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Pacific Notes: Subban, Heed, Martin, Henrique, Dowd

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Many people in Boston had already written off goaltender Malcolm Subban, who never seemed able to earn himself a place with the Boston Bruins, minus 62 minutes of time over the course of his career. That was one reason the team placed the 23-year-old netminder on waivers to start the season. However, few expected Subban to thrive after he was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights. In fact, Subban has done more than that. He might just be the team’s goaltender of the future.

Even NBC Sports Joe Haggerty admits that he may have misjudged the goaltender as well. Subban took his performance to a new level Friday when he saved 41 shots and staved off six penalty shots in leading Vegas to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. Even despite missing time earlier this year with an injury, Subban now has a 7-2 record with a 2.33 GAA and a .924 save percentage. 

  • The San Jose Sharks have announced they have activated defenseman Tim Heed off of injured reserve and have sent veteran defender Paul Martin to San Jose on a conditioning assignment with the Barracudas of the AHL. Heed was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 2 after suffering an upper-body injury in a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 25. As for Martin, he is closing in on being ready after aggravating an ankle injury on Oct. 10, and has been on injured reserve since. At 36 years old, Martin will make his first-ever appearance in an AHL game as he went directly from the University of Minnesota to the NHL back in 2003. He has played
  • Scott Billeck of NBC Sports writes that while it’s still early, so far the Anaheim Ducks look like they made a great deal in acquiring center Adam Henrique from New Jersey for defenseman Sami Vatanen. Since the Ducks have been without without center Ryan Getzlaf, the Ducks top line of Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry have struggled without Getzlaf, but Henrique’s addition has changed everything as he has fit in well with those two immediately. So far Henrique has three goals and six points in five games with Anaheim, while he had four goals in 24 games with New Jersey. In fact, the 27-year-old had just one goal in his previous 14 with the Devils. If he can keep this up, he could return to his 30-goal ways back in 2015-16.
  • JD Burke of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Vancouver Canucks acquisition of Nic Dowd is an underrated one in which he breaks down the success of the 27-year-old center who arrived in a quiet trade from the Los Angeles Kings. According to Burke, Dowd’s presence on the ice, mostly due to his ability to keep offensive players from getting off shots, had given the Kings their second-most lopsided ratio of shot attempts when he is on the ice at even strength last year. While those numbers could be inflated due to previous coach Darryl Sutter’s style of play, he could be a big addition to the Canucks. He had six goals and 16 assists last year in 70 games, but has had just one assist this year in 16 contests.

Matthew Tkachuk Suspended One Game

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2:20pm: Tkachuk has been suspended for one game according to John Shannon of Sportsnet. The Flames play tonight in Montreal. This is Tkachuk’s third suspension of his young career. As the accompanying video explains:

While the spear itself is not forceful or malicious enough to merit supplemental discipline on its own, two factors caused this play to rise to the level of a suspension. First, Tkachuk is on the bench when he intentionally strikes a player on the playing surface…second, Tkachuk is a repeat offender, having been suspended for a similar incident just ten games ago.

8:16am: The Department of Player Safety must have Matthew Tkachuk on speed-dial by now. The Calgary Flames forward will receive another hearing with the disciplinary committee after spearing Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matt Martin from the bench in last night’s game. Tkachuk, who wasn’t involved in the scrum at all, stuck his stick into Martin’s ribs without the officials noticing on the ice.

Matthew TkachukIt’s not the first time Tkachuk has been caught for a stick infraction like this. Just recently, he was suspended one game for his part in the Flames-Red Wings brawl, when he used his stick to goad Luke Witkowski back onto the ice. Witkowski was given an automatic 10-game ban for coming back after being ejected.

To be clear, the hearing isn’t for the act of spearing itself. Tkachuk is instead receiving it for “unsportsmanlike conduct” which likely has more to do with his history with the league. The young forward also received a two-game ban for elbowing Drew Doughty last season, and has built quite the reputation for himself already. The league likely believes they can put a stop to this kind of behavior by handing out a suspension for a play that was relatively innocuous, letting Tkachuk know that he has a target on his back.

