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James Wisniewski Leaves KHL Club

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James Wisniewski is on the move again. After failing to find an NHL contract this off-season, likely due to missing nearly all of 2015-16 with the Carolina Hurricanes with an injury, Wisniewski settled for a professional tryout with the Tampa Bay Lightning during preseason. Wisniewski was unable to make the most of his PTO and was cut by the team before the regular season began. He then joined the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok, where he has played for the past two months. However, Wisniewski himself announced his departure from the team this week.

Wisniewski now plans to head to Switzerland where he will join Team Lugano for the upcoming Spengler Cup. The Spengler Cup is an international invitational tournament hosted each year by Swiss NLA club HC Davos every holiday season. The tournament includes mostly European pro teams, usually from the NLA and KHL, as well as a non-NHL/AHL team from Canada. HC Lugano is a fellow NLA team taking part in the tournament this year. Wisniewski will now join the squad, which already employs former NHLers Maxim Lapierre, Damien Brunner, and Ryan Wilson. While it has not been officially announced whether or not Wisniewski will continue to play for Lugano in the NLA season following the Spengler Cup, it is a safe assumption.

So far in 2016-17, Wisniewski had a goal and three assists in 16 games with Admiral Vladivostok, usually skating alongside former NHL defenseman Anton Volchenkov. The KHL team was a ways out from contention though, 23 points behind in their division. Wisniewski now joins a more talented team in Lugano, who is primed to fight for a playoff spot this season. Wisniewski brings 552 games of NHL experience, as well as 274 career points worth of skill to his new team.

Snapshots: Connolly, Stars, Varlamov, Red Wings/Hurricanes

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When right winger Brett Connolly signed a one year, $850K contract with Washington in the summer, some believed that playing in a more offensive-oriented environment might help unlock the potential he has shown over the years after being the sixth overall pick to Tampa Bay back in 2010.  However, he has been a healthy scratch for nearly half the season and admitted to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post that his lack of playing time has been taking its toll on him:

“It’s obviously frustrating, you don’t want to be sitting out no matter what the reason is. But we’ve talked about kind of my situation and what’s going to be going on moving forward.

“I need to be playing. I need to be out there, so we’ll see. It’s obviously a big year. I’m being patient, and there’s still 51 games left. There’s still a big chunk of the season left and then playoffs, so you’ve just got to stick with it and hopefully you can get in there and be kept in there and play well and produce.”

Connolly has played in 17 games this season, scoring three times while adding an assist.  However, ice time has been hard to come by as he has spent the bulk of the year on the fourth line when he has played and as a result is playing less than 11 minutes a night.  He’ll get another chance as he will be back in the lineup tonight against Tampa Bay but once again will be on the fourth line.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • The Stars are likely to dress seven defensemen tonight as they take on the Kings, notes Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge. Dallas is still without Cody Eakin due to his four game suspension and they are not permitted to replace him on the active roster.  Meanwhile, winger Antoine Roussel and defenseman Stephen Johns are both listed as doubtful but are also on the active roster, leaving them without a spot to bring up an extra forward.  Head coach Lindy Ruff said that if they have to use a defender as a forward at times, it will be either Patrik Nemeth or Jamie Oleksiak.
  • After recently returning to the lineup from a groin strain, Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov has once again been sidelined with a groin issue, the team announced via Twitter. Varlamov had a tough night against Toronto on Thursday night, allowing five goals on 18 shots before being pulled.  Spencer Martin has been recalled and will back up Calvin Pickard until Varlamov is ready to return.
  • The Detroit/Carolina game that was postponed due to ice issues earlier this week has been rescheduled for March 27th, the league announced. Interestingly enough, this creates a rare three games in three nights for the Red Wings who host the Wild on the 26th and already were scheduled to play in Carolina on the 28th.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres, Matthews, Coreau

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The Sabres gave a performance worthy of Grinch-like proportions writes the Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington. Approaching the holiday season, the Sabres gave their fans a performance akin to receiving coal at Christmas. Losing 3-1 to the Hurricanes Thursday evening, the Sabres were serenaded with boos from the home crowd at multiple points of the game Harrington reports.  More importantly, Harrington continues, are Jack Eichel’s struggles and how it has affected the team. Harrington talked to the young star after the game, who was “seething” with head coach Dan Bylsma’s decision to take away ice time. From Harrington:

Asked if he was surprised to not be on the ice, the 20-year-old said the time to discuss the topic was over.

