Boston Bruins Recall Joona Koppanen
Jan 17: After Koppanen joined Wagner in the minor leagues for a few days in between, the big forward is back up with the Bruins. He’ll head out on the road with them as they prepare to face the New York Islanders and New York Rangers in a back-to-back this week.
Jan 11: The Boston Bruins have swapped a pair of depth forwards, sending Chris Wagner back to the AHL and recalling Joona Koppanen in his place. This is Koppanen’s first recall of the season.
The 24-year-old winger has never appeared in an NHL game, playing exclusively with the Providence Bruins the last two seasons. A fifth-round pick from 2016, Koppanen is on a one-year, two-way contract that he signed last summer to stay in the organization.
Though he stands 6’5″ and towers over most of his opponents, Koppanen is not overly physical and instead uses his long reach as a tool defensively, especially on the penalty kill. Interestingly enough, Mark Divver of NHL.com tweeted yesterday that Koppanen had a bit of a “disagreement” with teammate Connor Carrick at practice. Divver followed up today with some words from the Providence coaching staff, saying that the big forward had been “unbelievable” and “absolutely outstanding” in the last few games.
While he technically received a Black Aces call-up last season, this is really Koppanen’s first chance at the NHL level. Wagner played just over 12 and a half minutes on Sunday in his only appearance of the season. If Koppanen takes that role tomorrow against the Seattle Kraken, it will be his NHL debut.
Latest On David Pastrnak
The Boston Bruins have had a dream start to their Jim Montgomery era. After hiring their newest coach in the offseason, the Bruins have stormed out the gates in 2022-23 to rank first in the NHL with an extremely impressive 33-5-4 record. A major reason for Boston’s success has been the play of David Pastrnak, who is up to 33 goals and 59 points in 42 games on the season. But what does cloud the Bruins’ future is the upcoming unrestricted free agency of Pastrnak, whose contract expires in the summer.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Bruins are trying to prevent reaching that point. Friedman reported yesterday on Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast that the Bruins were making “progress” on a new deal with Pastrnak. The Bruins signed Pastrnak’s countryman Pavel Zacha to an extension last night, and are seemingly hard at work on a new deal with their star forward, who will undoubtedly earn a major raise from his current $6.66MM cap hit.
Boston Bruins Extend Pavel Zacha
As soon as they put the finishing touches on a statement win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins announced a contract extension for Pavel Zacha. The four-year deal will carry a cap hit of $4.75MM and keeps Zacha under contract through 2026-27.
Zacha, 25, was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in an offseason trade last summer and agreed to a one-year, $3.5MM deal as an RFA. That would have walked him right to unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, and after a great performance so far, earned a serious extension.
The defensive forward has fit in nicely for the stingy Bruins, adding 25 points in 41 games. That has him on pace to set a new career-high (his previous is just 36), though only five of them are goals.
His scoring talents have become secondary over the years though, as Zacha refined his defensive game more and more. He can now be deployed on any line, at any point in the game, and help tilt the ice in the Bruins favor.
While it is certainly no guarantee that continues, the Boston front office must believe he can be a core piece moving forward. The Bruins have a massive contract negotiation still pending with David Pastrnak, which will eat up a ton of cap space moving forward.
Luckily, there’s plenty of money coming off the books even with Zacha signed. Nick Foligno, Craig Smith, Tomas Nosek, Chris Wagner, Anton Stralman, and Connor Clifton are all pending UFAs, not to mention Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci who are going year-to-year at this point.
With Zacha in place, the team still has more than $20MM to work with as they try to rebuild the roster for next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
NHL Announces Coaches For 2023 All-Star Game
The fan vote for the final player selections is still ongoing, but the NHL has finalized who will be behind the bench at the 2023 All-Star Game in Florida next month. Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour will be leading the Metropolitan, Boston Bruins bench boss Jim Montgomery leads the Atlantic, Peter DeBoer of the Dallas Stars will be running the Central, and Bruce Cassidy of the Vegas Golden Knights will be steering the Pacific.
The Hurricanes, Bruins, Stars, and Golden Knights currently lead their respective divisions, though it’s a close race in three of them. Only the Bruins have a substantial lead, with their 32-4-4 record pacing the entire NHL.
