Hurricanes Staal Leaves Game, Will Not Return
Jordan Staal suffered an upper-body-injury during the first period of Carolina’s game this evening against Florida and it has since been announced by the team – via Twitter – that he will not return. Michael Smith, who is a contributor on the team’s website, added that Staal did not see a shift in the final seven minutes of the frame.
Staal is currently tied for third on the team in goals with five and his nine points rank sixth. He leads all Carolina forwards in average ice time, seeing 19:15 a night. The 28-year-old center has seven years remaining on what was originally a 10-year, $60MM contract in Carolina. The $6MM AAV makes Staal the Hurricanes highest-paid player.
More to come as details emerge.
Allen’s Latest: Hamilton, Kane, Shattenkirk, Hanzal, Murphy
The USA Today’s Kevin Allen is more than happy to suggest a holiday wish list for a handful of NHL teams. Allen offers advice to the follow clubs:
- New York Rangers: Allen suggests that the Rangers could snap up Dougie Hamilton from the Calgary Flames should they be willing to give up J.T. Miller. But just as quickly as he suggests it, he provides rationale as to why it might be far fetched. First, the financials wouldn’t work with Hamilton’s $5.75MM cap hit. Second, Miller is playing well with 18 points in 21 games while Hamilton has been struggling. For the deal to work, Allen believes the Rangers would have to shed another contract to either Calgary or another team in need of a defenseman (Allen suggests Kevin Klein).
- New York Islanders: The team in Brooklyn is Allen’s next focus and he suggests Evander Kane to the Isles. The losses of Kyle Okposo, Matt Martin, and Frans Nielsen coupled with the poor production from pricey free agent pickup Andrew Ladd makes Kane a reasonable target. However, Allen points out that the Isles do not have the cap room to add Kane’s bulky contract and would have to do some “juggling” in order to make it work. Allen adds that a defenseman would help out Buffalo’s cause if they were willing to talk about Kane.
- Boston Bruins: How many people have suggested Kevin Shattenkirk to Boston? Allen chimes in here as well, believing that the right handed defenseman would be the perfect addition to the blue line. Further, Allen writes that if Boston can convince Shattenkirk to re-sign with them, overpaying a bit would be well worth it.
- Montreal Canadiens: Arizona’s Martin Hanzal would be a great target for the Habs, who Allen feels could use another scorer to make a Stanley Cup run. What would it take? Allen believes a young player and a draft pick.
- Detroit Red Wings: It hasn’t been easy to fill the enormous hole that Nicklas Lidstrom left four seasons ago, and the Wings have struggled to find any solutions. Allen believes the Carolina Hurricanes could provide some help in the way of defenseman Ryan Murphy. Allen predicts that the Red Wings could trade a young forward to land him, but also sees a number of potential suitors for Murphy, namely the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks.
Eddie Lack Concussed
The Carolina Hurricanes announced that goaltender Eddie Lack suffered a concussion today in practice. The team has called up Michael Leighton from the AHL Charlotte Checkers to serve as backup tomorrow night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lack has since been placed on Injured Reserve.
Lack has not been the goaltender the Hurricanes hoped for since acquiring him from the Vancouver Canucks. Last year Lack posted a .901 SV% and a 2.81 GAA. He’s fared even worse this season with a .856 SV% and a 3.80 GAA in 4 starts.
Lack’s performance has relegated the goaltender to backup status, and Cam Ward‘s stats so far imply that Ward is not relinquishing the starting job anytime soon. In 13 starts this season, Ward has a .916 SV% and a 2.36 GAA. Not elite numbers, but definitely good enough to keep him between the pipes full-time.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Kunitz, Leivo
The NHL has named its three stars of the week for November 14-20: Jeff Carter, Cam Ward, and Nicklas Backstrom.
3. Backstrom had four goals and four assists in four games. Five of those points in the Capitals’ 7-1 win over the Penguins, which represented a career-high for Backstrom. He now has 17 points in 20 games.
2. Ward went 3-0-0 last week, with a 0.964 GAA and one shutout. He’s on a four-game winning-streak, which is his longest since the 2014-15 season. Thanks to Ward’s efforts, the Hurricanes are climbing out of the Eastern Conference basement and are just three points out of a wildcard spot.
1. Carter scored the winning goal in all three of the Kings’ victories last week, as they went 3-1-0. Carter had four goals and six points in those four games, and scored the winning goal in three consecutive games against Edmonton, New Jersey, and Anaheim. He cracked 600 career points with his second-period goal against the Ducks on Sunday. Carter now leads the NHL with five game-winning goals this season.
