Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Blackhawks Rumors

Snapshots: Raanta, Blackhawks, Player Safety Meetings

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

New York Rangers backup Antti Raanta will make his third straight start in favor or Henrik Lundqvist on Sunday afternoon.

Raanta has won two straight, allowing just one goal. He beat the Jets 2-1 before shutting out his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 on Friday. He’s made 43 saves in those two games.

Raanta’s two game streak comes just as Lundqvist is hitting a dry streak. He’s lost two of his last three appearances, which included an ugly goal from center ice against the Sabres; he’s allowed 10 goals in those three games.

While there’s no danger of Raanta permanently displacing Lundqvist in the Rangers net, he’s certainly picked a good time to get hot. The Rangers brought in Raanta to replace current Oilers starting goalie Cam Talbot in 2015. After a disappointing early playoff exit in which he was torched for 15 goals in five games, the Rangers appear to be giving Lundqvist more rest throughout the regular season to keep the 34-year-old fresh for the playoffs.

  • Despite being ruled out of tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews returned to the ice 0n Sunday morning, according to Tracey Meyers of CSN Chicago. Toews hadn’t skated in a week before this morning’s optional skate, and has missed the previous eight games. NHL.com writer Brian Hedger reported that Toews was first on the ice and last man off.
  • Another couple injured Blackhawks are inching closer to their returns as well. Defenseman Brent Seabrook missed Friday’s 1-0 overtime loss against the Rangers, and will also be out of the lineup tonight. However, Seabrook told Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune that he plans on going on the Blackhawks upcoming road trip.
  • Goaltender Corey Crawford, who has been out since an appendectomy on December 2, is also making progress in his recovery. Coach Joel Quenneville told Meyers that Crawford is “doing all right,” but that it will take some time to “get him back to square one.” The initial diagnosis was around three weeks, which would mean Crawford will be out until just after Christmas.
  • Meanwhile, Mark Stepneski reports that Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak will be meeting with NHL Player Safety later today to discuss his high hit on the Flyers’ Chris Vande Velde during Saturday afternoon’s game. Oleksiak was not penalized on the play. Fellow defenseman Mark Borowiecki will also have a hearing today after the Senators defenseman boarded Kings winger Tyler Toffoli. Borowiecki received a major penalty for the hit.

Western Conference Notes: Stars, Red Wings, Labanc, Toews, Seabrook

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

A year after riding the league’s most prolific offense to a Central Division title, the Dallas Stars have been beset by injuries and currently sit on the outside looking in at a postseason berth. Obviously the absences of key players like Ales Hemsky, Patrick Sharp, Jiri Hudler, Mattias Janmark and Cody Eakin for parts – or in the case of Janmark, all – of the season has played a role. However, Mike Heika addressed another possible factor for the team’s on-ice struggles in a recent mailbag feature.

When asked what trade he would make if he were the GM to improve the Stars, Heika suggested making a relatively minor deal sending blue liner Patrik Nemeth to Detroit for a goalie prospect. While on the surface it’s difficult to envision a trade of this nature having much of an impact on the ice for either team, Heika reasons that moving one of the eight defensemen on the roster would “alleviate the pressure of eight defensemen for the players and the coaching staff and that could immediately make a player such as Jamie Oleksiak better.” 

Ordinarily having quality depth is considered a good thing but perhaps not when it comes to the Stars blue line. As Heika suggests, carrying seven blue liners may allow head coach Lindy Ruff to more easily identify consistent defense pairings.

While this does not qualify as an actual trade rumor, Heika’s hypothetical deal does provide a look at what the Stars brass may actually consider at some point. The team does have solid depth on the back end and with neither Antti Niemi nor Kari Lehtonen performing well between the pipes for Dallas, the Stars could certainly find themselves in the market for a young goaltender-of-the-future.

