Snapshots: Raiders, MacArthur, Roy
The NFL approved the Oakland Raiders bid to move to Las Vegas today, which led to a lot of different opinions on the future of the Vegas Golden Knights as the prime sports franchise in the city. Though the Raiders aren’t expected to move to the city until the 2019 season, PFR’s Zach Links writes that they may not wait that long if the fan pressure gets to them next season.
The Golden Knights released a statement on the move, indicating that they’re happy to welcome the Raiders into their community. It would seem though, that even if the Raiders do improve Vegas’ viability as a major sports market they will definitely eat at some of the corporate sales and sponsorships available for the NHL franchise. This is exactly why the NHL wanted to get into the market first, in order to try and build a fan base before one of the other leagues forced their way in.
- Despite a history of concussions throughout his career, Clarke MacArthur is trying to return to professional hockey—this season. In January, the team had announced that he wouldn’t play again this season, but according to Ian Mendes of TSN MacArthur has never given up hope. Head coach Guy Boucher is operating as though he’s shut down, but apparently there has been some talk about having him retry the baseline testing that had him shutdown earlier this year. It still seems extremely dangerous for MacArthur, but if he could return as an effective winger the Senators would be that much more dangerous in the playoffs.
- The Los Angeles Kings have signed Matt Roy to a two-year entry-level deal, now that Michigan Tech’s season is over. The team lost at the hands of the University of Denver on Saturday, ending their run for the Frozen Four before it had even really begun. Roy was a seventh-round pick of the Kings in 2015, and has posted two straight seasons of excellence on the Michigan Tech blueline. He’s turning pro a year early, and has the makings of a solid two-way defender for the AHL with a chance to grow into something even better.
Sparks, Kapanen Recalled Amid Frederik Andersen Injury Concerns
After Frederik Andersen was pulled from Saturday night’s Maple Leafs game during the first intermission, fans across the city of Toronto assumed the worst. Mike Babcock came out after the game saying that it was the Buffalo Sabres doctor that thought Andersen should come out, and though Darren Dreger reported today that the goaltender had been removed for the concussion protocol, that did not necessarily mean he had suffered one.
Today, Andersen was out working before Leafs practice alone and Garret Sparks was at practice with the team according to David Alter of The Athletic. Sparks has been with the AHL Marlies all season, and has found much success there with a .927 save percentage through 26 games. Andersen would return for practice, meaning the Maple Leafs are currently carrying three goaltenders. The team has also recalled Kasperi Kapanen from the AHL, who would be making his season debut if he plays tomorrow night.
Kapanen was part of the young group of rookies the Maple Leafs called up near the end of last season, though hasn’t gotten the same chance this year. In the AHL all season, Kapanen has 43 points in 43 games and looks as ready as he’ll ever be to make the jump to the NHL level. Acquired in the Phil Kessel deal before last season, the speedy winger was once a first-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Maple Leafs will be without Josh Leivo and Nikita Soshnikov still, meaning Kapanen could get into the lineup as soon as Tuesday night against the Florida Panthers. Still looking for his first NHL point, it’s unclear if he’d slot into the vacant fourth line spot, or be placed in an offensive role right away.
Snapshots: Lettieri, Renouf, Wallmark
After the University of Minnesota was eliminated from the NCAA tournament yesterday by the upstart Notre Dame team, it was the beginning of a whole new chapter for senior Vinni Lettieri. According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, the free agent center is being pursued by the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks.
Lettieri had 37 points in 38 games this season for the Gophers, breaking out and scoring double-digit goals for the first time in his college career. The undersized forward should decide in the next few days where he’ll make his professional debut.
- After teammate Clayton Keller signed immediately after Boston University was eliminated from the tournament, Jordan Greenway has been in contact with the Minnesota Wild about a possible early exit from school. Russo reports that the Wild definitely want him to turn pro after this season, but may wait until after his semester ends and forego the usual ATO route. Selected in the second round, Greenway has turned into an exceptional prospect for the Wild as he continues to dominate physically and develop into a prototypical power forward.
- The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Dan Renouf from the AHL on emergency conditions. Though Jeff Blashill recently said that he didn’t want to break up the Grand Rapids team, the Red Wings have to play a third game in three nights tomorrow in Carolina, a makeup date for a rescheduled matchup from earlier this year. They’ll need the insurance if someone can’t go tomorrow.
- Those Hurricanes have made a move of their own, calling up Lucas Wallmark from the AHL. Carolina is now 7-0-3 in their last ten, and could really vault themselves into the playoff picture with these two games against Detroit on home ice. The team sits just five points behind the Bruins with two games in hand.
