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Poll: Which Team Is Under The Most Pressure To Make The Playoffs?

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When the NHL’s unofficial second half kicks off this week, there will be substantially fewer teams with playoff hopes than when the first half began back in October. Of course, no team has been statistically eliminated yet, but a quick look at the standings can help to rule out more than a handful of the league’s bottom-dwellers. In fact, The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn had seven teams with less than a 5% chance of reaching the playoffs in his latest model: the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, and Philadelphia Flyers.

On the other hand, there are also quite a few teams whose first-half success has given them near certainty of playing beyond the regular season this year. Luszczszyn’s projections give eleven teams an 85% chance or better of qualifying for the postseason: the Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Islanders.

This leaves 13 clubs remaining – the “fringe” teams – who are vying for a possible five playoff spots. Eight of these teams will miss out. Who least wants to be part of that group?

Well, the team who has been a member of the early off-season club the longest would certainly like to change things up. The Carolina Hurricanes have gone nine seasons since making a postseason appearance and have come close the last few years but fallen short. The team could crack 90 points this season for the first time in eight years, but it might not be enough in the tight Eastern Conference wild card race. The two other teams who are desperate to get back to the playoffs are the Buffalo Sabres, who are on a seven-year drought, and the Arizona Coyotes, who are six years out from a postseason appearance. The Sabres got off to a hot start this season and looked to be a surprise playoff team, but have regressed recently, with three wins in their past then games, and are now tied with Carolina for ninth place in the East. The Coyotes have been resilient in the deep Western Conference wild card race, battling injuries and inconsistency to stay in the mix, but Arizona has their work cut out for them the rest of the way.

Then there are the teams who have made the playoffs recently but not performed. The Blue Jackets – who have never won a playoff series in franchise history – will almost certainly have another shot this year, but what about the Florida Panthers? Many have dismissed the team this season, but the Panthers have plenty of talent and have fallen short of expectations until recently. They face an uphill battle to make the postseason but if they do, the team would have a chance to snap the league’s longest streak without a playoff series win. Florida has not won a round since 1996, a whopping 21 seasons without postseason success and longer than the Blue Jackets have even existed. That’s a substantial mark on the franchise. It’s been a decade now since the Colorado Avalanche have won a postseason series as well and now that they are armed with one of the league’s best forward lines, have a chance against anyone if they can win a spot. The Avs looked like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender early this season and with some trade deadline reinforcements could be a factor this spring. However, recent struggles have plummeted them into the thick of the wild card race in the West and they are in danger of missing the playoffs entirely.

Then, there are teams that simply entered the 2018-19 campaign with high expectations and need to meet them. The defending champion Washington Capitals are of course part of this group. Among the most likely fringe teams to make the postseason, it is nevertheless hard to ignore the disastrous play of the Capitals of late. Three wins in their past ten games, including a number of blowout losses, has begun “Stanley Cup hangover” talk and has legitimately injured Washington’s playoff odds. The team needs to right the ship soon or risk falling out of the current playoff picture. A team on the opposite trajectory are the Minnesota Wild, who have improved their play of late and have pulled away in the race for the final Central Division berth. Minnesota is another team that entered the season with high expectations and are still searching for the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup final appearance. With hopes reaching new highs this season, a collapse for the Wild would be devastating.

Unlike the Capitals and Wild, there are also teams with high expectations who don’t have promising playoff outlooks right now. The Edmonton Oilers and the league’s best player, Connor McDavid, sit atop that list. Edmonton is currently in 13th in the Western Conference and in danger of dropping out of the playoff conversation sooner than any fringe team. The organization has already fired their head coach and general manager this season amid another year of disappointing results and face slim odds that this campaign will end any differently. McDavid and company maintain that the Oilers are a playoff-caliber team, but something has to change with this team down the stretch for that that hypothesis to be tested this postseason. The St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars certainly look like playoff teams on paper, but both have been mediocre at best this season. The Blues, a popular dark horse Stanley Cup pick before the season, have been disappointing in every regard and there has been talk that the team could blow it up this season. A recent improvement paired with the struggles of others in the Western Conference playoff race have revived postseason hopes, but few expected that making the playoffs would be this difficult for St. Louis this season. The same goes for Dallas, who has had highly-publicized feuds between ownership, coaches, and players alike this year as the team continues to fall short of expectations. The Stars currently hold the top spot in the wild card race, but a recent history of late season collapses casts doubt over their ability to hold on to that spot.

