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Jeremy Lauzon Out With Fractured Hand

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The Boston Bruins have announced that Jeremy Lauzon underwent surgery to repair a fractured left hand today, and he will not be reevaluated for the next four weeks. The defenseman was just starting to find his way in the NHL, receiving regular playing time as part of the team’s youth movement on the blueline.

Lauzon, 23, even played on the top pairing alongside Charlie McAvoy at times this season and logged at least 20 minutes of ice time in seven of his first 16 games. He had three points on the year, but actually led the Bruins in hits and had more shots on goal than any defenseman not named McAvoy. A key part of the team’s early success, he’ll have to work his way back after at least a month off.

Because of the condensed schedule, missing four weeks means missing at least 14 games, a quarter of the season. The question now becomes whether or not the Bruins use this injury as a catalyst to make a trade deadline acquisition, or rely on an internal replacement like Urho Vaakanainen. The depth chart is getting awfully thin with Lauzon, Matt Grzelcyk, and Jakub Zboril all now on or headed to injured reserve. Just yesterday, a report emerged that the Buffalo Sabres are willing to trade Brandon Montour, while speculation on Mattias Ekholm has led to the Bruins being a potential destination.

Luckily for Lauzon, he has another year on his current contract and won’t have to be going into arbitration with a limited amount of games. If healthy, he should return to the lineup later on this year and be given a chance to re-establish himself as a core piece on the back end.

Poll: NHL’s “Thanksgiving Trend” Revisited

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Fans of the NHL are sure to be familiar with the deeper meaning that American Thanksgiving holds each season. With unrelenting consistency, the NHL’s standings on the final Thursday of November have had great predictive ability when compared to the final regular season standings. In fact, over the past seven years the Thanksgiving standings have been about 75% accurate at forecasting eventual playoff teams, predicting 12 of 16 spots on average. Even though American Thanksgiving only rolls around less than two months into the season, three out of four teams in a playoff spot at that time will have retained their postseason berth when the season ends.

The 2019-20 season of course did not have a standard postseason, but if it had then the Thanksgiving trend would have proved even more prophetic in a shortened campaign. Last year, in which teams were limited to between 68 and 71 games apiece prior to the early termination of the regular season, the Thanksgiving standings would have predicted 13 of 16 playoff teams in the standard format. Of the three teams that would have slid out of the postseason, the Florida Panthers trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs by .014 points percentage in the Atlantic Division and the Winnipeg Jets missed out by a measly .001 points percentage behind the Calgary Flames as the final Western Conference wild card. The Thanksgiving standings were that close to predicting 15 of 16 playoff teams in the shortened season, with the unexpected slow start for the Vegas Golden Knights and hot start for the Arizona Coyotes being the other unsurprising course correction.

But how does this trend impact a season that didn’t even begin until well after American Thanksgiving? Based on total games played by Thanksgiving over the past few seasons, Thanksgiving represents about the 30% progress through the NHL season. In the current 56-game season, that comes out to about the 17-game mark. Although postponements and rescheduling have created a wide discrepancy in games played among teams this year, the league as a whole passed that 17-game average on Saturday: Happy Thanksgiving. Admittedly, the 2020-21 campaign does have a different playoff model as well, one that is somewhat stricter than the last few years without the fallback of a wildcard spot for a team on the fifth-place fringe in their division. Yet, it is still a 16-team postseason and the Thanksgiving trend should hold. Using points percentage to rank the standings (the stat may end up determining playoff position for a second consecutive season anyhow) and adjusting for the season’s makeshift divisions, here is the current “Thanksgiving” outlook:

North Division                                                             East Division

Toronto Maple Leafs (.789)                                    Boston Bruins (.733)
Montreal Canadiens (.625)                                     Philadelphia Flyers (.679)
Winnipeg Jets (.618)                                                 Washington Capitals (.594)
Edmonton Oilers (.600)                                          Pittsburgh Penguins (.594)____
Calgary Flames (.472)                                                        New Jersey Devils (.583)
Vancouver Canucks (.405)                                                New York Islanders (.559)
Ottawa Senators (.237)                                                      New York Rangers (.469)
                                                                                                Buffalo Sabres (.429)