The pesky Calgary forward has become one of the best in the league at getting under opponents’ skin, and did so last night against the Maple Leafs. He drew a cross-checking penalty on Jake Gardiner, when the Toronto defender got a little frustrated with his play, and was in Frederik Andersen’s crease all night. Though Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock praised Tkachuk’s overall game, he called the spear “junior hockey stuff” and said that he’d learn not to do it eventually.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Red Wings Notes: Rebuild, Holland, Blashill

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Despite a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night, the Detroit News’ John Niyo writes that fans or the front office shouldn’t buy into the mirage: the Detroit Red Wings needs to rebuild. Though Detroit impressively bounced back from a 10-1 shellacking against Montreal the previous Saturday, Niyo cautions that this team is not a playoff contender and shouldn’t be viewed as one, despite an impressive victory after six straight losses where two were especially bad. The course, Niyo continues, should be what owner Chris Ilitch’s other team (the Detroit Tigers) did: selling off bigger names to get better and younger. While hockey is a different setup than baseball, the Red Wings have a higher mountain to climb because of the contracts loaded down with term and dollars that few teams–if any–would ever consider taking. But selling off players with value could stockpile picks and help chart a future course that could net players that would get Detroit back into the higher echelon of the league.

  • Niyo continues on about general manager Ken Holland, who after 20 years at the helm, may be seeing it come to an end. Working without a contract after this season, extension talks haven’t begun, and Holland has stated that his decision on whether to sell or buy will be determined after the next 10-15 games. This seems curious, since the Red Wings are clearly not in contender status and have posted two six-game losing streaks this season–and it’s only December. Niyo adds that ownership ultimately has the final say–but that neither the proud past or the present, namely a few wins here and there, should get in the way of building for the future.
  • MLive’s Ansar Khan takes a different route, writing that the Wings posted their best performance of the season on Tuesday and now have a crucial five-game stretch where they can turn their fortunes around. Head coach Jeff Blashill noted that the team played more on their toes than their heels, and it was echoed by a number of players who felt Detroit limited its mistakes, and played at a high level for a full sixty minutes.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Vancouver Canucks

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for as the season nears the quarter point of completion. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on. So far we’ve covered ANA, ARZ, BUF, CGY, CAR, CBJ, COL, DET, LAK, NSH, NJD, NYI, STL, TOR, WSH, and VGK.

What are the Vancouver Canucks most thankful for?

A weak Pacific Division.

Heading into the season, the Pacific Division was expected to be a meat grinder. With the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks all considered legitimate contenders for the Stanley Cup, teams like Vancouver and Vegas were just hoping to stay competitive. Those predictions have been turned on their heads, as the Los Angeles Kings pace the division through the first third of the season while the aforementioned “contenders” are struggling to stay above (or even get to) .500.

Vancouver, led by some young stars and a brand new head coach find themselves in third place in the division and currently holding a playoff spot in the Western Conference. For a team expecting to take a hard look at a real rebuild, early success may have changed their minds.

Brock BoeserWho are the Canucks most thankful for?

Brock Boeser.

When Boeser suited up for the University of North Dakota on March 24th, 2017 he was preparing to play Boston University in a do-or-die matchup in the NCAA tournament. Little did he know that he’d be scoring the game-winning goal for the Vancouver Canucks a little over 24 hours later. The game against BU went to double overtime before Clayton Keller and Charlie McAvoy hooked up to end UND’s tournament, but Boeser wouldn’t have time to mope. He immediately signed with the Canucks and was in the lineup the next night, scoring his first on a rebound goal after Bo Horvat was stopped on a breakaway.

Boeser hasn’t slowed down since, and now has 17 goals and 30 points in 34 career games. He leads the Canucks in scoring this year—trailed closely by Horvat—and will likely be in the Calder Trophy conversation right until the end. The 20-year old has made such an immediate impact on the team, that they may believe their competitive window has been slid open just a bit more.

What would the Canucks be even more thankful for?

An appearance from Markus Granlund.

Last season, before there was the late-season appearance from Boeser, three other intriguing young forwards were making their mark: Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Granlund. The first two are back doing the things they showed last year, with 20 and 17 points respectively this season. The latter though, Granlund, has been nothing close to the 19-goal man he was a year ago.

The 24-year old Granlund had 32 points in 69 games last season, easily a career high and a sign that his future with the team was bright. After all, 16 of his 19 goals came at even strength (tied with Baertschi for the team lead) and he graded out as arguably the best possession player on the team.