Byfuglien Out; Laine Questionable For Jets
The Winnipeg Jets will be without at least one star player when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.
Head coach Paul Maurice announced that defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is out with a lower-body injury (LBI) sustained on Thursday, while rookie sniper Patrik Laine is “feeling under the weather” and is a game-time decision.
Byfuglien left Thursday’s loss to the Kings with an LBI and subsequently missed Friday’s loss to the Ducks. He’s been solid for the Jets this season, with 48 points in 74 games while averaging over 27-minutes per night. It’s not known exactly what the injury is or how long he’ll be out of the lineup.
Missing Laine for any extended period of time would be a big loss for the Jets; he has 34 goals and 61 points in 67 games as a rookie. While he’s been quiet lately (2-1-3 in his last nine games), he’s still been one of the best rookies in the NHL. Both Laine and Auston Matthews have 34 goals and 61 points, but Laine has played in seven fewer games. He’ll need a strong finish to earn the Calder Trophy for top rookie season. The team will make the call around 4pm ahead of the 7pm puck drop.
While the Jets have not been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race just yet, it would take an absolute miracle for them to make up the 13-point gap in their seven remaining games. They need to run the table while St. Louis loses out. Barring that unlikely situation, the Jets will miss the playoffs for the third straight season.
Central Notes: Blackhawks, Bednar, Sakic, Belfour
The Chicago Blackhawks are seeing an increase in their performance thanks to better puck possession writes the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Hine. Aside from the metrics, where the Hawks are dominating opponents in five-on-five, but Hine is quick to point out that the puck possession is nothing near what the Hawks posted during their Cup runs in 2010, 2013, and 2015, where they were first, fourth, and second respectively. They’ve been twelfth since the beginning of February in Corsi percentage, and thirteenth for the season. While players are also feeling more comfort as the playoffs loom, advanced stats mavens will be quick to point out that it’s a far cry from Chicago’s championship-caliber seasons.
In other Central Division news:
- Jared Bednar is expected to return to the Avalanche next season reports the Denver Post’s Terry Frei. Bednar is quoted as saying that the franchise is “working toward something” instead of it just being a one off “horrific” season. No one would blame Bednar for wanting to walk away from a job that Patrick Roy all but ran away from. In the same vein, would it be fair to fire the first year coach? Frei points out that the Avs are on pace to be the worst statistical team since the Atlanta Thrashers back in 1999-2000, when the Thrashers were an expansion team. Frei adds that dumping Bednar during what has felt like a “Groundhog Day” season would be unfair and ultimately unlikely since Joe Sakic should also be back. Frei sees Sakic giving Bednar a second season. But Frei stops himself there, noting though every question about Bednar’s job status to Sakic has yielded a response of Bednar’s job security being certain, Frei says that nothing is ever for certain. Reflecting on a long career covering hockey, Frei states that sometimes even the most “sincerely stated plans can go out the window.”
- Former Stars goaltender Eddie Belfour was candid with the Dallas Morning News’ Mike Heika, saying that he believes it takes a great defense in front of a goaltender to truly create a winning formula. Returning for the Stars-Blackhawks game on Thursday at the United Center, Belfour enjoyed several successful seasons with both teams. Both featured strong defenses and appeared in a Stanley Cup Final and won a Cup respectively. For Belfour, it’s a no brainer: a great goalie is buoyed by a greater defense.
Morning Notes: Crosby, Patrick, Cangelosi
Last night, during the Pittsburgh Penguins-Ottawa Senators game, Sidney Crosby delivered a hard slash across the hands of Marc Methot resulting in one of the nastiest injuries this season in the NHL (*WARNING: GRAPHIC*). Senators’ head coach Guy Boucher said after the game that Methot would be out “weeks” with a “destroyed” and “shattered” finger, and owner Eugene Melnyk was upset about it this morning on TSN 1200 (via Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia and Frank Seravalli of TSN):
You hammer these [players who slash], you take away their money, and you say you know what? You are done for 10 games. We all know who [Crosby] is. The guy is a whiner beyond belief. You do this kind of stuff—I don’t care who you are in the league, I don’t care if you’re the number one player in the league—you should sit out a long time for this kind of crap.
Melnyk said that he was sure the league would be looking at it, but Pierre LeBrun of ESPN reports Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly will not be evaluating it further. Crosby will receive no discipline for this incident, just as he faced no penalty for his spear in an unfortunate area of Ryan O’Reilly‘s lower body.
- For anyone hoping to catch Nolan Patrick in the first round of the WHL playoffs, you might have to wait a few days. Mike Morreale of NHL.com reports that the projected top pick in the upcoming entry draft won’t play in game one due to a lower-body injury. The Brandon Wheat Kings take on the Medicine Hat Tigers in the first round of the WHL playoffs.
