Ted Lindsay Passes Away At 93
The hockey world is in mourning to start the week, as Detroit Red Wings icon Ted Lindsay has passed away. Lindsay was one of the league’s earliest superstars, but was perhaps even more important to the game off the ice as a labor leader for players. He was 93.
Born in Ontario in 1925, Lindsay entered the NHL as a teenager in 1944 and made an immediate impact on the Red Wings. Despite his small frame, the 5’8″ 163-lbs forward was determined and feisty, never backing away from a physical challenge and earning the nickname “Terrible Ted.” Eventually he joined Sid Abel and Gordie Howe to form the “Production Line” that dominated the league for several seasons. Lindsay would win the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top scorer in 1950, and was named a league All-Star nine times. On four occasions he would lift the Stanley Cup over his head with the Red Wings, a key member in each championship team. He finished his career with 851 points in 1,068 games to go along with 1,808 penalty minutes.
Lindsay was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 1966, but he could have very well made it as a builder as well. He was instrumental in the forming of the NHLPA to help players secure higher wages and working rights, changing the game entirely and starting it on the road to the business it is today. He also worked as a broadcaster and front office executive for many years, and saw his number retired by the Red Wings. In 2017 he was named one of the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players.
There’s little doubt that Lindsay’s impact on the game was greater than almost anyone else’s, and he will be sorely missed in Detroit and all across the league. When the Stanley Cup is raised this year and the captain of the winning team skates it around the rink, many will remember that Lindsay was the first to do so—just one of the many moments his influence will be felt for years to come.
Semyon Varlamov Hopes To Re-Sign In Colorado
The Colorado Avalanche haven’t received the level of goaltending they hoped for from Philipp Grubauer after they acquired him from the Washington Capitals last summer and signed him to a three-year contract. He was supposed to replace the outgoing Jonathan Bernier while allowing the team to let Semyon Varlamov walk into free agency without having to pay up for his services. Unfortunately Varlamov has vastly outplayed Grubauer, giving the Avalanche a tough decision on what to do in net this offseason. For what it’s worth, Varlamov has now publicly announced that he hopes to stay in Colorado after speaking with Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (subscription required):
I want to stay here because I love this team and hopefully I am going to stay and hopefully I’m going to re-sign my next contract with the Avalanche.
Varlamov, 30, has done everything necessary to complicate the decision. The veteran netminder has a .911 save percentage on the year, quite a bit higher than Grubauer’s .896. Notably though, the team does have former KHL star Pavel Francouz playing well in the minor leagues. Francouz is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and retaining him would likely cost more than the $690K he is earning this year. Still that number would likely be much lower than whatever Varlamov is asking for, given his history as a starter in the NHL and $5.9MM cap hit this season.
The Avalanche have quite a bit to consider this offseason given the restricted free agent status of players like Mikko Rantanen, Alexander Kerfoot, J.T. Compher and Nikita Zadorov, but the decision in net is a make-or-break one for the 2019-20 year. That is easy to see after the team struggled through the middle portion of the season despite still having some of the most explosive offensive players in the league. Bad goaltending can sink a good team, and Grubauer’s play this season has simply not been good enough for a team that considers themselves playoff contenders.
When we asked earlier this season if the Avalanche should trade Varlamov, the overwhelming response was that it was time to move on. The trade deadline came and went without much action though, and now Varlamov has them on the brink of a wild card playoff appearance.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Derek Stepan Out Four To Six Weeks
Just when things were starting to look up for the Arizona Coyotes, they’ve lost another forward to a long-term injury. Head coach Rick Tocchet today announced to reporters including Craig Morgan of The Athletic that Derek Stepan will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury.
This has been an incredible season in terms of injuries for the Coyotes, who have seen Jason Demers, Antti Raanta, Christian Dvorak, Nick Schmaltz, Jakob Chychrun, Michael Grabner and others all miss extensive time. Despite that the team has stuck around in the “turtle race” that is the Western Conference wild card competition, and sit just one point behind the Minnesota Wild for the final playoff spot. Their five-game winning streak has given them a 31-28-5 record on the season.