That hasn’t been the case this time around, as Granlund has just five points on the season and has seen those strong possession numbers plummet. He’s been one of the most disappointing pieces on the roster under new coach Travis Green, and it’s no longer clear where exactly he fits long-term. He’s a restricted free agent this summer, and may end up being overlooked as a key piece for the Canucks going forward.

What should be on the Canucks’ Holiday Wish List?

More draft picks and prospects.

Despite their early success, this team is primed to sell at the deadline. We examined their collection of trade deadline assets recently, and the plan shouldn’t be deviated from. There is another wave of talent coming for the Canucks, as shown by the group of six Vancouver prospects that could suit up for their respective countries at this year’s World Junior Championship, but it isn’t enough.

Boeser, Horvat and others are already making an impact at the NHL level but the team still lacks the depth to really compete for the Stanley Cup. Using some expiring (or soon expiring) assets to add to the prospect cupboards could help them get there quicker than many would have believed in the middle of last season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Updates: Luongo, Manning, Fleury

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It looked bad when Roberto Luongo was forced out of Monday’s game with an apparent lower-body injury, and the update won’t be very comforting to Florida Panthers fans. Head coach Bob Boughner told reporters that Luongo will miss an “extended period of time,” going as far as claiming five weeks could be a possibility. The Panthers wouldn’t confirm what the injury exactly is, though it’s believed to be the goaltender’s groin.

The 38-year old was playing exceptional this season, and carries a .928 save percentage on the season. While his play hasn’t suffered, injury was always a risk for a goaltender at his age as he showed by missing a large chunk of the season last year, and already being held out with a hand injury in the early going this season. The Panthers will turn to James Reimer and Harri Sateri for the time being, who will have to try and turn things around to keep the team in the playoff race. Florida currently sits seventh in the Atlantic, with just 24 points through 27 games.

Snapshots: Moulson, Armstrong, Lightning

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Buffalo Sabres forward Matt Moulson cleared waivers today, allowing the team to send him to the minor leagues if they choose. Since that hasn’t happened yet, Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News asked head coach Phil Housley about the situation. The coach’s response:

Jason [Botterill, GM of the Sabres] and his agent are working on some options but that’s as much as I know at this point.  

As with any player, Moulson would likely prefer to go somewhere that has an NHL role for him, but he currently holds a partial no-trade clause. Moulson can submit 12 teams that he’ll accept trades to, but perhaps his agent and Botterill will expand that to get a deal done somewhere. Moulson has another year on his contract at a $5MM cap hit, and the Sabres would likely need to retain some of the salary to facilitate a deal. Whether they can find one that is worth it is still unclear.

  • Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic reports that the St. Louis Blues have opened negotiations with GM Doug Armstrong on a new contract extension. Armstrong is one of several GMs around the league operating in the final year of their contract, something fellow Athletic scribe Frank Provenzano warned against recently. Though the Blues are still looking for the first Stanley Cup in the history of their franchise, Armstrong’s recent moves have put them in a strong position both now and in the future. The Blues have dropped to third in the Central Division, but still remain a playoff favorite this season and still have some promising young talents like Klim Kostin, Tage Thompson, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou on their way.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, as the team is close to extending their lease through 2037. According to Steve Contorno of the Tampa Bay Times, Hillborough County would commit $61MM over that 20-year period for upgrades to Amalie Arena, with the team also required to put in a large amount. Just today, Forbes ranked the Lightning the 23rd most valuable team in the league, sandwiched between the Islanders and Avalanche at $390MM. That comes as a huge 28% raise over last year’s valuation, and leads the state-rival Florida Panthers by $85MM. Success this season would only serve to help their foothold in the community and state sports market, something that Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman are doing their very best to bring to the team and city. Tampa Bay finds itself in first place in the Atlantic Division and an early favorite for the Stanley Cup Finals.

Snapshots: Hakstol, Svechnikov, Backup Goaltenders

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The Philadelphia Flyers have now lost 10 games in a row, and find themselves at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. With just eight wins and 23 points on the year, they sit only ahead of Buffalo and Arizona in the overall standings and are nearly at a breaking point in terms of playoff contention. Despite all that the team is not considering a coaching change, as Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. GM Ron Hextall told Carchidi that Dave Hakstol would be coaching for the rest of the season “and beyond,” ending any speculation that he may be on the chopping block.