There are still many teams whose playoff futures this season remain in question. These franchises all have varying degrees of desperation based on history and expectations. Of the 13 “fringe” teams, which team is under the most pressure to make the playoffs?

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Poll: Can The St. Louis Blues Make The Playoffs?

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Can the St. Louis Blues make the playoffs? The question seemed ludicrous just last month, when the team was four games under .500 and held the worst record in the Central Division. However, the Blues have points in seven of their past eleven games and are now comfortably within the playoff race for the final seed in the division or a wild card spot (even if it is an underwhelming race that The Athletic’s Tyler Dellow coined a “turtle derby”). So, could St. Louis actually pull off the in-season turnaround?

On paper, it may seem that their chances are still slim. The Blues are currently in 13th in the Western Conference with 47 points, five points back of a playoff spot, following a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. However, the perception of St. Louis has suffered for much of the season due to the fact that the Blues have played fewer games than most of the league. St. Louis has played in just 48 games this season, tied for the least in the NHL, and less than each of the seven teams in the wild card mix. In terms of points percentage, St. Louis is actually tied with the Edmonton Oilers at .490 and easily within striking distance of the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks. The team will need to string together a few wins to catch up with division foes in the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Minnesota Wild, but it’s well within the realm of possibility. The Athletic’s model, updated daily by Dom Luszczyszyn, currently predicts that the Blues will finish tenth in the West, but just three points back of the Ducks for the eighth and final playoff spot.

However, can the Blues maintain their recent stretch of success? While the struggles of other contenders have made their modest improvement look impressive, the fact of the matter is that St. Louis is in the bottom-third of the league in both goals for and goals against per game. The team is still looking for improvement from many of its top players and have been unable to confidently rely on goaltender Jake Allen on an everyday basis. The roster undeniably has the talent to be better than they have so far this year, but there hasn’t been any reason to believe that a drastic change in fortunes is coming.

There’s also the matter of the impending trade deadline to consider. St. Louis has been a hot name on the rumor mill this year, including allegedly being open to trading stars like Alex Pietrangelo, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Brayden Schenn. Even if their recent success has cooled off those talks, the Blues will still need to seriously consider offers for impending free agents like Jay Bouwmeester, Carl Gunnarsson, Patrick Maroon, and Jordan Nolan. At the same time, they seem unlikely to be buyers and other teams in the playoff race could outpace them if they decide to make additions while the Blues stay the course.

The fate of the Blues’ season remains a mystery. Is this the team many expected? Has their recent success been an accurate portrayal of their ability and has their games played disadvantage allowed them to lurk in the shadows as a legitimate playoff contender? Or is this simply the bad team that everyone saw at the beginning of the season, whose struggles are supported by the statistics? With a post-bye week slate of games against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lighting, and Nashville Predators twice, we’ll soon know whether St. Louis is a contender or pretender. For now, what do you think?

Columbus Blue Jackets Hire Martin St. Louis

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have struggled on the powerplay for several years now, so head coach John Tortorella has called up an old friend for help. The Blue Jackets have hired Hall of Fame forward Martin St. Louis as a special teams consultant. Tortorella explained why the team has brought in his old captain:

Marty St. Louis made himself into a Hall of Fame player through sheer determination, hard work and a great understanding of how to play the game the right way. We’re still developing his role, but he has so much knowledge about our game and what it takes to be successful, both individually and within the team concept, that he’ll be a great asset to our players.

