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Minor Transactions: 12/22/19

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It’s a quiet day in the NHL with just four games on the schedule, the most interesting being the matchup with the Calgary Flames visiting the Dallas Stars. It should get more interesting on Monday with a full slate of games before the NHL darkens for the holiday break and players will get three full days off to relax with their families before restarting again on Friday. Despite a roster freeze, teams can still call up players to fill out their rosters, so keep an eye here for all transactions for the day:

  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Daniel Sprong from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Sprong, who played 47 games with the Ducks last season (plus 16 with Pittsburgh), finally gets a chance to return to the NHL this season. He’s played 24 games with San Diego, scoring seven goals and 18 points. He’ll fill in immediately for a banged up Anaheim squad.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks announced they have recalled forward John Quenneville from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. With Brandon Saad on injured reserve, the team had an open roster spot. The 23-year-old has not played a game yet for Chicago since being acquired over the summer from New Jersey. Quenneville has scored eight goals and 13 points in 19 AHL games this season.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins assigned several players to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as the team announced that forwards Joseph Blandisi and Thomas Di Pauli as well as defenseman Kevin Czuczman have all been sent to the AHL. Blandisi, who has played in 14 games for Pittsburgh this year, did play in all three Western Conference games, even scoring a goal on Friday. Neither Di Pauli or Czuczman got into a Penguins game.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they have activated center Joel Eriksson Ek off of injured reserve and have assigned forward Luke Johnson to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Eriksson Ek has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. The 22-year-old has scored two goals and 12 points in 30 games this season.
  • The New York Rangers announced they have recalled forward Phillip Di Giuseppe from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL to help fill in the roster for the team’s final game on Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers before the winter break hits. The 26-year-old forward has nine goals and 17 points in 17 games with Hartford.

Blackhawks Place Brandon Saad On Injured Reserve

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The Chicago Blackhawks have the least number of victories in the Western Conference and while the team is hoping it can rebound from their poor record, but they will have to do it without one of their most productive scorers as the Blackhawks announced they have placed forward Brandon Saad on injured reserve with a right ankle injury, retroactive to Dec. 19.

Saad was injured Thursday against Winnipeg when he was hit against the boards by defenseman Luca Sbisa in the second period. Saad’s leg twisted underneath him as he fell. He did not return. He could be out as long as two weeks. Saad is second on the team in goals as he currently has 11 goals this year.

The Blackhawks are expected to move Dylan Sikura into Saad’s spot on the first line next two Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik. The 24-year-old winger is still looking for his first goal through 40 NHL games.

Brent Seabrook Held Back From Road Trip To Undergo Testing

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On Wednesday, it was reported that Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook’s absence from the lineup was due to him being a healthy scratch.  It turns out that this may not have been the case.  The team announced (Twitter link) that the blueliner wasn’t on the road trip for their game tonight in Winnipeg and is “undergoing further medical evaluation”.  To say this season has been a trying one for the 34-year-old would be a big understatement.  He has just four points in 32 games while logging a career-low 18:09 per night.  Considering his diminished role, it makes sense for Chicago to shut him down if Seabrook is indeed playing through some sort of issue but the way things have been trending for him, there may not be a lineup spot to return to when he’s cleared.

Snapshots: Copp, Seabrook, Mikheyev

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The Winnipeg Jets have announced that Andrew Copp is out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury, ruling him out until after Christmas at the earliest. The 25-year old Copp left last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes after a collision with Jordan Staal. Jets head coach Paul Maurice told reporters today including Ken Wiebe of The Athletic that the injury is not a concussion, but that more tests needed to be completed to understand the severity.

Copp has 14 points in 34 games this season and once again has been an integral part of the Jets’ penalty killing efforts, averaging more short-handed ice time than any forward other than Adam Lowry. Winnipeg has been struck by the injury bug several times this season, but right now are stretching their depth up front very thin.

