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Tyler Johnson Undergoes Neck Surgery

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Jack Eichel may have been the first NHL player to undergo an artificial disk replacement surgery, but he certainly won’t be the last. The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that Tyler Johnson underwent neck surgery this morning and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that it was the same ADR procedure as Eichel. Blackhawks team physician Dr. Michael Terry released the following statement:

After trying to manage his neck pain conservatively for the past couple of weeks, Tyler underwent neck surgery today. The prognosis is good and his anticipated return to play is approximately three months.

Johnson, 31, has played just eight games this season for the Blackhawks after they acquired him in a trade this offseason that saw Brent Seabrook’s contract go to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had three points in those games, but ended up on the wrong end of quite a few lopsided scores. In fact, Chicago lost all eight of the games Johnson participated in before he was taken out of the lineup due to injury at the end of October.

Now, as he faces a three-month recovery timeline, it’s unclear how many times he’ll actually get to suit up for the Blackhawks at all. The veteran forward has two more years on his contract that carries a $5MM cap hit but will be a prime buyout candidate this summer unless he really shows an increased ability down the stretch. It’s been years since he was the high-flying player that twice scored 29 goals for the Lightning, and he has just 25 points since the start of 2020-21. A serious injury like this won’t help his case as the Blackhawks will be looking to shed money in the offseason.

Of course, there is hope that this new surgery can help a player’s long-term outlook when compared to the traditional fusion procedure. Eichel was spotted back on the ice yesterday just three weeks out from surgery, and though there are obviously plenty of hurdles before he resumes play for the Vegas Golden Knights, hopefully, things are progressing well in that direction. Johnson now faces the same process of rehabilitation and won’t be helping the Blackhawks for the next few months. His contract was already on long-term injured reserve and it will stay there for the time being.

Buffalo Sabres Acquire Malcolm Subban

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The Buffalo Sabres have struggled to find consistent netminding all year, and now appear to be throwing another name into the ring. The Sabres have acquired Malcolm Subban from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for future considerations.

Subban, 27, is certainly not a guaranteed upgrade to the goaltending the Sabres have at the moment. A first-round pick from 2012, the veteran netminder has just 82 games of NHL experience to this point most of that coming with the Vegas Golden Knights as the team’s original backup. Subban posted a .901 save percentage in those 63 appearances with Vegas, but has a .899 overall for his career. Last season, he played in 16 games for the Blackhawks and posted a .900, but was pushed down the depth chart once again when they acquired Marc-Andre Fleury in the offseason.

After clearing waivers at the start of the year, Subban was sent to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL where he has appeared in three games. While his numbers there certainly don’t paint a pretty picture, this move will allow the Sabres to leave Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, still the team’s top goaltending prospect, in the minor leagues while Subban helps the NHL squad.

Currently, the team was going with a tandem of Dustin Tokarski and Aaron Dell, as Craig Anderson continues to deal with an injury. Those two have combined for an .894 on the season so far, not exactly what the team is looking for as they try to support their young roster. It’s not that the Sabres are really trying to contend for the playoffs as they start another rebuild, but it’s difficult to develop any talent when they’re losing every night. The team is 3-6-1 in their last ten and plummeting down the standings, thanks in part to goaltending that has allowed the fifth-most goals against in the league.

It’s also a great opportunity for Subban, if only to show that he can be an NHL backup again at this point in his career. His two-year contract will expire at the end of the season, at which point he’ll be looking for a new job. Given that the deal is a one-way contract, he was still earning his $950K salary in the minor leagues. The Blackhawks can cross that off the books now that he’s with Buffalo, even if they aren’t really getting anything of value in return.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report a deal was being worked out. 

More to come…

Tyler Johnson Recovering Slower Than Anticipated

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  • The Blackhawks were hoping to have center Tyler Johnson back soon but it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case. Interim head coach Derek King told reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link) that the veteran isn’t as far along in his recovery as they hoped from an undisclosed injury that has kept him out for the last week and a half.  Johnson is in his first season with Chicago after being acquired from Tampa Bay but has been limited to just eight games so far due to injuries while he has just a goal and two assists when he has been in the lineup.

