Cale Makar Shining In NCAA Season
- Cale Makar is off to quite a start at UMass reports Craig Button of TSN. The fourth-overall pick of 2017 is a shining light for the Colorado Avalanche in their continued defensive struggles. Makar is the kind of defenseman who can bring you to your feet at any moment, and is starting to adapt to playing against higher competition. It will be interesting to see how long he stays in the college ranks, before being recruited to jump to the NHL with the Avalanche.
Minor Transactions: 10/29/17
Here’s where we’ll keep tabs on the minor news and notes throughout the day with the most recent moves at the top:
- After a fleury of goaltending moves in the last few days that saw the team trade for New Jersey goalie Scott Wedgewood and place backup Louis Domingue on waivers, Elite Prospects tweeted that the Arizona Coyotes have called up goaltending prospect Hunter Miska today. Miska, who signed in April this year after dominating year at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in which he took the team to the Frozen Four finals, wasn’t fairing as well with the Tucson Roadrunners, where he had a 4.02 GAA and a .884 save percentage in four games. The call-up suggests that starting goaltender Antti Raanta may not be as healthy as the team thought.
- Mark Divver of the Providence Journal tweets that the Boston Bruins will recall Providence Bruins’ goaltender Zane McIntyre today as an emergency backup. The 25-year-old AHL goalie has been called up for this reason before, but has not made it into a game yet for the Bruins. He is currently 4-1 with Providence and has played well, with a 1.81 GAA and a .928 save percentage. Divvers adds that he believes it’s due to the fact that Bruins’ starting goalie Tuukka Rask kept getting run into during Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
- The Minnesota Wild announced they have also sent three players down to the Iowa Wild of the AHL, including two former first-round picks, including 2015 first-round pick Joel Eriksson Ek and 2016 first-round pick Luke Kunin as well as Zack Mitchell. No corresponding moves have been made yet. Eriksson-Ek who many believed might have a breakout year has struggled in nine games with the Wild. The 20-year-old center has had just one goal and two assists in that span after putting up better numbers in a 15-games stint with the team last year when he put up three goals and four assists. Eriksson-Ek struggled in the preseason and was a candidate to not make the team at one point, but the team instead sent down Kunin instead. Kunin has been going back and forth between Iowa and Minnesota all year. However, Kunin has been more successful lately as his minutes and numbers have started to increase. The 19-year-old has a goal and two assists that all have come recently, as his short-handed goal against the Islanders Thursday makes him the first player in team history to score his first goal short-handed. Mitchell has also been up and down quite a bit this year, helping out the team’s fourth line while the team deals with multiple injuries. Mitchell has a goal and an assist in five games.
- Vancouver Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning announced the team has recalled center Jayson Megna today. The 27-year-old returns to the team after having played in 54 games for Vancouver a year ago, tallying four goals and four assists. He has been with the Utica Comets since the start of the season, putting up an assist in four games this year. The move was expected after the team sent Michael Chaput down to Utica on Friday, leaving the team with only 12 healthy forwards.
- The Colorado Avalanche tweeted that they have assigned forward Andrew Agozzino to the San Antonio Rampage today. He was recalled yesterday for their evening game against the Chicago Blackhawks, but was a healthy scratch. Agozzino has been an offensive force for the Rampage, putting up two goals and six assists in seven games so far this year. He was called up as an emergency forward after the team placed Gabriel Bourque on injured reserve due to an upper body injury.
Avalanche Notes: Duchene, Compher, Bourque, Recalls
While many have expected the Avalanche to deal center Matt Duchene with him being in the rumor mill dating back to last season, some general managers around the league now believe that GM Joe Sakic is trying to convince Duchene to stick it out in Colorado, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on a segment with WGR 550 in Buffalo (audio link). Duchene’s preference to be dealt has been well-known for a while now so on the surface, it would feel like a longshot for the team to convince him to rescind his trade request now after everything that has transpired; Dreger adds that he still expects a trade to happen at some point. Assuming Sakic could persuade him to stick it out with the Avs, Duchene still wouldn’t be able to sign a contract extension until July.