In other news around the NHL:
- The Penguins have placed 37-year-old winger Chris Kunitz on Injured Reserve. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Kunitz is considered week-to-week with a “lower-body injury.” To fill Kunitz’s roster spot, the Penguins have recalled Jake Guentzel from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Guentzel has 17 points in 16 games with the AHL Penguins. Kunitz was initially hurt against Washington on Wednesday, but played in both of the team’s games over the weekend, posting three assists.
- Toronto Maple Leafs winger Josh Leivo is still not ready to return to the lineup, according to coach Mike Babcock (via James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail). Leivo was recalled from a conditioning stint with the Marlies and practiced with the NHL club on Monday morning, but has not been cleared to play yet. Leivo will continue to practice with the Maple Leafs but as a non-roster player. Because Leivo would require waivers to be sent down to the Marlies, the Maple Leafs appear content to temporarily leave him in limbo rather than lose a good young player. When a Twitter follower asked how Leivo can be healthy enough to play five games in the AHL but not healthy enough to play in the NHL, Mirtle just shrugged. Leivo has 8 points in 28 career NHL games (none this season), and 124 points in 171 AHL games.
Snapshots: Murphy, Jones, Condra, Hamilton
After being placed on the trade block last week, Hurricanes defenseman Ryan Murphy now finds himself in the AHL for a conditioning stint.
Murphy has played just four games so far this season, and has just one assist to show for those games. He has split his last several seasons between the Hurricanes and Checkers; he’s scored 36 points in 128 NHL games and 65 points in 82 AHL games. Murphy was the Hurricanes first round pick, 12th overall, in 2011. He was a proficient offensive defenseman with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. Murphy scored 220 points in 228 games.
It’s not clear what the asking price would be to acquire Murphy. In the above link, TSN’s Darren Dreger speculated that the Hurricanes were looking to move him as part of a package for defensive help. While he’s shown flashes of offensive brilliance and is right-handed, Murphy has also been inconsistent and injured more than most teams would care for. The price to acquire him shouldn’t be large, if a team is interested in taking a look. Murphy is signed through 2018 at $787K.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets will likely welcome back Seth Jones to the lineup tonight, after the young defenseman was taken off Injured Reserve on Monday morning. To make room on their roster, the Blue Jackets assigned rookie winger Markus Hannikainen to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. Jones had six points in 10 games before fracturing his foot on November 5th. The hairline fracture kept Jones out of the Blue Jackets’ last six games, in which they had a 5-1 record. It’s not yet known if Jones will be in the lineup on Monday night when the Colorado Avalanche visit Columbus.
- After suffering a rash of injuries, the Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled forward Erik Condra from their AHL affiliate in Syracuse, according to Mike Halford of NBC Sports. Steven Stamkos is out for four months or more, Jonathan Drouin took a hit to the head in Philadelphia this past weekend, Brian Boyle missed their last game, and Cedric Paquette is also a little banged up. The Lightning signed Condra to a three-year, $3.75MM contract back in July 2015, but Condra has struggled with just 11 points in 54 games last year. He cleared waivers in October and was sent to the AHL, where he has found his scoring touch with nine points in 13 games.
- ESPN’s Craig Custance writes that the Flames Dougie Hamilton is raising his trade value with his recent strong play. Hamilton has been moved up from the third pairing to play with captain Mark Giordano on the top pair, and Hamilton’s play has risen. There has been some speculation over the last few weeks that Hamilton could be available, but at a high price. Custance writes that fellow managers believe Flames GM Brad Treliving won’t want to trade Hamilton for anything that would look bad compared to the price Treliving paid to acquire Hamilton: a mid-first round pick and two second round picks. Should Hamilton’s play continue to rise, other teams may be more willing to pay the price to acquire him.
Hurricanes Up For Sale; Relocation Possible?
(7:50pm): Hurricanes team president Don Waddell called an in-game press conference tonight to deny the rumors of relocation, tweets Luke DeCock of The Raleigh News & Observer. In a second tweet, DeCock reports that Waddell also indicated that there had been nothing on the sales front in “four to five months.”
(6:45pm): Rumors of a potential sale of the Carolina Hurricanes franchise have been percolating for a while now. Attendance is one problem as the team has finished 30th and 29th respectively over each of the last two full campaigns and currently reside in last place again averaging just 11,189 fans per home game.
A second issue complicating the situation is a lawsuit filed against team owner Peter Karmanos by his three sons. Details of the suit can be found here. The suit has evidently been settled though it’s unknown whether that might mean a sale of the club is more or less likely.