Losing Stepan is a tough break for the team given how heavily they have relied on him of late. The 28-year old center had logged at least 21:27 in five of his last six games heading into Thursday’s matchup that he exited early, including a season-high 24:25 on Tuesday evening. While he only has 32 points on the season, the team relies on him heavily in the defensive zone and on both special teams.
If Arizona can possibly get to the playoffs without Stepan he has a chance to return in time to suit up, but four weeks from today would leave only a handful of games left in the regular season.
Anaheim Ducks Activate John Gibson
The Anaheim Ducks have some good news to announce tomorrow when Jakob Silfverberg‘s contract is expected to be officially announced, but today’s may actually be even better. John Gibson has been activated from injured reserve and will start for the Ducks tonight when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights. Kevin Boyle has been returned to the minor leagues.
Gibson hasn’t played since February 7th and has been dealing with several injuries. The All-Star netminder had experienced a huge downswing in performance the month prior to going on injured reserve, recording an .885 save percentage in his previous 14 games. The fact that he still carries a .914 on the season shows just how dominating he was before those struggles, and the level he can hopefully return to before the season is up.
The Ducks are now 11 points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference and close to the very bottom of the standings, but with Gibson back could potentially put together a nice run over the last month of the season. That likely won’t end with a spot in the postseason tournament, but will give the team some hope for next year as they try to contend once again.
Nick Henry Signs Entry-Level Contract With Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche have signed draft pick Nick Henry to a three-year entry-level contract according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Henry is currently playing with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL, and will see his entry-level deal kick in for the 2019-20 season.
Henry, 19, is having an excellent season in what is probably his final year of junior hockey. The forward had 40 points for the Regina Pats before being traded to Lethbridge, where he has another 43 in 37 games. That 83-point total is a huge bounce-back from what was an extremely disappointing 2017-18 season and now obviously has him on track to join the Avalanche organization next year. He received his first taste last fall with a stint at training camp, but will likely join the Colorado Eagles in a few months time.
If Henry can make an impact down the line it looks to be quite the 2017 draft class for the Avalanche. Conor Timmins, their second-round pick from that year, is close to finally making his return from injury and fourth-overall pick Cale Makar is having an outstanding year at the collegiate level. Henry’s Hurricanes are headed to the WHL playoffs, where he’ll try to lead them to a Memorial Cup berth.
Nashville Predators Sign Troy Grosenick
The Nashville Predators have locked up their minor league goaltending depth, inking Troy Grosenick to a one-year two-way contract extension. Grosenick will earn $700K at the NHL level.
Grosenick, 29, hasn’t played an NHL game since the 2014-15 season but is an excellent minor league netminder. His numbers once again have been outstanding with the Milwaukee Admirals, posting a .918 save percentage through 31 games, good enough for fifth among AHL starters. That kind of history makes a minimum contract like this one worthwhile even if the Predators have their NHL goaltending duo locked up.
The Predators organization is obviously appealing to Grosenick too, as the pending unrestricted free agent would have likely had offers from any number of teams. The $225K minor league guarantee is nice, but having the stability of the first class Predators organization is always an extra selling point. Grosenick may share the AHL crease with prospect Niclas Westerholm next season if the Predators decide to bring him over to North America.
Tye Felhaber Signs With Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars have joined in on the March 1st signing spree, inking Tye Felhaber to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will kick in for the 2019-20 season.
Felhaber, 20, is another undrafted free agent that is playing as an overager in junior for the Ottawa 67’s. After appearing in four games with the Laval Rocket of the AHL last spring on an amateur tryout and then attending training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Felhaber returned to Ottawa where he leads the OHL in goals with 55. The young forward attributes much of that success to working out with Claude Giroux in the offseason, but there’s nothing unexpected in his performance this year. Felhaber was pursued by at least two thirds of the league before settling on Dallas.
The Stars know their way around developing unheralded prospects, with late-round picks like Jamie Benn and John Klingberg leading the way. Ben Gleason, Joel L’Esperance and Gavin Bayreuther were all undrafted and have spent time with the Stars this season, a group that should inspire Felhaber as his professional career gets started. The young forward will likely join the Texas Stars next season.