Despite his unhappiness with his situation, Duchene is off to a nice start this season with eight points (3-5-8) through ten games which have him tied for the team lead with blueliner Tyson Barrie. That will certainly allow Sakic to keep the asking price as high as it has been dating back to last season and afford him the time to try to convince Duchene to have a change of heart if that is indeed the route they’re now trying to go.
More from Colorado:
- Winger J.T. Compher is two-to-three weeks away from returning to the lineup as he continues his recovery from a broken thumb, head coach Jared Bednar told BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater. The 22-year-old continues to skate daily which should help in terms of conditioning when he gets the green light to return. In eight games this season, Compher has a goal and three assists while averaging a little over 15 minutes per night.
- Compher’s replacement now finds himself banged up as well as winger Gabriel Bourque suffered an upper-body injury last night, notes Betsy Helfand of the Denver Post. He left Friday’s loss against Vegas in the first period and did not return. Alexander Kerfoot also left the game in the third period. Bednar didn’t have an immediate update on either player.
- With those two injuries, the Avs announced (Twitter link) that they’ve promoted forwards Rocco Grimaldi and Andrew Agozzino from AHL San Antonio. The undersized Grimaldi has seen NHL action in each of the last three seasons while Agozzino is their top scorer at the minor league level with eight points through the first seven games of 2017-18. To make room for them on the roster, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports (Twitter link) that Bourque and Colin Wilson have been placed on IR.
Snapshots: Parise, Mironov, Schroeder
The Minnesota Wild could have some bad news to announce very soon, as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Zach Parise is considering back surgery to repair a herniated disk. The disk is giving him leg pain, and could take him out for up to two months. Russo reports the update will likely come on Tuesday.
The Wild had Mikael Granlund back in the lineup, but losing Parise for another two months would certainly hurt. Though he’s not the high-flying 45-goal man of his youth, the 33-year old forward is still a very effective two way player and a key part of the Minnesota team. Last year he recorded 42 points in 69 games, marking only the second time he hadn’t cracked 20 goals and 50 points in a non-lockout season since his rookie year. The first was a year lost completely to injury, when he tore the meniscus in his knee and needed surgery in 2010. Hopefully he doesn’t fall to a similar fate in 2017-18.
- Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey tweets that his client Andrei Mironov will be recalled by the Colorado Avalanche today, returning him after just a few days with the San Antonio Rampage. Mironov was sent on a conditioning stint to get him into game action, since he was just sitting in the press box for the Avalanche. The Rampage had three consecutive games this weekend (all against the Texas Stars, a quirk of AHL scheduling), in which Mironov scored two points. He’ll try to get back into the Colorado lineup on a more regular basis in his first year in North America.
- Jordan Schroeder, placed on waivers earlier today by the Columbus Blue Jackets, has also technically been recalled from his conditioning stint. Schroeder played in three games for the Cleveland Monsters, and will likely return to the AHL squad if he clears tomorrow. With him on the roster temporarily the Blue Jackets have 23 men, but are expected to activate Gabriel Carlsson from injured reserve in the next few days.
Colorado Avalanche Make Four Transactions
The Colorado Avalanche have made several transactions ahead of their Tuesday night game against the Dallas Stars. The team has placed Tyson Jost and J.T. Compher on injured reserve, while recalling A.J. Greer and Gabriel Bourque from the AHL.
Jost and Compher are out for at least a few weeks, putting a bad taste on what has been a fairly successful start to the season. They’ll turn to the 20-year old Greer, who made his NHL debut last season and Bourque who found himself playing the majority of games in the AHL last season for the first time in several years. The 27-year old Bourque was once a full-time player in the Nashville Predators’ lineup, but has just 28 NHL games over the past two seasons.
