Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
We’re now more than two months into the NHL season and finally starting to see some separation in the standings. All four divisions have a gap of at least 11 points between first and last place, with the Metropolitan continuing to be the tightest race. As the holiday transaction freeze approaches, teams are starting to call around to garner interest on potential trade bait or look for ways to plug their roster holes.
With that in mind, it’s time again to run a mailbag and answer any questions you may have. Our own Brian La Rose will be on hand to give his insight, and break down all your queries and concerns. Submit a question on Twitter by including #PHRMailbag, or leave a comment down below. The mailbag will run this weekend, so check back in a few days.
When Brian released our last mailbag in November, he touched on several topics including the William Nylander saga, the Vancouver Canucks hot start and Joel Quenneville‘s most likely landing spots. You can read that issue right here, including the part where he noted that Mike Yeo and Todd McLellan were close to losing their jobs.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Ian Scott To Entry-Level Contract
You can’t really have a better start to the season than Ian Scott. The junior goaltender is off to a record-setting start with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL, has a chance to represent Canada at the World Junior Championship, and has now signed his first professional contract. The Toronto Maple Leafs announced the signing of a three-year entry-level contract with Scott, who they selected in the fourth round of the 2017 draft.
It’s hard to argue that Scott hasn’t done enough to earn this contract, given that he is currently 23-2-1 for the Raiders with a .943 save percentage. The 19-year old goaltender got to experience the professional level with the Toronto Marlies last season, joining them on an amateur tryout throughout their Calder Cup run and soaking up tips from Garret Sparks and Calvin Pickard. The 6’3″ netminder returned to junior and has taken a gigantic step forward, improving from an .897 save percentage—his career high to that point with the Raiders.
Like all young goaltenders, there is no way to know if Scott is going to ever make it to the NHL. There are several huge steps he’ll have to take before that’s ever a possibility. Still, he’s done everything asked of him since being picked 110th overall and should join the Marlies after his junior season ends. It’s unclear when exactly that will be though, as the powerhouse Raiders are Memorial Cup contenders to be sure this season.
Chicago Blackhawks Place Jan Rutta On Waivers
Friday: Rutta has cleared waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The defenseman has been assigned to the Rockford IceHogs, meaning $1.025MM of his cap hit will be buried. The remaining $1.225MM will continue to be applied to Chicago’s salary cap.
Thursday: The Chicago Blackhawks were apparently unable to find a trade partner that wanted to take one of their depth defensemen, and have now risked one to waivers. The team has placed Jan Rutta on waivers today, exposing the 28-year old to the entire league.
Rutta was originally signed out of the Czech Republic in 2017, and did well enough in a part-time role for the Blackhawks that they decided to offer him an extension this past March. He was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, and it took a one-year $2.25MM contract to convince him otherwise. That deal also includes a European Assignment Clause, which is a very important part of today’s transactions. If Rutta clears waivers and the Blackhawks attempt to assign him to the minor leagues, there’s a chance he could force them to send him to Europe instead.
The idea of him getting claimed might also be unlikely at this point. Though the right-handed defenseman has shown he’s capable of playing at an NHL level, his attributed cap hit may end up scaring off any team that shows interest. It’s likely what kept the Blackhawks from trading Rutta or Brandon Manning in the first place, given the uncertainty around whether they can actually help a team on a full-time basis. Contenders like Toronto, Boston and Edmonton could have use for this type of player, but might not want to commit all $2.25MM to what is essentially a lottery ticket at this point.
Chicago meanwhile finally ended an eight-game losing streak with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, and had Carl Dahlstrom make an immediate impact in his first game this season. The 23-year old played 22:34 in the game, only trailing Duncan Keith and the recently returned Connor Murphy in minutes from the blue line. The emergence of Dahlstrom and fellow youngster Henri Jokiharju have made Manning and Rutta expendable, at least as the team looks to try and rebuild their back end on the fly.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Mike Green Out Three To Five Weeks
The Detroit Red Wings are falling out of the playoff race in the Atlantic Division, and will now be without one of their best defensemen for quite some time. Mike Green will be out three to five weeks with a lower-body injury according to head coach Jeff Blashill, who spoke with reporters including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia today. Filip Hronek has been recalled to fill Green’s spot on the roster.