West Division                                                                Central Division

Vegas Golden Knights (.700)                                   Carolina Hurricanes (.781)
Colorado Avalanche (.679)                                       Florida Panthers (.750)
St. Louis Blues (.611)                                                  Tampa Bay Lightning (.700)
Minnesota Wild (.571)                                                Dallas Stars (.583)                    
Los Angeles Kings (.531)                                                    Chicago Blackhawks (.579)
Arizona Coyotes (.500)                                                       Columbus Blue Jackets (.526)
San Jose Sharks (.500)                                                       Nashville Predators (.412)
Anaheim Ducks (.417)                                                         Detroit Red Wings (.325)

Now this begs the question, especially seeing how accurate the Thanksgiving standings were in last year’s shortened season but also accounting for the many disruptions for a number of teams early this season, who is the trend currently overlooking? Which teams currently outside the playoff picture, if any, do you think will make the postseason when all is said and done later this season? Use the comments section below as well to discuss which teams may fall out of the postseason and whether you feel the Thanksgiving trend will apply this season.

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David Krejci And Kevan Miller Won't Play Tomorrow's Outdoor Game

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  • The Bruins will be without center David Krejci and defenseman Kevan Miller for their outdoor game at Lake Tahoe tomorrow, notes Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette (Twitter link). Krejci is dealing with a lower-body injury sustained on Thursday versus New Jersey while Miller’s absence is believed to be more for rest as he works his way back from missing all of last year.  Jack Studnicka and Urho Vaakanainen were both recalled to Boston’s taxi squad yesterday.

Par Lindholm Clears Unconditional Waivers, Signs In Sweden

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Monday: Lindholm cleared waivers earlier in the day and now Skelleftea AIK has officially announced his signing, indicating that his contract has been terminated by the Boston Bruins. Lindholm’s split from the NHL is no small move either; AIK revealed that his contract is a five-year pact, the remainder of this season and the following four seasons. Lindholm will be 34 years old before he could potentially return to the NHL for the 2025-26 season, likely meaning his time in North America is over after three seasons.

Sunday: The Boston Bruins have placed forward Par Lindholm on waivers today, but likely not for the usual reasons. Having already cleared waivers earlier this season and not in need of a second go-round on the wire, Lindholm’s placement is expected to be a precursor to the termination of his current contract. Swedish news source AftonBladet reports that Lindholm is leaving Boston, who has agreed to his release, and has already come to terms on a multi-year contract with the SHL’s Skelleftea AIK.

There is no doubting that Lindholm’s role in Boston this season has been reduced. Although he was always intended to be a bottom-six depth player when he signed with the club in 2019, Lindholm played in 40 games last season, more than half of the Bruins’ contests. So far this season he has only managed to get into one game, even as the team has dealt with numerous injuries up front. The additions of Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase (who has actually missed most of the season so far) late last season and Craig Smith this off-season have pushed players like Sean Kuraly and Anders Bjork to primarily fourth-line duty. Their roles as top-nine substitutes helped Lindholm get into the action last year. Add in the emergence of Trent Frederic as an NHL regular and Boston’s effort to get other young options like Jack Studnicka, Karson Kuhlman, and Anton Blidh some experience and there has simply been no need for Lindholm so far this year. He is fortunate to have played in even one game, as free agent addition Greg McKegg is still awaiting his debut. If the Bruins stay healthy and Kase returns to action, there isn’t even enough room for both Frederic and Bjork in the lineup, nevertheless Lindholm among others.

