Snapshots: Pastrnak, Sabres, Keenan, Wideman
The Bruins and representatives for winger David Pastrnak are interested in getting a long-term contract done instead of pursuing a bridge deal in the summer, reports CSN New England’s DJ Bean. Pastrnak is slated to become a restricted free agent in July and is poised to land a significant raise from the $925K he is receiving this season in the final year of his entry level deal.
Bean adds that Pastrnak’s agent, J.P. Barry, is viewing Sean Monahan (Calgary), Filip Forsberg (Nashville), and Mark Scheifele as suitable comparable players for negotiations. All of those players landed new deals worth at least $6MM last summer. The Bruins should have the room to accommodate a long-term deal on their cap moving forward as well; they have a little over $61MM already committed next year to 17 players per CapFriendly.
Other news from around the hockey world:
- The Sabres are planning to recall defenseman Taylor Fedun from Rochester of the AHL in time for Thursday’s game in Los Angeles, reports Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. He’s expected to take the place of Justin Falk, who has been ruled out of the lineup for at least the next two games. Buffalo is also likely to have winger Hudson Fasching back in their lineup for the first time since late October. The 21 year old has spent the last two months in the AHL after recovering from a groin injury, collecting seven points in 23 games in that span.
- It appears Mike Keenan’s coaching career isn’t over just yet. The 67 year old is slated to become the new head coach of Kunlun of the KHL pending league approval of the contract, notes TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link). The veteran of 1,440 career NHL games as a bench boss last coached back in 2015 with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL and won a Gagarin Cup with them back in 2014. Keenan will have plenty of familiar with his team as he is currently serving as an advisor for them.
- The NHL lost its appeal in New York court to vacate an arbitrators’ ruling that dropped Dennis Wideman’s suspension from last season from 20 to 10 games, reports TSN’s Rick Westhead (Twitter link). The league had made its case back in June to try to have the remainder of his suspension reinstated. Wideman was suspended for hitting linesman Don Henderson but it was cut in half by arbitrator James Oldham last March. The NHL dismissed Oldham back in July.
Minor Moves: Gillies, Froese, Bayreuther
Brian Elliott is sick. Expected to start tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins and continue his recent hot streak, the netminder will be held off the ice entirely tonight. Chad Johnson will go in his stead, and Jon Gillies has been recalled to serve as the backup goaltender. This will serve as the prospect’s first taste of NHL action, despite him likely not getting onto the ice. According to Kristin Hallett of Flames TV, Gillies will be cutting it close for game time tonight as he caught a plane today to get to Calgary.
Wes Gilbertson of Postmedia reports that the Stockton Heat, where Gillies was set to play will be looking for an emergency backup of their own around San Diego. Emergency goalies are one of the best stories in hockey, ranging from video producers to bankers by day to professional hockey players by night. Someone in San Diego will likely be added to the trope tonight when the Heat take on the San Diego Gulls.
- Byron Froese has been sent back down by the Tampa Bay Lightning after just a couple of days. The minor league forward played in one game while the Lightning continues to nurse Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov back to health. Namestnikov played in Monday’s game as well, but aggravated the injury and is still questionable for tomorrow night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The re-assignment of Froese however does signal good news on one of the centers (no, it’s likely not Steven Stamkos).
- After announcing his signing late last night, the Dallas Stars—or, more accurately the Texas Stars—have signed Gavin Bayreuther to an amateur tryout and will see him join the AHL squad right away. The NCAA standout should help them right away, though they don’t have any playoff aspirations any longer. Bayreuther will get some professional experience before trying to crack the Dallas team next fall.
The Best Deal Of The Offseason: Brad Marchand
When you think back on any signing season, your mind immediately goes to the big deals handed out to free agents. This season saw over $600MM dollars handed out on the first day of free agency, and was followed by a lucrative summer for tons of players. Because of the lack of a superstar name—thanks Steven, you couldn’t just wait another couple of days?—second-tier all-stars were given incredibly lucrative contracts. Recently, our Zach Leach took a look back at July 1st and the mistakes teams made, handing out term and money to players who were perhaps already over the hill.
But this offseason’s best deal may not have come until much later in the summer. In fact it didn’t happen in the summer at all, but on September 26th just a few weeks before the Boston Bruins would start their season. The Bruins were getting ready for their preseason debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets—a game they would lose in a shootout—while two thirds of their top line was prepping for the World Cup of Hockey final in Toronto.
