San Jose Sharks Expected To Extend Head Coach Peter DeBoer
The San Jose Sharks have the second-best record in the Pacific Division and the second-best record in the Western Conference. With all that success, the Sharks have indicated they intend to extend head coach Peter DeBoer shortly to a multi-year contract, according to Nick Kypreos on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday.
DeBoer, currently in his fourth season with San Jose, has been having an impressive season as the Sharks have a 43-21-8 record and his team’s 94 points is good enough for fourth best in the NHL with two of those teams ahead of them being just one point ahead of them with 95 points in the Calgary Flames and the Boston Bruins. Many people have picked San Jose to win the Western Conference.
The 50-year-old coach has a career record of 317-180-106 over 11 seasons in the NHL, which has included stints with the Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils.
Snapshots: Boychuk, Cizikas, Foligno, Bishop
The New York Islanders could have gotten back defenseman Johnny Boychuk Saturday as the veteran defenseman was available to play, according to Newsday’s Andrew Gross. Boychuk appeared to hurt his shoulder when he took a hit from Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek last week, but Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said that Boychuk could have played. However, with the defense having played so well against Montreal Thursday, Trotz elected to keep the same six on defense against Detroit. He could play Sunday, however.
The team could also get back Casey Cizikas on Sunday as well. The Islanders named him a late scratch after he suffered a lower-body injury in warmups before Saturday’s game. The 28-year-old, who is having a career year, was suffering from a stomach flu several weeks ago and still hasn’t recovered from it.
“I was expecting him to play,” Trotz said. “We’re at that point in the year where we have to make sure with our players. He’s been pretty worn out. He lost a lot of weight.”
- The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that captain Nick Foligno did not travel with the team to Boston for their game today against Boston for personal reasons, but add that the personal reason doesn’t have anything to do with his daughter’s recent surgery. Foligno, who has 16 goals and 30 points this season, is expected to be back in the lineup soon. Foligno has missed some time this year due to the health of his now-five year-old daughter, who had to undergo a procedure in December/January. The Blue Jackets next play on Tuesday in Calgary.
- SportsDay’s Gerry Fraley writes that the Dallas Stars hope to have goaltender Ben Bishop back soon. The goaltender, who has been sidelined with a lower-body injury which he sustained Thursday at Minnesota, has been red-hot lately, having gone 230 minutes and 53 seconds without allowing a goal, a club record. Despite the fact that his injury improved the following day and had no difficulty walking out of the arena that night, the team opted to bench Bishop Friday against Vegas. However, the team hopes to get him back real soon as Dallas is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to making the playoffs. “I think he’s just being smart,” said Dallas head coach Jim Montgomery. “He’s trying to make sure it doesn’t become a two-week thing.”
Atlantic Notes: Abdelkader, Daley, Pastrnak, Thompson
It looks like the Detroit Red Wings might have lost one of their veteran players as MLive’s Ansar Khan writes that Justin Abdelkader will likely miss the rest of the season after suffering a hairline fracture in his leg and will miss 3-4 weeks.
The 32-year-old Abdelkader was injured Thursday after blocking a shot during their game against Tampa Bay. The forward has struggled this season, although he did recently end his 40-game goal-scoring drought, but has just six goals and 19 points with a minus-14 rating in 71 games this season.
Abdelkader has one of the most frustrating contracts on a team full of them as he has seen his playing time shrink in each of the past three seasons and yet still is on the books for another four years at $4.25MM per year.
- Sticking with the Red Wings, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free-Press writes that defenseman Trevor Daley took warmups today before their 2-1 win over the Islanders, but wasn’t able to play due to a bad back. With a back injury, Daley could be a game-by-game decision for the rest of the season. “It might be one of those things where when he feels good, he can play,” Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill said. “When he doesn’t, he can’t. Might be in and out a little bit.”
- The Boston Bruins got some good news as they announced an update on star forward David Pastrnak who has been out of the lineup since Feb. 10 after undergoing thumb surgery. After skating at this morning’s skate, the team expects to join the Bruins’ full practice on Monday and should be ready to return to the lineup shortly thereafter. The 22-year-old has already hit 30 goals for the third-straight year, but is close to hitting career-highs if he can get back on the ice as he has just 31 goals and 66 points in 56 games.