  •  Highly-regarded rookie Kevin Labanc isn’t exactly lighting up the league with just three goals and five points in the first 14 games of his NHL career. But after going scoreless in his first four, the 20-year-old winger – 21 on December 12th – has been more productive of late with all of his points coming in the last 10 contests. As Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area writes, the mini outburst from Labanc has already helped the youngster leapfrog veteran forwards Joonas Donskoi, Joe Thornton and Mikkel Boedker in the goal-scoring department. As Kurz notes, Labanc’s contributions have likely earned him a regular role on the Sharks for the balance of 2016-17.
  • Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune provides an update on the status of Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook. Toews has missed the past eight contests with a back problem while Seabrook missed his first game of the season with an upper-body-injury. Hawks bench boss Joel Quennville has already said that before returning to the lineup, both players will need to skate with the team. To this point, neither player has been able to do so, though Seabrook’s injury is a recent development. The injury to Toews has to be of great concern to the Blackhawks. There is no timetable for a return and back injuries can be problematic, leading to the possibility Chicago’s top pivot could be odd for a while yet.

Custance’s Latest: Teams Hurt By Cap Recapture Rules

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

In the salary cap era, there is nothing worse than a bloated contract, especially one susceptible to the cap recapture rules. ESPN’s Craig Custance listed a number of teams who suffer from such a fate, and explains as such:

For some teams, that pain has arrived. And it could be worse than originally projected because of cap recapture rules since put in place in the new CBA to punish teams if the player retires early or the contract is traded.

“Teams that did those contracts essentially embarrassed Gary [Bettman]. We found a way to circumvent the CBA legally,” said one executive. “He was incensed, and said ’I’m going to get you back.’ Which he did.”

Now because of decisions made years ago, in the name of winning it all or rewarding players who helped make it happen, there are a group of teams that have legacy costs built into their current salary cap structure.

Two teams who managed to stay in good shape contract wise–while contending– are the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Pens not having any legacy costs. But the teams below, according to Custance, are the ones who suffered from the wrath of Bettman.

  • Los Angeles Kings

Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, and Matt Greene are the contracts that have the Kings on the hook for awhile. Along with Mike Richards’ cap recapture hit of $1.32MM, the Kings have a legacy cost of $8.545MM. Though they won two Stanley Cups since 2012, the cost may have hurt them in terms of losing Milan Lucic and Justin Williams due to a lack of cap room.

  • Chicago Blackhawks

Sure, they’ve won three Cups since 2010, but the Marian Hossa deal will eventually be a “real headache” since it still has four years left. Further, Custance writes that the Hawks could be in for real trouble by the 2019-20 season when the core of the Hawks, namely Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford are all into their 30’s and saddling the payroll with a combined $40MM.

  • Detroit Red Wings

General manager Ken Holland anchored the team with a number of long term, and expensive contracts. Custance’s list doesn’t include the new deals that include a 32-year-old Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm. Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, and Johan Franzen combine for a legacy cost of $9.34MM. Custance believes the Wings could get out of the Howard contract by trade, but Kronwall and Zetterberg’s deals will cripple the Wings for years to come, especially as their play declines. The legacy cost for Detroit: $9.34MM.

  • Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have a few big contracts, namely the Sedin twins, Alex Burrows, Alexander Edler and Roberto Luongo ($800K retained). Custance notes that while he would take the Sedins on his team any day, their decline is certainly happening.

 

Akim Aliu Signs In ECHL (Update: AHL PTO)

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Update (2/12/2017): Everyone’s favorite Nigerian-Ukrainian hockey player is getting closer to a return to the NHL. Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline reports that Aliu has signed a professional tryout offer with the Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the defending Calder Cup champion Cleveland Monsters. While an AHL tryout is still very far away from an NHL call-up, it’s certainly a step closer than an ECHL deal. If he performs well in Cleveland and earns a contract, he could be playing with friend, junior teammate, and Columbus captain Nick Foligno by next season. Aliu has 12 points in 13 ECHL games so far this season and, unbelievably, 61 penalty minutes as well.

12/6/2016: One of the more interesting prospects of the last decade is back in North America. Akim Aliu, a second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2007, has signed with the Florida Everblades, the ECHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes. Aliu returns to the United States after playing with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL last season.

A native of Okene, Nigeria, Aliu is one of three native Africans to ever play in the NHL, and the only one to line up at forward. Much like fellow countryman Rumun Ndur and the legendary Olaf Kolzig, Aliu left Africa at a young age, spending much of his young life living in Ukraine. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Aliu’s family moved to Canada, where he discovered hockey. Despite having never played the game before, Aliu was such a natural talent that he was drafted into the Ontario Hockey League after just a few years on the ice.