The Avalanche are 4-4 but were on the receiving end of a bad call by review officials on Thursday night, leading to a loss at the hands of the St. Louis Blues. While the correct call wouldn’t have guaranteed them a victory, it certainly didn’t help when Mikko Rantanen‘s tying goal was pulled off the board.
Colorado was expected to be one of the worst teams in the league again this year after a historically-bad season in 2016-17, but are riding some youth and a re-energized Matt Duchene to a respectable record. If Greer can find some of the jump that made him a coveted prospect in the 2015 draft—he was selected 39th overall—perhaps he can show he belongs to stay in the NHL long-term.
Sabres Place Gorges On IR, Recall Redmond
The struggling Sabres continue to take hits. At 1-5-2, Buffalo is no longer win-less like the Arizona Coyotes, neither are they the worst team even in the Atlantic, having passed up the Montreal Canadiens. However, four points in eight games is nothing to write home about and now the injuries are starting to pile up. Zach Bogosian doesn’t appear to be close to a comeback, and the team recently recalled Taylor Fedun with Jacob Josefson also sidelined. The latest addition: veteran defenseman Josh Gorges, who the team placed on injured reserve this morning.
While the team did not specifically address what is ailing Gorges in the press release, a recent article by Buffalo News’ John Vogl updated the injury statuses of several players, including Bogosian, Josefson, another downed defender Justin Falk, and yet another concern, banged up forward Zemgus Girgensons. In the piece, Vogl asks coach Phil Housley about Gorges’ condition, which the bench boss describes as a “lower-body injury”. While this is not much to go off of, more details can be expected the longer that Gorges’ absence lasts.
In the meantime, Buffalo has recalled defenseman Zach Redmond from Rochester of the AHL. Redmond was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens earlier this month for Nicolas Deslauriers and will make his Sabres debut should he get into one of their upcoming games, perhaps even tonight against the Boston Bruins. While by any metric Redmond is a replacement-level player, his 16 games with the Canadiens last season was a bit of an outlier compared to his recent experience. Redmond played a semi-regular role for the Colorado Avalanche in 2014-15 and 2015-16, skating in 59 and 37 games respectively and posting a total of 26 points and a 115 blocked shots. Redmond is capable of stepping up and being a reliable man on the back end for Buffalo – and they need it. The Sabres currently rank 29th in points percentage and goal differential and are on a course for another disappointing season. Gorges has undeniably lost a step in recent years; perhaps Redmond can be the surprise catalyst in his place that gets the Buffalo blue line back in shape.
Snapshots: Wiercioch, Avalanche, Svechnikov, Schneider
The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Patrick Wiercioch from the AHL, likely to help replace Erik Gudbranson who is now serving a one-game suspension. While there is no guarantee Wiercioch gets into the lineup—Alex Biega was already up as the team’s extra defenseman—he’ll provide some more depth as the team continues their east coast road trip. Vancouver is in Buffalo today and Wiercioch is already with the team, thanks to the team affiliate Utica’s close proximity.
Wiercioch signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Canucks this summer after playing last year with the Colorado Avalanche, but was cut at the end of training camp. In two games with Utica, the 27-year old has one goal and no assists. An NHL veteran, Wiercioch has 268 games under his belt at the highest level and actually hadn’t seen the minor leagues in some time. Should he show that he’s ready to continue in the NHL, the Canucks could potentially keep him around even after Gudbranson returns.
- The Colorado Avalanche got some bad news, as both J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost will be out for a while following injuries on Thursday night. Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports that Jost will miss two to three weeks while Compher is out indefinitely with a broken thumb. It’s a tough blow for a team that was experiencing a good start to the season, and injury to insult after the league admitted they were wrong on the offside challenge last night.