St. Louis, the poster boy for overlooked and undersized forwards, certainly knows what it takes to make a good special teams player. He recorded 101 goals and 216 assists with the man advantage during his long career, and added an incredible 29 short-handed goals. The 11-time Lady Byng finalist also took only 310 penalty minutes in his entire 1,134 game career, meaning he was almost never the man unavailable in special teams situations.

Tortorella in the past has explained that St. Louis always had questions on how to do something better, or more efficiently and suggested at the Hall of Fame ceremony that there was a future in coaching if he wanted it. That journey has started today, though it’s not clear exactly where St. Louis will take this new career path.

Minor Transactions: 01/20/19

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Ten teams are on bye this week, but the NHL schedule isn’t slowing down and neither will the transactions as we head toward the All-Star break and the trade deadline. Sunday’s slate of five games is spread throughout the day, with the Capitals and Blackhawks squaring off early this afternoon, two more later matinees, and then two night games. Highlighting the lineup is a battle between two teams active on the trade market and desperate for a postseason berth this season, the Hurricanes and Oilers. With both teams needing a win in the worst way to stay relevant in the playoff race, expect an intense match-up between two teams that normally have little ill will between them. Keep up with all of today’s moves – and there have already been a lot – right here:

  • The Dallas Stars, one of the teams taking the week off, have sent several players to the minors for that stretch, including defenseman Connor Carrick, who is reassigned on a conditioning loan. Young forwards Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov will also head to the AHL’s Texas Stars for at least the coming week. The trio have all seen limited play time in the NHL this season, so rather than let them sit for a week while healthy, Dallas has opted to give them the opportunity to get some work in with the AHL squad.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced that they have recalled defenseman Haydn Fleury from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Fleury, who played in 67 games with the ’Canes last season, has only been with the team for ten contests this year. The 22-year-old was the seventh overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, but thus far has been unable to show elite offensive ability at the top level. Carolina will continue to give him chances when they can, but behind a deep and talented group of defensemen, Fleury will have to do more with his opportunities moving forward.
  • Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post suggests that the New York Rangers, also on bye, will send top pro defensive prospect Ryan Lindgren down to the AHL during the break rather than make him sit for a week. Lindgren’s recent recall received great fanfare from the Rangers’ faithful and this bye week demotion back to the Hartford Wolf Pack won’t change the team’s plans, which likely are to keep Lindgren in the starting lineup for as much of the remainder of this lost season as possible. Cyrgalis adds that another Rangers rookie, Brett Howden, will not be sent down, as the team hopes some time off will help him break his recent slump.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have reassigned recently-acquired forward Joseph Blandisi to the AHL, the team announced. It wasn’t clear where Blandisi fit in the Pittsburgh lineup after the trade that sent Derek Grant back to the Anaheim Ducks, so the team will let him serve as minor league depth for the time being. Blandisi has found success as a scoring forward in the AHL and will be an asset to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but he has been unable to translate that ability to the NHL in stints with the Ducks and New Jersey Devils and will need to adopt a more physical, energy line role to stick at the top level.
  • The “bye week” claims another, as the resting Columbus Blue Jackets have sent Kevin Stenlund down to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. Stenlund made his NHL debut last week and did not look out of place in a bottom-six role, but nevertheless is better suited to get some additional work this week in the minors rather than sitting. Don’t be surprised to see the big 22-year-old center back up in Columbus after the break.
  • CapFriendly reports that defenseman Anton Lindholm has been recalled by the Colorado Avalanche. Lindholm has been up and down several times for the Avs this season, but has only skated in two games with the team after suiting up for 48 games last year. The small, but solid stay-at-home defender has shown some more offensive ability with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles but until he can provide a little more production at the NHL level, he’s likely nothing more than a replacement-level depth option. The Avalanche also announced that forward Dominic Toninato has been recalled as well.
  • CapFriendly also adds that the Winnipeg Jets have sent little-used defenseman Cameron Schilling down to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for the bye week. The veteran has only skated in four games with the Jets in his first season with Winnipeg, but did record his first NHL point back in November. Schilling is a ways down the depth chart for the Jets, but has the experience to step in if need be down the stretch. To keep him sharp, they’ll send him back to the AHL, where he’s played 27 games this season. With no game until Jan. 28, the Jets also have assigned defenseman Sami Niku to Manitoba, according to CapFriendly. The 22-year-old has fared quite well filling in on Winnipeg’s blueline.
  • Peter Cehlarik has played well alongside David Krejci and Jake Debrusk since his recall three games ago, but with the Boston Bruins hitting their bye week, they have announced that Cehlarik is headed back down to the AHL’s Providence Bruins. Cehlarik has been perhaps the closest thing to a solution on the Bruins’ second line all season and is sure to be back up after the break. In the meantime, The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver suspects that Cehlarik could replace the injured Ryan Fitzgerald at the AHL All-Star Game.
  • The San Jose Sharks announced they have placed defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic on injured reserve today and have recalled defenseman Jacob Middleton. The team has been without Vlasic for eight games already with an undisclosed injury, so he can return to the lineup whenever he is ready. Vlasic’s number’s and play have dropped a little this season, but the team still misses his blueline skills as the Sharks have now lost two straight. The 23-year-old Middleton has appeared in one game for the Sharks this season. He has two goals and 12 points with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL.