- In an update on the development this season of Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson, The Athletic’s Joe Yerdon (subscription requried) writes that the team has made the 21-year-old forward eligible to play in the AHL playoffs for the Rochester Americans and it is expected the team will send him there when the playoffs start, but he likely won’t be assigned there until after the Sabres’ regular season ends. Thompson has struggled to show consistency this season, which is normal for young players, but the team hopes they can get the 6-foot-5 forward as developed as possible for next season.
Pacific Notes: Karlsson, Canucks, Woo, Stone
The San Jose Sharks got some promising news as star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has missed most of the second half of the season with a groin injury, skated for 30 minutes this morning at the team’s morning skate for the first time since he re-injured his groin on Feb. 16, according to Paul Gackle of the Mercury News. Regardless, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said that Karlsson still is not close to returning.
“Good sign. Out there, no setbacks. No pain,” DeBoer said. “First step, obviously. We’re not close yet.”
Karlsson skated figure eights around the faceoff circles, practiced hard stops, and sprinted down the ice at full speed several times. Karlsson missed nine games after initially getting injured on Jan. 16. He returned for four games in February, but re-injured it on Feb. 23.
- In a mailbag series, The Athletic’s J.D. Burke (subscription required) writes that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Vancouver Canucks look to be active in the free-agent defense market, suggesting the Canucks could opt to make a big offer this season on Winnipeg Jets’ free agent Tyler Myers. With the Jets expected to have even more cap problems than usual with several big restricted free agents to take care of this summer, including Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba, the team might have to allow Myers to leave to free up some cap room. The 29-year-old Myers would be a big addition if Vancouver wants to make a big offer to the 6-foot-8, 229-pound blueliner.
- Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal writes that the Vancouver Canucks and the representation for prospect Jett Woo have had positive talks about bringing the physical blueliner on board soon. The team’s 2018 second-round pick has had a breakout season with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors with 12 goals, 62 points and 63 penalty minutes in 61 games this season.
- The Calgary Flames are adding some much needed depth to their blueline as defenseman Michael Stone is expected to play tonight in his first game in 125 days, according to Ryan Dittrick of NHL.com. Stone hasn’t played since Nov. 11 since he was diagnosed with a blood clot and placed on blood thinners. Regardless, Stone expects an easier transition back to the ice since he was able to get back on the ice four days after starting blood thinners and has been able to stay in good cardio shape the whole time. Stone has played 11 games this year and has four assists. He just returned from the Stockton Heat of the AHL, where he got three games of conditioning in.
Extension Negotiations Expected For Jeff Blashill
The Detroit Red Wings haven’t found a ton of success this season, but they’re not blaming the coaching staff. The rebuilding team is expected to begin extension negotiations with head coach Jeff Blashill at some point according to Bob McKenzie of TSN, as the front office is happy with the job he has done during the rebuilding year.
Blashill took over the Red Wings for the 2015-16 after former head coach Mike Babcock left for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and took them to a playoff appearance in his first year. After being eliminated in the first round in 2016, the team has now missed for three straight seasons while saying goodbye to franchise icons like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. With those legendary forwards out of the picture this season, the team has turned to a youth movement led by 22-year old Dylan Larkin. Larkin has taken over as the face of the Detroit franchise and is in the midst of a career season at both ends of the rink. His 62 points in 65 games easily leads the club, with second place Gustav Nyquist sold off at the trade deadline.
In fact, the Red Wings were active once again at the deadline as they look towards the future. Nyquist and Nick Jensen were both flipped for substantial assets, giving the Red Wings a loaded basket of draft picks and young players to build around. Blashill will be credited for getting the best out of Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi, and will be tasked with the same shepherding of prospects like Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina and eventually Joe Veleno.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been bumps along the road. The Red Wings currently sit 30th in the league and have gone 1-9-3 in their last 13 games. While that may give them a better chance at the draft lottery next month, it certainly doesn’t inspire much confidence in this group for next season. While Blashill may be credited with getting the best out of his young players in losing seasons, there will come a point where he must get some success in the standings as well.
CapFriendly lists Blashill as earning just $800K this season, the final of a four-year deal he signed in the summer of 2015. While he’ll likely get a raise from that if the Red Wings do reach an extension, it will be interesting to see just how long of a leash they give him this time around.