This is Hakstol’s third season as head coach of the Flyers, and after getting knocked out in the first round in 2015-16 the team missed the playoffs entirely last year. They were lucky enough to move up in the draft lottery and get the chance to draft Nolan Patrick, but have once again been a disappointing team this year. Brian Elliott, brought in to try and stabilize the goaltending situation has been less than what was hoped for and the team has scored just 70 goals all season. Whatever Hextall says, heat from the Philadelphia fan base will continue if they can’t turn their streak around soon.

  • As the World Junior tournament approaches—Canada and the USA will release their potential rosters over the next couple of days—Andrei Svechnikov is about to get back onto the ice. A potential first-overall pick in 2018, Svechnikov has missed the last six weeks with a hand injury. Bob McKenzie of TSN reports that he’s expected back in the Barrie Colts lineup on Friday, and will almost certainly be named to the Russian roster soon after that. Team Russia released a list of players that will compete for the final roster, but only included those playing in Russia at the moment. Those skating in North America will still be added over the next week.
  • The Edmonton Oilers are actively looking for a backup goaltender according to Frank Seravalli of TSN, and the scribe details potential options around the league. With Cam Talbot on the shelf for at least two more weeks and Laurent Brossoit struggling in the starting role, the Oilers could be forced to make a move or watch their playoff chances slip away. Chad Johnson, a player who the Buffalo Sabres have already received interest in, tops the list and could be an option for the Oilers over the next few days. There’s no guarantee he’d be an upgrade though, as Johnson has struggled this season in his return to Buffalo.

Metropolitan Notes: Sprong, Cizikas, Hakstol, Stephenson

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Having already scored nine goals in his first 18 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, many wonder why Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Daniel Sprong still remains in the AHL when he could be helping out the Penguins at the NHL level.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette writes calling up Sprong is not in the plans for Pittsburgh’s general manager Jim Rutherford. The GM says that the team has historically not called up players before they thought they were ready, instead opting to allow them to develop. Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin, Conor Sheary and Tom Kuhnhackl are the recent examples of players who were not rushed to the NHL.

“The important thing is, when you put a young player into this league, is he is as prepared as he can be for all aspects of the game,” Rutherford said. “If he’s not, you risk setting the player way back. That group of five, those guys were ready before they got called up, but we made sure it was at a time where they had their confidence and they could deal with setbacks.”

The team believes that Sprong still has work to do on his play without the puck, according to Rutherford. The team wants to see Sprong improve his defense as well as work on his stick/wall play. Of course, with a four-game winning streak and improved play of late, there may not be much need for him anyway.

  • The New York Islanders announced earlier today they have placed Casey Cizikas on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, retroactive to Nov. 25, which means he could be activated at any time. Cizikas was injured in a game against the Ottawa Senators. The fourth-line and penalty killing center has four goals and four assists in 23 games for the Islanders. So far, the team hasn’t made any corresponding moves.
  • Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi tweeted that Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is accompanying the team on their Western Canada trip, which could play an instrumental role on the status of head coach Dave Hakstol. The Flyers have lost 10 straight games. Carchidi adds that if a coaching change is made, a likely choice to take over would be Lehigh Valley Phantoms coach Scott Gordon in the interim.
  • Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washigton Post tweets that after suffering an injury in Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals wing Chandler Stephenson is day-to-day. However, the team recalled Travis Boyd this afternoon from the Hershey Bears of the AHL, which suggests that Stephenson might miss some time. Stephenson, a bottom-line center, has two goals and six points in 18 games this season. Boyd has never played in the NHL before. He has three goals and 17 assists in 23 games for the Bears.

Atlantic Notes: Zetterberg, Holland, Eichel, Chabot

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The Detroit Red Wings were searching for answers after their 10-1 loss Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. The team struggled immensely and added to their losing steak which has now reached seven straight. Players had were in shock and captain Henrik Zetterberg was quite candid with his reaction after the team had previously lost the first game of the home-and-home series with Montreal, a 6-3 defeat at home, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free-Press.