“I think I just answered that. I’m not the coach,” he said. “Like I said, we had a lot of opportunities on the first power play. … I was on the second power play. I’m out there working hard. I think that’s all I really have to say about that.”

Bylsma was “unusually intense” during the morning skate, but his teaching apparently fell on deaf ears. Worse, Buffalo slipped into a tie with Detroit for last place in the Atlantic with the loss. Harrington writes that redemption could come in the way of beating the New York Islanders tonight.

Dec 22, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in the first period against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

  • Auston Matthews is set to play his first game in his home state tonight, and the excitement for his return is through the roof writes NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. From Arizona youth hockey teams to Matthews’ own parents, the entire state of Arizona has been waiting to see their homegrown son return to where many thought hockey would never last. Instead, the #1 overall pick in the 2016 draft not only hails from the non-traditional hockey market of Arizona, he’s the face of the organization that many consider the epicenter of the hockey world. Matthews’ importance to the state of Arizona goes beyond just local pride. It’s the idea, Rosen continues, that Arizona finally has relevancy in hockey’s eyes.
  • Jared Coreau is set to start in net tonight for the Detroit Red Wings tweets MLive’s Brendan Savage. Head coach Jeff Blashill broke the news to Petr Mrazek, who has struggled to keep hold of the starting job in light of Jimmy Howard’s strong play. Savage adds that Blashill said he wants players to “want to be in” and though they may not agree, Savage tweets that Blashill declares that he has the final say. This season, Mrazek is 9-7-3 with an .899 save percentage. His struggles are one of many on the team this year that has landed the Red Wings in a tie for last place in the division.

Previous Post-Roster Freeze Trades

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As of 11:59pm last night (Eastern time), the NHL’s annual holiday roster freeze kicked in.

While there were some rumors kicking around prior to the freeze, there wasn’t anything that seemed imminent. However, we have seen trades made within days of the roster freeze ending. Here are the previous post-roster freeze trades of past few years.

2015-16: On December 28, 2015, the Edmonton Oilers traded former starter Ben Scrivens to the Montreal Canadiens for Zack Kassian. Both teams were looking for a comeback story: Scrivens had fallen to fourth on the Oilers depth chart, while Kassian had just cleared waivers after completing the NHL’s substance abuse program. Scrivens played 15 games in Montreal, winning just five times. While one of those was a 5-1 win for Scrivens over his former team, the Oilers have likely won this trade. Kassian has gotten his act together and is a solid bottom six energy forward/ penalty killer with 15 points in 67 games so far. Scrivens is now playing in the KHL.

2014-15: Just a day after the roster freeze ended, the Oilers acquired Derek Roy from Nashville for Mark Arcobello. Roy had just cleared waivers and had 10 points in 26 games with the Predators. He found immediate success with the Oilers, scoring 22 points in 46 games. He remains one of the few centers to ever get consistent results from Nail Yakupov, who scored 25 points in 35 games with Roy as his center. Arcobello had 12 points in 36 games for an Oilers team with almost no depth at the center position: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Boyd Gordon were the only legitimate NHL centers on the roster, with Leon Draisaitl just days away from being sent to the WHL. Arcobello played just four games in Nashville before bouncing around to Pittsburgh and Arizona before the end of the season.

2013-14: On December 30, 2013, the Calgary Flames traded former OHL scorer Greg Nemisz to the Carolina Hurricanes for tough guy Kevin Westgarth. Nemisz, a former first-round pick of the Flames and double Memorial Cup champion with the Windsor Spitfires, played parts of two seasons for the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate. However, after suffering three season-ending injuries in as many seasons, Nemisz retired. He’s now an assistant coach for the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. Westgarth played 36 games for the Flames, which were his last in the NHL. He failed to stick with the Oilers on a PTO the following year, and ended up playing his last year of hockey for the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the U.K.

Interestingly enough, only one of the six players (Kassian) is still in the NHL. Scrivens and Roy are now in the KHL, Arcobello is playing in the Swiss League, and Westgarth and Nemisz are retired.

If you’re handicapping this year’s post-roster freeze movements, expect the Oilers to make a minor trade and for both players to be out of the NHL within two years.