Antoine Roussel Suffers Season-Ending Knee Injury
The news out of Vancouver last night was not good following a rough game against the New York Rangers. Canucks head coach Travis Green confirmed that Antoine Roussel suffered a season-ending knee injury when he collided with Brendan Lemieux, while young prospect Quinn Hughes will spend a week in a walking boot after being diagnosed with a “pretty good bone bruise” from blocking a shot at the end of his college season.
Lemieux ended up with a march penalty for a hit to the head, but Roussel’s injury occurred because his leg got trapped underneath him as he crumpled to the ice. Teammates needed to help the Canucks forward off the ice, and his season will come to an abrupt end. Roussel was actually having quite the year with a career-high of 31 points in 65 games, putting him fourth on Vancouver in scoring. He also easily leads the team in penalty minutes with 118, coming in only behind Evander Kane for the league lead.
Elias Pettersson was also involved in a dangerous play when Chris Kreider‘s elbow swung around and hit the young Vancouver forward in the face. Kreider was given a game misconduct and Pettersson was taken for concussion testing, but did return to the game. The Rangers forward was also given a $5,000 fine for the incident, but did not receive a suspension.
While the Roussel news is obviously terrible for the Canucks, more fans will be focused on the Hughes news given the excitement around the young defenseman. Signed just a few days ago after his college season came to an end, the 19-year old was expected to get a chance to show what he can do down the stretch. Obviously there is still some time to get him into game action, but the Canucks will have to take things carefully and avoid any additional injury.
Canucks’ Loui Eriksson Made A Healthy Scratch
Loui Eriksson‘s tenure in Vancouver has been close to disastrous, but it has now reached a new low. In his third season and with 184 games with the Canucks under his belt, Eriksson has been made a healthy scratch for tonight’s home game against the New York Rangers, reports TSN’s Jason Brough. It is the first time in his Canucks career that Eriksson has been scratched.
To be fair, Eriksson had it coming. While a respected veteran and capable two-way forward, his 22 points through 69 games this season marks a career-low in per-game production, although a similar pace to his first two seasons in Vancouver. Making those disappointing offensive totals all the worse is how much Eriksson is paid to produce them. One of a series of terrible contract calls made in the 2016 off-season (see: Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd, David Backes, Kyle Okposo, Danny DeKeyser), the Canucks signed Eriksson to a six-year, $36MM contract weeks before his 31st birthday. Based on that $6MM cap hit, Eriksson has been the sixth-worst cost-per-point value among forwards with 60+ games played this season. Between poor play and chronic injury issues, the Canucks have yet to see any semblance of value from the Eriksson deal through three seasons, yet they have three seasons left to go.
The decision by head coach Travis Green could be the first step toward a more permanent split between the team and player. Discussing the move, Green told the media “it’s not like I’m sitting here saying that Loui’s played terrible, but has he done enough where I can’t take him out of the lineup?” If the coaching staff and front office have lost trust in Eriksson’s ability to at least be a positive impact on the lineup, they may decide to do what it takes to move on. The Canucks are not in bad shape in regards to the salary cap, but have proven time and time again that they feel they are closer to being a contender than a rebuild and may want to dump a bad salary in hopes of adding to the roster this off-season. While Eriksson’s contract would be hard to move, Vancouver could sweeten the deal with a pick or prospect or take back another bad contract that they feel would be a better fit. The buyout route is likely not an option; the structure of Eriksson’s contract would do little to help alleviate costs. A buyout this summer would only save the team $444K in each of the next two seasons, at the cost of $556K against the cap for three years after the deal would have expired. As such, the Canucks may have to get creative to get rid of Eriksson. They have lived with his under-performing play to this point, but the healthy scratch has drawn a new line in the sand and both sides may want to end their current relationship.
Calgary Flames To Carry Ten Defensemen
There is a logjam on the blue line in Calgary, but the team is content to keep it that way. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis recently spoke to Flames GM Brad Treliving who stated that the team won’t be changing it’s current configuration on defense. With the recent recall of veteran Michael Stone from a conditioning stint in the AHL, Calgary currently has nine defenseman on the NHL roster. Treliving doubled down on his commitment to competition on the back end by adding that Juuso Valimaki, currently logging major minutes in the minors, will soon be recalled as well. At that point, the Flames will have ten defensemen and plan to carry that group through the remainder of the season.