Lindholm’s expected departure from the Bruins showcases the difference in mindset between players. He easily could have stayed on in Boston in a taxi squad role and if multiple injuries struck in the bottom-six he may have found his way back into the lineup. Even if that didn’t occur, he could have sat in the press box all season, collecting on his $850K one-way contract, and still may have would up with a Stanley Cup ring given the Bruins’ talented roster. Instead, Lindholm would rather playing consistently and actually contributing to his team’s success, even if that means leaving the NHL altogether. Assuming he clears unconditional waivers, Lindholm will head to Skelleftea and jump right into the SHL stretch run. He is set to join the team currently sitting in fourth place in the league and will skate alongside a number of talented NHL prospects on a young, dynamic Skelleftea lineup. Per AftonBladet, Lindholm is expected to be a major addition and leader for Skelleftea and not only for the remainder of this season, but for “several years”.

Also on waivers today are Montreal’s Paul Byron (link), Detroit’s Danny DeKeyser (link), Columbus’ Gabriel Carlsson, and Carolina’s newly-acquired Alex Galchenyuk. Edmonton’s James Neal has cleared after being waived yesterday.

Snapshots: COVID, U18, O’Ree

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The NHL has sent out a memo to its teams detailing further enhanced COVID measures, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The memo includes specifically recommended masks, virtual meetings, removing the glass from the penalty box, further recommendations about remaining at home except for practices/games, and, perhaps most importantly, rapid testing on game days.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone spoke about the rapid testing change this morning, one that should hit close to home given his team had a player pulled mid-game recently. Tomas Nosek played two periods before his positive test results forced him out of a Golden Knights game, a situation that rapid testing can hopefully help avoid. Today, the Edmonton Oilers-Montreal Canadiens game has been pushed back an hour to give the league more time to process tests after one Edmonton player was added to the COVID protocol.

  • While the NHL continues to try and navigate their season, international events are starting to be planned for later this year. USA Hockey has announced the 2021 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship, to be held in conjunction with the Dallas Stars in Texas. The event is scheduled for April 26-May 6 and will primarily be held in Frisco, Texas at the Comerica Center.
  • The Boston Bruins will postpone their banner raising ceremony for Willie O’Ree until next year, retiring his number 22 on January 18, 2022, instead, in the hopes that he will be able to attend the event in front of a full arena. That date will be 64 years after O’Ree made his debut as the first Black player in the NHL.

Injury Notes: Blues, Armia, Necas, Kase

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The St. Louis Blues’ Tyler Bozak, who has been sidelined since January 26th, has finally been retroactively placed on the injured reserve per a team release. Ironically, the Blues waited so long to make the the move that Bozak is already eligible to be activated from IR. However, he is still considered day-to-day and there is not definitive timeline for his return. Bozak has been out with an undisclosed upper-body injury since taking a heavy hit from Vegas’ Mark Stone nearly two weeks ago. Defenseman Marco Scandella has additionally been ruled out for the time being with an upper-body injury, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Scandella was a late scratch for the Blues’ game on Thursday, believed to have been the result of this same nagging injury. Thomas adds that Zach Sanford is also out for the Blues with, of all things in the age of COVID, the flu. Sanford is off to a slow start this season despite playing on the team’s top line recently, but perhaps taking some time to get back to full strength will put him back on track.

  • Sanford is not alone in his struggles with the flu. While the virus is certainly the lesser of two evils this season, it is still hampering a return to action for the Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Armia as well. Armia, who was initially sidelined by a concussion, is doing better in that regard, head coach Claude Julien tells TSN’s John Lu. However, he has been unable to skate with the team due to flu symptoms. The team hopes to have Armia back at practice on Monday at the earliest.
  • Young Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas has also entered the concussion protocol after suffering an injury on Thursday, reports Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. However, head coach Rod Brind’Amour is not worried that he will miss a considerable amount of time. Specifically, he tells Alexander that Necas is “going to be out for a little while but I don’t think it’s going to be very long.” His injury is only being termed as an “upper-body” ailment.
  • The Boston Bruins are hoping to have Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk back before their next game on Wednesday, but it seems Ondrej Kase is still a ways behind in his recovery from a concussion. Head coach Bruce Cassidy tells The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa that Kase has been able to ride the exercise bike, but he has not yet resumed skating. Kase has been out since the Bruins’ second game of the season and is currently on injured reserve. A talented, but injury-prone young forward with a history of head trauma, Kase needs to return to the Bruins lineup and show some durability and consistency and establish chemistry with his team ahead of an off-season in which he will be a restricted free agent and the subject of a difficult Expansion Draft decision.