Evening Snapshots: Spectacular Sophomores, Hartman

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  • The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton makes his case for five players who avoided the dreaded sophomore slump this season. At the top of his list is Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who Clinton writes is the reason for the Oilers’ turnaround this season. Had it not been for the clavicle injury last season, McDavid would have had one of the best back-to-back seasons that rivaled Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Next is the Blackhawks’ Artemi Panarin, who Clinton believes the Hawks have to absolutely re-sign at all costs. That would certainly cause some financial posturing, but he believes Panarin to be a devastating personnel loss should he go elsewhere. The Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers, the Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin, and the Blues’ Colton Parayko round out Clinton’s top five.
  • The Blackhawks have been on a tear lately and rookie Ryan Hartman has been one of the brightest spots for Chicago. Chris Hine writes that the young forward has learned quite a bit about being more patient on the ice and not corralling penalties as he would have in the past. Hine describes him as an irritant, there’s a reason for Hartman’s change of play:

“You have an opportunity to play in the NHL and be in the lineup every night. If you’re going to take penalties and do that kind of stuff, you’re not going to be in the lineup for long,” Hartman said. “I just try to stay out of the box as much as possible, and it related to me being on the ice more.”

Drawing penalties instead of causing them has been a boon for the Hawks and the young forward. He’s also shown a knack for scoring timely goals. Hartman notched the winner against San Jose on Sunday night and already has six on the season. Playing for a coach known to favor veterans, Hartman is making the most of his chance and certainly justifying his playing time from Joel Quenneville.

Evening Snapshots: Carolina-Detroit, Toronto-Anaheim

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A look at a couple of tonight’s games around the NHL:

  • 7:45 pm: Per St. James, who spoke with Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, the game has been cancelled.
  • 7:43pm: The next update looks to be in about 15 minutes tweets the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. More boos and St. James feesl the game may be called.
  • 7:08pm: The Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan tweets that repairs continue on the coolant that is causing the problems. Another update will be at 7:30pm CST. Kulfan reports that the crowd booed the announcement, which is understandable after the game was supposed to begin at 6:00pm CST.
  • The game tonight between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings will be delayed at least an hour (as of 6:55pm EST) due to a malfunctioning ice-cooling system. According to the team, they discovered a freon leak in the compressor and are working to fix the issue. Neither team has had its pre-game warmups yet, so fans are in for a bit of a wait. The Red Wings, however, are up against a time crunch because they play tomorrow night in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. According to Team President Don Waddell, the NHL imposes a “22-hour rule” between starts. That means that any game must start at least 22 hours before a team’s next start. If the ice cannot be repaired in time, the NHL may postpone the game to a mutually available time.
  • If the Detroit Red Wings end up playing, they will be without Tomas Jurco, reports the Detroit Free Press’s Helene St. James. Jurco has the flu and is considered day-to-day. Since returning from back surgery, the Czech forward remains scoreless in nine games and is averaging less than ten minutes of playing time a game.
  • Tonight’s matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs marks returns for two people: current Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, and current Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen. Carlyle coached the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2012-15 before management fired him midway through the 2014-15 season. Carlyle remained outside the NHL until the Ducks fired Bruce Boudreau and hired Carlyle this offseason. Andersen’s return pits him against his successor John Gibson. The Ducks decided to stick with the young Gibson, and trade the then-RFA Andersen to the Maple Leafs. Both goalies won the Jennings Trophy last year with the NHL’s fewest goals against.

Snapshots: Anisimov, Crawford, Kennedy

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • Chicago Blackhawks forward Artem Anisimov is out tonight against the San Jose Sharks, reports TSN’s Mark Lazerus. Anisimov misses the game with an undisclosed injury and is considered day-to-day. The centerman is tied for 19th in NHL scoring this season, and the Blackhawks hope that his injury is nothing serious.
  • Staying with the Chicago Blackhawks, coach Joel Quenneville told reporters that goalie Corey Crawford could return as early as December 23rd. Crawford is currently recovering from an emergency appendectomy suffered on December 3rd. Backup goaltender Scott Darling had been holding down the fort admirably until recently, stringing together a streak of starts without letting in more than two goals. In his last two games, however, he’s let in four goals apiece. Chicago won both those games but it seems that Darling’s play is coming back down to earth.
  • Tim Kennedy’s profession situation gains some clarity today. Earlier, Kennedy signed a minor-league deal with the Rochester Americans—AHL affiliates of the Buffalo Sabres—but was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes because any player playing overseas must first pass through waivers before rejoining an NHL organization. It was unclear whether Kennedy would report to Carolina (or Charlotte, where the Hurricane’s AHL affiliate plays), but now Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News reports that the Hurricanes have loaned Kennedy to Rochester. Before signing with Rochester—and being claimed by Carolina—Kennedy played in Sweden for Lulea of the Swedish Elite League.