- The Calgary Flames have sent Garnet Hathaway back down to the Stockton Heat. The 25-year old forward didn’t play in his most recent call up, after Micheal Ferland returned earlier from his mumps quarantine. With Matthew Tkachuk now eligible to play after serving his two-game suspension, the need for Hathaway has lifted. Playing in 26 games for Calgary this season, Hathaway registered five points in under 10 minutes a night.
- Similarly, the Minnesota Wild have sent Gustav Olofsson down to the minors, liking meaning Christian Folin is ready to return to game action. Olofsson has played in 13 games for the Wild this season, but will have to wait until next year to really make his mark at the NHL level. The 22-year old will try to help the Iowa Wild make the postseason for the first time in their short history.
- Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports that the Albany Devils have signed Austin Cangelosi to a two-year AHL contract. The 22-year old forward just graduated from Boston College where he had back-to-back 20-goal seasons the past two years. The 5’7″ forward will try to prove that his size won’t stop his skill from shining through at the professional level, as he moves up to the next challenge in his hockey career.
Injury Notes: Ferland, Stone, Leivo, Rust
Calgary Flames winger Micheal Ferland has rejoined his teammates in Nashville today after being quarantined for almost a week. The 24-year old had showed signs of the mumps outbreak that had swept through the NHL briefly, but is now symptom free. He’ll be back in on the top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan tonight, according to Kristen Odland of Postmedia.
Here are some other injury notes from around the league:
- Josh Leivo will take the spot of the injured Eric Fehr in tonight’s Maple Leafs lineup according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. With Nikita Soshnikov still on the mend following a big hit from Zdeno Chara, Leivo will look to get back to his scoring ways tonight. The young winger had nine points in a ten game stretch last month when Mitch Marner was dealing with an injury, and has considerable offensive upside. He’ll slot in on the fourth line tonight beside Brian Boyle and Matt Martin.
- Despite skating with the team in a regular jersey this morning, Cedric Paquette will not return to the lineup for Tampa Bay according to Caley Chelios of FOX Sports. The Lightning center will remain out alongside Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson for the time being.
- On Stamkos, he was seen skating again before practice, but admitted to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times that “time is running out” for him to return this season. Stamkos has been skating for weeks as he tries to come back from a meniscus tear in his right knee. The Lightning are currently sitting five points back with ten games to play.
- Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone was back skating this morning, though he won’t play tonight. Stone was out early and stayed late at practice as he works hard to get back into the Senators lineup. The team can smell first place in the Atlantic Division, and getting Stone—arguably their best forward—back before the end of the season could help them wrestle the crown away from the Montreal Canadiens. With a matchup against the fourth Metropolitan team looming in the first round, whether they should really want it is a different story.
- Penguins’ forward Bryan Rust is almost back in the lineup reports Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review after taking part in just about everything at today’s Pittsburgh practice. Though he won’t play tonight, the 24-year old forward will likely be back in a game before the end of the week; the Penguins take on Ottawa tonight, New York (Islanders) tomorrow and Philadelphia on Sunday.
- Three goaltenders were at practice today for the Anaheim Ducks, including John Gibson as he continues to rehab his latest injury. Head coach Randy Carlyle said today that Gibson will definitely play before the end of the regular season, though that still leaves the question of whether he’ll be tested enough to start game one of the playoffs. We’ll see how many games the young netminder gets in before Anaheim has to take on a team like the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames in the first round.
Ryan Strome Out Indefinitely With Broken Wrist
According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, the Islanders have received some bad news after their game last night. Ryan Strome has suffered a broken wrist and will be out for the rest of the season, if not the whole playoffs. Head coach Doug Weight had said last night that he would be out “this weekend and probably longer.” 
Strome injured the wrist on a hit from Brady Skjei in the second period, on a play that didn’t look all that dangerous. The much maligned forward had been playing better of late, though was still in the midst of another disappointing season. His 13 goals and 30 points will be the season totals, still not realizing the full potential he showed in his sophomore season. That year, he had 50 points while playing as one of the Islanders’ best defensive forwards but has taken a step back in his development.
The Islanders would have to go on quite a deep playoff run to see him back in uniform this year, which seems like a long-shot given their current situation. Sitting two points back of the Boston Bruins for the final spot, the second wildcard team will have to go through whoever comes out on top of the Metropolitan Division in the first round before playing the winner of the other two. It’s a tough route for any team, let alone one losing a young forward like Strome.