DeBrusk And Grzelcyk Doubtful For Friday, Could Return Wednesday

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  • Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk have resumed skating as they continue to recover from their respective lower-body injuries, notes Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now. Neither player is expected to suit up on Friday when their current road trip comes to an end while their next two games against Buffalo have already been postponed.  That would appear to have them in line to return a week tonight against the Rangers.

Snapshots: Zajac, Laine, Pastrnak

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The New Jersey Devils have announced that Travis Zajac has been placed on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list, which will be released later today. He joins Mackenzie Blackwood as Devils that won’t make the trip to Buffalo for their matches this weekend due to the protocol. Head coach Lindy Ruff explained that the team isn’t making any excuses while they deal with the absence of some top players:

I think we’re becoming accustomed to it. We start the year without [Jesper] Bratt and Nico [Hischier]. But I think every team is dealing with those situations. It’s no excuse.

Zajac, who was supposed to celebrate his 1,000th regular season game this weekend, will have to wait for at least a little while. The 35-year-old forward has two goals in his first seven games.

  • Another player that will have to wait the weekend before joining his teammates is Patrik Laine, who is finally on his way to Columbus this afternoon after acquiring his U.S. work visa. As Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports, Laine will face a 48-hour minimum quarantine period before he’s cleared to play after arriving in Columbus, but he is expected to debut on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. Because he was dealing with a minor injury at the time of the trade, Laine actually hasn’t played since January 14, seeing very little practice time during that stretch at all. Though the Blue Jackets coaching staff were sending him video work to study, he won’t have much time to prepare if he’s in the lineup Tuesday night.
  • David Pastrnak has declared himself fully healthy and ready to get back into the Boston Bruins lineup, a huge boost to a team that is already finding plenty of success without him. The Bruins are now 5-1-1 on the season and have scored 18 goals in their last four games, all wins. The return of Pastrnak will only make the team stronger as they continue their quest for an East Division title. Boston is currently two points behind the Washington Capitals, who are undefeated in regulation this season.

Trade Rumors: Penguins, Mete, Bjork

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Amidst the shocking news that Jim Rutherford had resigned as GM of Pittsburgh Penguins, it is easy to forget that this was a team that less than a week ago was reported as being active on the trade market. While ownership suddenly needs to focus on the long-term welfare of the franchise by finding a new GM, the Penguins are still in need of defense in the short-term. While Rutherford’s final move was to find a stopgap in free agent addition Yannick Weber, that might not be enough. The Pittsburgh blue line has been devastated by injuries early this season with Michael Matheson, Juuso Riikola, and Zach Trotman on injured reserve, Marcus Pettersson also officially out, and Brian Dumoulin injured in last night’s game. Even the thought-to-be-healthy John Marino was missing at practice today. What’s left is a group that is almost entirely right-handed, including the newcomer Weber, and includes a struggling Cody Ceci and an untested rookie in Pierre-Olivier Joseph. The Penguins need to to continue to be on the look out for help on the back end. With that said, NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz doubts that interim GM Patrick Allvin will have the authority to make a trade, until they potentially remove the interim tag that is. In the meantime, can the Penguins afford to stand pat in a shortened season facing tougher playoff odds and a more difficult division? Can they withstand extended absences from their current injured defenders? Unless owner Mario Lemieux decides to step in and pull the strings while also making a decision on his next GM, they may not have an option but to stick it out.