“I’ve played professional hockey for 20 years, I don’t think I’ve been a part of anything like what happened here tonight,” Zetterberg said. “The way we played, with the way our last game went, with what happened after that game, the next day — and then we come out here with this tonight.”

St. James writes the team was shocked, because it had two players-only meetings, one after Thursday’s home loss to Montreal and then the following day on Friday. Yet nothing went right Saturday.

“It’s about time we look ourselves in the mirror,” said defenseman Niklas Kronwall. “It doesn’t matter what talks you have if you are not going to go out there, be prepared and be ready to play. Today, we had nothing.”

  • Sticking with the Red Wings, The Athletic’s Katie Strang writes (subscription required) that after Saturday’s 10-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens and the comments from Zetterberg, the team has made it quite clear they are not a playoff team. However, it is not likely a coaching change or a change at general manager is in the team’s short-term future. GM Ken Holland’s contract expires at the end of the season and it’s likely the team will bring in someone new who will want to hire their own coach. That being said, Strang said she hopes that Holland will embrace a rebuild and at least start to trade players and promote the play of the team’s younger players.
  • Speaking of futility, Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville scored the team’s first goal Saturday after going scoreless for 232 minutes and nine seconds. The Sabres have now lost four straight, which included getting shutout twice in that span. The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that the goal is just a tiny speck of silver lining and the locker room must start stepping up. The team needs star Jack Eichel to be the one to lead them. “It’s tough to score goals in this league and you start gripping your stick a little bit, thinking, maybe fine-tuning it a little bit,” said Eichel, who has three goals in his last 18 games. “I’m guilty of it recently, fine-tuning my shots too much instead of getting pucks to the net and seeing what will happen.”
  • James Gordon of The Athletic writes that Ottawa Senators’ defenseman Thomas Chabot is here to stay in the NHL after his performance in the team’s 6-5 OT victory over the New York Islanders on Friday. It wasn’t just that Chabot put up a goal and two assists in the win, but it was the minutes that the 20-year-old got in the game, which was 15:23, a very high number from a coach in Guy Boucher who is known not to give minutes out to young players.

Pacific Notes: Thornton, Chychrun, Fleury, Mitchell

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The NHL Department of Player Safety handed down a $5,000 fine to San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton Saturday for his slash Saturday night on Tampa Bay Lightning’s Tyler Johnson. The $5,000 is the maximum allowable fine allowed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The incident occurred late in the second period of the game and he received a two-minute for high-sticking. Thornton, who has been playing through multiple minor injuries has struggled to get his offense goinas picked up the pace the last few games. He currently has four goals and 12 assists in 25 games. The money is designated to go to the players’ emergency assistance fund.

  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have activated Jakob Chychrun off of injured reserve and he is expected to play tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights. Chychrun, the team’s first-round pick in 2016, played a full season for the Coyotes as an 18 year old last year and held his own. He picked up three goals and 17 assists in 68 games. He underwent knee surgery in early August and has made a quick recovery. He was assigned last week to the Tucson Roadrunners on a conditioning loan, but didn’t play in any games for them. In a corresponding move, the team sent defenseman Andrew Campbell back to Tucson. He had been recalled as an emergency defenseman on Wednesday, but didn’t appear in a game.
  •  Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp tweeted that Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee said that starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has been out since Oct. 13 with concussion symptoms, has passed his tests and has been cleared to return to practice on Wednesday assuming the veteran goalie has no setbacks. Fleury, the face of the franchise, has only appeared in four games for the Golden Knights and has a 2.48 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Vegas has struggled with injuries in goal, although backup Malcolm Subban returned last week and has assumed the starting job. McPhee said he was not sure when Fleury would be ready to return to a game, however.
  • Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes that Torrey Mitchell, acquired in a trade on Nov. 23, could make his Kings’ debut tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks, according to coach John Stevens. “As long as there’s no issues during the day, I think he’s a good consideration to come in,” Stevens said. “He’s been off the ice for a few days, so skated him yesterday, skated him today, and he said he felt pretty good, so he’s an option to go in, for sure.” Mitchell had some trouble acquiring his work visa after being traded from Montreal to Los Angeles, but is now cleared to play. The 32-year-old didn’t have a point with the Canadiens in 11 games this year, but is expected to help center one of the team’s bottom two lines.

 

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