Green’s inclusion on the 2018-19 Red Wings may have come as a surprise to some altogether, given that he was set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. Detroit was unable to trade him at last year’s deadline given his health concerns, but re-signed him to a two-year, $10.75MM contract just before free agency began in July. That deal also includes a full no-trade clause until February of 2020, meaning the Red Wings will be connected to Green for at least another year. Obviously that’s not a bad thing when the team is playing well and competing for a playoff spot, but with him on the sidelines there is reason to think that may not happen.
The 33-year old Green is still a very effective puck-mover, and leads the Detroit defense corps in both scoring and time on ice. With 16 points he actually stands fifth on the entire team despite having played only 23 games, and his almost 22-minutes a night puts him just ahead of Dylan Larkin for the team lead. Modern possession statistics and more traditional measures like +/- both love Green’s work this season, and it’s obvious to see why when watching him compete on a nightly basis. Losing that kind of impact from the blue line could cripple the Detroit attack, putting them in a tough spot to stand up in a hyper-competitive Atlantic division.
What the loss does do for the Red Wings is give even more opportunity for them to experiment with younger options like Hronek and Dennis Cholowski. The pair of young defensemen will be relied upon heavily moving forward, and can show exactly what they’re capable of now that Green is out of the lineup.
Minor Transactions: 12/14/18
The Tampa Bay Lightning showed the NHL just how dangerous they can be now that Andrei Vasilevskiy is back on the ice, as the goaltender was peppered by the Toronto Maple Leafs but found a way to keep nearly every puck out of the net. The Lightning now have an eight-point lead on the second place Maple Leafs, and are easily pacing the NHL. They’ll be off as 16 teams battle tonight, and we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves made throughout the day.
- Sami Niku has been sent back to the AHL by the Winnipeg Jets, as Joe Morrow closes in on his return. The 22-year old Niku played in five games for the Jets but wasn’t able to lock down a full-time role just yet. After taking home Defenseman of the Year honors in the AHL last season, there’s no doubt that Niku will be back in the NHL at some point.
- With Mike Smith suffering a minor injury, the Calgary Flames have recalled goaltender Jon Gillies from the AHL. Smith is listed as day-to-day, meaning David Rittich will get the lion’s share of the work for the next little while. Gillies meanwhile has not played well for the Stockton Heat this season, something that can’t inspire a ton of confidence in Flames fans moving forward. The team has sent Ryan Lomberg to the AHL to make room for Gillies.
- After the Detroit Red Wings recalled Filip Hronek to help fill in for Mike Green, they also sent Brian Lashoff back to the AHL. Lashoff has been up and down all season, and will likely continue to serve as Detroit’s insurance policy this year.
- Stefan Noesen has been placed on injured reserve by the New Jersey Devils and replaced on the roster by John Quenneville. The 22-year old Quenneville has not been able to produce enough to justify the first-round pick that New Jersey used on him, but is off to a great start in the minor leagues this season. Perhaps the talented forward has finally turned a corner and can be a full-time contributor to the Devils down the stretch.
- Denis Gurianov is getting another chance with the Dallas Stars, after continuing his red hot season in the AHL. Gurianov, the 12th-overall pick from 2015, has played just three NHL games so far and put together a relatively uninspiring professional career. That has all changed this year as he is currently ranks fourth in the AHL in scoring with 28 points in 23 games. Healthy scratched at times during the Texas Stars Calder Cup run last spring, he now looks like the powerful offensive presence Dallas believed they had selected.
Christian Djoos Out Indefinitely Following Surgery
The Washington Capitals will be without young defenseman Christian Djoos for a while, after he underwent successful surgery on his left thigh. Djoos is out indefinitely as he recovers from the injury sustained against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
Djoos, 24, became a full-time resident of the Capitals blue line last season after they watched Nate Schmidt leave through the expansion draft and Karl Alzner sign in Montreal. In 63 games the Swedish defenseman recorded 14 points before suiting up 22 times the postseason. Though he would see his minutes diminished during the Capitals Stanley Cup run, he returned this year and has been a staple among the team’s defense corps once again. The seventh-round pick has already made it further than most players drafted that late, and still has yet to really show off his offensive upside.
While he’s out, the Capitals will likely turn to Jonas Siegenthaler on the back end. The 21-year old has looked fine in his five appearances so far this year, and is expected to play a big part in future plans for Washington. Those plans may be coming a bit earlier than expected, but the opportunity is a well-earned one for the second-round pick.
