulx could see some AHL time at the end of this season. He also will be a strong candidate for the Canadian World Junior team, the nation he competes for even though he was actually born in France. Through three games with the Mooseheads, he has two goals and three points already.