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Red Wings Notes: Larkin, Athanasiou, Fulcher

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Drafting Dylan Larkin was the equivalent of hitting the NHL talent jackpot writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. Calling him the foundation of Detroit’s rebuilding process, Larkin fell to Detroit in the 2014 NHL Draft. St. James assesses that the 21-year-old center is captain material and that the Red Wings have a chance to build around a player that could lead them back to their familiar days of contention. Of course, the Red Wings have been reluctant to actually rebuild and instead, opt to sign free agents in the hopes of making the playoffs, which blocks the progress of younger players. Larkin was the exception, as his performance was too strong to ignore right out of his first training camp in 2015, and he’s been a mainstay on the roster since.

  • St. James also answers questions about Andreas Athanasiou, the polarizing forward who dazzles with his speed and scoring prowess but perplexes with his inability to find regular ice time due to what appears to be conflicts with management. After holding out to start the 2017-18 season, Athanasiou did not live up to the billing Detroit was hoping for–but many in Hockeytown would argue he was never given the chance. She quotes head coach Jeff Blashill as saying… “that consistency level and work ethic and compete is going to be critical for AA.” It sounds like a tug of war between a player and management making some wonder if Athanasiou will find himself shipped out of town. St. James writes that with his numbers dropping, the return wouldn’t be what Detroit would want.
  • Red Wings prospect Kaden Fulcher is featured in a London Free Press article, extolling the performance of the youngster who has been strong between the pipes for the Hamilton Bulldogs en route to a Memorial Cup appearance. Fulcher signed a three-year entry level contract with the Red Wings and MLive’s Ansar Khan explains that Fulcher’s improvement is a reflection of his work ethic. The Red Wings expect him to compete for a job in Grand Rapids and should that not pan out, he would go to either the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL or back to Hamilton for his overage junior year.

Eastern Notes: Backstrom, Burakovsky, Sabres Goaltending, Schneider

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With Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals approaching in a few hours and deadlocked at 2-2, the Washington Capitals will make a few lineup changes, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. The scribe writes that head coach Barry Trotz said he intends to return center Nicklas Backstrom to his second line to join T.J. Oshie and Chandler Stephenson. Backstrom, who finally returned for Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, played well in his return after a four-game absence. While he didn’t score any points, he played 18:51 of ice time and won six of nine faceoff attempts.

Gulitti also reported that Trotz said he will switch out Andre Burakovsky with the bigger, more physical Alex Chiasson on the team’s fourth line. Burakovsky has been back for four games after missing time with an injury. However, in those four games, he’s failed to score a point and only has had two shots on goal. In the last two games, he’s played just 7:26 and 8:30, respectively. Chiasson has one assist in three playoff games against the Lightning.

  • The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that the prevailing belief is that the Buffalo Sabres do not have a No. 1 goalie within their organization, meaning the team will have to find one through free agency or via trade to join Linus Ullmark. Harrington writes its very likely the team has seen the last of Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson, last year’s goalie tandem. The 26-year-old Lehner will be a restricted free agent and is not expected to receive an offer, while Johnson will be unrestricted.
  • After New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider listed his New Jersey house on the market recently, there was some speculation that he might be moving on, but NJ.com’s Chris Ryan writes that he’s not going anywhere as he’s just buying another house in the area. A career dominating goaltender, Schneider has struggled the past two years due to poor team defense and injuries. After putting up a 2.82 GAA and a .908 save percentage in the 2016-17 season and a 2.93 GAA and a .907 save percentage in the 2017-18 season, Schneider underwent surgery to repair cartilage in his left hip and is expected to miss training camp and possibly the start of the season. The 32-year-old has four years remaining on his deal at $6MM AAV.

Stars Must Make A Decision On Jason Spezza Soon

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The Dallas Stars offseason has already been underway for quite some time, but now with a head coach settled in, the team will have some tough decisions ahead of them. One question general manager Jim Nill and head coach Jim Montgomery must make is what to do with declining veteran Jason Spezza.