In his first junior season with the Windsor Spitfires, Aliu was involved in a highly publicized incident with teammate Steve Downie, after Aliu refused to take part as the victim of a hazing ritual. This led to Downie attacking Aliu in practice which then led to a fight. Both players were suspended and demanded trades out of Windsor.

Read more

The 2016 All UFA Bust Team

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Last week we presented our 2016 All UFA Bargain team, highlighted by Jonathan Marchessault and Chad Johnson, each of whom has provided results well in excess of any expectations based on the contracts they signed this summer. Of course for every free agent bargain in the NHL there is likely at least one free agent signing that will rate as a bust. Strangely enough, only a handful of UFA blue liners inked multiyear pacts this summer with two of the biggest names, Keith Yandle and Alex Goligoski, traded by their previous employers before agreeing to lucrative deals prior to reaching unrestricted free agency. Subsequently, finding two defensemen who have severely under-performed their new contracts was not as easy as expected.

Without further ado, here is Pro Hockey Rumors 2016 All UFA Bust Team.

Forwards

Andrew Ladd (New York Islanders) – Seven years, $38.5MM: The Islanders, needing to replace the scoring tough of Kyle Okposo, reached a lucrative agreement July 1st with veteran left wing Andrew Ladd. It was expected that in addition to 25-goal, 50-point production, Ladd would also add leadership to a relatively young squad. But Ladd has just five points in 23 contests with his new club and has struggled despite seeing a lot of early-season ice time with John Tavares.

Many were critical of the Ladd contract, primarily due to the seven-year term. Ladd, soon to turn 31, already has nearly 800 regular season games under his belt and likely won’t remain productive into his mid-to-late-30’s. However it was at least expected that Ladd would maintain his 20-goal plus production through the first half of his deal.

Mikkel Boedker (San Jose Sharks) – Four years, $16MM: After falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final last June, the San Jose Sharks decided they needed to add some speed to help keep up against the league’s quicker clubs. Enter Boedker, who had tied his career-high in points, tallying 51 while splitting the 2015-16 campaign between Arizona and Colorado. Boedker was supposed to help allow the Sharks to ice four quality lines with skill and add some more speed to the lineup. Unfortunately the production – two goals and four points – simply doesn’t measure up to the lofty contract he received.

Dale Weise (Philadelphia Flyers) – Four years, $9.4MM: Weise parlayed an excellent platform season – 14 goals, 27 points – into a nice, multiyear deal with the Flyers this summer despite his late-season struggles following a trade from Montreal to Chicago. The physical winger tallied just one assist in 15 games with the Blackhawks down the stretch. Yet the AAV of $2.35MM is in line with Weise’s full-season production in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. The problem is, Weise has just two goals and four points in 22 game so far on the campaign and that’s not nearly enough to justify his contract.

Defense

Dan Hamhuis (Dallas Stars) – Two years, $7.5MM: The Stars pursued Hamhuis at last season’s trade deadline but the veteran defender elected to exercise his NTC to block a proposed deal to Dallas as he didn’t want to uproot his family at that time. After losing Kris Russell, Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski from last year’s blue line, it seemed only natural that the Stars would turn again to Hamhuis for help. The 13-year-vet has long been a steady performer and the two-year term is reasonable, but he has just five points in 24 games and has been a healthy scratch at times this season. Surely the Stars expected a little more from their investment.

Jason Demers (Florida Panthers) – Five years, $22.5MM: It’s not that Demers is having a terrible year as he is on pace for around 10 goals and 29 points. But Florida remade their blue line in the offseason, moving on from tough, physical defenders Erik Gudbranson and Dmitry Kulikov in favor of better puck movers like Demers. To say that plan hasn’t worked out would be an understatement. Defensively the team is allowing 2.44 goals-per-game, exactly the same as last year. However on offense, the team is averaging 0.51 fewer goals per game. Yes, some of that likely has to do with the injuries to Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad, but the bottom line is the season has been a bitter disappointment for the Panthers and Demers shares in some of the responsibility.