Latest On Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have quietly put together an excellent season. The team found themselves heading into tonight’s action just two points behind the Washington Capitals for first place in the Metropolitan Division and could have all the pieces in place for a Stanley Cup run. Unfortunately though, two of those important pieces are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, keeping them in the rumor mill even though the team must dread parting with either.

Those two are Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, of which the latter was recently involved in an incident that earned him the equivalent of a one-game suspension from the team. According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required), Bobrovsky immediately undressed and showered after getting pulled from a game earlier this month, instead of remaining available to go back in if required. That incident, though only keeping Bobrovsky away from the team for a single day, prompted many fans and media members alike to question his future in Columbus.

They weren’t the only ones to question the veteran goaltender’s future with the Blue Jackets, as according to Portzline’s colleague Pierre LeBrun, Bobrovsky himself apparently indicated to the team that he is willing to waive his no-movement clause for the right trade destination—and he indicated that months ago.

As LeBrun notes, it does not sound like the Blue Jackets have asked him to waive it or presented him with any possible destination, and it’s easy to understand why. The two-time Vezina winner is a huge part of the Blue Jackets hopes this season even if he hasn’t performed up to his lofty standards to this point. Going into the playoffs as a Stanley Cup contender with Joonas Korpisalo as your starter is a tough place to be in, meaning that Columbus would need to replace Bobrovsky with someone else. At that point, unless you’re getting someone with term and upside, there’s not going to be a better rental option than keeping your in-house goaltender.

With just under six weeks until the NHL trade deadline, a deal for Bobrovsky still seems unlikely—even to our readership. Prime goaltenders rarely bring back their true value in-season given that contenders are usually in that position because of their strength between the pipes. Even so, we now know that the goaltender is willing to waive his clause if necessary, and that will only generate more interest if an elite goaltender goes down in the next month.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Schedule For Upcoming NHL “Bye Weeks”

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For the third year in a row, the NHL has scheduled a mandated multi-day break for each team in the middle part of the season. Meant to give each team a rest, much like the bye week in the National Football League, this break also includes limits on practice, including several days in which all team activities are prohibited. A seven-day break this season, on paper an increase from the original five-day break, the “bye week” is actually less intrusive this season than it has been in the past despite the longer length. All 31 teams will take their break either right before or right after the upcoming All-Star Weekend, with those two days counting toward the seven and simply extending what has always been a short break for non-participants. Below are the lists of teams who will take leave on one side of All-Star festivities or the other:

Before All-Star Weekend (January 20 – 24)

Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tampa Bay Lightning
Winnipeg Jets

After All-Star Weekend (January 27 – 31)

Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals

How each team feels about taking an extended break in the middle of the season generally varies based on situational factors. While many players would enjoy getting to spend some time away with their families, others would rather keep the pedal to the metal mid-season. More specifically, a team that is playing well and stringing together wins would rather keep playing and not lose out on that momentum. Another team may be in a slump or struggling with injuries and desperately in need of a break. Either way, not every team will be in favor of the bye week each season.

