Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Flames Rumors

Snapshots: Avalanche, Stone, Foligno, Namestnikov

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • The Colorado Avalanche announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Anton Lindholm from the AHL San Antonio Rampage. The Swedish prospect is playing in his first season outside of Sweden and has 2G and 10A in  59 games. Lindholm was drafted 144th overall in 2014, and with the Avalanche firmly out of a playoff spot, now is the time to see what the team’s prospects have to offer at the NHL level.
  • The Calgary Flames received some good news regarding defenseman Michael Stone. Sportsnet Fan 960’s Pat Steinberg reports that Flames GM Brad Treliving told reporters that Stone’s upper-body injury is not going to be as long as it could’ve have been. Stone has excelled in Calgary since being traded from the Arizona Coyotes. He has 1G and 3A in 8 games, outpacing his 1G and 8A through 45 games in Arizona.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets forward and captain Nick Foligno will not play tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, reports Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Foligno is ill and did not practice this morning either. Foligno has 24G and 23A in 65 games this season for the surprising Blue Jackets, who sit just three points out of first place in the NHL. Foligno is not the only prominent Blue Jacket missing tonights game. Defenseman Ryan Murray broke his hand and will miss 4-6 weeks.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning will have forward Vladislav Namestnikov back in the lineup tonight against the New York Rangers, reports Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. Namestnikov hurt his leg Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, but escaped serious injury. The Russian first round draft pick has 9G and 15A in 62 games for the Lightning, and will help close the gap on a playoff berth. The team is only three points out of the second wild card slot in the East.

Snapshots: College FA, Fasching, Hamilton

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

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.

Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Josh Archibald From AHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins may have another young winger ready to make an impact for them down the stretch. Today they called up Josh Archibald from the AHL prior to their game against the Calgary Flames tonight. The Penguins are on a five game winning streak and just a point behind the Metropolitan-leading Washington Capitals for first place in the entire NHL.

Archibald is a 24-year old winger who was selected in the sixth round of the 2011 draft. After completing—and dominating in—three seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Archibald has steadily climbed through the ranks of the Penguins’ minor league system. Earlier this year he played two games for Pittsburgh, scoring two goals in a February 11th overtime loss against Arizona. Amazingly, he has scored on each of the only two shots he’s taken during his three game NHL career.

As Pittsburgh has shown over the years with the emergence of Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary, the team isn’t afraid to put young players into key roles during a playoff stretch. After seasoning them at the AHL level, they can find ways to let them impact the game without exposing their inexperience. While Archibald isn’t guaranteed to play that role for the Penguins this season, his ability to penalty kill and play a solid defensive game may lend itself to some fourth-line minutes down the stretch and into the postseason.

Emergency Recalls: Melchiori, Andersson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As of March 1st, the day of the NHL trade deadline, teams are restricted to calling up no more than four players from the minor leagues and must be judicious in how they use them. There is, of course, an exception to that limitation: emergency recalls. Teams are allowed to call up a player on an emergency basis but they can only use a player with that designation in the event they don’t have enough healthy bodies to ice a full lineup. That very situation may possibly play out tonight for both Winnipeg and Calgary.

  • The Winnipeg Jets announced this morning that they have recalled defenseman Julian Melchiori from Manitoba of the AHL on an emergency basis. Fellow blue liner Ben Chiarot is “under the weather,” according to Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun, and is a game time decision. In the event Chiarot is unable to go, Melchiori will take his spot. Melchiori has appeared in five games this season for the Jets, going scoreless while averaging roughly 15 1/2 minutes per contest. He has registered eight points and 18 penalty minutes in 40 games for the Moose. The 6-foot-5 blue liner was chosen by Winnipeg in the third round of the 2010 entry draft.
  • With Michael Stone sidelined with an upper-body injury and Dougie Hamilton questionable for tonight’s contest due to a lower-body issue, the Calgary Flames have brought up defenseman Rasmus Andersson from Stoctkton with an emergency designation, the club announced yesterday. Andersson, 20, would make his NHL debut should Hamilton be ruled out tonight. Sportsnet 960’s Derek Willis tweeted that Hamilton was on the ice for the team’s morning skate but Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan called the blue liner a “game-time decision.” In his first season as a pro, Andersson has tallied three goals and 22 points in 50 games for the Heat. The 6-foot defenseman was Calgary’s second-round choice in the 2015 draft. Veteran blue liner Dennis Wideman will draw back into the lineup for the Flames, taking the place of Stone. It marks the first appearance for Wideman in more than three weeks.