- Potential first-overall draft pick Andrei Svechnikov was lighting it up in the OHL this year, but will have to put his exploits on hold for the next two months. As Bob McKenzie of TSN reports, the young forward broke his hand while playing for Barrie and will need surgery. He’s expected to be out eight weeks. While the injury certainly puts a damper on his draft year, there is little chance of him dropping out of the first few spots unless the hand injury proves to limit his play after recovery. Svechnikov had ten goals and 14 points in his first ten games, and was already proving to be one of the most dynamic players in junior hockey at the age of 17. His size, speed and skill give him franchise-altering potential, and he’ll likely still be on display at the World Junior Championships at the end of December and early January.
- The New Jersey Devils have placed Cory Schneider on injured reserve retroactive to October 19th, and recalled Scott Wedgewood. While normally this would be devastating for the Devils, after tonight they don’t play again until next Friday. Schneider is expected to be activated in time for that game. For now, Wedgewood will back up Keith Kinkaid in the Devils’ matchup tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
Minor Notes: Mironov, Van Riemsdyk, Svechnikov
The Colorado Avalanche have sent Andrei Mironov to the San Antonio Rampage on a conditioning stint according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express. Mironov has been a healthy scratch for the Avalanche since the first game of the season, but as Mike Chambers wrote Tuesday for the Denver Post, was becoming acclimated to North America with the help of the other Colorado Russian-born players.
Now, he’ll have to fend for himself so to speak in the minor leagues as he tries to learn the defensive game on smaller rinks. Mironov was drafted in the fourth round a few years ago, but has shown solid upside as a potential shutdown defender. After playing five seasons in the KHL, Mironov signed with the Avalanche this spring to start his North American career.
- Trevor van Riemsdyk has been activated as expected by the Carolina Hurricanes after recovering from a concussion suffered in the season-opener. The team had experimented with Trevor Carrick, but will likely plug van Riemsdyk back into the lineup tonight against the Calgary Flames. They had been carrying just six defensemen after sending Carrick back to the AHL, meaning there will be no corresponding move necessary.
- Evgeny Svechnikov is also healthy after an injury held him out of the first part of the season. The difference is that Svechnikov has been sent to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin his season, not quite ready for the NHL just yet. Svechnikov made his NHL debut last season when he got into two games for the Detroit Red Wings, but was instrumental in the Griffins’ Calder Cup victory. In 93 total minor league games last year, the first-round pick scored 63 points. He’ll likely make it up to the NHL before long if he shows he’s healthy.
- When the Buffalo Sabres brought in Jason Botterill as GM this summer, he promised that more emphasis would be placed on the Rochester Americans and their success. The organization has made another move to try and beef up the Amerks, bringing Stuart Percy in on a professional tryout. Percy was a first-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2011, and has found solid success in the minor leagues previously. The Buffalo GM is intimately familiar with his game, as he played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last year, who Botterill ran for the Pittsburgh organization.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have completed another goalie transaction, flipping Maxime Lagace for Oscar Dansk according to our friends at Roster Resource. Lagace didn’t get into a game as Malcolm Subban has taken the reins in Vegas, and this move likely allows both goaltenders to stay fresh.
Avalanche Priortiziing Keeping Mironov With Other Russians
Although it’s generally not viewed as a good idea for teams to keep waiver-exempt young players as healthy scratches for long periods of time, that is what’s happening with the Avalanche and defenseman Andrei Mironov who has sat for six straight. Mike Chambers of the Denver Post notes that the team is okay with that arrangement for now as the rookie, who speaks very little English, gets to be around a trio of fellow Russians who are helping him adapt to the North American game. Despite this, head coach Jared Bednar acknowledged they will have to get him into some more games in the near future as sitting a 23-year-old is not an ideal long-term strategy.
Nemeth Could Return On Thursday
- The Avalanche received some good news when it came to defenseman Patrik Nemeth. Although there were some concerns that he may have dislocated or separated his shoulder in a fight with Stars center Tyler Seguin on Saturday, BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater reports that Nemeth could be given the green light to return to the lineup as early as Thursday.