There also remains some scheduling flaws with the mandated break, as most teams will only get the actual seven days or an eighth day off for travel, but others are set to go ten or eleven days without a contest. The “bye week” seems to be a move by the NHL that has enough support to continue in future seasons, but the league could work on sharpening the schedule so as to give teams as close to an even break as their competition as possible.

Minor Transactions: 01/14/19

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Just six games on the schedule for Monday night but that does include an old-fashioned rivalry game between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. The two Eastern Conference franchises will face off with plenty on the line given their places in the standings. Boston currently has a three point lead on Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division. As teams prepare for tonight’s action we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The Ottawa Senators have sent Darren Archibald and Stefan Elliott back to the minor leagues, given they don’t play again until Wednesday. That leaves the Senators with just 21 players on the roster, meaning another move is likely before they take the ice. For Senators fans, that move is hopefully going to be the activation of Thomas Chabot who was at practice this morning in a regular jersey.
  • Stefan Noesen has been placed on injured reserve by the New Jersey Devils in order to make room for Egor Yakovlev on the roster once again. Noesen’s IR stint is retroactive to January 12th, though it’s not clear when exactly he’ll return from this lower-body injury.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have sent Gabriel Carlsson and Kole Sherwood back to the minor leagues, meaning they’ll have to wait to get into the NHL lineup. Carlsson has played only a single game with the Blue Jackets this season, while Ohio native Sherwood is still waiting on his NHL debut.
  • Michael Hutchinson has been returned to the minor leagues by the Toronto Maple Leafs as Frederik Andersen prepares to return to the crease. Toronto will also get Garret Sparks back on the end of the bench as the backup, meaning Hutchinson can return to the AHL and serve as valuable depth.
  • Similarly Adin Hill has been sent back to the AHL by the Arizona Coyotes, who instead will use Darcy Kuemper in the starting role moving forward. Hill has shown himself to be a capable NHL netminder in his short career, but will be served better by starting every game in the minor leagues to continue his development.
  • After trading away Devin Shore earlier today, the Dallas Stars have recalled Michael Mersch from the minor leagues. Mersch has just 17 games under his belt at the NHL level, all with the Los Angeles Kings in 2015-16. He does however have 20 points in 29 games for the Texas Stars and can be used as forward insurance as the team gets Andrew Cogliano up to speed.

Brandon Dubinsky And Markus Hannikainen Out For "A While"

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Minor Transactions: 01/13/19