Blackhawks Unable To Get Mid-Round Pick For Dylan Strome

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It wasn’t all that long ago that Blackhawks center Dylan Strome was viewed as a potential centerpiece player when he was drafted third overall by Arizona back in 2015.  Even as recently as 2019-20 when he had a good season with Chicago, he still looked like a part of a longer-term core in Chicago.  But since then, he has struggled mightily and it doesn’t appear as if other teams around the league believe he could rebound as Mark Lazerus of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that they haven’t been able to get a team to meet their asking price of a mid-round draft pick for Strome’s services.  The 24-year-old has just a goal and two assists this season in 12 games while being a frequent healthy scratch.  His AAV of $3MM is problematic while a $3.6MM qualifying offer looms large as well.  If a mid-round pick isn’t feasible, it appears that interim GM Kyle Davidson will need to consider some retention to try to find a new place for Strome to play.

Senators Claim Adam Gaudette Off Waivers From Blackhawks

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It is a busy waiver day for Ottawa today.  After officially placing Matt Murray on waivers, the Senators have claimed center Adam Gaudette off waivers from the Blackhawks, reports TSN’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link).

Chicago acquired Gaudette at the trade deadline last season from Vancouver in exchange for Matthew Highmore.  He played in seven games down the stretch last season and did well, collecting four points which was good enough to earn him a qualifying offer for just under $1MM which he accepted in July.  However, things haven’t gone as well this season as he has played in just eight games – recording only two points – and spending the rest of the time as a healthy scratch.

Gaudette’s agent Matt Keator told Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link) that GM Kyle Davidson was doing Gaudette a favor by putting him on waivers so that he could go somewhere where he could play more regularly.  He should get that opportunity in Ottawa, a team that has shuffled quite a few players in and out of their bottom six in the early going this season.

The 25-year-old will once again be a restricted free agent this summer with a $1MM qualifying offer.  Gaudette will also have salary arbitration eligibility so he will need to be more productive with the Sens than he was with the Blackhawks in order to be tendered in July.

Adam Gaudette Placed On Waivers

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The Chicago Blackhawks have placed Adam Gaudette on waivers today, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Gaudette, 25, hasn’t played in a few weeks, last suiting up for the Blackhawks on November 9. He played just over five minutes in that game and then has been made a healthy scratch several times by interim head coach Derek King.

Now, with Tyler Johnson nearing a return to action, the team needed to clear a roster spot and it’s Gaudette that will be risked to the rest of the league. It’s an interesting decision for the Blackhawks, who have several waiver-exempt players they could have sent down instead–namely Reese Johnson and Mike Hardman–but they’ve obviously decided that Gaudette is the one that should go.

There’s certainly a chance he could be claimed, though a cap hit just barely under $1MM should make some cap-strapped teams hesitate. Gaudette hasn’t been anywhere near the player he was during the 2019-20 season, when he recorded 12 goals and 33 points in 59 games. Since then, he has just 13 points in 48 games, split between the Vancouver Canucks and Blackhawks.

A Hobey Baker winner, there’s obvious offensive upside in Gaudette, but his overall play hasn’t been good enough to secure a regular spot in Chicago’s top-six. If he clears, he will likely be sent back to the minor leagues.

Riley Stillman Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Chicago Blackhawks have placed Riley Stillman on injured reserve while recalling Wyatt Kalynuk to take his place on the roster. Stillman suffered a left knee injury in last night’s game when Tyler Motte was pushed into his leg from behind. The team has not indicated how long he’ll be out for, but a stint on IR means at least a week.

Stillman, 23, is another one of the players in their first full season with the Blackhawks, after being acquired at last season’s deadline along with Brett Connolly and Henrik Borgstrom. The young defenseman had played in 12 games and was averaging more than 15 minutes a night before going down early last night. Unfortunately, even those limited minutes had led to pretty poor results to this point, with the Blackhawks outscored 6-2 with Stillman on the ice at even-strength.