It was that morning of the 26th that Bob McKenzie of TSN would report that the Bruins had completed a contract extension with Brad Marchand that would see him stay in Boston for another eight years. He would be paid $6.125MM each season with several different clauses attached. Even though he was starring at the World Cup alongside Sidney Crosby—and would score the tournament winning goal just a few days later, shorthanded with 44 seconds left—many people thought the deal was a huge overpay. In fact, the replies to McKenzie’s tweet are mixed at best, with it being hard to understand the value Marchand brought to the Bruins.
Snapshots: College FA, Fasching, Hamilton
After releasing our (partial) list of prominent NCAA free agents yesterday, Bob McKenzie of TSN has released his own today. While we looked at just the defensemen, McKenzie covers all the top prizes including Zach Aston-Reese and Gavin Bayreuther, both of whom are expected to sign within the next 48 hours. McKenzie lists Pittsburgh, Edmonton, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles and Detroit among the suitors for Aston-Reese, who we learned was being pursued by as many as fifteen teams last week. McKenzie connects Buffalo, Dallas, New Jersey and Colorado to Bayreuther, a offensive defenseman who still lacks consistency in his own end.
McKenzie told us earlier today that Daniel Brickley would be heading back to Minnesota State next season, meaning that Bayreuther and the other top defensemen might be in even more demand. The insider has a ton of great information on the immediate future for several drafted prospects playing in college, like Adam Gaudette (Vancouver) and Luke Kunin (Minnesota). As teams continue to get eliminated from tournament contention, decisions will come quickly on their players. NHL clubs want to get them into their systems as soon as possible to help at the professional level.
- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Hudson Fasching from the AHL for the latest chapter in a very tumultuous season thus far. Fasching, a NCAA standout of his own last season, has played just six games with the Sabres this season. Still looking for his first point of the year in the NHL, Fasching has battled a groin injury all season. It has kept him out for months at a time, as he has just 31 combined games under his belt this season. The powerful winger out of the University of Minnesota made his NHL debut last spring after signing, and was expected to contribute more this year to a young Sabres squad. Hopefully now he’ll get into the swing of the NHL, and after another lost season from the Sabres lock down a role next fall.
- It was a crazy first half of the season for Dougie Hamilton, as trade rumors swirled despite being repeatedly shot down by the Calgary Flames front office. As Eric Francis of Sportsnet writes, with that behind him Hamilton has turned into the elite defenseman the Flames had hoped for when they acquired him from the Bruins. The Flames have won nine straight games, and a big part of that should be placed at the feet of the 6’6″ defender. Still just 23-years old, Hamilton set a new career high this weekend in points and looks like he could challenge one day for a Norris trophy. Calgary has their sights set on the Anaheim and second place in the Pacific Division, as with a win tonight against Pittsburgh they could overtake the Ducks with just 13 games to go.
Minor Moves: Varone, Graovac, Shore
The Ottawa Senators have decided they no longer have a use for Phil Varone, after the news that Kyle Turris should return to the lineup. Monday afternoon they announced that Varone has been re-assigned to the AHL. The 26-year old Varone only received just five minutes of ice time in Saturday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche, and is more useful in the AHL where he currently leads the baby-Sens in points. With 42 points in 51, Varone has continued his minor-league dominance this season, part of a longer trend. In his six seasons of professional hockey, he has scored at least 35 points in each of them with a career high of 61 in 2013-14.
Obviously Varone isn’t in the Senators’ current NHL plans, but perhaps he’ll get a chance somewhere else next season. The former fifth-round pick is an unrestricted agent this summer, and will likely be looking for an opportunity at the highest level.
- According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Wild are set to recall Tyler Graovac from Iowa. The 23-year old forward was waived a month ago but has spent most of the season in the NHL, playing in 49 games for the Wild. The massive Graovac is an effective bottom-six player who can play center or wing when needed. With Martin Hanzal out with the flu, Graovac is likely just up as insurance for the rest of the road trip. If the team wants a shake up, they could insert him into the fourth-line center spot, currently occupied by Jordan Schroeder.
- After signing this weekend and clearing waivers today, Drew Shore will indeed make his debut for the Vancouver Canucks tonight against the Boston Bruins. The former second-round pick will compete to prove that he deserves another look in the NHL next season. “I want to show the Canucks I can be part of their future,” Shore said today to the media. The Canucks will also get Mikael Grandlund back into the lineup, skating alongside the Sedins.