Now, according to 98.5 Sports in Montreal (link in French), Karmanos is still actively pursuing a sale of the team and is willing to sell to a buyer looking to move the ‘Canes out of North Carolina. Naturally, with an NHL-caliber arena and no tenant, Quebec City immediately comes to mind as a potential landing spot should relocation become an option.
Earlier this year when talking about a sale and potential relocation, Karmanos flat out said the team would not be moving from North Carolina.
“I promise, this team isn’t going to Quebec. I’m not saying that cause I have something against Quebec, but because we have ties to this market. We have an excellent lease, I love this arena and I’m really attached to this market.”
Perhaps Carolina’s current ownership has softened on its stance but even so the league would need to approve such a move and in the past they’ve been resistant to relocating franchises.
Of course relocating the Hurricanes to Quebec would not solve the league’s geographical imbalance but it also doesn’t hurt the situation either. However, a possible future expansion to Seattle, as has often been rumored as well, would bring that desired balance. That would allow the league to use Quebec as a fall back in the event relocation of an Eastern Conference franchise, like Carolina, becomes necessary.
Snapshots: Harding, Expansion Rules, Saad
Josh Harding knows exactly what Bryan Bickell is going through.
The retired 32-year-old goaltender was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) back in 2012 during the last lockout. Harding told ESPN‘s Scott Burnside that he considered keeping his diagnosis private, but didn’t because he have to take time away from the game for treatment, and he felt that going public would do some good. Harding says having MS is nothing to be ashamed of.
Harding returned to the NHL that season, playing five regular season games and five playoff games. He won the Masterton Trophy for dedication to hockey. He played 29 games the next season, posting a remarkable 0.933 SV% and a 1.65 GAA. Unfortunately, that was the end of his hockey career. As Harding told Burnside, “when the doctors say enough’s enough, you kind of have to listen to them.”
Now that Bickell has been diagnosed with MS, he and Harding have been in contact about their awful common illness. Harding has told Bickell what treatments worked for him and shared strategies for dealing with the incurable disease. However, Harding can’t tell him for sure that he’ll play in the NHL again. He told Burnside that “if there was a blueprint for what you have to do, I really think I’d still be in the league.”
While Harding was only able to play for 39 more games after his diagnosis, he says he’s rooting for Bickell and hopes that his experience with the disease will be different than Harding’s. Harding says he’s at peace with his career path, and enjoys spending time with his two children as well as helping coach a local high school team.
Another former goalie with MS, Jordan Sigalet plans to be in touch with Bickell to offer their support.
- There has been much talk about expansion at the NHL GM meetings. The rules for which players need to be protected have been finalized, and the GMs are receiving guidelines about all possible ways of circumventing the rules and why they’re not allowed. Some GMs are concerned about the exclusive free agency window, where Las Vegas GM George McPhee will be able to meet with pending free agents. Could the something Knights make a handshake deal with a free agent to sign on July 1, but not sign them then in order to select another player from that team? No. Can other teams make “wink, nudge” deals with McPhee to not select a certain player? No. All trades will have to be done through a trade call to the NHL and documented. The penalties for trying to circumvent the rules are going to be stiff, possibly a first round pick. As Devils GM Ray Shero pointed out to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, all deals will have “pass the smell test with the league.”
- In his weekly “30 Thoughts“, Elliotte Friedman wondered if the Blue Jackets would be interested in parting ways with Brandon Saad. Columbus acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks in June of 2015 and promptly signed him to a six-year, $36MM contract. Saad has been a solid performer for the Blue Jackets, but the cap-strapped team may want to move his $6MM salary. There appears to be some disconnect between Saad and the club, as he’s fifth in both team scoring and ice-time, but was almost a healthy scratch last week. Friedman reported the Blackhawks looked into re-acquiring Saad last season, but couldn’t make it work. The Blackhawks could certainly use Saad back, with his chemistry with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa on the downswing. It’s not clear how they could make it work salary-wise, though. There’s always a market for a 30-goal scorer, especially one who is just 24.
Justin Faulk Activated From Injured Reserve
The Carolina Hurricanes have their best player back in the lineup and not a minute too soon. Fresh off of the team’s best win of the season, a 5-1 clobbering of the Washington Capitals on Saturday night, the Eastern Conference’s last ranked team may finally be righting the ship. They face a tough test tonight against the San Jose Sharks, but they’ll do so with the services of franchise defenseman Justin Faulk back in the lineup. The big-time blue liner missed the past three games with an upper body injury.