Kalynuk meanwhile had been dealing with a injury of his own, starting the year on LTIR and only joining the Rockford Icehogs earlier this month. He has played in four games and has three points, continuing his history of production at the professional level. Since leaving the University of Wisconsin and signing with Chicago, Kalynuk has played 33 games combined between the AHL and NHL. He has 22 points in those contests, including seven goals. With the loss of Stillman, he could get an opportunity immediately to get back into the Blackhawks lineup and continue his strong early play.

Chicago Blackhawks Activate Caleb Jones

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According to PuckPedia, the Chicago Blackhawks activated defenseman Caleb Jones from long-term injured reserve today, adding him and his $850,000 cap hit back to the active roster.

The Blackhawks originally placed Jones on LTIR retroactive to October 6, 2021, when he sustained a wrist injury during training camp. His return is in line with his expected recovery time of six weeks.

Chicago acquired Jones as part of the return for long-time Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith in one of the most talked-about trades of the summer. Caleb, the younger brother of offseason acquisition Seth Jones, is a strong candidate to push Riley Stillman out of the lineup in order to make his Blackhawks debut.

20-year-old Isaak Phillips, who’s averaged just 10:51 through three games this season, will likely be sent down to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to accommodate Jones as he doesn’t require waivers.

Originally a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers, Jones is only seven games short of hitting the century mark in games played. Through 93 games across the past three seasons, all with Edmonton, the 24-year-old has five goals and 14 assists for 19 points.

Jones is in the final season of a two-year, $1.7MM contract extension he signed with the Oilers on January 15, 2020.

Chicago Blackhawks Hire Rob Cookson

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The Chicago Blackhawks have made some changes to the NHL coaching staff, hiring Rob Cookson as an additional assistant and promoting Marc Crawford to associate coach. Kyle Davidson, the team’s interim general manager, explained the Cookson hire:

Rob’s extensive NHL experience will complement our staff immediately. It’s his fresh perspective, however, that will really benefit the team as we work on this transition. We look forward to Rob meeting us on this road trip and I know he is eager to get going with this group.

As the release points out, Cookson has experience as an assistant with HC Lugano in Switzerland, where he coached Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev. For several years, he served under Crawford with the ZSC Lions, winning the championship in 2016 when Auston Matthews was on the roster. He also has plenty of experience in the NHL, spending more than a decade as an assistant with the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators.

When the team relieved Jeremy Colliton of his duties earlier this month, they also moved on from assistants Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank. They promised then that they would be adding an assistant coach to help new interim head coach Derek King, though he would be leaning heavily on Marc Crawford for the rest of the season. That support has resulted in an increased title, as Crawford has been elevated to an associate.

There is still going to be a head coaching search for the Blackhawks moving forward, but King (and perhaps Crawford) are making a case for themselves. Since the change, the team has won three straight games and is climbing out of the brutal 1-9-2 start that they had under Colliton.

Snapshots: Rask, Housley, Carrier

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TSN’s Chris Johnston notes on Thursday’s edition of Insider Trading that free agent goaltender Tuukka Rask is working his way back after offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum and could be ready to return to game action as soon as January. Johnston notes specifically that Rask could be an option for Team Finland at the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, potentially a huge boost to an already strong Finnish program. While Johnston reports that Rask’s main focus in his “mind and his heart” remains with the Boston Bruins, the door isn’t completely closed on other options, either. Regardless, it’s good to see one of the league’s best goalies of his generation working his way back to health for what could be his last chance at a championship.

More notes from around the league:

  • Arizona Coyotes assistant coach Phil Housley has entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol, per the team’s public relations department. He won’t travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. He’ll miss three games, including a back-to-back set against the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators this Friday and Saturday. Arizona’s next home game is a week from today against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and pending test results, Housley could be available to return then.
  • According to the team, Nashville Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier is out for Thursday night’s game against the St. Louis Blues with an upper-body injury. The Predators note that he’ll be evaluated further when the team returns home. Carrier blocked a shot that hit him up high during Wednesday night’s game against the Dallas Stars and did not return.

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