Interestingly enough, three of the four coaches named were involved in something of an employment carousel this offseason. Cassidy was fired by Boston and eventually took the job in Vegas after they dismissed DeBoer. DeBoer took a job in Dallas, one that had only been filled by Rick Bowness after Montgomery’s dismissal in 2020. Montgomery in turn took over in Boston, which gave him another chance as an NHL head coach.
Brind’Amour is the tenured professor of the bunch, taking over as head coach of the Hurricanes in 2018. He won the Jack Adams in 2021, and has an overall record of 199-95-35, plus four playoff series wins. It’s been an impressive transition from player to assistant to head coach for Brind’Amour, who basically never stopped working for the Hurricanes after arriving in 2000. He is reprising his role as head coach of the Metro, after being their last season.
The selections show just how quickly the NHL coaching wheel turns, with Cassidy and DeBoer both appearing at this game with their previous teams. DeBoer has actually gone with three in a row, appearing as the head coach of the Pacific in 2017 with the Sharks as well.
The final player selections will be announced on January 19, and the skills competition kicks off February 3.
NHL Announces Initial All-Star Rosters
According to a league release, the NHL has named the first eight selections to the four divisional All-Star teams for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in Sunrise, Florida.
The league names one player to represent each team at the game, a rule in standing since the league switched to a divisional format for its mid-season talent showcase. A public fan vote will decide the three remaining players per division next week.
Each division’s leader in points percentage after gameplay concludes on January 11 will determine coaches for these teams. The Boston Bruins have already clinched the best such number in the Atlantic at that time, meaning Jim Montgomery will be behind the bench for the star-studded Atlantic Division, arguably the league’s best contingent of talent.
The initial rosters for each division are as follows:
Atlantic Division
Boston: G Linus Ullmark (1st appearance)
Buffalo: C Tage Thompson (1st appearance)
Detroit: C Dylan Larkin (3rd appearance)
Florida: RW Matthew Tkachuk (2nd appearance)
Montreal: C Nick Suzuki (2nd appearance)
Ottawa: LW Brady Tkachuk (3rd appearance)
Tampa Bay: RW Nikita Kucherov (4th appearance)
Toronto: RW Mitch Marner (2nd appearance)
Metropolitan Division
Carolina: LW Andrei Svechnikov (1st appearance)
Columbus: LW Johnny Gaudreau (7th appearance)
New Jersey: C Jack Hughes (2nd appearance)
NY Islanders: C Brock Nelson (1st appearance)
NY Rangers: G Igor Shesterkin (1st appearance)
Philadelphia: C Kevin Hayes (1st appearance)
Pittsburgh: C Sidney Crosby (5th appearance)
Washington: LW Alex Ovechkin (8th appearance)
Central Division
Arizona: LW Clayton Keller (3rd appearance)
Chicago: RD Seth Jones (4th appearance)
Colorado: RD Cale Makar (2nd appearance)
Dallas: LW Jason Robertson (1st appearance)
Minnesota: LW Kirill Kaprizov (2nd appearance)
Nashville: G Juuse Saros (2nd appearance)
St. Louis: RW Vladimir Tarasenko (injured) (4th appearance)
Winnipeg: LD Josh Morrissey (1st appearance)
Pacific Division
Anaheim: RW Troy Terry (2nd appearance)
Calgary: C Nazem Kadri (2nd appearance)
Edmonton: C Connor McDavid (6th appearance)
Los Angeles: LW Kevin Fiala (1st appearance)
San Jose: RD Erik Karlsson (7th appearance)
Seattle: C Matthew Beniers (1st appearance)
Vancouver: C Elias Pettersson (3rd appearance)
Vegas: G Logan Thompson (1st appearance)
The most important note on these rosters is obviously that of Tarasenko’s status. The 31-year-old is on injured reserve with a hand injury, and likely won’t be able to suit up. His replacement will be named shortly.
More to come…
Boston Bruins Place Jake DeBrusk On Long-Term Injured Reserve
It’s even worse than originally reported for Jake DeBrusk. The Boston Bruins have placed the forward on long-term injured reserve with hand and lower-body injuries, suffered in the Winter Classic on Monday. DeBrusk was seen after the game in a walking boot and reports suggested he broke his fibula. The Bruins say his recovery timeline is approximately four weeks.