With ten defensemen seeking play time, one would think multiple jobs are up for grabs. In fact, Francis writes that only one spot is really available if the Flames are at full health. The grouping of Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, and Noah Hanifin are all cemented in their top-four roles and the team has no complaints with young Rasmus Andersson on the bottom pair. That leaves five rearguards to battle for the one left-side spot beside Andersson on a nightly basis, while the other four watch from the press box.
The favorite to see the most ice time the rest of the way is trade deadline addition Oscar Fantenberg. Francis notes that head coach Bill Peters prefers to have a balanced blue line between righties and lefties (even though Brodie is a natural left-handed shot who plays to Giordano’s right) and Fanteberg has fit in nicely in his natural position next to Andersson. The former L.A. King was considered more of a depth addition when he was acquired, but has settled into a starting role in the recent weeks. Of course, Stone will also get plenty of consideration as the top veteran option next to the inexperienced Andersson. However, he has also been sidelined since November and may take some time to get back up to speed. Stone is also a right-shot, which isn’t preferred. Oliver Kylington is a left-shot and has played more games for the Flames this season than any of his competitors. At the same time, the 21-year-old has averaged the least ice time per game of the group and may not have the full trust of the coaching staff just yet. Kylington has shown flashes, but is still susceptible to defensive mistakes. The same can be said for Valimaki, who is just 20, but the recent first-rounder has looked strong in recent weeks with the Stockton Heat and logged 22 games with Calgary earlier this season. Finally, there’s stay-at-home defenseman Dalton Prout, who has been used primarily as an extra man over the past few years, but can be a dependable presence in his own zone and a physical threat, albeit with limited offensive ability.
Treliving tells Franics that he feels the numbers on the blue line are not a detriment to the team, but an opportunity for competition to make everyone better. Without a clear No. 6, the Flames will certainly have some competition down the stretch and it may very well result in a motivated winner. However, there is some risk that too much shuffling will leave Calgary without an obvious pick to man the bottom pair in the postseason. With little room for error in the playoffs, a cold defenseman or a choice without the requisite chemistry with Andersson could prove to be a problem. Depth for the purpose of safeguarding injuries is always an asset, but the Flames would be best-served to find a winner of this battle sooner rather than later and turn ten defensemen into six starters and four backups well prior to the postseason.
Rangers Notes: Tanking, Panarin, Shattenkirk
A concern of New York Rangers fans all season long has ironically been that they aren’t bad enough. The team had little expectation of pushing for a playoff spot in 2018-19, yet continued to hang around with the likes of the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, and Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings, rather than down with the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and New Jersey Devils. When the postseason is out of reach, many focus only on an improvement of their draft lottery odds, which has certainly been true with New York fans. While the Rangers’ pipeline is well-stocked and deep with talent at every position, the team is still looking for their next surefire star. Surely after the trade deadline, in which their third- and fourth-highest scorers – Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello – were dealt away, the Rangers’ play would drop off, right? Entering last night, the team was on a six-game win-less streak; however, they had picked up the loser point in four of those six games and then got back in the win column by taking down the Devils. The Rangers continue to stay afloat, currently ranked 13th in the East and 23rd in the NHL, with multiple teams less than two points ahead of them. If they stay on their current trajectory, the Rangers will likely have between a 3% and 6.5% chance at the No. 1 pick and combined odds of no more than about 20% of landing any of the top three lottery spots. They stand a much higher chance of picking outside the top ten than inside the top three. And there’s no reason to believe that their pace won’t continue. According to NHL.com’s strength of schedule calculations for the remainder of the season, the Rangers have the easiest stretch run of any team in the Metropolitan Division and are second only to the Sabres in the conference. Only half of their remaining games are against playoff-bound competition and five of their final 14 games come against teams presently below them in the standings. So as for those hopes of tanking, they may be all for not. With weak competition on the schedule and top young talent taking more responsibility in the lineup, the Rangers could potentially improve or at the very least stay the course for the remainder of the campaign.
