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Injury Notes: Allison, Bowers, Knyzhov

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A trio of roster transactions involving injured players were made tonight, starting with the Philadelphia Flyers. According to CapFriendly, the team has moved forward Wade Allison to injured reserve, signifying he’ll miss at least five more days with a lower-body injury.

Allison was placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 12 and will miss at least the team’s upcoming three-game road trip against Columbus, Boston, and Montreal. The 25-year-old left Saturday’s game against Ottawa after laying a hit on Senators defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, and The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor reported yesterday that Allison won’t miss too much time. Through 14 games this season, Allison has contributed three goals and an assist.

  • The Colorado Avalanche have moved forward Shane Bowers to injured reserve, according to CapFriendly, freeing up a roster spot for any potential call-ups. On Saturday, Bowers was given a six-week timeline by head coach Jared Bednar after sustaining an upper-body injury 1:46 into his NHL career. The team did not have any extra roster spots for healthy players, with all non-dressed players out with injuries.
  • The San Jose Sharks have also moved defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov to long-term injured reserve. Knyzhov, 24, has not played hockey since suiting up for all 56 games of the shortened 2020-21 season. A groin injury kept him out for the entirety of 2021-22, and an Achilles injury is expected to keep him out until mid-February.

Kurtis MacDermid Out 4-6 Weeks

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Hybrid winger/defenseman Kurtis MacDermid will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, according to Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. MacDermid left the game on Saturday and did not return. The team has recalled Jayson Megna and Sampo Ranta, with the latter expected to play tonight.

MacDermid, 28, is something of a utility player for the Avalanche, playing a handful of minutes whenever they need some added toughness in the lineup. In eight games this season he has one point, 14 penalty minutes, and 22 hits – all while averaging fewer than eight minutes a game. For his career, the 6’5″ behemoth has 23 points in 184 games.

Ranta, meanwhile, is an interesting prospect for the team, who suited up for two games earlier this season but barely played. The 22-year-old is still looking for his first NHL point and is by no means a replacement for MacDermid’s toughness. That role will go to Andreas Englund, who was recalled yesterday. He’ll make his Colorado debut and help on the penalty kill, adding another big frame to the blueline. In 33 NHL games, all with the Ottawa Senators, Englund has three points.

Devils Notes: Trade Deadline Plans, Bratt, Ruff, Holtz, Bahl

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October 24th, at home against the Washington Capitals. That is the last time the New Jersey Devils lost a hockey game. The loss brought the team to 3-3-0 on the season, not ideal, but on the heels of a three-game win streak, things appeared to be looking up despite the loss. Fast forward nearly three weeks and the team finds itself 11-3-0, riding an eight-game win streak heading into tonight’s matchup at home agains the Arizona Coyotes. The team’s recent play now has many believing the rebuilding Devils are finally back to the elite squad they were for much of the 1990’s and 2000’s and that has, in turn, made many wonder what the team’s plans are shaping up to be for the trading season. NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky sat down with Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald to discuss that topic and several others.

On making trades and the deadline itself, Fitzgerald said he’d like to see more and to evaluate where the team stands after 20 games and 40 games. The veteran executive added that he prefers to build his teams through the offseason rather than through the trade deadline. Still, Fitzgerald didn’t rule out the possibility of trading assets for rentals, but made clear that would have to be dependent on the team’s situation at the time. As Fitzgerald says, “[i]f I can make a hockey trade that improves our club, then yeah, I’ll explore that.”