After signing a four-year, $30MM deal four years ago, the soon-to-be 35 year old is coming off a disappointing 2017-18 season. After scoring 33 goals in the first year of that deal, the veteran’s numbers have dropped as he scored 15 goals in 2016-17 and followed that up with just eight goals last year under former head coach Ken Hitchcock, while he averaged just 13:00 ATOI, his lowest time on the ice since his rookie season.

The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that the duo of Nill and Montgomery will are expected to discuss and come to a decision whether Spezza can fit into Montgomery’s system by the end of May. With one year remaining at $7.5MM AAV, there are a lot of options regarding Spezza. The team could keep him and hope he can produce on a bottom-six line. The team could also buy him out, saving $5MM in cap space for 2018-19, but would require the team to extend his cap hit of $2.5MM for 2019-20. The team could also try and trade his expiring deal to a team with existing cap space and take back a longer-termed player, who might be able to produce better than Spezza. Of course, Spezza does have a 10-team no-trade clause.

Shapiro also breaks down the veteran’s decline and is quick to point out that Spezza’s numbers were already going down before Hitchcock arrived in Dallas, so you can’t expect Spezza to return to form under Montgomery. However even with the lack of quality linemates among the bottom-six, Shapiro points out that Spezza has lost the ability to create his own scoring opportunities as he’s become a forward who attempts to position himself in front of the net in hopes to re-direct shots or catch a quick rebound. On top of that, Spezza’s defense hasn’t gotten any better, which was never a strength of his in the first place.

In the end, the decision will come down to how Nill and Montgomery view Spezza’s value. If you try not to think about the $7.5MM he is owed, he might fit well into a bottom-six role. The one nice thing about Spezza’s contract is that it should expire when the Stars need to open up cap space for Tyler Seguin’s new contract.

 

Morning Notes: Backstrom, Mironov, Comets

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Nicklas Backstrom was present at the Washington Capitals morning skate today, but rotated in and out of the regular lineup. Head coach Barry Trotz wouldn’t give any indication whether the star playmaker would return tonight, calling him a game-time decision once again. Interestingly though as Tom Gulitti of NHL.com points out, Trotz revealed that Backstrom has not been medically cleared, something that was not previously known.

The Capitals are in good shape against the Tampa Bay Lightning as they head into game four up 2-1 in the series. Though the Lightning were able to avoid falling down 3-0 by winning game three, they have a lot of work to do to topple the Capitals. Backstrom’s return would make that even more difficult, especially if he can jump start the Washington powerplay once again.

  • Andrei Mironov has signed a three-year deal back in the KHL after being released by the Colorado Avalanche in March. The 23-year old defenseman never did fit into the Avalanche organization, playing just 10 games for the NHL squad this season. Mironov is technically an unrestricted free agent now that he agreed to a mutual termination with Colorado, meaning we may see him back in the NHL one day. That day will have to wait for now, as he returns to the KHL for Dynamo Moscow.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have signed Tanner MacMaster and Jagger Dirk to one-year AHL contracts, bringing them in after amateur tryouts coming out of college. MacMaster played 18 games for the Utica Comets including five postseason contests, scoring 11 points in the process. The 22-year old forward was a dominant player at Quinnipiac University this season, and will try to prove he can keep up the early performance in his first full season of professional hockey.

Vegas’ David Perron Out For Game Two

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When the Vegas Golden Knights released their routine lineup for Game Two this evening, there was a name (or emoji) conspicuously missing. Despite no official word from the team – including no evidence that he is injured – David Perron will not suit up for the Knights as they look to even the Western Conference Finals series on the road against the Winnipeg Jets. Already reeling from a convincing Game One loss and likely without William Carrier for the series, this is another blow for Vegas and not ideal for matching up with the Jets.