Team Canada Makes First World Junior Cuts
With less than two weeks before the tournament begins in Vancouver, Team Canada’s World Junior team has made their first cuts of selection camp. The team surprisingly lost 5-3 at the hands of the USports All-Star team in an exhibition match yesterday, and decided to trim some of the fat from the large camp roster. Ty Dellandrea, Raphael Lavoie, Cameron Crotty and Calen Addison have all been sent back to their respective junior or college teams and will not be participating in the World Juniors this season.
For all four of these players, making the team was a long shot to begin with. Dellandrea may be the most well known of the bunch, given his 13th-overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft (Dallas), but that could change over the coming months. Lavoie, who turned 18 in September, has 31 points in 29 games for the Halifax Mooseheads and is a top eligible prospect for the 2019 draft. He could in fact climb all the way into the top ten with a good second half, given his all-around appeal. The 6’4″ forward can play the middle of the ice and is a good bet to be on the Canadian team next season.
Addison too could very well find himself on the team next season, given his outstanding production so far for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The puck-moving defenseman is stuck behind several similar players on Canada’s radar, but should get a chance when those like Evan Bouchard move on next time around. Addison has 31 points in 30 games this season and already looks like a steal by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the 2018 draft.
Carolina Hurricanes Had Trade Fall Through At Last Minute
The Carolina Hurricanes have been rumored to be very interested in adding a scoring forward this season, and they may have almost gotten their wish last week. On the latest edition of Insider Trading for TSN, Pierre LeBrun reports that a deal fell through at the last minute with a Western Conference team. LeBrun restates the Hurricanes’ interest in a top-six forward and while it sounds like William Nylander is off the table after signing his long deal, apparently they have interest in Kasperi Kapanen of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Speculation can run wild on who the Hurricanes were dealing with in the West, but the simple fact is that Carolina is urgently looking to get some more firepower up front. With another goal tonight for the Maple Leafs, Kapanen continues to impress in an elevated position next to Auston Matthews and is setting himself up for a nice contract negotiation of his own in the offseason. The 22-year old forward had struggled to find any real consistency at the NHL level for the first few years of his career, but had 21 points in 31 games coming into tonight’s action and is finally fulfilling the potential that made him a first-round pick. The Maple Leafs of course have other concerns in the summer months, given that Matthews and Mitch Marner are also restricted free agents.
Even if Kapanen is not available—which LeBrun makes no real assertion on one way or the other—there will be plenty of offense to go around as the trade deadline nears later this season. Another name mentioned in the segment by insider Bob McKenzie, though not in specific reference to Carolina is Jeff Carter, who still has three years left on his contract after 2018-19 but isn’t actually owed much salary. That makes him a pretty attractive trade target if teams are willing to sacrifice some young assets for the rebuild in Los Angeles, though nothing seems imminent there either.
One has to wonder whether Carolina will find what they’re looking for soon, given the urgency the front office is likely feeling. The team entered play tonight at 13-12-4 but had scored just 72 goals in those 29 games. That put them ahead of only the Kings, a place you don’t want to be if you’re trying to compete for a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
PHR Live Chat Transcript: 12/13/18
Click here to read a transcript of this week’s live chat with PHR’s Gavin Lee.
Philadelphia Flyers Recall Alex Lyon
The Philadelphia Flyers have released updates on three different goaltenders in the organization. Michal Neuvirth has left the team to join his wife who is expecting, Brian Elliott has returned to Philadelphia for a medical appointment, and Alex Lyon has joined the team for the interim. Lyon will pair with Anthony Stolarz at the NHL level for the time being, something the two have done in the minor leagues at times this season.
Seeing Neuvirth and Elliott leave the team at one point might have been tough to swallow, but at this point it might not make much of a difference. Stolarz was the starter last night but allowed the Calgary Flames to make a dramatic comeback that included two goals with their net empty, and has posted just an .889 save percentage on the season. Amazingly, that puts Stolarz ahead of three of the other goaltenders that have suited up for Philadelphia this year, including Neuvirth and Lyon. As the team waits on Elliott—the only one with even respectable numbers—to return from injury they have to hope that someone can step up and carry the load.
That appeared to be Stolarz, who despite the breakdown last night has actually played well in his short stint, but perhaps it could be Lyon instead. The 26-year old has stabilized his season at the minor league level and seems just as likely as any to give the team average goaltending. That’s all anyone in Philadelphia can hope for right now as they try to climb out of a dreadful start to the season.