Evening Snapshots: Spooner, Gibson, Enroth
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- The Boston Bruins announced that forward Ryan Spooner will not play tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks. Spooner suffered a concussion last Monday in a tilt with the Ottawa Senators. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy stated that Spooner is progressing well through the concussion protocol. Spooner has 11G and 23A in 65 games for the Bruins, and the Bruins hope to get his offense back as soon as possible. The team holds down the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division by only two points, and a bad stretch could have the Bruins on the outside looking in.
- The Anaheim Ducks announced that goaltender John Gibson will not play tonight against the Washington Capitals. Gibson is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Gibson missed time with a lower body injury before returning on Friday against the St. Louis Blues, but heappears to have aggravated something and will take more time off. So far this season Gibson has earned a .921 SV% and a 2.28 GAA in 49 games. Expect back up goaltender Jonathan Bernier to make the start tonight.
- To deal with Gibson’s injury, the Anaheim Ducks have recalled goaltender Jhonas Enroth from the San Diego Gulls, the team announced this evening. Enroth was sent down on March 10th to make room for Gibson, but Gibson’s injury necessitated that Enroth return and back up goaltender Jonathan Bernier. With only 13 games remaining after tonight’s match, the Ducks are comfortably in a playoff spot, but are on the brink of becoming a wild card team and playing a much tougher opponent.
July 1st Free Agent Frenzy Reflection
The National Football League officially opened the 2017-18 league year yesterday at 4:00pm ET, and the annual onslaught of massive free agent signings has been ongoing ever since, keeping our friends over at Pro Football Rumors pretty busy. The NHL has a similar ritual, as flurry of free agent activity is common each and every July 1st, when a new hockey season officially begins. Last summer, a handful of huge contracts were handed out on July 1st. With the season winding down, how have those players performed in their first seasons? (Hint: mostly really bad)
Signed: Seven-year, $42MM deal with the Edmonton Oilers
2016-17 stats: 66 games, 14 goals, 22 assists, 36 points, -7 rating, 134 shots, 17:13 ATOI
Of all six players who received the biggest contracts on July 1st, Lucic is the only one on a team that appears to be a lock for the postseason in 2016-17. Now, that may say more about the effectiveness of hastily giving out money to the best players on the market, but Lucic at least deserves some credit. His offensive production doesn’t quite match up with his $6MM yearly price tag, but Lucic has added the same degree of grit and toughness that made him a fan favorite and Stanley Cup champion with the Boston Bruins. Lucic is always a physical threat on the ice and can make plays through his ability to crash the net and win battles along the boards. He’s never been able to score much more than 60 points per season, with just one 30-goal campaign in his career, but he earns his money through protecting the talented players on the ice while also having the ability to skate alongside them. Lucic is also spending an abnormal amount of time not in the penalty box, with just 41 penalty minutes as opposed to a career average closer to one hundred. Lucic is spending more time on the ice, most recently with his new line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle, than he is in the box, and as long as that continues, this contract will pay off for the Edmonton Oilers.
Signed: Seven-year, $42MM deal with the Buffalo Sabres
2016-17 stats: 63 games, 19 goals, 24 assists, 43 points, -6 rating, 151 shots, 19:04 ATOI
Okposo may have been named an All-Star in his first season in Buffalo, but the Sabres were likely expecting more from their major 2016 investment. The Sabres were likely expecting more from the 2016-17 season overall, but Okposo’s lack of production doesn’t help the matter. As it stands, Okposo is on pace to have his worst scoring season since 2012-13 unless he picks up the pace over Buffalo’s final 15 games. At $6MM a year for six more seasons to come, the Sabres can only hope that Okposo hasn’t already begun his decline at just 28 years old. Okposo has looked good alongside Ryan O’Reilly for stretches this season, but there hasn’t been enough consistency. He is still a safer asset than many of the other older players on this list, but we’ll have to wait until next year to know for sure whether this was a bad call by Buffalo.
