Top Blues Prospect Scott Perunovich Leaves Game With Injury
Defenseman Scott Perunovich is one of the very best prospects the St. Louis Blues have in their system – if he stays healthy. Injuries have been a serious concern for him in the past, and they may be unfortunately continuing now. The Blues announced that Perunovich left tonight’s preseason game against the Chicago Blackhawks with an upper-body injury and will not return.
Perunovich took a hit along the boards from Blackhawks forward Michal Teply, causing his arm/wrist area to make awkward contact with the glass.
St. Louis’ 45th overall pick in 2018, Perunovich missed the entire 2020-21 season with an injury after a spectacular junior season with the University of Minnesota Duluth. In 2019-20, he registered an assist per game and finished the year with 40 points in 34 games. Despite the missed season, Perunovich didn’t seem to miss a step in 2021-22, scoring 22 points in just 17 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds and registering six assists in his first 19 NHL games with the Blues. He now has just played those 36 games combined over the last two seasons, and the 24-year-old is losing precious development time.
Perunovich figured to challenge for a top-four role with the Blues this season, especially with veteran Marco Scandella on the injured list. Hopefully, Perunovich’s injury isn’t long-term and he’s able to rebound and get back to health before the regular season begins.
Blackhawks Open To Taking On A Pricey Contract
There will be teams that need to clear salary before the regular season gets underway next month. There aren’t many squads that have enough room to take on a contract but the Blackhawks have made it known that they are open to discussing such a move, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago-Sun Times. While Chicago clearly isn’t looking to win now, their impetus for doing such a move would be to pick up some other future assets along with the contract of the veteran player they’d be acquiring. Per CapFriendly, the team has roughly $7.5MM in cap room right now and while they’ll want to leave some wiggle room for injury recalls, they certainly will have enough flexibility left to make this type of trade.
Seth Jones Has No Regrets On Eight-Year Extension
- Amid the teardown and rebuild of the Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman Seth Jones told Ben Pope of The Chicago Sun-Times he has no regrets about signing his eight-year extension with the team last summer. He admitted seeing many of his teammates traded over the past few months was frustrating, but said he plans to look at the bigger picture and be patient, this year especially. Locked in for eight more seasons at a $9.5MM AAV, Jones figures to be one of the only Blackhawks not moved out in the rebuild, but the star blueliner will have the opportunity over the life of the contract to be part of the future structure as the team tries to rise to prominence once again.
Jake McCabe Undergoes Surgery
Sep 23: When training camp started this week and McCabe was on the ice, it was a surprising sight given how recently the team announced he had surgery. Turns out, McCabe actually had that surgery six weeks ago, so he is already halfway through his recovery according to Tracey Myers of NHL.com.
Sep 13: The Chicago Blackhawks will not have Jake McCabe in the lineup when the season begins, as he recently underwent cervical spine surgery and will be out for 10-12 weeks. McCabe is entering the second season of a four-year, $16MM contract he signed in 2021. Prospect Jalen Luypen will also be out for 14-18 weeks after suffering a rotator cuff injury.
It’s a tough blow for a player that has dealt with injury throughout his career, including a knee issue that took almost all of 2020-21 and limited his play early last season. McCabe eventually would suit up 75 times for the Blackhawks, setting a career-high with 22 points while averaging more than 20 minutes a night.
Now, with a timeline that could potentially take him out until December, McCabe will be fighting another uphill battle. Still just 28 years old, there’s plenty of time for him to recover and get back to being a capable NHL defenseman, but where he fits into Chicago’s future isn’t clear. The team is in a tank phase as they move through a rebuild, and will soon want to give their younger options a chance to show what they can do at the NHL level. That isn’t right away — as shown by the Jack Johnson signing — but it’s hard to see McCabe being a regular contributor by the time the team is ready to compete again.
For now, it is just another long rehab for McCabe to go through. To this point in his nine-year NHL career, he has yet to play in more than 77 games during a single season.
Ian Mitchell Out Six Weeks
- When the Chicago Blackhawks released their roster today, they also announced a few injuries for the start of camp. Among them was Ian Mitchell, who will miss the next six weeks with a wrist injury. It’s brutal timing for the young defenseman, as there was a real opportunity for him to jump into the lineup while Jake McCabe is out for the first several weeks of the season. Selected 57th overall in 2017, Mitchell played 39 games with the team in 2020-21 but only eight last year, instead spending most of his time with the Rockford IceHogs. It is not clear where the 23-year-old (24 in January) sits in the organizational depth chart but an injury to start the year won’t help.
Kurtis Gabriel Retires From Pro Hockey
In a Twitter post Monday, forward Kurtis Gabriel announced his retirement from professional hockey after a nine-year career.
Gabriel, 29, spent last season with the Toronto Marlies and Rockford IceHogs in the AHL, also getting two NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks. He also spent time in the Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and San Jose Sharks organizations.
He retires with 371 AHL games under his belt, including 72 points and a whopping 639 penalty minutes. He had five points in 51 NHL games, totalling 153 penalty minutes as well.