Snapshots: Jackals, Lightning, Oilers

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The ECHL continues to shrink, as the Elmira Jacksls announced today that they will cease operations at the end of the season. That’s the second team in less than a month to announce they are shutting down, after the Alaska Aces broke the news to their fans a few weeks ago. The Jackals have been around for 17 years, and are currently the affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. They will play out their remaining 14 games but, as they are at the very bottom of the league standings, will be shutting their doors immediately afterwards.

Playoff Puzzle: Western Goaltending Experience

at CDT | by 6 Comments

Corey Crawford must feel like an old man these days. When the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender looks around at the creases of his main rivals in the Western Conference, one thing is constant: inexperience. He knows it well, from when he took on the Vancouver Canucks in 2011 as a rookie. At the other end of the rink was a 31-year old Roberto Luongo, who had already been through three playoff runs and was about to win the Jennings trophy for dominating in the regular season.

Crawford and the Hawks would lose in seven games, but it was an important step towards their cup win in 2013 when he would post a .932 save percentage—still the best mark of his career. It’s not easy to backstop a team to the Stanley Cup, even if you do have an excellent group in front of you. Just ask Martin Jones, who actually played his best hockey last year in the Finals against Pittsburgh, despite losing. It took a while for him to really find his groove and even then it wasn’t enough.

So when Crawford sees the standings and notices a trend among the biggest contenders, it might make him even more confident heading into this year’s tournament. Perhaps even if he is a bit older, that experience will pay off in the toughest two months of any sport.

Read more

Snapshots: Canadiens, Ducks, Flames

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Montreal Canadiens are cruising, winners of six straight games and leading the Atlantic by six points. They’ll have to continue to play short handed for a while though, as Alexander Radulov, Tomas Plekanec and Brian Flynn are all likely out for tomorrow’s matchup against the Calgary Flames. None of the three practiced this morning due to varying injuries, but the Canadiens are carrying enough players to fill their role should they be held out.

Radulov and Plekanec were both absent yesterday when the team slipped by the Vancouver Canucks in overtime, and Flynn was injured during the first period and did not return. In their absence, Andrew Shaw led the forwards in ice time with over 22 minutes, seven more than his average this season. They’ll likely ask Shaw to step up again tomorrow if all three are out, though perhaps Micheal McCarron will draw back in and take some of that weight.

  • John Gibson has been out since February 20th for the Anaheim Ducks, but Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports that he is with the team on their current road trip. The Ducks will face the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues on back to back nights starting tomorrow, and could definitely use Gibson in one of the games. In his absence Jonathan Bernier has shouldered the load admirably, but saw a slip last night against Nashville. Asking him to play back to backs would be extreme, and would likely turn to Jhonas Enroth against the Blues if Gibson isn’t ready.
  • The Calgary Flames have seen a rejuvenated Micheal Ferland since moving him onto a line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau and now they’ll insert him periodically onto the first powerplay unit as well according to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet. The young winger has continued to compete physically all over the ice and has five goals in his last seven games. Trailing only Troy Brouwer in hits on the club despite playing more than five minutes less a game than him, Ferland can create space for skilled players just by being on the ice with them.
  • Jannik Hansen finally showed up in San Jose after dealing with visa issues since his trade from the Vancouver Canucks. He was immediately rewarded with time on the first line according to Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. It looks like he’ll skate alongside Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski for his first game tomorrow night. With Kevin Labanc sent down, an opening was created beside the Sharks top duo and Hansen will get a crack at it to begin his San Jose career.