- If they can’t land one of the top prospects in the coming draft, will Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and company look to add star power in the free agent market? The Athletic’s Craig Custance writes that the expectation that New York will add heavily in the off-season may be overblown after speaking with Gorton. The GM states that he is only looking for players that will be “part of the rebuild, not someone who is going to restrict it.” This likely means a free agent on the younger side who fits the preferred system and the style of the Rangers’ up-and-coming young players. While Custance knows Gorton would never say it outright, Columbus Blue Jackets star winger Artemi Panarin sounds like the ideal target to fit that mold. The 27-year-old has the immense talent to be a short-term difference-maker and the youth and longevity to be a long-term fit who doesn’t clog up cap space down the road. All three of the New York-area teams have been considered likely landing spots for Panarin, the top free agent forward this summer, but the draw of playing in the heart of the Big Apple in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd could be enough to entice Panarin, who has his sights set on growing his persona in the next stage of his career.
- If the Rangers are going to sign Panarin, it is going to take money and a lot of it. One player who could be shown the door to accommodate the need for extra cap space could be defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. The Rangers’ big free agent addition just two years ago has not been the player that the team expected and the New York Post’s Larry Brooks believes that he is fighting for life in these final games of the season. Shattenkirk was a healthy scratch the other night for the second time this season, parking himself and his $6.65MM AAV salary in the press box. He has just 23 points on the year so far, the same amount as last season when he missed close to half of the season due to injury. Compare that to 40+ points in five of his six seasons prior to joining New York and it explains why patience is running out. Brooks feels that if Shattenkirk cannot show substantial improvement in his effort and results down the stretch, he could be a prime candidate for a buyout this summer. Per CapFriendly, such a move would save the Rangers more than $5MM against the cap next season, with minor savings in 2020-21 as well, at a cost of just $1.433MM in each of the two seasons after. Despite it being a buyout that makes sense on paper, Brooks writes that “no one wants this”. He has spoken to both Shattenkirk and head coach David Quinn about what Shattenkirk needs to do to improve on his slow, overly-methodical style and it sounds as if they are on the same page. “I know what I have to do, I know how I have to play,” Shattenkirk says, but the question is whether he can actually do it. Failure to act on his shortcomings could mean his days in New York are numbered.
Snapshots: Hart, Forsberg, Ferland, Debrusk, Hirose
The Philadelphia Flyers got some good news as it looks like rookie goaltender Carter Hart is healthy once again and could find himself in net as early as Monday against the Ottawa Senators, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi.
Hart has been out since Feb. 21 with an ankle injury, but he was also coming off two of his worst performances, having been pulled in back-to-back games in which he allowed three goals on just six shots in both appearances. If the team opts to start him against Ottawa, it would be an opportunity to ease him back into the lineup as the Senators are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games.
The 20-year-old Hart is having a impressive season considering he was not meant to spend it in the NHL. Originally slated to spend his first professional season in the AHL, he appeared in just 18 games before being promoted alongside interim head coach Scott Gordon when he was hired. Since then, Hart was helped the Flyers rebound from a tough start with a 13-8-1 record with a 2.79 GAA. While that number doesn’t stand out, his .917 save percentage does.
- Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean writes that Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg missed Saturday’s game and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to the team. Forsberg missed practice Thursday and Friday, but was believed to be available for Saturday’s game, but didn’t play in the end. Forsberg missed 19 games with an upper-body injury earlier this season, although there is no word on whether this injury is related to that one. The 24-year-old has 22 goals and 41 points in 52 games this season.
- Michael Smith of NHL.com reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury and did not travel with the team on their three-game roadtrip that started in Nashville today, according to head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Ferland has been having a solid season, putting up 17 goals and 35 points in 52 games. The 26-year-old has played under 14 minutes combined over the last two games.
- The Boston Bruins’ Jake Debrusk is expected to miss a few more games as the forward is still in a walking boot, according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. While he’s expected to miss this weekend’s games, he could be back not long after that as head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Debrusk was the closest, of all their injured players, to return.
- Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen reports that the Los Angeles Kings are interested in undrafted Michigan State forward Taro Hirose, currently the NCAA leading scorer. According to Rosen, Hirose is friends with Kings’ prospect James Anderson-Dolan and could be convinced to sign with L.A. although there is no word on whether the junior forward is ready to leave college. He has 16 goals and 37 points this season for Michigan State.