Snapshots: Backes, Purcell, Ramo
When the Boston Bruins take on the St. Louis Blues at the Scottrade Center tonight, it will be quite the homecoming for Bruins forward David Backes. At age 32, Backes is just 35 games into his first season outside of St. Louis after playing his previous 727 games with the Blues. A second-round pick in 2003 out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Backes spent a decade in St. Louis, playing the best part of his career in the shadow of the Gateway Arch. The big forward earned a spot on the team in 2006-07 and never looked back. He became the model of consistency for his teammates, putting in the hard work each and every game and getting the big numbers to go with it. With five 50+ point seasons over the span of ten dominant years, Backes has earned his place all over the Blues’ record books. He’s fifth in games played, sixth in goals, eighth in assists, sixth in points, sixth in +/-, fifth in penalty minutes, and on and on. The Blues captain from 2011 to 2016, Backes left his mark on the St. Louis organization and the city certainly made a life-long impact on him as well. Backes got emotional when the Bruins honored his time in St. Louis when the Blues visited Boston earlier this season, so one can imagine the feelings that will be flowing tonight when he returns home, with his wife and daughter along for the ride as well, watching from the stands they used to sit in for years.
As much as Backes may have fond memories about his time in St. Louis, he is enjoying his new home in Boston and since returning from a concussion, has been playing the best hockey of the season in his first few games back. In fact, St. Louis is likely missing Backes more than vice-versa. Both the Bruins and Blues currently have 47 points on the year, but Boston is positioned well to earn an automatic playoff berth in the weak Atlantic Division, while St. Louis is soundly behind rivals Chicago and Minnesota in the Central Division and are having to fight off Winnipeg, Dallas, and Nashville as well. The Blues have clearly taken a step back in 2016-17, and the team has faced much criticism for letting hard-working, “heart and soul” guys like Backes and Troy Brouwer leave this off-season. Though Backes has only 21 points so far for Boston, the B’s have greatly benefited from his physical play, offensive instincts, and net-front presence. The Bruins are still searching for the right mix up front and have additionally faced some bad luck early on this year. Once they get things sorted out and get rolling, Backes’ ability will be invaluable to their stretch run, and St. Louis will be yearning for the same contribution from their side.
In other news:
- Another player missing the good ole days is Los Angeles Kings winger Teddy Purcell. Despite signing an affordable one-year, $1.6MM contract this summer, Purcell cleared waivers in early December and was sent down to the AHL, where he remains buried. Purcell had just two assists in 12 games for the Kings prior to his demotion, but since has 14 points in 12 games with the Ontario Reign. His coach in Ontario, Mike Stothers, has seen this success and was blunt in his evaluation, simply stating that Purcell is “too good for this league”. While he added that “maybe this (AHL stint) is what he needs to get back up to the NHL”, it’s pretty clear that Purcell’s talent is being wasted in the minors. Just last year, Purcell had a 43-point season split between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, and only in 2011-12 did he have his career-high 65-point campaign with the Tampa Bay Lightning. A gifted play-maker and sleek skater, there are surely teams around the NHL who could use his talents. However, with so many squads right up against the salary cap limit, even a measly $1.6MM hit can be problematic. If Purcell is not in the plans of the Kings, expect to hear his name more and more as the NHL Trade Deadline approaches. Los Angeles is willing to move the talented forward and Purcell is eager for another shot, but it’s just a matter of finding a fit, literally.
- Karri Ramo is hoping to find an NHL gig in the coming months as well. Still an unrestricted free agent, Ramo was unable to find a guaranteed job this summer, settling instead for a minor league tryout deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. However, that went over about as well as his summer job search, as Ramo posted an .880 SV% and 3.80 GAA in three games with the Marlies before putting an end to his PTO. ESPN’s Pierre Lebrun spoke with Ramo’s agent, Todd Diamond, who revealed that Ramo had to have clean-up surgery in the knee that he injured in 2015-16, which could partially explain his poor performance in the AHL. Ramo is expected to be back to 100% by mid-February, just in time for a team who missed out on adding insurance in net in the quiet 2017 trade market to take a gamble on an NHL veteran. However, there are not too many teams looking for goalies as of now, especially with Ramo’s top option, the Maple Leafs, solving their problems by claiming Curtis McElhinney off of waivers earlier today. Ramo may be hard-pressed to find a position in the NHL this season, and may be better off rehabbing and working out in anticipation for next year.