With his 6’4″, 212-pound frame, Gabriel was one of the few prototypical enforcers left in pro hockey. Off the ice, he’s a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Well-loved wherever he played, Gabriel promises to have many post-career options if he wants to stay in the game.
The Newmarket, Ontario native was originally a third-round draft pick of the Wild in 2013.
Colton Dach Placed In Concussion Protocol
- The Blackhawks have placed prospect Colton Dach in concussion protocol, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 19-year-old played in the first period of yesterday’s rookie tournament game against Minnesota but didn’t return for the rest of the night. Dach is coming off an impressive season with WHL Kelowna where he had 79 points in 60 games and while he wasn’t expected to push for a roster spot with Chicago, this placement could take away any chances of seeing preseason action and perhaps delay the start of his final junior season.
2008 NHL Draft Take Two: Eleventh Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science, and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
2nd Overall: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (2)
3rd Overall: Roman Josi, Atlanta Thrashers (38)
4th Overall: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (4)
5th Overall: Erik Karlsson, Toronto Maple Leafs (15)
6th Overall: John Carlson, Columbus Blue Jackets (27)
7th Overall: Jacob Markstrom, Nashville Predators (31)
8th Overall: Braden Holtby, Phoenix Coyotes (93)
9th Overall: Jordan Eberle, New York Islanders (22)
10th Overall: Jared Spurgeon, Vancouver Canucks (156)
2008 was quite a year for defensemen as Spurgeon becomes the sixth blueliner to go in the top ten in our redraft. He takes the place of Cody Hodgson who was the original pick of the Canucks.
The Islanders did quite well in drafting Spurgeon early in the sixth round. If you’re thinking to yourself that you don’t remember the blueliner being with New York, there’s a good reason for that. They opted not to sign him despite two strong seasons with Spokane, making him an unrestricted free agent. Minnesota invited him to rookie camp and liked what they saw, quickly signing him to an entry-level contract in 2010.
That decision certainly worked out well for the Wild as he made his NHL debut that season and never looked back from there. He has played in a dozen NHL seasons, all with Minnesota and he sits second in franchise history in points by a defenseman. He’s 24 behind Ryan Suter for that distinction and assuming he stays healthy, he should get there at some point this upcoming season.
Spurgeon was named Minnesota’s captain in January 2021 and has five seasons left on his contract. Along the way, he should pass former captain Mikko Koivu for their all-time games played mark. Not too shabby for a player that the Islanders opted not to sign.
Now, we move on to pick number eleven which was held by the Chicago Blackhawks. They selected center Kyle Beach from the WHL, a true power forward that put up plenty of points and plenty of penalty minutes. He signed his entry-level deal in 2009, making his pro debut soon after with Rockford. Unfortunately for him and Chicago, he wasn’t able to duplicate the offensive success he had in junior and in 2013, he was traded to the Rangers for winger Brandon Mashinter.
It also must be noted that in 2010 when he served as a Black Ace for the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup run, he was sexually assaulted by then-video coach Brad Aldrich. While he was identified as John Doe during the course of the NHL’s investigation into the incident and lawsuit which concluded last year, he revealed himself to be the victim in an interview with TSN’s Rick Westhead in October. Stan Bowman was let go soon after while Joel Quenneville resigned his position as head coach of the Panthers following the results of the investigation being made public.
Since the 2013-14 season, Beach has played overseas, spending time in Sweden, Austria, Germany, and Slovakia. He spent the last two years in the German third division, averaging over a point and a half per game. He is not currently under contract for the upcoming season.
With what transpired back in 2010, there will be a lingering question of ‘what if’ when it comes to Beach but it’s also clear that there were better choices for them at that time. As we continue our hindsight draft, who should the Blackhawks have selected? Make your selection in the poll below.
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Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Snapshots: Hossa, Hammond, Virtanen
The Chicago Blackhawks will be retiring the No. 81 in honor of Marian Hossa this season, with a ceremony set for November 20 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hossa was a huge part of three Stanley Cup championships for the Blackhawks and recorded 415 points in 534 regular season games with the club. He also has a history with the Penguins, having joined them at the end of the 2007-08 season for a Stanley Cup run that ended unsuccessfully against the Detroit Red Wings.
One of the most dominant two-way players of his generation, Hossa was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020 after a 19-year NHL career. He sits 59th all-time in points with 1,134, 61st in games played with 1,309, and received Selke Trophy votes in 13 different seasons, despite being a winger. Hossa is the eighth player in franchise history to receive this honor, following Glenn Hall, Pierre Pilote, Keith Magnuson, Bobby Hull, Denis Savard, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito.
- It appears as though Andrew Hammond might not be attending Florida Panthers camp on a PTO after all, as he has been linked to HC Traktor in the KHL. The 34-year-old netminder actually played 11 games in the NHL last season – his first action at that level since 2017-18 – posting an .879 save percentage. In his career, Hammond holds a .916 save percentage mostly because of his incredible 20-1-2 record with the Ottawa Senators as a 26-year-old rookie in 2015.