  • Through their first six games of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have yet to lose in regulation and have earned 10 of a possible 12 points. Everyone in Montreal is happy so far this year, that is except defenseman Victor Mete. With the team rolling on all cylinders, the Habs have had no reason to change out their starting six defenseman. In fact, there has been only one lineup change among skaters for one single game thus far. The Canadiens do not want to lose the promising, young Mete on waivers, but so far that has left 22-year-old sitting in the press box for every game. If Montreal continues to win and stay healthy, then there is also no reason for that to change. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has taken notice and he’s not alone. Friedman reports that there is interest in Mete across the league and offers will be coming to Montreal soon, if they haven’t already. After losing Noah Juulsen on waivers earlier this year, the Habs may be hesitant to part with another young defenseman whose career has been impacted by injuries but could be primed for a breakout. However, if Mete won’t get any opportunity to shine in Montreal, they may as well move him. After all, he will likely be available for free to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft anyway.
  • If there is one thing that has quietly defined the Don Sweeney administration in Boston, it is that they are not afraid to move young forwards who are unable to carve out a consistent role in the lineup. In consecutive years, the Bruins have traded away Frank Vatrano, Ryan Donato, and Danton Heinen, each of whom was struggling and bouncing around the lineup prior to being moved. Now, Anders Bjork could be the next name on that list. The team has liked the upside of Bjork, 24, and made that clear with a three-year, $4.8MM contract this summer. However, injury and inconsistency has made it hard to get a good look at the player. Now healthy and in the starting lineup through six games this season, that look hasn’t been good. Bjork has played on several different lines and with different line mates but nothing has clicked. He has zero points and just two shots on goal and hasn’t made a major impact defensively either. With the emergence of rookies Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic as NHL-ready assets and the upcoming injury returns of David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase, there won’t be space left in the lineup for Bjork. Multiple sources are now reporting that in anticipation of this result, interest is growing in the young winger. Bjork may not be a fit in Boston right now, but as a player with positional and two-way versatility and under team control for several years, a number of teams could be interested in taking a chance. With a lineup that is looking pretty complete so far this season, Bjork may also come cheap with the Bruins opting for a pick or prospect rather than a roster player in return.

Minor Transactions: 01/27/21

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With the NHL season now fully underway and many AHL training camp rosters now finalized, options are running out for remaining free agents. Fortunately, opportunities seem to always be available in Europe and in the ECHL, even with most of those league well through their current campaigns. This keeps minor moves flowing, even on a relatively quiet day for NHL transactions:

  • Scouring the recently released AHL rosters, one will find Paul Bittner suspiciously absent. The 24-year-old forward, a second round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2015, has been a solid contributor for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters over the past few years. However, when his entry-level contract expired this off-season, Columbus did not extend him a qualifying offer. Unable to find another NHL deal and apparently unable or unwilling to sign in the AHL as well, Bittner is off to Sweden. Vasby IK of the second-tier Allsvenskan has announced a deal with Bittner for the remainder of the season. The 6’4″ power forward should be quite the disruptive force in the Swedish minor league.
  • Another former Blue Jackets prospect is also on the move. Defenseman Michael Prapavessis, an NCAA free agent out of RPI, did not receive a qualifying offer this off-season either following the completion of his two-year ELC. Prapavessis was less of a surprise than Bittner, having seen limited action in the AHL as well as some time in the ECHL. Seemingly unable to land an AHL contract, Prapavessis is now in the ECHL on a permanent basis, at least for now, inking a deal with the Orlando Solar Bears for the rest of the season.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have reassigned forward Jack Badini from the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. The first-year pro, who was expected back at Harvard for his senior season this year, instead signed with the Ducks after the Ivy League cancelled all winter sports. The Ducks won’t rush his development this season, especially after a quiet start in the ECHL, but they want to see what he can do against AHL competition.
  • As noted yesterday, former Yale forward Curtis Hall has signed with the Bruins, but for this season it is an AHL deal with Providence rather than an entry-level contract with Boston. The Bruins expected the 2018 fourth-round pick to spend at least one more year developing in the NCAA, but that became an impossibility due to the Ivy League’s suspension of winter sports. The Bruins clearly felt that Hall, who already has pro size and was a dangerous goal scorer last season, was better off in the AHL than back in junior this season. However, they will wait to burn the first season of his ELC.

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