  • Good news for Chicago Blackhawks fans is bad news for Brent Seabrook. Duncan Keith will return tonight for the Blackhawks, meaning someone else had to come out of the lineup. That’s going to be Seabrook, who will be healthy scratched for the third time this season. The 34-year old Seabrook still has four more years on his current contract with the Blackhawks after 2019-20 and carries a $6.875MM cap hit.
  • Ilya Mikheyev has scored in consecutive games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and now has six goals and 19 points through 35 games. That’s more than anyone could have expected from him in his first year in North America, but the Maple Leafs weren’t the only team that saw a future for the speedy winger when he was playing in the KHL. In fact, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that about 20 teams showed interest in Mikheyev before he chose Toronto, suggesting that Chicago and the Vegas Golden Knights were among those who pursued him the hardest. Mikheyev is on just a one-year entry-level contract with Toronto and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Chicago Blackhawks Suspend Assistant Marc Crawford

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The Chicago Blackhawks have completed their investigation into allegations of player abuse by assistant coach Marc Crawford in previous NHL roles and have made a disciplinary decision. In a joint release with Crawford himself, the Blackhawks announced that they will not fire the veteran coach, but that he has been suspended, presumably without pay, until January 2nd. The NHL has released a statement of support for the Blackhawks’ findings and decided course of action.

The statement from Chicago reads:

The Chicago Blackhawks, and independent legal counsel, conducted a thorough review of assistant coach Marc Crawford in response to allegations of misconduct in previous coaching positions. During this process, we engaged with many of Marc’s former players, colleagues, and executive management.

We do not condone his previous behavior. Through our review, we confirmed that Marc proactively sought professional counseling to work to improve and become a better communicator, person and coach. We learned that Marc began counseling in 2010 and he has continued therapy on a regular basis since. We believe that Marc has learned from his past actions and has committed to striving to reform himself and evolve personally and professionally over the last decade. We have experienced no incidents during Marc’s coaching tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Crawford adds his own honest assessment of his past actions and the steps he has taken to change his behavior:

Recently, allegations have resurfaced about my conduct earlier in my coaching career. Players like Sean Avery, Harold Druken, Patrick O’Sullivan and Brent Sopel have had the strength to publicly come forward and I am deeply sorry for hurting them. I offer my sincere apologies for my past behavior.

I got into coaching to help people, and to think that my actions in any way caused harm to even one player fills me with tremendous regret and disappointment in myself. I used unacceptable language and conduct toward players in hopes of motivating them, and, sometimes went too far. As I deeply regret this behavior, I have worked hard over the last decade to improve both myself and my coaching style.

I have made sincere efforts to address my inappropriate conduct with the individuals involved as well as the team at large. I have regularly engaged in counseling over the last decade where I have faced how traumatic my behavior was towards others. I learned new ways of expressing and managing my emotions. I take full responsibility for my actions. Moving forward, I will continue to improve myself, to listen to those that I may have hurt, and learn from their experiences. My goal is to approach all players, past and present, with empathy and understanding. My hope, as a coach and a person, is to create environments of dignity and respect.

While some may see Crawford’s 18-day suspension as a light punishment, the genuine contrition expressed in his statement is almost unheard of in the world of sports, particularly from a coach to his players. Crawford has clearly been working to right past wrongs and prevent future issues for some time now, long before these recent allegations surfaced. It should also be taken into account that Crawford has been away from the team during this investigation, which the Blackhawks took time to see through fairly and properly.

Once Crawford does return, the Blackhawks included a mandate in their statement that he continue counseling and compliance with team expectations. Beyond that, the team stated that they would have no further comment on the allegations against Crawford, a sentiment echoed by the NHL.

Snapshots: DeBoer, Boqvist, Raymond, Peel

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Many coaches have lost their jobs already this season and several of them may not coach in the NHL ranks again. However, that certainly won’t be the case for former San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer, who lost his job four days ago after the team’s poor start to the season.

Regardless, DeBoer has been an excellent coach, who has put up an impressive record of 415-329-111 record throughout 11+ seasons with San Jose, New Jersey and Florida and has taken the Sharks to the playoffs all four years he’s been with the franchise, which included a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2015-16.

While many coaches prefer to sit out the remainder of the season and look at their options the following year, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night that the 51-year-old DeBoer is willing to listen to teams if they want to hire him now.

“Sometimes coaches want to take time, maybe the rest of the season before they come back,” Friedman said. “The word is, however, that depending on the situation, Peter DeBoer is willing to listen and will consider coaching this year.”

Of course, there is another likely possibility as The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek (subscription required) suggests that he could consider joining the Seattle franchise as their future head coach, a similar move that Gerard Gallant did after being fired from Florida and then taking on the expansion Vegas Golden Knights position not long after.

  • Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports writes that Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist will appear in his 10th game today against the Wild, meaning the team intends to burn the first year of his entry-level contract after he plays the game. With the team opting to keep Boqvist around rather than loan him to Sweden for the World Junior Champsionships, this was the obvious outcome.
  • Sweden has already lost Boqvist and could lose Rasmus Sandin for the World Junior Championships. However, the team has gotten even more bad news as the status of top prospect forward Lucas Raymond is in jeopardy. According to Goteborgs-Posten (translation required), Raymond, considered a top five pick in the 2020 NHL draft (and possibly higher), has been suffering from a viral infection and hasn’t appeared in a game since the end of November and is likely to miss the entire tournament. Raymond has three goals and five points in 16 games in the SHL as a 17-year-old. He also played 10 SHL games as a 16-year-old, scoring two goals.
  • NHL’s John Shannon reports that the NHL are now without two referees as referee Tim Peel fractured his fibula Thursday in Glendale between the Arizona Coyotes and the Chicago Blackhawks. Peel was run into by Jonathan Toews, who was falling and came down on Peel’s leg with his stick. The scribe writes that Peel had surgery, but is likely to miss the entire season. The NHL also lost Jon McIsaac as well, meaning the league will likely try to hire back some retired refs or bring some up from the AHL.

 

Adam Boqvist Not Joining Team Sweden

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After already deciding that Kirby Dach wouldn’t be heading to the World Junior Championship later this month, the Chicago Blackhawks have come to the same conclusion regarding Adam Boqvist. The young defenseman will not join Team Sweden for the event and has been replaced by Arizona Coyotes prospect Victor Soderstrom on the roster.

Boqvist, 19, played his ninth game of the season for the Blackhawks last night, getting 15 minutes of ice time in a loss to the St. Louis Blues. The Blackhawks collapsed in the third period to blow a 3-0 lead and now sit at 12-15-6 on the season. Despite their team struggles, management has obviously decided that getting Dach and Boqvist more NHL experience is more important than any success they could have overseas against other junior-aged players.

Interestingly, the next game that Boqvist plays for the Blackhawks is an important one. It would trigger his entry-level contract for this season, making him a restricted free agent in the summer of 2022. That is already the case for Dach, who now has 27 NHL games under his belt since going third overall last June.

Soderstrom meanwhile will get an exciting opportunity in Boqvist’s place. The 11th overall pick from 2019, Soderstrom is already one of the most polished two-way defensive prospects in the game. Already with most of a season under his belt at the SHL level a year ago, he’s back at the highest level in Sweden this season and finding great success. With nine points he leads all defenseman in scoring for Brynas, despite having played just 15 out of their 24 games. He’ll join an elite Swedish defense corps that still may get Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Central Notes: Dach, Boqvist, Steen, Wheeler

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It looks like Team Canada may have to go without one of their top forwards on their team after all as Chicago Blackhawks center Kirby Dach will not be joining the team in Czechoslovakia for this month’s World Junior Championships. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Blackhawks will not be releasing the 18-year-old.

Dach burned, the third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has already burned the first year of his entry-level contract and has already scored five goals and 10 points in 26 games with Chicago. The 6-foot-4 center has been a solid mainstay as a bottom-six center as he gets used to playing with adults in the NHL. The only reason the why Team Canada was holding out hope is that Dach seems to have hit a rookie wall as he hasn’t scored a goal in 12 games.

  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports that the Blackhawks haven’t yet made a decision on defensman Adam Boqvist, who is also a candidate to be loaned to Sweden for the World Junior Championships. The eighth overall selection in 2018, Boqvist is a different story as he has appeared in eight games so far and has not burned his entry-level contract yet. The team must decide on whether to keep him on their roster and burn that first year of his contract or whether to send him to the WJC and then perhaps let him develop more in the AHL for the remainder of the year. The team will announce their decision after they have come to one.
  • The St. Louis Blues are expected to get a much-needed addition as the team announced they are expecting forward Alex Steen to return to the lineup tonight. Steen has been out since Nov. 6 with a high ankle sprain and has missed 16 straight games, but should add some depth to the bottom-six. The 35-year-old has yet to score a goal in 17 games with the Blues this season, but should add some experience and defensive acumen to the St. Louis’ lineup.
  • Despite rumors that Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler was injured after missing practice Saturday, The Athletic’s Murat Ates reports that the Jets forward will play Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The 33-year-old has eight goals and 23 points this season for the Jets.