While Perron’s status remains a mystery, one has to believe that his absence is injury related after his performance this season. Perron notched 66 points in 70 games, including a team-best 50 assists, and has added another seven points through nine games thus far in the playoffs. It has easily been the best season of the veteran winger’s 11-year career and head coach Gerard Gallant is not about to bench him for any reasons related to his play at this point in the team’s Stanley Cup run. Perron has yet to score a goal in the playoffs and has really struggled to even get the puck on net, but he has made up for it with a strong possession game and his play-making ability. He doesn’t seem at risk to be scratched at all. One possible reason for Perron missing the game could be a lingering issue related to the undisclosed injury that cost him the final six regular season games and first two postseason games. Another potential answer could be an injury related to a collision with teammate James Neal in Game One that left Perron looking shaken up. For one reason or another, Perron is out and there are no clues as to how long he will be out, but the Golden Knights must make do.

A lot of that burden will fall on the shoulders of Tomas Tatar. Vegas paid an exorbitant price at the deadline to acquire the young forward from the Detroit Red Wings, but thus far he has been a disappointment. Tatar recorded only six points and was -11 in the final 20 games of the regular season with the Knights and has found himself as a regular scratch in the postseason. In the four playoff games he has skated in, Tatar has looked good, but like Perron has had trouble getting the puck on net. As a result, he has been held scoreless. A one-shot-per-game pace simply won’t do for Tatar if he is to replace Perron successfully; the four-time 20-goal scorer needs to return to form as soon as possible. If not, the Jets’ Game One domination is only likely to continue against the shorthanded Knights.

Will Jeff Skinner Be The First Big Move Of The New Hurricanes Administration?

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After a league-worst ninth straight season without making the playoffs, changes were always going to be coming to the Carolina Hurricanes this off-season. Already, big moves have been made by new owner Tom Dundon, as he replaced Ron Francis as GM with Don Waddell and Bill Peters as head coach with Rod Brind’Amour. The team also brought in Rick Dudley as Sr. VP of Hockey Operations. Now, this realigned front office must decide how to proceed with structuring the roster in a way that can end their postseason drought.

Early on, the one name that has been floated around is homegrown winger Jeff Skinner. Skinner, 25, is one of the longest tenured and most consistently productive players on the Hurricanes. A supremely skilled forward, the former Calder Trophy winner has a knack for finding the back of the net and is a lethal weapon on the power play. Skinner has cracked 50 points four times in his career and has been improving in his defensive play and possession ability as his career has progressed. The fact that Skinner has been so successful on a team that has not once made the playoffs in his eight-year career tends to show that he could be even better surrounded by superior talent as well. The Los Angeles Kings were rumored to be looking into Skinner earlier this month, but now it appears that he has quite a few more suitors. In his latest “31 Thoughts” column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman says that the number of teams making calls on Skinner is growing. There seems to be ample interest in the skilled scorer and the Hurricanes will certainly entertain offers for the impending 2019 free agent.

However, is this really the right move for the new Carolina administration to make to begin their reconstruction? Skinner undoubtedly is one of their most valuable players, but one has to question the purpose of trading him at this point in time. The Hurricanes have one of the best young defensive corps in all of hockey are are almost overflowing with talented blue liners. Meanwhile, their offense is composed of mostly complementary players, many of whom are playing higher up in the lineup than they would on most other NHL teams. What the ’Canes need more than anything is a star forward, preferably a center, to lead the offense and bring the forward group together in a cohesive unit. A top center like this is almost certainly not going to be the return on a deal for Skinner’s expiring contract. Where they may land such a player is in dealing away one of their top defenseman. Skinner may be more valuable to the Hurricanes this season, and may even consider an extension, if the Hurricanes are able to add that top player that the team is greatly in need of. They could always trade Skinner in-season if they are unable to make a deal this off-season. If instead they choose to move Skinner right now for what would most likely be picks and prospects, it could only further impair their offense and would likely lead to a tenth-straight season without playoff hockey. For the Hurricanes’ sake, let’s hope Waddell and company carefully consider any deal related to Skinner this summer.