In his place, Staple assumes that Shane Prince or Alan Quine will be inserted. While both are established enough to not miss a beat, it would be interesting to see the Islanders reach down to the minors and recall Michael Dal Colle from Bridgeport at some point. The former fifth-overall pick has yet to make his NHL debut, but has had a successful (if unspectacular) rookie season in professional hockey with 35 points in 63 games. He would definitely give the lineup another shot of youth alongside Josh Ho-Sang and Anthony Beauvillier, something they might thrive off of this late in the year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Snapshots: Bylsma, Sedins, Red Wings
While there has been some speculation that Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma could be on the hot seat (especially after GM Tim Murray didn’t give much of a vote of confidence yesterday), TSN’s Bob McKenzie doesn’t foresee a change being made behind the bench. In an appearance on NBCSN, McKenzie had the following to say regarding Bylsma’s status (transcription courtesy of Fan Rag’s Chris Nichols):
“I would also think, absent some sort of cataclysmic disaster in the final two weeks of the season, that Dan Bylsma will also be back as head coach of this team next year; although that review process, as Murray said, still has to take place at the end of this season.
“I don’t think the Pegula family is keen on paying both Rex Ryan and Dan Bylsma not to coach the Bills and the Sabres, and they obviously made that decision with Rex Ryan and the Bills. At this point in time, I would suggest that Bylsma will be back.”
Bylsma is in his second season behind the Buffalo bench and while the team was clearly in a rebuilding mode when he took over, many expected the Sabres to take a significant step forward this season. That hasn’t been the case though as they have just 72 points through 74 games and may not even match the 81 points they put up in 2015-16.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Canucks GM Jim Benning plans to sit down with the Sedin twins at the end of the season to discuss their future with the club, reports ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun. However, LeBrun doesn’t expect that anything will happen aside from the twins playing out the final year of their contracts. He notes that Vancouver greatly values their leadership especially as with the team being in the process of integrating several young players into their lineup. Of course, with each player carrying a $7MM cap hit, that too will likely play a role in them sticking around for next season.
- While the Red Wings won’t be making the postseason, they don’t plan on bringing their top prospects up to get their feet wet at the NHL level between now and the end of the year, head coach Jeff Blashill told Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Instead, the team wants to keep them with Grand Rapids of the AHL in the hopes of a lengthy postseason run and feels that’s more valuable than a short-term NHL appearance that could potentially disrupt their chances down there. Accordingly, Detroit will look to their veterans (such as Ben Street who was shuffled up and down recently) at the minor league to fill any spots over these final few weeks.
Atlantic Notes: Soshnikov, Melnyk, White
Maple Leafs fans will see Eric Fehr in action for the first time tonight when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets according to Kristen Shilton of TSN. The veteran forward will draw into the lineup for his first game since being acquired at the deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Frank Corrado. He will be taking the place of Nikita Soshnikov, the young winger who was involved in multiple incidents in Monday’s game against the Boston Bruins.
Soshnikov first got under the skin of Bruins’ players and fans alike when he sent Patrice Bergeron into the boards head first with a crosscheck across the back, earning him just a two minute penalty (which Bergeron would match when he got up and went after the Leafs’ winger). Later in the game he took a hard hit from Zdeno Chara that seemed to rattle him, as he was seen rubbing his neck and skating unsteadily for the rest of the game. It was that unsteady nature that caused him to fall when Dominic Moore would collide with him in the dying minutes, giving the Maple Leafs a powerplay that ended up winning the game. There is no word on what the extent of the injury is for Soshnikov, but a concussion would not be out of the question.
- Eugene Melnyk does “not like the Olympics” according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, who passed along several interesting tidbits from the Ottawa Senators owner. As Melnyk said last week, he isn’t willing to allow star players like Erik Karlsson go to the Olympics if the NHL doesn’t attend, due to his history with injury at the tournament. He did admit that he’ll go along with whatever the league decides however.
- The owner also touched on the negotiations on a new arena for the Senators closer to downtown, in LeBreton flats. Unfortunately using the phrasing “if it’s Ottawa”, Melnyk says any new arena simply has to be downtown. Currently the team plays at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, almost 30 minutes outside the city center.
- As Bob McKenzie relayed last night, things are at a stalemate between Colin White and the Senators, and Garrioch writes that it is unlikely that head coach Guy Boucher would have time to build the trust needed to insert White into the lineup on a regular basis, meaning that burning a year of his ELC would essentially be useless for the team.
- The Canadiens have moved Alex Galchenyuk off the first line for the time being, as expected after breaking them up last night. The forward will play wing next to Andrew Shaw in their next game, and has a fairly positive outlook on it. “At the end of the day you’re a hockey player. You’re not born to play center or born to play wing,” he told John Lu of TSN. The line will feature Artturi Lehkonen on the right side.