Minor Transactions: 03/01/19
Eight games on the schedule for a relatively busy Friday night in the NHL, with the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets providing some must-see television. The winner of the game will assume first place in the Central Division with less than a quarter of the season to go, and stay ahead of the hard charging St. Louis Blues. The Predators are only five points ahead of the Blues with three more games played, meaning matchups like this with Winnipeg are incredibly important. As always, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves around the league.
- The Ottawa Senators made a change to their coaching staff today, and also sent Drake Batherson back down to the Belleville Senators for the time being. The team had Batherson up on an emergency recall, but he’ll return to the AHL where he can take on the Manitoba Moose tonight.
- Interestingly, the Moose will not have Eric Comrie in net for that game as the goaltender has been recalled by the Winnipeg Jets. Comrie is up under emergency conditions meaning the Jets must have an injury or illness somewhere in their goaltending group.
- The Minnesota Wild have used an emergency recall on Matt Read, bringing him up in time for their game tomorrow against the Calgary Flames. The Wild are right back in the thick of the playoff race after winning their last four games even despite trading away several key forwards over the last few weeks.
Ottawa Senators Fire Guy Boucher
The Ottawa Senators have made another major move in their continuing rebuild, this time firing head coach Guy Boucher. Assistant coach Marc Crawford will take over in the interim as the team begins its search for a new head coach. GM Pierre Dorion had this to say in a press release:
I want to thank Guy for his three years of service. He is a good person and has been an excellent representative of the Senators. At this point, however, we need a different set of coaching and leadership skills to guide our team through this rebuild. In the interim, Marc will bring a different perspective along with a wealth of head coaching experience.
This move comes almost immediately after Dorion told Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia that the team would wait until the end of the season to evaluate Boucher’s future. Apparently Senators management changed their mind and made the move now to ensure different habits would be instilled over the last few weeks of the season. To that end, former Senators player Chris Kelly has been added to the coaching staff.
Boucher’s tenure in Ottawa comes to an end a few weeks before his three-year contract expired, and he’ll finish with a 94-108-26 record. His time in Ottawa went similar to his previous job in Tampa Bay, where he led the Lightning to an outstanding first season before struggling in years two and three. The Senators went 44-28-10 in 2016-17 before almost making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but fell apart last season and have been a disaster this year.
The team announced their coaching search and explained what they are looking for in their next bench boss, with development and growth listed at the very top. Dorion did admit that Crawford would be considered for the full-time job, though it sounds more like the team is looking outside of the organization for their new head coach. Crawford of course has plenty of experience in the role, previously coaching the Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars while also taking the Colorado Avalanche all the way to a Stanley Cup championship in 1996.
It’s not surprising that Boucher was not retained, but the timing of this move is certainly curious. The team has not performed well all season but Dorion spoke about their recent play as something that sparked this decision. Part of that play is obviously because of the lack of skill after jettisoning Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel, but Dorion must have seen something else that he did not want creeping into the dressing room.
Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Jimmy Huntington
Now that the calendar has turned over to March, we’ll see plenty of teams reaching out to junior and college free agents with contract offers. Entry-level contracts can now be signed that start next season. That’s exactly what happened with undrafted free agent Jimmy Huntington, who the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed to a three-year entry-level deal. Huntington is an overager playing for the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, on a line with potential 2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere.
Huntington, 20, isn’t the same type of offensive powerhouse that Lafreniere is, but has still had an excellent season for Rimouski. He ranks second on the team with 83 points through 60 games and actually leads the team in goals with 38. The 6’1″ center is extremely hard working and will routinely drive the net both with and without the puck, using strong body positioning to create chances.
While his offensive ceiling may not be extremely high, the Lightning have had success in the past with undrafted forwards out of the QMJHL. Yanni Gourde and Danick Martel immediately come to mind as examples of overlooked talents that have found their way to the NHL in Tampa Bay. Joining an organization with that kind of history is obviously attractive, even if there is no guarantee he’ll be able to make that kind of impact at the professional level.