5 Key Stories: 1/2/16 – 1/8/16
Let’s recap the five biggest stories from the week of 1/2/2016 through 1/8/2016:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets occupy the top spot in the league due in large part to their recent 16-game winning streak. The team had a chance to tie a record set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins – a team led by “Super” Mario Lemieux and the ageless Jaromir Jagr – but the Blue Jackets came up short, falling to the Washington Capitals by the score of 5 – 0. Nonetheless, it’s an incredible feat accomplished by the Blue Jackets and an announcement to the rest of the league that they are indeed a team to be taken seriously.
- It’s been an up-and-down year in Winnipeg, but Jets rookie phenom Patrik Laine has been a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season. The 18-year-old Finn is currently tied for third in the league in goal scoring with 21 and has already established himself as one of the league’s most exciting young stars. Unfortunately, Laine is out indefinitely after suffering a concussion in Winnipeg’s 4 – 3 loss to Buffalo on Saturday.
- Colorado has certainly been one of the league’s biggest disappointments in 2016-17. An offseason coaching change was expected to spark a talented roster back into playoff contention but instead the Avalanche have been the worst team in the league and at this point are one of the few clubs who can safely be called “seller” in advance of the trade deadline. This of course has led to all kinds of rumors, with the most recent involving Boston. The Bruins reportedly inquired as to the availability Gabriel Landeskog with Colorado asking for rookie blue liner Brandon Carlo in return. While there appears to be no traction in trade discussions between the two teams, that could change closer to the March 1st deadline.
- It was a busy week on the waiver wire with several players switching teams by virtue of waiver claims. Reid Boucher changed clubs twice going from Nashville to New Jersey and finally on to Vancouver all via waivers. Ty Rattie went from St. Louis to Carolina and San Jose lost Matt Nieto to Colorado.
- Montreal winger Brendan Gallagher is slated to miss the next eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured hand. Gallagher was injured when a shot from teammate Shea Weber struck his hand during a recent game.
PHR Originals: 1/2/2016 – 1/8/2016
Here’s the roundup of the week’s original features appearing on Pro Hockey Rumors.
- Brett Barrett brought us the story of Swiss prospect Nico Hischier, who may have overtaken Nolan Patrick as the presumptive top overall 2017 draft prospect.
- Zach Leach discusses how the development of several young defenders has created newfound blue line depth in the Boston Bruins organization.
- With the trade deadline approaching, I looked at a handful of notable trades consummated in the month of January in recent seasons.
- Brian La Rose hosted PHR’s debut mailbag and fielded questions on several topics, including whether the Bruins have reached the point where they should consider a coaching change.
- Mike Furlano compiled a list of all teams who had prospects participating in the recent gold medal game of the World Junior championship game between Team USA and Team Canada.
- Brian brought us the latest installment of PHR’s 2005 re-draft series with the Washington Capitals on the clock with the 27th selection.
- Zach wraps up the week by writing about the teams satisfying expansion draft requirements by extending backup-type goaltenders. Each of the 30 current NHL teams must expose one goalie under contract for the 2017-18 season and several clubs are signing net minders in-season who otherwise would have to wait until summer for their next pact.
Hurricanes To Play As Scheduled Despite Winter Storm
Whenever it snows below the Mason-Dixon line, panic is generally expected. Without the same means of clean-up as most areas in the North, as well as citizens unfamiliar with freezing temperatures and non-rain precipitation, Southern states seemingly shut down as a result of the rarely-seen snowstorm. So when Winter Storm Helena hit the South East over the past two days, dumping up to a foot of snow in some parts of North Carolina, there was naturally some doubt about whether or not the Carolina Hurricanes game, among many sporting events, would go on as scheduled today.
While the visiting Boston Bruins are likely laughing to themselves over the extreme response to the type of snowstorm that hits New England multiple times every year, they’ll be happy to hear that they didn’t rush to North Carolina after their game last night in Sunrise, Florida for nothing. The NHL has decided that it will not be necessary to move tonight’s Bruins-Hurricanes game, scheduled for a 5pm ET puck-drop. Although the state of North Carolina is in a State of Emergency as a result of the snow, both teams and officials are already in Raleigh and there is no extreme safety risk to those traveling to the game, now that the storm is over and clean-up has begun. For those who choose not to attend, the Hurricanes will allow them to swap tickets with another remaining home game.