William Carrier’s Return For Vegas Is Uncertain

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When William Carrier was first ruled out of the final game of the second round for the Golden Knights, a Game Six win over the San Jose Sharks, head coach Gerard Gallant simply said that he was “day-to-day” and did not disclose the nature of the injury. Carrier had left Game Five with just four minutes of ice time to show for his participation, but there was no specific incident in the game to cite for his exit. Instead, it seemed that perhaps this was just a minor nagging injury. Carrier then traveled with Vegas to Winnipeg for the start of the Western Conference Finals only to be ruled out of Game One. Now, beat writer Steve Carp reports that Carrier did not skate today at Knights practice and feels that the energy forward is unlikely to suit up in the series at all. If the Jets’ Game One domination continues, Carrier’s season may already be over.

Although no details have emerged about Carrier’s condition this time around, the physical winger has dealt with upper-body issues all year long. Carrier spent two separate stints on the injured reserve this season and was sidelined for 43 regular season games total. Yet, prior to each stint his injuries were downplayed and never considered serious, much like his latest problem. It could be that this is one injury that has been nagging Carrier all year or it could be bad luck and Carrier has suffered multiple injuries, but is too tough of a player for Gallant and company to realized just how serious his condition is initially.

When healthy this year, Carrier has been a physical force on the Knights’ fourth line. While his offense has been meager at best – three points in 37 regular games and scoreless so far in nine playoff games – look no further than Vegas’ first round series against the Los Angeles Kings to see Carrier’s true impact. The young forward racked up 25 hits in a four-game sweep during which time he saw just over 36 minutes of total ice time. That is checking efficiency at it’s finest, as Carrier was noticeably bothersome against the frustrated Kings, especially early in the series. In a match-up against the Jets where the Knights are clearly outmatched defensively, Carrier is much more of a loss than it may seem on paper. His hard-nosed style will be missed if Carp is right and he really cannot return during the Western Conference Final.

Dubas Has Many Decisions To Make In Toronto

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Just a couple of days into his new job and people are starting to see the challenges ahead for Toronto Maple Leafs new general manager Kyle Dubas. To start, the 32-year-old GM has been with the organization for four years and must deal with older, more experienced personnel, including 55-year-old Mark Hunter (at least for now) and 55-year-old Mike Babcock.

While Dubas has been given the keys to one of the most famed and loaded franchises, Dubas must also make his mark on the roster and lead the team to that next championship level. Many big decisions will come up just in the next few months including locking up his young players for the future, while building a winner in the one-year window before those deals kick in.

The first big decisions the GM will have to deal with is deciding if one or any of their unrestricted free agents will be brought back, including James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov. Both van Reimsdyk and Bozak are expected to get significant raises this summer when they sign new contracts and would be very challenging to bring back. Bozak in particular is valuable as the team is not nearly as strong at the center position as they are at the wing. However, Komarov could be a possibility if he encounters a dry market and the Maple Leafs believe he can still be of help. However, with great depth and a GM who is well aware of what type of players the team has at the AHL level, letting all three walk away is a legitimate possibility.

However, James Mirtle of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Dubas will want to put his own brand on the Maple Leafs, so expect multiple changes. Among those possibilities, includes a potential run at John Tavares or a defenseman like Dougie Hamilton. However, Mirtle points out that a player like Nikita Zaitsev could become one of those changes. With a partial no-trade clause kicking in next year and Zaitsev’s limitations with the puck, this might be a good time to move on from him if they don’t feel he will be a good fit in the future.

The defense might be the key to Dubas success. Often labeled as the team’s failing this season, a change might be necessary, but with limitations to long-term deals, the most likely way to upgrade the blueline would be through a trade, although it’s unlikely Dubas would move Mitch Marner or William Nylander to make a major upgrade.