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It’s a relatively busy Sunday for the NHL as six games are scheduled for today, including an afternoon tilt between the Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes. While the league prepares for another important week, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The San Jose Sharks have sent Rourke Chartier back to the minor leagues, given the team doesn’t play again until Tuesday. The 22-year old forward has played 13 games with the Sharks this season but has just a single goal. He very well could be recalled once again in a few days.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Kole Sherwood, a 21-year old forward that spent time in the ECHL earlier this year. The hometown kid has seven points in 22 games for the AHL Cleveland Monsters, but will get a shot to see what life is like in the NHL for at least a little while.
  • Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan have bother been recalled by the St. Louis Blues, giving the team two forward options in very different situations. Kyrou is still trying to get his footing in his first season as a professional, but has recently found his way as the AHL Rookie of the Month for December. Nolan meanwhile is just trying to hold onto his NHL career after finding himself in the minor leagues this season for the first time since 2012-13.
  • In a minor transaction, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St. Louis Blues’ goalie prospect Evan Fitzpatrick has been re-assigned from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL to the Tulsa of the ECHL. The scribe adds the transaction is significant because it likely suggests that prospect Ville Husso might be ready to return from injury, which could provide the Blues with a solid emergency goaltender down the road. The 20-year-old Fitzpatrick has served as an emergency backup already, but has spent most of his season in Tusla.
  • The Vancouver Canucks announced they have assigned center Adam Gaudette to the Utica Comets of the AHL as the team expects the return of Josh Leivo, who has been out with back spasms. The former Hobey Baker Award winner spent the early portion of the season with Vancouver, learning as a bottom-line player, but was sent to Utica to get more playing time in. He has been producing in Utica, posting three goal and seven points in seven games, including a two goal, three-point performance on Jan. 5th. He was then recalled after Elias Pettersson went down with his knee injury and scored a goal in his one appearance on Thursday against Arizona.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have recalled goaltender Calvin Pickard from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL now that his conditioning stint is over. The team claimed Pickard off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers due to injuries to both Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper. However, with Kuemper healthy once again and the emergence of Adin Hill, the Coyotes would have to keep Pickard around as a third goaltender, which they may not want to do. Pickard struggled in four appearances in Tuscon, despite a 3-0 record, posting a 3.47 GAA and a .889 save percentage.

Metropolitan Notes: Bobrovsky, Claesson, Weal, Varone

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While the Colombus Blue Jackets intend to start backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo against Washington Saturday, Sportsnet’s John Shannon writes the team intends to start Sergei Bobrovsky Sunday against the Rangers after the veteran goaltender did not dress Thursday after a team “incident.”

Bobrovsky practiced Friday and then made a statement to the media:

“I let my emotions get to me when I shouldn’t,” Bobrovsky said regarding the incident that caused him to miss Thursday’s game against Nashville to NHL.com. “I pride myself to being a good teammate all the times… We cleaned the air and we’re ready to move on.”

Bobrovsky worked with goaltending coach Manny Legace in Washington this morning while the rest of the team did not have a morning skate, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, suggesting that Bobrovsky is ready to return to the team.

“That’s what solving things and moving on is all about,” General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. “Sometimes you can use these types of things to become tighter as a group and as a team. But it’s really important you always air them out face-to-face and you move past them and learn from it rather than letting it linger and doing the talking behind their back. That’s why we always bring it all out in the open.”

Of course, it seems more and more likely that Bobrovsky is heading elsewhere when the season ends unless the team truly considers moving him at the trade deadline. However, while many have suggested that Bobrovsky is heading to the New York Islanders this offseason, New York Post’s Larry Brooks suggests that Islanders’ general manager Lou Lamoriello may already have a different plan with the impressive play of Robin Lehner so far this year. The scribe writes that Lamoriello has an amazing knack for finding impressive goaltenders throughout his tenure, including Martin Brodeur, Cory Schneider and Frederik Andersen as well as Lehner.

  • The New York Rangers took another hit today as the team may have lost defenseman Fredrik Claesson for some time after Saturday’s game against the Islanders, according to the New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis. Claesson hit the boards hard after a hit by the Islanders’ Matt Martin. While nothing official has been announced, head coach David Quinn said it “doesn’t look good.” Quinn also added that defenseman Neal Pionk could be ready Sunday to replace Claesson in the lineup although he’s still considered day-to-day.
  • While the Philadelphia Flyers sent off forward Jordan Weal Friday to Arizona, The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription requried) writes that the team made the move because the 26-year-old was no longer in the team’s plans. The team got little in return other than a sixth-rounder and defenseman Jacob Graves, a 23-year-old currently playing in the ECHL, and included because the Coyotes were already at 50 contracts and needed to send one back in the deal. Weal, a favorite of former general manager Ron Hextall, was deemed expendable by new management, but the improved play of Phil Varone also may have had quite a bit to do with the move. Varone, a similar player to Veal, has played in 14 of the team’s last 17 games, while Weal has been a healthy scratch often of late.

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