While the Bruins wouldn’t have minded an extra day of rest on their current four-game road trip, as they are scheduled to play tonight just 19 hours after their game against the Florida Panthers last night ended, re-scheduling a game can be a difficult task, as the Hurricanes have already experienced this season when ice conditions caused a prior home game to be postponed. The Bruins may also want to keep their momentum going, as they played well in a 4-0 shutout of the Panthers last night following tough losses to the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers. A win over the Hurricanes tonight in front of rookie goalie Zane McIntyre may be the boost they need to take home wins against the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators before heading home to Boston, which also fell victim to Winter Storm Helena yesterday. Meanwhile, Carolina will look to reward their fans willing to brave the snow with a win tonight. The Hurricanes beat the Bruins 3-2 in overtime when these teams met in Boston on December 23rd, and since then Carolina has had quite a stretch of tough games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues, and twice against the Chicago Blackhawks. It doesn’t get any easier after tonight, as the ‘Canes face the Columbus Blue Jackets three times in their next six games, so they need a win wherever they can get one.
Atlantic Notes: Carlo, Lightning Draft, Nyquist, Eisenschmid
Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo has been a revelation on their back end this season but CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty suggests that in recent games, he’s showing signs of hitting the proverbial rookie wall.
Over the last six games, Carlo’s ice time has been below his season average (21:50) while he was down to just 16 minutes in his last outing against Edmonton, a career low. He also has posted a -10 rating in his last 15 games and while plus/minus doesn’t quite carry the same level of importance nowadays, that’s still far from a good thing.
Rookie struggles, especially for blueliners, is hardly an uncommon thing but considering the fact that Carlo has often been a top pairing player for the Bruins, the pressure on him to turn this rough patch around is that much higher. For his part, Carlo isn’t getting down on himself too much:
“I feel like pucks definitely aren’t bouncing my way as much as they were in the beginning of the year. But that’s something that I just need to continue with, keeping it simple and moving the puck. I’m just trying to keep my gaps up and go through every game and know that I worked my hardest out there.”
The Bruins have been looking for help on the back end dating back to the summer. While Carlo’s emergence as a regular player lessened the need to add someone from outside the organization, GM Don Sweeney could be forced to again join the mass of teams looking to add a defenseman if the 20 year old continues to scuffle.
More from the Atlantic:
- When the Lightning recalled goaltender Adam Wilcox to serve as Andrei Vasilevskiy’s backup, he became the sixth and final player from Tampa Bay’s 2011 draft class to suit up in an NHL game, notes Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times. In fact, all six players were in a Tampa uniform for their last game – forwards Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, and Matthew Peca as well as defenseman Nikita Nesterov. Wilcox’s stint with the Lightning isn’t likely to last too long though. He was brought up in part to allow Kristers Gudlevskis to get some playing time in while Ben Bishop is hoping to be back in the lineup during their six game road trip that kicks off January 16th in Los Angeles.
- Red Wings right winger Gustav Nyquist is at a loss to explain his scoring drought, writes MLive’s Ansar Khan. Despite averaging more ice time and more shots on goal per game, Nyquist is stuck at just four goals on the season with just one of those coming in his last 33 outings. While head coach Jeff Blashill is pleased with his effort level on a night-to-night basis, he’d like to see the 27 year old play less on the perimeter and more around the net.
- The Canadiens announced the signing of German center Markus Eisenschmid to a two year, entry level contract. The 21 year old is in his second season with their AHL affiliate in St. John’s. Through 32 games so far this year, he has six goals and four assists.
Snapshots: Vegas Golden Knights, Fort Lauderdale Shooting
After the deadly shooting at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport today, there were discussions as to whether or not the nearby Florida Panthers would postpone tonight’s game against the Nashville Predators. Although the Predators were already safely in Sunrise, concerns over safety and the welfare of players, personnel, and fans after the scary incident were taken into account. The airport was just 20 miles from the BB&T Center, so the ongoing events were obviously going to impact the participants and spectators of tonight’s game. However, the NHL and the Broward County Sheriff came together and agreed to play the game tonight. Security has been increased for the match-up, which dropped the puck at 7:30 ET.
Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins, flying into Fort Lauderdale for their game against the Panthers tomorrow night, were instead diverted to Miami International Airport. The shooting occurred around 1:00 PM ET, but events were still unfolding into the evening and no official updates were made until after the Bruins had been scheduled to land. The team arrived safely in Miami and will simply travel a little farther to Sunrise tomorrow.