Originally described as a “week-to-week” injury, Faulk was placed on the injured reserve last week, only to miss just a few contests before making his return. The original diagnosis was not overly certain, and it appears as if the Hurricanes have gotten lucky with a quick return for their alternate captain.
Carolina’s second-round pick in 2010, Faulk has exceeded expectations and developed into the centerpiece for a rebuilding Hurricanes team. After becoming a regular player at just 19, the 24-year-old now sits in a leadership position and is know around the league as one of the best puck-moving defenseman in the game. Faulk has 161 points in 337 career games, all while logging top pair minutes. Thus far in 2016-17 he has only three points, but with the team hopefully turning the corner on a disappointing start, look for Faulk’s return to jump start the offense and help the Hurricanes build on their recent success.
Hurricanes Terminate Jakub Nakladal’s Contract
The Carolina Hurricanes announced that they have terminated the contract of defenseman Jakub Nakladal. Nakladal cleared demotion waivers on Saturday and was assigned to Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte. Cap Friendly notes via Twitter that Nakladal was quietly placed on unconditional waivers on Sunday and cleared earlier today.
The 28 year old signed a one year, $600K deal with the Hurricanes back on October 9th after suiting up for the Czech Republic at the World Cup of Hockey. He logged an average of 21:03 in ice time in those matchups while being held off the scoresheet. However, he didn’t see much action with the Hurricanes as he got into just three games, collecting zero points and a -4 rating while averaging just 14:30 per game.
Nakladal’s only other NHL experience came last season with Calgary, where he played in 27 games. He picked up two goals and three assists in those contests, averaging 14:11 in ice time. He also spent time with Calgary’s AHL affiliate in Stockton, suiting up in 35 games while collecting 14 points (2-12-14).
While several teams had shown an interest in signing Nakladal to a two-way deal over the offseason, he held out for a one-way pact and stated that he would sign overseas unless he got one. Although he got one from the Hurricanes, it would seem likely that he will cross the pond and sign elsewhere. He has experience overseas in several different leagues, including the SM-liiga in Finland, the Czech Extraliga, and the KHL.
[Related: Hurricanes Depth Chart]
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Islanders, Bickell, Hamilton
Travis Hamonic is a tough player to play against, and it turns out he’s also a tough player to keep out of the lineup.
Eight days ago, the Islanders announced Hamonic would miss between 4-6 weeks with an upper body injury. Despite that prognosis, Hamonic will dress on Monday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That’s a total of three games missed.
Islanders coach Jack Capuano told Arthur Staple and other reporters that the team would dress seven defensemen tonight, scratching forwards Alan Quine and Shane Prince.
Hamonic isn’t the only Islanders defenseman battling injury. Dennis Seidenberg was placed on Injured Reserve with an upper body injury, which Staple believes is a broken jaw. It’s a tough break for Seidenberg, who has been a success in Brooklyn after being bought out by the Bruins. Seidenberg has a nice statline, with 4 goals and 4 assists and a +10 rating in 15 games.
- Carolina Hurricanes winger Bryan Bickell spoke to Chris Hine from the Chicago Tribune about his recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, telling Hine that he’s “just uncertain.” He says doctors were able to catch the disease “early in its progression” and he hopes to be able to return later this season. Bickell would not be the first NHLer to play with MS: Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding was diagnosed early in the 2012-13 season but went on to play for parts of two more seasons. Hine quoted Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews as hoping Bickell can “find ways to stay strong.”
- Calgary Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton has already experienced his fair share of trade rumors during his time with the Boston Bruins. He was ultimately traded to Calgary for a first round pick and a pair of second round picks at the 2015 NHL Draft. Hamilton had a career-year in his first season with the Flames, but has just six points in 16 games this season, with half of those coming in just one game; he’s pointless and -10 in his last seven games. The Flames have not been good this year, with just five wins in 16 games. Two nights ago on Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet analyst Nick Kypreos reported that several teams have called Flames GM Brad Treliving to see about the big right-handed defenseman’s availability. Kypreos said he doesn’t “suggest for one second that Calgary is shopping this guy, but there are some teams inquiring.” He suggested Arizona and Pittsburgh have made calls about Hamilton. The Coyotes would love to have a big right-handed defenseman to compliment Oliver Ekman-Larsson, while the Penguins would just like to improve their defense. Hamilton told Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun that he saw Kypreos’ report, but that trade rumors are “part of the game” and the latest round is “just a distraction, if anything.”