Signed: Seven-year, $38.5MM deal with the New York Islanders
2016-17 stats: 62 games, 19 goals, 6 assists, 25 points, -11 rating, 112 shots, 15:56 ATOI
The Islanders have made an impressive comeback from a dismal beginning to 2016-17, but even if they find a way into the playoffs, that won’t be enough to make them feel good about the deal they gave Ladd this summer. At just 31 years old, no one could have predicted that the veteran winger would fall off a cliff this quickly. After scoring 46 or more points in each of the past six seasons, Ladd will be lucky to reach 3o this year. His $5.5MM cap hit over six more seasons could be yet another big mistake by a team with a long history of issues with long-term contracts. John Tavares and the Islanders can only hope that 2016-17 was a fluke and that they’ll get the real Ladd next season, but don’t count on it.
Signed: Six-year, $36MM deal with the Vancouver Canucks
2016-17 stats: 65 games, 11 goals, 13 assists, 24 points, -9 rating, 132 shots, 18:41 ATOI
From bad to worse, we move from Ladd to Eriksson, who may be the worst signing of the summer at this point in time. After a stellar 63-point season with the Bruins in 2015-16, Eriksson signed a long-term deal worth $6MM annually in Vancouver, and the Canucks brass expected that his addition would keep the championship window opened a bit longer. Instead, the team has faltered and appears headed toward a rebuild. One of the main factors to this collapse has been an utter lack of production out of Eriksson. The Swedish winger supposed to put up huge numbers alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin, but with a month to go, he has been off the top line for a while now has has less than half the points as he did at this time last year. Whether it is a poor fit or simply poor play, this signing could end up being a long-term headache for the Canucks if Eriksson can’t turn it around in 2017-18.
Signed: Six-year, $31.5MM deal with the Detroit Red Wings
2016-17 stats: 62 games, 13 goals, 17 assists, 30 points, -17 rating, 125 shots, 17:09 ATOI
Though the streak of failures was over? Not yet. Nielsen left the Islanders this summer, like Okposo, to help keep the postseason hopes of the Detroit Red Wings alive, like Eriksson in Vancouver, and like Okposo and Eriksson he has struggled. Because of this, the Red Wings’ historic playoff streak is all but snapped and they are left scratching their heads with a roster full of veterans on long-term contracts who didn’t perform up to snuff in 2016-17. Nielsen may be the worst of the bunch, as his 30 points teeters on the edge of being the worst full season of his career. Beyond just the lack of production, Nielsen’s -17 rating is atrocious, especially compared with his numbers in New York, where he was considered a good two-way center. No one on the Red Wings has exceeded expectations this season – now that Thomas Vanek has been traded – but that’s no excuse for Nielsen. He finally got the big pay day he had always wanted, but if really wants to earn that yearly $5.25MM and stay in Detroit for the remaining five years, his play will need to pick up next season.
Signed: Five-year, $30MM deal with the Boston Bruins
2016-17 stats: 59 games, 13 goals, 18 assists, 31 points, even rating, 140 shots, 17:21 ATOI
Finally we get to Backes, who despite scoring less than Okposo and not much more than the other two, can count his first season in Boston as a success. Backes has taken his fair share of criticism in 2016-17, but at the end of the day he has always been a two-way threat more than an offensive threat and has done well in that role this season. Backes’ 31 points is well behind his 45 points in St. Louis last year and 58 the year before, but the 32-year-old has also been asked to move from his old first-line center role to a top-six winger role this season, on a team that hasn’t been great at scoring goals. Despite all that, Backes may still end up with about 40 points, as he has been playing his best hockey of the year of late, now a member of the team’s top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand since the Bruins’ coaching change. Like the role Lucic once played in Boston, Backes has provided a dominant physical presence wherever he has played in the lineup this season and has contributed some offense along the way. Might the Bruins regret this contract in year four or five? Possibly, but for now Backes is a good fit and will continue to be this season, postseason, and beyond.
Snapshots: Bruins, Blue Jackets, Golden Knights, Devils
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- The Boston Bruins recalled forward Austin Czarnik from the Providence Bruins, reports Ty Anderson of WEEI. The recall comes on the heels of the Bruins announcing that Ryan Spooner is out indefinitely with a concussion. Czarnik is treading water in his first NHL season, scoring 5G and 8A in 47 NHL games. He also has 2G and 6A in 7 AHL games. The Bruins signed Czarnik out of Miami University (OH) in May 2015 and he’s been with Providence up until the start of this season.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets make two notable additions to its game roster tonight against against the New Jersey Devils, reports the Columbus Dispatch’s Tom Reed. Coach John Tortorella inserts Finnish rookie defender Markus Nutivaara back into the lineup after Nutivaara sat out of Columbus’s last three games. Nutivaara was the odd man out after the Blue Jackets acquired defenseman Kyle Quincey at the NHL trade deadline. The Blue Jackets also replace injured forward Josh Anderson with rookie T.J. Tynan. This will be Tynan’s NHL debut. Right now he has 7G and 23A in 55 games for the AHL Cleveland Monsters.