Expansion Draft Issues: Post-Trade Deadline

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Last month, we looked at several teams facing some tough situations in regards to the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft and offered potential solutions to how they could address their needs for forwards, defensemen and goalies at the NHL Trade Deadline. With March 1st over and done with, many of those squads have solved their problems with signings or acquisitions.

Calgary Flames

Problem: Defense

Status: Solved

The Flames solved their problem of otherwise having to expose Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, or Dougie Hamilton with the ingenious signing of Matt Bartkowski, the only defenseman on the planet who was both free to acquire and automatically eligible for exposure in the draft. It’s a good thing they signed him too, since they ended up trading away their best fall-back option, young defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.

Carolina Hurricanes

Problem: Defense

Status: Unsolved

It was a pretty quiet deadline in Raleigh, as the ’Canes shipped out Ron Hainsey and Viktor Stalberg and then called it a day. What they didn’t do was acquire another body on the blue line to help solve their lack of a defenseman to expose. Carolina is still facing the problem of All-Star Justin Faulk being the only defenseman on the roster currently meeting the criteria for mandated exposure, due to the majority of their defensemen being too young to be eligible altogether. There is no way that Faulk is there for the taking by Vegas, but GM Ron Francis is left with only two choices: extend impending RFA Klas Dahlbeck or extend impending UFA Matt Tennyson and make sure he plays in seven more games this season, as he’s currently short of the 40-game mark.

Read more

Snapshots: MacEwen, Tynan, Vermette

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Vancouver Canucks have dipped their toes into the 20-year old free agent waters, signing undrafted center Zack MacEwen to a three-year entry-level contract. MacEwen is playing for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL where he often skates with Blue Jackets’ third-round pick Vitaly Abramov, one of the league’s top scorers.

Elliotte Friedman reports that both Ottawa and Tampa Bay had been in on MacEwen recently, before the Canucks eventually signed him. MacEwen is a point-per-game player for the first time in his junior career, scoring 62 in 59 games this season. He’ll join Matthew Highmore and many others as teams around the league start snapping up any talent that has slipped through the cracks.

East Notes: Jokinen, Elias, Cammalleri

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Today in things you didn’t realize: Olli Jokinen hasn’t officially retired. After last playing in the NHL in 2014-15 for the St. Louis Blues—after stints in Nashville and Toronto earlier that season—the former Florida Panthers captain will officially retire prior to the Panthers game on Tuesday against the New York Rangers. A third-overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings back in 1997, Jokinen suited up for the Kings, Islanders, Panthers, Coyotes, Flames, Rangers, Jets, Predators, Maple Leafs and Blues during his 18 year NHL career.

Now 38, Jokinen scored 750 points in 1231 games and was one of the most consistent producers in the game during his prime. Involved in a handful of huge trades over the year, he and Roberto Luongo were the package sent from New York to Florida after the Islanders drafted Rick DiPietro first overall in 2000. The two would help shape the next decade of Panthers hockey, while DiPietro would suffer multiple injuries and become a cautionary “what if” story.

  • Staying with the old guard, Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports that Patrik Elias has been skating on and off this season and will talk to Devils GM Ray Shero next week about the possibility of playing at some point this season. Elias is currently unsigned by the Devils, but would return to the only team he’s ever known in the NHL should he want to hit the ice this season. The 40-year old has 1025 points in 1240 games over his long and successful career.
  • Maybe the Devils could use him right now, as Andrew Gross of The Record reports that Mike Cammalleri will be out at least a week with an upper-body injury. The forward will be re-evaluated next week at some point to see when he’ll be able to return. In a down season for the 34-year old Cammalleri, he has just 10 goals in 55 games and is starting to show his age on the ice. With two more years on his contract at $5MM per season, he certainly isn’t performing up to his current deal.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top