- The Vegas Golden Knights are getting closer and closer to the realization of their NHL dreams, as the team released an update on the ongoing activities of their hockey operations staff. After scouting the World Juniors this past week, the team is re-focused on meetings to put together their plan for the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft (June 18th-20th) and Entry Draft (June 23rd-24th), as well as their special pre-free agency negotiating window. General Manager George McPhee was excited to have his first real team outing at the World Juniors, an invaluable experience in preparing for the rookie draft, and now has his sights set on running some more mock drafts in preparation for the Expansion Draft. On top of all of this scouting and strategy, McPhee is also finishing up the hiring of his medical staff and is close to an agreement on an AHL franchise arrangement. McPhee believes that the team will have a greater understanding of their AHL status in the coming weeks. The teams has also said that their pre-season schedule is nearly complete. The NHL’s newest team is keeping busy as they prepare to be the first addition to the world’s best hockey league since 2000.
Latest Colorado Trade Talk
The Colorado Avalanche have been in discussions with the Boston Bruins regarding left winger and captain Gabriel Landeskog, reports longtime Colorado writer Adrian Dater, currently with Bleacher Report (all links to Twitter).
The Avs are in need of quality young defensemen and asked for rookie Brandon Carlo but the Bruins aren’t willing to move him at this time. Dater suggests that young blueliners Jakub Zboril and Joe Morrow, as well as left wing prospect Jake DeBrusk could be part of a potential package for Landeskog along with their first round pick. Making a trade like that, one where a top forward is going for predominantly a collection of futures, could constitute the beginning of a larger-scale rebuild and there’s no evidence to suggest that GM Joe Sakic is willing to consider that route at this time.
Earlier this week, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported the Avs had trade discussions regarding Landeskog around the Draft Lottery in April that would have seen them land an established defenseman in return. The belief was that the blueliner in question was Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba but talks regarding him never rematerialized. Dreger also noted that Sakic is more inclined to move center Matt Duchene and that his preference is to keep Landeskog.
The 24 year old winger is in his sixth NHL season, all with Colorado and has struggled this season, collecting just 12 points (6-6-12) in 28 games. He also carries a cap hit of just over $5.57MM, which most teams wouldn’t be able to absorb without sending some money back. It’s worth noting that Boston is one of the few teams who could as they sit comfortably under the salary cap.
In a reader mailbag, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post suggests that Duchene is likely to fetch the biggest return but isn’t sure Sakic will move one of his top forwards now. He wonders if the GM may wait until the offseason before deciding whether or not to change the core or to try and build around it.
The team does have several pending unrestricted free agents that could move as rental players. Those are forwards Jarome Iginla, John Mitchell, Rene Bourque, and Andreas Martinsen plus defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Cody Goloubef although the Avalanche shouldn’t expect significant returns on any of those players.
With Colorado sitting at the bottom of the league standings with a 12-25-1 record and being 17 points out of a playoff spot, they’re a clear seller come trade deadline time. There’s sure to be plenty of discussion regarding the likes of Landeskog and Duchene between now and then. With so few guaranteed sellers, they’re certainly a team to watch in the weeks ahead.
Minor Transactions: 1/6/17
Here are the minor transactions from around the hockey world for January 6, 2017.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have called up goaltender Tristian Jarry and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Wilkes-Barrie/ Scranton Penguins. Jarry has 14 wins this season, which puts him in a four-way tie to lead the AHL. Jarry returns to the NHL club to cover for Matt Murray’s recent injury. The Penguins had their CBA-mandated bye-week, so Jarry was sent down to play games instead of getting a week off. He has yet to make his NHL debut. Ruhwedel has 15 points in 27 games with the AHL club this year, and two points in five NHL games.
- The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Liam O’Brien from the Hershey Bears of the AHL. O’Brien has 18 points in 28 games with the Bears, and could play his first NHL game since 2014-15. He had two points in 13 games with the Capitals in his first year of professional hockey. O’Brien has 42 points in 132 AHL games in his career, and is in the final year of his entry-level contract.
- A day after clearing waivers, Anton Khudobin is on his way to the AHL as the Bruins call up Zane McIntyre in a swap of backup goaltenders. McIntyre is unbeaten in the AHL this season with a spectacular 10-0-0 record and an AHL-leading 0.951 SV% and a 1.41 GAA. He hasn’t had the same success at the NHL level, though. He’s 0-2-0 in three appearances with a 0.859 SV% and a 4.04 GAA. Meanwhile, Khudobin has struggled in his second stint in Boston, with just one win in seven games and a GAA of 3.06. He’s in the first season of a two-year contract which pays him $1.2MM per season. Khudobin will still account for $250K against the Bruins cap while he plies his trade in the AHL.