Injury Notes: Green, Cizikas, Huberdeau

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After taking a late hit from the Anaheim Ducks’ Ryan Kesler as the game was ending last night, Red Wings’ defenseman Mike Green is “probably day to day” according to GM Ken Holland (via Brendan Savage of MLive). While the team is taking the day off, they’ll know more about his condition on Monday. The Red Wings won the game on the back of Tomas Tatar’s first career hat trick, and Green logged his normal heavy workload. The veteran defender has 18 points in 32 games this season and is on pace for another solid year. With 413 points in 681 games, Green has been one of the most consistent offensive producers from the back end over the last decade, though he hasn’t suited up for 80+ games since 2007-08. Injuries seem to find him, and we’ll keep an eye on his status heading into Monday’s matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.

  • The Islanders announced today that Casey Cizikas will be out for a while, as he’s unable to even skate yet. The 25-year old center missed the Islanders’ last game with an upper-body injury, and it’s unclear if he’ll be back before the Christmas break. Cizikas has taken on a larger role with the team this season due to their lack of depth down the middle, playing over 14 minutes a night. With 13 points in 29 games, he was well on his way to a career year before the injury – his previous being 29 last season.  In his absence, Brock Nelson moved back to center and Anders Lee moved up to the top line. Cal Clutterbuck, a longtime winger of Cizikas, was skating alongside Ryan Strome.
  • Down in Florida, the return of Jonathan Huberdeau is inching closer and closer. Harvey Filakov of the Sun Sentinel tweeted out some photos of the young forward skating by himself today as the Panthers took the day off from the ice. Huberdeau has missed the entire season so far with a leg injury, after putting up a career high 20 goals and 59 points last season. As Florida struggles to a 14-13-5 record, they’ll welcome Huberdeau back with open arms and expect the former 3rd overall pick to help them push for a playoff spot down the stretch. The team could really use him, as they currently rank 23rd in goals for.

Roster Moves: Leighton, Andrighetto, Blidh

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Michael Leighton is both the starting goaltender for the Charlotte Checkers, and backup for the Carolina Hurricanes. After coming in to relieve Cam Ward on Tuesday, Leighton was sent down for just one day to make the start last night in Charlotte. He fared much better in the AHL match, stopping 33 of 35 shots en route to an overtime win.

Leighton has played in 15 games between the two levels this year, and actually has the best save percentage of his AHL career thus far at .933. While he hasn’t fared as well in the NHL, he’s given the team a veteran option at both levels while Eddie Lack works his way back from a concussion and Alex Nedeljkovic struggles through his first professional season.

  • The Montreal Canadiens have made another few moves, bringing Sven Andrighetto and Mark Barberio up for another stint with the NHL team. Both players have spent time with the Canadiens this season, and will now get another chance to impress. Andrighetto, the younger of the two, is still considered a prospect in Montreal circles despite playing in more than half a season a year ago. Just 23-years old, he put up 17 points in 44 games for the Canadiens a year ago and will look to contribute offensively again. Both players are off to wonderful starts in the AHL, with 22 and 19 points respectively. At a point-per-game pace, Barberio is showing that he may deserve more than the occasional callup.
  • In Boston, the club has made a swap, calling up Anton Blidh and sending Danton Heinen back to the AHL. Blidh, 21, has played four games for Boston this season, just a year after making the trip to North America. After playing in the Swedish leagues as a teenager, Blidh came over to spend an entire season in Providence last year, registering 14 points in 65 games. Off to a nice start this season with 10 in 21, he’ll likely resume his role on the fourth line with the NHL club. Heinen, 21, has played in eight games for the Bruins this season, registering zero points but logging a fair bit of icetime including a few looks on the powerplay. The former University of Denver Pioneer signed with the Bruins late last season and has scored 15 points in 15 career AHL games.

Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm Cleared To Return

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The Carolina Hurricanes are set to get a pair of key players back in the lineup tonight as centers Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm are expected to play when they take on Vancouver, reports Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer (Twitter links).

Staal has missed the last seven games with a concussion and had suffered a setback in his recovery just last week.  He has just nine points in 21 games despite playing a top six role but is among the league leaders in faceoff percentage at 60.1% and logs over 18 minutes of ice time, third among Carolina forwards.

As for the Lindholm, the 22 year old has missed five straight games with a lower body injury.  He’s off to a particularly slow start with just two goals and five points through 23 games.  The former first rounder (fifth overall in 2013) has put up 39 points in each of the last two seasons.

Staal and Lindholm are expected to comprise two-thirds of a new look line alongside Joakim Nordstrom, Alexander adds in a separate tweet.

[Related: Hurricanes Depth Chart]

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