  • On star winger Jesper Bratt, who is currently signed to a one-year, $5.45MM contract that will leave him a RFA this offseason, Fitzgerald disagrees with the common labeling of the pact as a “prove it” deal. The GM explained that the negotiation this summer was challenging, but that both sides were interested in a long-term agreement. The one-year deal made sense, given a looming arbitration hearing that likely both sides wanted to avoid and perhaps still far apart in negotiations, an amicable agreement such as this one that gets the job done and allows negotiations to start up again this winter, would be a wise one for team and player. In fact, Fitzgerald reiterated his excitement to restart negotiations on a long-term deal come January. Through 14 games this season, Bratt has 18 points, a 105-point pace over 82 games.
  • One topic Fitzgerald is hesitant to discuss is the contract status of head coach Lindy Ruff. During the dying minutes of New Jersey’s home opener loss to the Detroit Red Wings, fans at the Prudential Center began chanting for Fitzgerald to fire the coach, however that tone has of course changed. Still, Fitzgerald isn’t willing to make a move. The GM applauded the coach’s ability to have the team “explode offensively” just as his Dallas Stars teams were able to, but cautioned the eagerness to extend the veteran coach. Given the team’s rocky start, which came on the heels of two difficult seasons under Ruff, followed by an impressive stretch recently, it’s understandable why the organization would wait to make a decision on the future of their coach.
  • Finally, Fitzgerald and Novozinsky discussed the playing time of prospects, namely forward Alexander Holtz and defenseman Kevin Bahl, who have played four and three games this year, respectively. Fitzgerald explained his reasoning for keeping the pair on the roster despite being able to send both to the AHL, where they could play more regularly, saying that he would like them to be able to adjust to the pace of the NHL game, which they can get in practice. In other words, Fitzgerald explained that he believes both are better off practicing regularly in the NHL than playing regularly in the AHL. The executive made clear that this decision was one made with the development of both players in mind.

Peter Laviolette Enters COVID Protocol

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While we aren’t dealing with long quarantine lists or vast schedule changes, every once in a while hockey fans are reminded of how the last two seasons played out. Today, Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette has been placed in the COVID protocol, meaning he will not be behind the bench tonight or Sunday. In his place, assistant coach Kevin McCarthy will serve as interim head coach.

Laviolette passed Alain Vigneault for eighth on the all-time wins list earlier this season and is currently tied with him in total games coached at 1,363. Should he make it through this full season with Washington, the veteran coach will climb the all-time board, passing names like Mike Keenan, Pat Quinn, and Ron Wilson.

McCarthy, meanwhile, will finally get a chance – short as it is – to be a head coach in the league. The former NHL defenseman has been an assistant in the league for decades, going back to the Hartford Whalers in 1992. He’s been Laviolette’s right-hand man for a long (long) time, and certainly won’t be overwhelmed by the moment.

The Capitals take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in both games of a home-and-home.

Hockey Canada Names Coaching Staff For 2023 World Juniors

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The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship is just around the corner, with Canada once again expected to dominate the tournament with what should be a roster full of future stars. Today, Hockey Canada announced their coaching staff for the championship, headlined by Dennis Williams as their head coach.

Hockey Canada also named Stéphane Julien, Brent Kisio, and Alan Letang as assistant coaches, and Kelly Guard as a goaltending consultant.

Williams sees a promotion from last year’s tournament, where he served as an assistant coach under Dave Cameron. The 43-year-old is a two-time WHL Western Conference Coach of the Year winner with the Everett Silvertips and also served as the head coach for Canada’s “Black” team at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 2018. He was also an assistant coach at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky U18 tournament.

It’s been quite the coaching ride for Williams, who got his first coaching experience immediately after graduating from Bowling Green University as a graduate assistant in 2002-03. 20 seasons and five leagues later, he gets the call to lead the reigning gold medalists at the top junior tournament in hockey.

Combined success at the World Juniors and as a bench boss in the CHL can often quickly lead to NHL opportunities. It wouldn’t be surprising if Williams found himself on an NHL bench in 2023-24 if Canada can repeat as champions.

Julien, 48, is the head coach of the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix and has held the role for the past seven-and-a-half seasons. He was the head coach for Canada at this year’s edition of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which ended just two months ago. It’s his first time joining the coaching staff for the U20 team.

Kisio and Letang return to the Canadian bench at the U20 tournament as assistants, reprising the roles that they held in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Guard’s only previous national team experience came as the goaltending coach for Canada White at the 2021 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Detroit Red Wings Issue Injury Updates

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The Detroit Red Wings have issued an official update on Filip Zadina’s timeline, after suffering a lower-body injury a few days ago. The young forward will miss six to eight weeks, pausing what had already been a disappointing start to the season. Head coach Derek Lalonde also announced that Tyler Bertuzzi and Jake Walman will be out another seven to ten days, while Oskar Sundqvist is listed as day-to-day but should play on Thursday.