Goalie

James Reimer (Florida Panthers) – Five years, $17MM: With Roberto Luongo now 37, and the upcoming expansion draft at least providing the Panthers with the possibility of getting out from under the final five years of his onerous contract, the Panthers elected to buy the best goalie on the free agent market this summer to provide a competent fallback option. After eight starts this season, Reimer has a Save % under 0.900 and a GAA above 3.0. While a $3.4MM AAV may not be on par with most of the league’s starters, it is excellent money for a backup and Reimer is currently not even playing to that modest level.

 

Hawks Reassign Schmaltz; Call Up Goalie Johansson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

A day after losing starting goalie Corey Crawford for two to three weeks and being forced to sign an emergency net minder to serve as the team’s backup, the Chicago Blackhawks have made a move to hopefully solidify the position. The team has called up Lars Johansson from Rockford of the AHL to support Scott Darling between the pipes. In a corresponding move, Chicago reassigned rookie center Nick Schmaltz to Rockford. The related transactions were originally relayed by Tracy Myers of CSN Chicago via Twitter.

Crawford of course was diagnosed yesterday morning with appendicitis and underwent an emergency appendectomy at a Philadelphia hospital. Recovery times can vary but the Hawks at this point expect to be without the services of the soon-to-be-32-year-old for up to three weeks.

In desperate need of someone to backup Darling yesterday just hours before puck-drop, the Blackhawks inked Eric Semborski to an ATO. Semborski was a club player at Temple University and currently serves as a youth hockey coach in the Philadelphia area. While he didn’t get into the game, head coach Joel Quennville did say that he would have put Semborski in late had the Flyers scored a late empty-net goal to put the game out of reach.

Johansson is an interesting story. Already 29, he spent the first 10 seasons of his professional career playing in his native Sweden. An outstanding performance in 2015-16 while playing for Frolunda prompted Chicago to bring Larsson to North America to help add organizational depth between the pipes. Larsson went 27-6-0 with a 1.74 GAA and a Save % of 0.927% while leading Frolunda to the 2016 Swedish League championship. In 16 games with Rockford, he has a record of 6-7-1 with a 2.63 GAA and a Save % of 0.911%.

Schmaltz tallied one goal and four points in 26 games in his first professional campaign. The reassignment of Schmaltz leaves the Hawks perilously thin at forward with just 12 healthy bodies on the roster, though it does sound as if Jonathan Toews should be back in the lineup soon which will alleviate that issue.

The Hawks find themselves in this tight spot due to their proximity to the salary cap ceiling. By rule the team could have used former NHL net minder and current goalie coach for Chicago, Jimmy Waite, as the backup yesterday but as a former professional, Chicago would have had to have paid him a salary. With the team possessing less than $500K in space, they simply couldn’t have done so while remaining cap compliant.

Corey Crawford Ill, Blackhawks To Dress Emergency Backup

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

12:04pm: Corey Crawford is undergoing an appendectomy at a Philadelphia hospital. Team physician Dr. Michael Terry said Crawford “presented this morning with acute appendicitis.”

The team is expecting a full recovery and return to action, and will update Crawford’s status when more is known.

11:19am: Less than an hour away from puck drop, the Blackhawks have signed Eric Semborski to an ATO. He’ll back up Scott Darling against the Flyers. The 23-year-old Semborski previously played club hockey at Temple U.

Because of the tight turnaround, Semborski will wear number 50, which is usually worn by the goalie that he’s replacing.

10:30am: The Blackhawks will be without their captain and their starting goalie when they take on the Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

Just a day after placing Jonathan Toews on IR, coach Joel Quenneville announced that Corey Crawford is ill and will miss the game. Crawford is not only too sick to start, but he’s also unable to serve as backup for Scott Darling.

With the Blackhawks on the road and the game starting at noon, their options are slim. Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune suggests goaltending coach Jimmy Waite. Waite played 11 seasons in the NHL (eight with the Blackhawks) as a backup goalie. Waite has previously filled in at morning skates if the team is down a goalie.

The Blackhawks also play tomorrow evening at home to the Winnipeg Jets.

Blackhawks To Place Toews On IR

at CDT | by 3 Comments

It’s not a serious injury for Captain Serious, but Jonathan Toews is likely heading for injured reserve.