- The Blue Jackets also announced that defenseman Ryan Murray is scratched from tonight’s game due to a lower-body injury. The former 2nd overall draft pick has 2G and 9A in 59 games while averaging 18:37 minutes a game. Murray had somewhat of a breakout campaign last year before regressing production-wise. Murray and Nail Yakupov highlight the NHL Entry Draft’s unpredictability as both were drafted with the first two picks, and yet neither has met expectations.
- Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee spoke to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnson today about potential expansion draft selections. While McPhee was coy about specific strategy, he indicated that he’s received calls from many teams —helpful because those calls shape how the Expansion Draft team predicts who may be available at the draft. McPhee also stated that he will not make agreements to avoid drafting an exposed player until closer to the expansion draft itself to maximize the return.
- The New Jersey Devils have reassigned defenseman Karl Stollery and forward Kevin Rooney back down to the AHL Albany Devils. Stolley has played 11 games for New Jersey so far this season, recording three assists in that timeframe. He’ll rejoin Albany where he has 1G and 13A in 44 games. Rooney failed to record a point in three games for New Jersey, but has 10G and 7A in 57 games for Albany.
Ryan Spooner Out Indefinitely With Concussion
With the Boston Bruins in the thick of a playoff race, they’ll have to operate without the services of one of their young players. Ryan Spooner has been diagnosed with a concussion and will be held out of the lineup indefinitely as he goes through the NHL’s concussion protocol. Spooner suffered the injury last night against the Ottawa Senators.
Spooner has had an interesting season so far, putting up points despite being on the trade block and not getting along with the head coach. His 34 points in 65 games actually puts him sixth on the team, ahead of pricey offseason addition David Backes. The 25-year old looked like he would put up his second straight 40+ point season, and be in line for a hefty raise this summer when he became a restricted free agent for the second time. Always able to rack up assists, Spooner has dominated the AHL level and at times looked like he could break out in the NHL and become a premiere set-up man.
This latest injury is a tough one to have happen at this point in his career, and one Bruins fans know all too well when it comes to elite playmakers. The Bruins are currently sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division, four points ahead of the Maple Leafs. Losing Spooner right now doesn’t help, though with Drew Stafford now in the mix perhaps his absence won’t be as noticeable. Hopefully for Spooner and the Bruins, he’s able to return in time for the playoffs—assuming they make it in.
Atlantic Notes: Cassidy, Radulov, Plekanec, Carrier, Kulikov
The Bruins have played their way right back into the thick of the postseason chase under interim head coach Bruce Cassidy, going 8-2 in his first ten games behind the bench heading into play on Monday night. Accordingly, CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty suggests that the time is right for GM Don Sweeney to lift the interim title and make him the full-time head coach.
Shortly after the trade deadline, Sweeney told reporters that he’s open to lifting the tag at the end of the season although he left the window open to do so later this season if he feels the time is right. Haggerty argues that if the GM is already content with the idea of making the change more of a permanent one, it should be done sooner than later so there’s no opportunity for a distraction during the stretch run.
This is Cassidy’s second stint as a head coach after holding the job for parts of two seasons with Washington more than a decade ago.
More from the Atlantic:
- The Canadiens announced via their Twitter account that Alexander Radulov is likely to miss his second straight game against the Canucks tomorrow with a lower body injury sustained after blocking a shot last week. The Russian right winger has returned to the NHL with a bang this season and sits second on Montreal in scoring with 46 points in 63 games; his 31 assists lead the team. Additionally, the team noted that center Tomas Plekanec is listed as day-to-day although the nature of his injury is undisclosed.
- Sabres left winger William Carrier is set to miss his 17th straight game tomorrow against the Flyers, notes John Vogl of The Buffalo News. It doesn’t appear a return is imminent either as he has yet to start skating as the bruise on his knee is not hearing anywhere near the rate the team was hoping for. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is also expected to sit that game out with a concussion.