Zadina, 22, had gone completely scoreless through nine games before suffering the injury, recording just 12 shots on goal. That has been a common theme in his young career, which has resulted in just 25 goals and 61 points through 169 games. Selected sixth overall in 2018 there was so much more expected of the Czech forward, especially when he put up 16 goals as a teenage rookie in the AHL. But scoring has been inconsistent for him in the NHL and now he’ll miss the better part of two months when the team is finally competitive.

If there is a silver lining for Zadina, it’s that he already signed a three-year, $5.475MM contract this summer that locked him in through 2024-25. The Red Wings have enough cap space this year that it doesn’t really matter if he underperforms that $1.825MM cap hit but that won’t always be the case. With Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and others scheduled for unrestricted free agency and in need of big extensions, the money in Detroit will be counted a little more closely moving forward.

Hopefully, this time off can give him a bit of a reset and he’ll come back in a better place, but there will be other players stepping up in his absence. It’s not clear what kind of role will be left for him on his return, especially given how little he was playing before the injury happened.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Blackwood, Ristolainen

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with three Western Conference superstars making the cut. Jason Robertson is on top after scoring four goals and eight points in three games. After missing training camp, Robertson has picked up right where he left off last season and now has eight goals and 18 points in 12 games.

Second and third went to Nathan MacKinnon and Erik Karlsson, who each had their own impressive weeks. The Colorado Avalanche center had seven assists in the two games overseas, both wins in Finland, to become the league’s all-time scoring leader in games played outside of North America. Karlsson meanwhile had four goals and eight points in three games including a hat trick and has already matched his goal total from last year (ten) in just 14 games.

  • Mackenzie Blackwood has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain, and will meet with doctors tomorrow for further evaluation according to New Jersey Devils team reporter Amanda Stein. Blackwood left a game against the Edmonton Oilers on November 3, leaving the Devils with Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid as their tandem for the time being.
  • After being scratched on the weekend, some wondered whether Rasmus Ristolainen was still dealing with the effects of his previous injury. Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella told reporters including Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Ristolainen’s injury isn’t the issue and that “everything about his game needs to be better” when he gets back into the lineup.

Ottawa Senators Not Considering Coaching Change

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There were a lot of expectations for the Ottawa Senators coming into this year. They had a young core of exciting forwards, and added star power like Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux to the mix. Top pick Jake Sanderson was supposed to give the defense corps a huge boost, while Cam Talbot was brought in to solidify the goaltending. Things got off to an okay start, with four wins in the first six games, but have since gone downhill.

The Senators now sit at 4-7 on the year after losing their last five and speculation has started to percolate about the safety of head coach D.J. Smith. Today, when speaking with reporters, general manager Pierre Dorion wanted to make it clear that Smith wasn’t going anywhere. “D.J. is our coach and he’s going to be our coach,” he told the gathered media including Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia.

This is Smith’s fourth season behind the bench in Ottawa and despite having an overall record of 85-111-24, things have generally been considered a success. The team was not expected to be competitive, was open about their rebuilding process, and yet still played hard every night under the rookie head coach. Young players like Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Tim Stutzle, and Drake Batherson all took huge leaps in production, and the team was in the top half of the league on the penalty kill, something that is often attributed to the coaching staff.

Still, it’s time to start winning.

One thing that Smith has in his favor is Talbot, who looks sharp since coming back from an injury that kept him out the first month of the season. In two appearances he has stopped 39 of 41 shots and should soon become that stabilizing presence he was brought in as. Whether they can actually turn that strong goaltending into wins is another story, especially with the state of their defense.

While Sanderson has been strong in his rookie season, it’s hard to place much responsibility on a 20-year-old that has just barely started his professional journey. With Artem Zub out, the defense has looked like a jumbled mess, made up of players seeing more ice time than they probably should. Zub is expected back soon but it remains to be seen whether this group will do enough for the team to turn things around. Even with today’s front office support, Smith’s job may depend on it.

Evening Notes: Horvat, Senators Sale, Samsonov

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It was not long ago that, with as many question marks as there were around the Vancouver Canucks, the obvious answer was an extension for team captain Bo Horvat. Whether or not players like J.T. Miller or Brock Boeser were or were not traded or if head coach Bruce Boudreau would be brought back for this season, a Horvat extension always seemed to be a given. Now, after extensions for Miller and Boeser, the free agent signing of Ilya Mikheyev, and the Canucks’ rocky start to the season, with no extension in place for the captain, things appear more uncertain than they’ve ever been for Horvat and Vancouver.

On tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reiterated the story on Horvat: the needle has not moved at all in negotiations. Marek further emphasized the curiosity as to what the organization will ultimately do with Horvat. On one hand, the reunion between both sides appears to be a perfect match and as much as the Canucks have struggled to start the season, Horvat with his 10 goals in 11 games, has not. Still, the more the veteran continues to score, the higher he drives his price. With Miller and Boeser now in place, if the price becomes higher than Vancouver wishes to pay, or simply can pay, the decision might be made for them. And, should Vancouver struggle or fail to make up the ground they lost, Horvat’s trade value may be enough to dissuade them from pursuing an extension in the first place.

  • Yesterday, the Ottawa Senators formally initiated the process of being sold, just over seven months after the passing of owner Eugene Melnyk. Though that time might seem a bit longer than expected to some, the Melnyk family was able to oversee a team transition this offseason to lock in some of the organization’s young core talent, become one of the league’s more exciting groups, and of course, grieve Melnyk’s passing. Although the timeline to date has been unclear, the sale process might be a bit more clear, and quick. Also from tonight’s 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expects the process to get seriously moving by American Thanksgiving, which is now 19 days away. No clear front runner(s) for the team have emerged yet, though Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the league would prefer one majority owner over a group of minority shareholders. Even with the Thanksgiving timetable mentioned, when exactly a new owner would be in place with all formalities and transition of power completed, is unclear.
  • More tough news for the Toronto Maple Leafs in net as goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who started tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins, was forced to leave after the second period. The Maple Leafs confirmed their goaltender would not return while dealing with a knee injury. According to head coach Sheldon Keefe, who discussed the injury with reporters, including Joshua Clipperton of The Canadien Press, was suffered during Brad Marchand’s penalty shot. The extent of the injury or any time he could miss is not yet clear, however Toronto is already working around the loss of Matt Murray in net, who is on LTIR with an abductor injury. Murray was scheduled to miss four weeks with that injury and is currently through three, however a scheduled return is not yet known. Erik Kallgren, who has been acting as the Maple Leafs backup goaltender, is certainly a capable NHL netminder, however the only other goaltender Toronto has under contract is Dennis Hildeby, a 2022 draft pick currently on loan in his native Sweden. Interestingly, the Maple Leafs had been pressed against the 50 contract limit–until today. With forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel lost on waivers to the Washington Capitals this afternoon, Toronto now has just 49 of 50 contracts in their system, enough to add one more player. Should they need to do so, they’ll have to act quick and be creative, with puck drop in Carolina scheduled for 5:00 pm ET tomorrow afternoon.

 

West Notes: Saad, Hughes, Bear, Studnicka

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The St. Louis Blues are in a rocky stretch of their season at the moment. After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Blues have stumbled and are now 3-4 and second-to-last in the Central Division. Injuries haven’t played a major role in the team’s lackluster performance, but St. Louis could still nonetheless certainly stand to get healthier. Forward Brandon Saad has skated in just three games this season, and the Blues have to be hoping that he can return to health soon.

Despite the fact that he has not been placed on injured reserve, it doesn’t look as though Saad will be returning any time soon. As The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports, Saad hasn’t been practicing due to an upper-body injury, and per Blues head coach Craig Berube, he’s “still a ways away.” Saad is an important contributor to the Blues’ all-around game, and the 24 goals and 49 points he scored last year is certainly the sort of production St. Louis could use right now.

Some other notes on Western Conference teams:

  • The Vancouver Canucks’ defense has been ravaged by injuries so far this season, although their situation has begun to improve. As noted by The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, top defenseman Quinn Hughes was back on the ice with his teammates today at practice. Hughes has missed Vancouver’s last four games with a lower-body injury, but could be returning soon. The American blueliner has five assists in five games this year and had 68 points in 76 games last season.
  • The Canucks have been busy on the trade market as of late, acquiring center Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins and defenseman Ethan Bear from the Carolina Hurricanes. Drance reports that both Bear and Studnicka are on the ice today at practice. Bear and Studnicka have played just one NHL game combined so far this season, so it will be interesting to see how coach Bruce Boudreau chooses to deploy them to begin their Canucks careers.

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