In his place, the team has recalled Chris Wagner from the AHL.
DeBrusk managed to score the tying and winning goals in the outdoor game, but will now be sidelined for at least the next ten Bruins’ matches. Without him, the team is expected to elevate Taylor Hall to the top six, their best chance at replacing DeBrusk’s offensive production. The 26-year-old has flourished under new head coach Jim Montgomery, with 16 goals and 30 points in 36 games so far this year.
If there were ever a team that can absorb a loss for a little while, it might be the Bruins, who have built up a big lead through the first half of the season. The club is an incredible 29-4-4 on the year and sits nine points ahead of their closest division rival. They’ve done it with exquisite depth at every position, meaning they should be able to work through the absence of one player.
Even his roster replacement should not be overlooked. Wagner, 31, has more than 350 games of NHL experience and was a regular with the Bruins as recently as 2020-21. While he doesn’t offer nearly the same offensive upside – he has just 37 goals in his entire career – he can slide into a vacant spot on the fourth line and contribute nicely. The team was already carrying $225K of his $1.35M cap hit despite being buried in the minor leagues.
Because they had such little cap space, DeBrusk needed to be moved to LTIR if a replacement was going to come up. It will also technically give the team enough space to recall another player if they choose, as they had been operating with a 22-man roster to this point.
Jake DeBrusk Not Traveling With Boston Bruins
After scoring two goals to become the hero of the Winter Classic, Jake DeBrusk may miss some serious time. The Boston Bruins forward was seen in a walking boot after the game, and Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff is reporting that DeBrusk has a fractured fibula.
Head coach Jim Montgomery confirmed to reporters including Matt Porter of the Boston Globe that DeBrusk isn’t on the trip, but will give a more detailed update tomorrow. Chris Wagner is expected to be recalled in his place.
If the injury was suffered on an early blocked shot as many are speculating, it means DeBrusk scored both the tying and winning goal at Fenway Park on a broken leg. The 26-year-old has been completely rejuvenated this season with 16 goals and 30 points in 36 games, after some tricky years with the Bruins.
A trade request, plenty of rumors, and a season where he scored just five goals, he once again looks like the powerful, skilled forward that Boston hoped they were getting with the 14th overall pick in 2015. His removal from the lineup is a big blow for the Bruins, especially given how tight they are to the salary cap ceiling.
If he’s going to miss more than ten games, they could move him to long-term injured reserve to get a little more flexibility. But that doesn’t really allow them to acquire a replacement, unless he’ll miss the rest of the season. Instead, the team will have to be a little more creative in how they sort out the lineup and replace DeBrusk’s offense.
Tomas Nosek Absent From Full Practice
- After missing yesterday’s game, the Boston Bruins said Tomas Nosek‘s absence was more precautionary as he works through “maintenance.” However, the issue may be a bit more severe than that, as he wasn’t a full participant in practice this morning. Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald did note that Nosek skated on his own before practice.
Tomas Nosek Scratched Wednesday For Maintenance
- After a difficult outing last night against the Ottawa Senators, Tomas Nosek‘s absence from tonight’s lineup would seem like a healthy scratch as a simple response to his play, but that’s not necessarily the case according to Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery. As Montgomery tells Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty, “It’s maintenance. It’s nothing serious, but we just didn’t want him playing in the back-to-back [games].” That strategy is sensible, and one Montgomery actually deployed earlier this season when Brad Marchand came back from injury. However, tonight is the first game Nosek has missed all season, which has included a few back-to-backs, and there’s been no news thus far of on any injury. Through 34 games, Nosek has three goals and four assists to go along with a stellar 58.3% faceoff percentage and steady penalty kill work. If Nosek’s absence is in any way performance related, it’s interesting to note Boston’s trust of Nosek thus far this season, giving 92.8% of his starts in the defensive zone.
Craig Smith Recalled From Providence
- As expected, the Bruins have recalled winger Craig Smith from AHL Providence, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 33-year-old cleared waivers earlier this month and the team will likely paper him down to the minors on off days to bank a bit of cap space. They did so over the weekend, saving a little more than $18K by doing so. Smith has four points in 19 games for Boston so far this season.