Toews has missed four games with a back injury, and is set to miss a fifth on Saturday night. CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers reported Toews is feeling better, but will not play in Philadelphia.

Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus quoted Toews as saying this is the kind of injury he’d “suck it up” and play through in the playoffs. But with defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk coming off IR after being out for the past five weeks, Lazerus speculates that the Blackhawks will place Toews on IR retroactive to last week to delay making another roster move.

[Related: Blackhawks Depth Chart]

Toews told Myers that he aggravated a prior injury in his last game, which was on November 23 in San Jose. The Blackhawks are 3-0-1 without Toews so far.

New Jersey Devils Activate Taylor Hall

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

If you ask Taylor Hall how long three weeks is, perhaps he’ll tell you fifteen days. That’s how long the superstar New Jersey Devils winger has been out since undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. As Andrew Gross pointed out on Twitter, and Hall hinted at yesterday, the Devils have activated him from injured reserve today, likely meaning he’ll make his return tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. The team announced that Reid Boucher has been placed on waivers to make room.

Unsure of when exactly the injury took place, Hall showed up to the rink on the 15th complaining of pain in his knee. When an MRI revealed that surgery was needed he underwent a procedure by team physician Dr. Michael Shindle and Dr. Jonathan Glashow, the Devils’ Chief Medical Officer for a torn meniscus in his knee. His original timeline was 3-4 weeks, but obviously that has been accelerated.

Hall was acquired in one of the biggest trades of the offseason, straight up for Adam Larsson on the most infamous day in recent hockey history. His season started as well as it could have, with twelve points in fourteen games before suffering the injury. He’ll now rejoin a team that has lost six of its last seven contests after winning five straight. A 10-7-5 record currently has them fifth in the Metropolitan division, and still in a wild card position.

Boucher, on the other hand, is an interesting waiver case as his relative youth (he just turned 23 in September) and AHL success seem to point to an effective depth forward. The former Sarnia Sting has 105 points in 164 career games at the lower level, and was an impressive goal scorer in his USHD and junior days – even scoring 62 in his final year with Sarnia.  For a team looking for an offensive boost, he may provide the perfect answer.  If not, he’ll likely return to the Albany Devils and wait for his next opportunity in the NHL.

Snapshots: Anderson, LeBrun’s Power Rankings, Blues

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Associated Press reports that Ottawa Senators’ net minder Craig Anderson will take another leave of absence to be with his wife during her battle with throat cancer. Anderson will not be available to play Thursday when the Sens take on the Flyers in Ottawa. In turn, the Senators recalled Andrew Hammond and also have Mike Condon ready to go.  Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen writes that Sens’ bench boss Guy Boucher said that there is no timetable for Anderson’s return but that the earliest he could be back is Saturday. Warren added a quote from Condon who said: “I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s going through and I wish him the best.”

In other NHL news:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks remain #1 on Pierre LeBrun’s Power Rankings as the first of December approaches. Though they went 3-3-1 on the annual Circus Trip, the Hawks were able to survive without captain Jonathan Toews, who has missed the past three games. Seated second are the Montreal Canadiens, followed by the New York Rangers, who are tops in scoring in the NHL. Fourth and fifth in LeBrun’s rankings are the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Ottawa Senators jumped six spots to number six, while the Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Nashville Predators round out LeBrun’s top ten respectively. In the power rankings basement? The Islanders hold the spot, due to only a pair of wins in November. LeBrun wonders if ownership will still be as patient if similar results follow in December.

  • Despite an earlier report indicating that the St. Louis Blues could be cutting ties with AHL affiliate the Chicago Wolves, KSDK Sports Director Frank Cusumano was contacted directly by a Blues Executive who denied such reports.  NHL.com’s Lou Korac wrote earlier that the Blues were readying to put a new AHL team in Kansas City, and the report, via his blog “In the Slot,” was posted on KSDK’s site.  Though Korac said the Blues have not made the plans official, a source told him that it’s pretty much a “done deal.” That news conflicted with what a Blues executive told Cusumano, saying that, “No decisions are close to being made.  We are talking to a lot of people.” 

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