Goaltending could be an issue too. Despite the solid performance by backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney this year, Dubas might look to trading the 34-year-old veteran netminder. With Garrett Sparks dominating in the AHL (1.79 GAA, .936 save percentage with the Toronto Marlies) and the real possibility the team could lose him to waivers at the start of next season, the team must decide whether it’s time to give Sparks the No. 2 spot.

While a decision on Roman Polak might be an easy one, Dubas is well aware that the defenseman is a personal favorite of Babcock and does the young GM throw the veteran coach a bone and bring him back? In the end, nothing will be easy for Dubas, who will be scrutinized more than any general manager in the coming months.

 

Playoff Notes: Stastny, Carrier, Stralman, Paquette

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The Vegas Golden Knights might have their hands full in their Western Conference Finals matchup with the Winnipeg Jets. The Golden Knights were rumored to have gotten involved in the Derick Brassard sweepstakes to assist the Pittsburgh Penguins in acquiring the veteran center instead of the rival Jets. However, Winnipeg countered by acquiring veteran Paul Stastny instead, a move that surprised many. That trade has paid dividends, according to NBC Sports Scott Billeck.

The 32-year-old center, who will be a unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, is definitely increasing his stock with a solid playoff performance. While combining to put up a solid 16 goals and 37 assists this year between St. Louis and Winnipeg, he’s dominated in the playoffs with six goals and eight assists for 14 points in just 12 games.

However, the bigger recipients of the deal might be his linemates, youngsters Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, two of the team’s top prospects, who have really benefitted by his presence. Laine has 10 points in 12 games, while Ehlers has six assists this postseason serving on the team’s third line. Stastny, who is nicknamed Mr. Game 7 even before Thursday, continued to keep his nickname with three points in Thursday’s Game 7 when they eliminated the Nashville Predators. Now Vegas will have to face that player.

  • Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the Vegas Golden Knights will be without winger William Carrier in Game 1 today against the Winnipeg Jets with an undisclosed injury. While Carrier’s numbers are hardly impressive, the 23-year-old is a key piece to the team’s fourth-line “energy” line. While he travelled with the team to Winnipeg making him a possibility for Game 2, Carrier already had missed Game 6 of their matchup with the San Jose Sharks. While head coach Gerard Gallant didn’t disclose who would replace him, he did say he was impressed with the performance of the fourth line in Game 6 against the Sharks, suggesting that Ryan Reaves might play today in Carrier’s place.
  • While Tampa Bay Lightning fans may have had a scare when defenseman Anton Stralman and winger Cedric Paquette both missed practice this morning (via NHL.com’s Dan Rosen), both are considered good to go for Game 2 against the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday, according to FoxSports Caley Chelios. Stralman missed the first 10 minutes of the third period with an undisclosed injury Friday. Jake Dotchin and Cory Conacher filled in for the two players in practice, but likely will not be needed Sunday.

Coaching Notes: Gulutzan, Clark, Smith

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In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, he breaks down the situations of several coaches—both employed and unemployed—around the league. One of those he touches on is Glen Gulutzan, who Friedman says received offers to become an assistant coach in both Edmonton and Buffalo.

There’s no indication that Gulutzan has made a decision yet, but with teams offering him roles as an assistant or head coach in the AHL, it seems unlikely that he’ll remain unemployed very long. The former Calgary Flames head coach was fired after a disappointing season, in which the club missed the playoffs entirely.

  • Ian Clark, the goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets, will leave the team at the end of June. His contract is expiring and will move on to new challenges, leaving Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo without their coach next season. No word on who will be replacing him, though Clark believes that “sooner or later, teams will have a director of player personnel and a director of goaltending.”
  • One interesting connection that Friedman makes regarding the New York Rangers’ vacancy, is that of D.J. Smith. The Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach has a history with Rangers’ Special Assistant Adam Graves, and has been considered for various jobs in the past. Interestingly, the Maple Leafs have recently promoted Kyle Dubas to GM, where he could have an impact on coaching hires over the next few months.

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