 

Prospect Notes: Mitchell, Gallagher, Mercer

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University of Denver defenseman Ian Mitchell has outgrown the World Junior ranks, but he still plans to take part in an upcoming international competition. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Hockey Canada is close to finalizing its roster for the Spengler Cup, an invitational tournament held in Davos, Switzerland every December, and he lists Mitchell as the team’s standout amatuer participant. The Chicago prospect has been considered pro-ready for a couple of years now and the Blackhawks have tried unsuccessfully to convince him to leave school. Now a junior at Denver, it seems likely that Mitchell will finally end his NCAA career after this season and a competition against mature adult talent will be telling as to how he may perform for Chicago next year. Mitchell is expected to join a Team Canada roster with considerable NHL experience, another developmental benefit for Mitchell. Dreger lists Kris Versteeg, Scottie Upshall, Daniel Winnik, Eric Fehr, and Paul Postma as other participants.

  • A young defenseman hoping to follow in the footsteps of a top collegiate prospect like Mitchell is just beginning the process. 16-year-old Ty Gallagher has made his own college commitment, announcing that he will play at the University of Notre Dame. Gallagher is currently playing for the U-17 team for the US. National Team Development Program, leading the program’s defensemen with nine goals,  and is already catching the eye of NHL scouts. The 2021 prospect is expected to be highly sought-after by the time his draft roles around, although he will have to compete against his own teammates like Luke Hughes (Michigan), Aidan Hreschuk (Boston College), and Sean Behrens (Denver) for the billing of top American defenseman in the class.
  • A 2020 prospect who has drawn interest from NHL teams is also drawing interest from his QMJHL competitors. Winger Dawson Mercer of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, expected to be a first-round pick (at the very least) in June, finds himself having an excellent season with 42 points in 26 games. However, Mercer is arguably the lone standout on a Drummondville team without much star power. The Voltigeurs are holding their own in the QMJHL standings, but are extremely lacking in top young assets.  As such, Mercer has been linked to not one but two different trade rumors in the past week. In one hypothetical move, which would see Mercer head to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Drummondville would be getting back another forward, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks, which would certainly help the Voltigeurs rebuild. It seems that a Mercer trade is a question of when and to whom rather than if, followed by the issue of whether the change in scenery affects his production ahead of the draft.

No Extension Talks Between Blackhawks And Erik Gustafsson

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Blackhawks defenseman Erik Gustafsson was one of the biggest surprises in the league last season.  While he was relatively productive in his two previous part seasons with Chicago, no one expected him to go out and collect 17 goals and 43 assists in 2018-19 but that’s what he wound up accomplishing.  As a result, he entered this year as one of the more intriguing pending unrestricted free agents.

Logically, given the career year, Chicago wasn’t rushing to try to sign an extension back in the summer when Gustafsson’s value would have been at its highest.  That proved to be a prudent decision as his offensive numbers have dipped considerably this season as he sits with 10 points (3-7-10) through the first 30 games of the season.

Although now would be a better time to discuss an extension, NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis reports that the team has not yet engaged Gustafsson’s camp about a possible new deal.  Between that and where they sit in the standings (tied for seventh in the Wild Card standings and already 10 points out of a divisional playoff spot), that suggests that the 27-year-old could become a potential rental pickup in the weeks to come.

One potential reason for their unwillingness to sign Gustafsson to an extension is that they already have three left-shot defenders under contract through 2021-22 in Duncan Keith, Calvin de Haan, and Olli Maatta.  Adding another one on what will still likely be a considerably higher price tag than his current $1.2MM AAV could make the price of their back end a bit too high, especially with Brent Seabrook and Connor Murphy also under contract.  Combined, those other blueliners will count for nearly $25MM on their books for the next two seasons.

As someone with somewhat of a track record of offensive production, the fact that he can log over 20 minutes a night, and his low cap charge, Gustafsson should garner a considerable amount of interest from teams with playoff aspirations which should bode well for GM Stan Bowman to generate a strong return if he ultimately goes the trade route.  Roumeliotis notes that Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin has been spotted at several Chicago games already this season and Montreal’s back end on the left side is something that they have been trying to upgrade dating back to the offseason.  Chances are that they won’t be the only team calling about Gustafsson over the next little while though.

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