- The Bruins have also returned energy forward Noel Acciari to the Providence Bruins. Acciari has struggled to earn regular play time in Boston since returning from injury two weeks ago.
- The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Gustav Forsling to the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL. Forsling was a pleasant surprise who made the Blackhawks out of training camp, but has seen his ice-time decrease throughout the season. He has four points in 32 games in the NHL this season. The Blackhawks likely wanted to stop carrying eight defensemen, as veterans Brian Campbell and Michal Rozsival were healthy scratches for last night’s game. Forsling did not need to clear waivers to be sent down, so he was the odd-man out.
- Staying with the Blackhawks organization, Spencer Abbott was recalled by Chicago on January 3. Three days and one game later, he’s heading back to the Rockford. Abbott was held pointless in just over eight minutes of ice on Thursday night. He has 21 points in 30 AHL games in his first full year in the Blackhawks organization since being acquired at the 2015 NHL trade deadline. Abbott played last season in Sweden before returning to North America. It’s likely that Jordin Tootoo will draw back into the lineup in his place.
- The Dallas Stars have sent Patrik Nemeth to the AHL on a conditioning stint. The 6’3, 215 lbs defenseman has played in just 16 games with the Stars this season, with no points.
- Oilers prospect Jordan Oesterle is heading back to Bakersfield. He has yet to appear in any NHL games this season, having been recalled to serve as the seventh defenseman twice. The speedy defenseman has eight points in 14 AHL games this year after scoring five points in 17 games with the Oilers last season.
NHL Teams With Prospects On Both USA and Canada
The United States and Canada face off in the World Junior Championships gold medal game tonight. Each team is loaded with NHL draft picks, and it is inevitable that some teams have players from both teams. While these players may be part of the same organization, there is no love lost when the two countries play each other. Below are all the NHL teams who have prospects on both Canada and USA tonight:
Arizona Coyotes
F Dylan Strome (CAN) vs. F Clayton Keller (USA)
Boston Bruins
D Jeremy Lauzon (CAN) vs. D Ryan Lingren* and D Charlie McAvoy (USA)
*Lingren was a late scratch before the gold-medal game
Calgary Flames
F Dillon Dube (CAN) vs. G Tyler Parsons and D Adam Fox (USA)
Nashville Predators
D Dante Fabbro (CAN) vs. F Patrick Harper (USA)
New Jersey Devils
F Michael McLeod and F Blake Speers (CAN) vs. F Joey Anderson (USA)
New York Islanders
F Matthew Barzal (CAN) vs. F Kieffer Bellows (USA)
Ottawa Senators
D Thomas Chabot (CAN) vs. F Colin White (USA)
Philadelphia Flyers
G Carter Hart and D Phillipe Myers* (CAN) vs. F Tanner Laczynski (USA)
*Myers was injured in the CAN vs. USA preliminary game and was unable to play in the gold-medal game.
O’Reilly Returns To Lineup For Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres will welcome center Ryan O’Reilly back to the lineup tonight with the team in Chicago to face the Blackhawks, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. O’Reilly last played on December 23rd and has missed the last four games after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on December 27th. He was expected at the time to need 10 – 14 days to recover and it appears as if O’Reilly’s return comes slightly ahead of schedule.
O’Reilly currently ranks fourth on the Sabres in scoring with 17 points and his return couldn’t have come at a better time given the recent loss of Johan Larsson for the season. Head coach Dan Bylsma can use O’Reilly against the opposition’s top lines, thus freeing Jack Eichel to match-up against lesser competition.
Buffalo acquired O’Reilly from Colorado prior to the start of the 2015-16 season in a blockbuster deal that also brought forward Jamie McGinn to the Sabres. The Avalanche received Mikhail Grigorenko and defenseman Nikita Zadorov along with prospect J.T. Compher and a 2015 second-round pick in return. O’Reilly led the team in scoring last season with 60 points and posted the second 20-goal season of his seven-year career.
The Sabres went 2 – 2 – 0 in O’Reilly’s absence, sandwiching back-to-back, home-and-home losses to Boston with road wins over Detroit and the New York Rangers. They are tied for last in the Eastern Conference with the New York Islanders and trail the Bruins by eight points for the last guaranteed playoff spot in the Atlantic.