- Jake Virtanen may be returning to an NHL rink in the next few weeks, as Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now reports Edmonton or Calgary are likely PTO destinations for the free agent forward. That follows Ryan Rishaug of TSN’s tweet earlier this week suggesting that the Oilers were waiting on Virtanen’s decision after extending a tryout offer. Virtanen, who spent last season playing in the KHL, was found not guilty of sexual assault in July following his trial regarding an incident in 2017.
Waiver Watching: Sizing Up The Goaltender Market
With training camps on the horizon, there are still some goaltending situations around the NHL that are unsettled. Accordingly, those teams may be planning on picking up a second goaltender on waivers during the preseason as Montreal did with Samuel Montembeault last season. With that in mind, let’s examine who might be looking for a goalie and which teams have a netminder that could be of interest.
Potentially Looking
Arizona: The Coyotes have one of their two goalies locked up for three years in Karel Vejmelka but after that, there is nothing but question marks. Farmhands Jon Gillies and Ivan Prosvetov have some NHL experience but Gillies struggled last season with New Jersey and Prosvetov hasn’t posted a .900 SV% in the last two seasons in the minors. Cap space isn’t an issue for them so they can look at any of the options available on waivers or take on a bad contract for additional compensation.
Chicago: Right now, Alex Stalock is their backup goalie. He has missed most of the last two seasons battling his way back from myocarditis and struggled considerably in the minors last year. Granted, the Blackhawks certainly aren’t in win-now mode but in a perfect world, they’d like Arvid Soderblom to have an uninterrupted year with AHL Rockford. Currently, he’s third on the depth chart but if there’s a chance to bring in a low-cost second-stringer and push Stalock into the spot of being the one to be recalled if an injury arises, they might want to take it. The waiver wire could be the chance to add that.
Philadelphia: With Ivan Fedotov being blocked from going to North America this season due to a military commitment, the Flyers are going to have to turn to Plan B. Felix Sandstrom is currently their second option but he has just five career NHL appearances under his belt. They’re looking to be more competitive this season so this could be a spot for an upgrade. Granted, Sandstrom would then need to be waived to be sent back to Lehigh Valley but that would have been the case if Fedotov had been able to play so it’s a risk they might be comfortable with.
Of course, an injury or two during the preseason could add to the list of suitors in the coming weeks as well.
Teams That Could Lose A Goalie
For the purpose of this exercise, the focus is going to be on either young goalies that could be appealing or veterans with some recent NHL experience that could fill a gap.
Buffalo: Malcolm Subban was brought back to be the veteran to partner with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in AHL Rochester but he has 86 games of NHL experience under his belt and a deal that’s only $100K above the league minimum. He has been a full-time backup going back to his time with Vegas which would also bolster his chances of potentially being claimed.
Dallas: Right now, Anton Khudobin appears to be the odd one out again with Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood set to be the goalie duo for the Stars. Khudobin is now in the final year of his deal that carries a $3.33MM AAV. It wouldn’t be shocking if he cleared waivers but if Dallas wants to free up a bit of extra money for Jason Robertson’s contract, they’ll be calling Arizona to see what it would cost for them to take that contract on.
Los Angeles: Pheonix Copley has cleared waivers without any concerns the last couple of years but also was on a pricey contract for a third-string option. Now, he’s on a much more palatable deal ($825K) and is coming off an impressive season in AHL Hershey. The 30-year-old was the backup for the Capitals back in 2018-19.
Nashville: This is the most interesting one to keep an eye on. Although Connor Ingram held his own in the playoffs for the Preds, they still went and brought in Kevin Lankinen on a one-year, $1.5MM deal. That’s a lot to pay a third-string option so it could put Ingram in jeopardy. However, if they try to sneak Ingram through, there’s a very good chance he’ll be claimed, especially with an AAV that’s below the minimum. Carrying three goalies is a possibility but generally not ideal so something might have to give here.
New York (R): The Rangers went and brought in Louis Domingue on a two-year contract to be their insurance policy but he might appeal to some other teams as well. He did alright in the playoffs for Pittsburgh and has 142 games of NHL experience over parts of two seasons. Both years are one-way which was likely to try to deter other teams from claiming him but with an AAV of just $775K, he may attract some interest.
Seattle: With Martin Jones joining the Kraken as their backup, that’s going to push both Joey Daccord and Magnus Hellberg to the waiver wire. Daccord was viewed as a possible NHL option not long ago and at 26, there could still be some upside after a strong season with AHL Charlotte. Hellberg, meanwhile, has been dominant in the KHL the last few years which prompted Detroit to give him a brief look down the stretch last season. Other teams might want to take a look as well depending on how things go over the next few weeks.
Winnipeg: Mikhail Berdin is the one goalie on this list that doesn’t have any NHL experience but at 24, he’s also the youngest in this group. If a rebuilding team wants to take a look at a younger backup to see if there’s something there, this is the type of goalie they’d probably want to go for.
Of course, there will be other goalies that will hit the waiver wire in the coming weeks that could be of interest to teams as well depending on what transpires over the preseason. There won’t be a ton of waiver activity between the pipes – there rarely is – but one or two of these players could be changing teams in the coming weeks.