Dallas CEO Rips Into Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin
In the modern world of sports management and media, very rarely do upper executives of a team express anything but mild frustration if their team isn’t doing well. They may issue marching orders, or make sweeping changes in the front office, but almost never pick out individual players and air their grievances. Perhaps it’s something about the Texas heat that leads Dallas sports to act differently, but that market may be used to unusual outbursts given the bombastic personalities of Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, and Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. The Dallas Stars, who play arguably the least personality-driven of the four major sports, were getting by relatively unscathed when compared to their Texas counterparts. Until today.
In an incredible piece by Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (subscription required), Stars CEO Jim Lites goes into an on-the-record, expletive-filled rant about his best players, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. The entire piece is an absolute must-read for hockey fans thirsting for this kind of drama, but one (expletive-free) paragraph explains his thoughts on the situation:
These guys are not good enough. They’re not good enough for me, they’re not good enough for the owner, and they’re certainly not good enough for the general manager, who I can’t speak for, but it’s not good enough for the job he’s done. But we’ve had meeting after meeting after meeting. The accountability on the ice is not there. These guys were signed to big contracts because they were the third- and sixth-leading scorers in the National Hockey League over the past five years. They get their money, we expect them to not be outplayed every game we play in. And if they were as good as they’ve been in the past we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Amazingly, this tirade comes at a time in the season when the Stars are actually sitting in a playoff spot. Because of the struggles of many of the other top teams, Dallas sits in the second wild card spot with a 19-16-3 record, and are actually just three points behind the Colorado Avalanche for a divisional playoff spot. They sit just nine points behind the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division, and are by no means out of the race entirely. In fact, they beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 yesterday (a game in which Seguin and Benn were both held scoreless).
Still, Lites—and apparently owner Tom Gaglardi—are not happy. The Stars signed Seguin to an eight-year, $78.8MM extension just a few months ago after the star forward publicly expressed his disappointment that they hadn’t worked out a deal yet, and are already paying Benn an average of $9.5MM per season to captain the Stars for majority of the next decade. That kind of money puts both among the very highest paid players in the league, but Lites apparently doesn’t think they’ve played up to their capacity. Seguin is on pace for just 69 points this season, which would break his streak of five consecutive seasons of at least 72 points. The 26-year old forward set a career high with 40 goals last year, but is on pace for just 23 this year thanks to a career-low shooting percentage and league leading number of posts hit. Lites clearly doesn’t buy the post excuse:
He’s hitting posts, ‘wah-wah.’ That’s what I say about hitting posts. Get a little bit closer to the action, actually go to the spot where you score goals. He doesn’t do that, he never does that anymore. He used to be a pest to play against, people hated playing against Tyler Seguin, they don’t anymore.
Benn meanwhile has 30 points in 38 games, which is also a pace that would give him his lowest total since the 2012-13 shortened season. The captain surprisingly has just one powerplay assist this year which drastically hurts his totals, but is still leading the club with 15 goals.
The fact that Benn and Seguin are still at the top of the Dallas scoring list may lead some fans to point out how weak the rest of the roster has performed this season, but Lites clearly isn’t buying it. He’s put the onus on his best players to step up their game, an done so in such a public way that they will not be able to escape questions about it for the rest of the year. The Stars are back at home tomorrow night against the Detroit Red Wings.
Dallas Stars Make Four Roster Moves
The Dallas Stars were one of two teams that had raised their roster numbers over the regular allowable limit during the holiday roster freeze, and needed to make a move today to get back under the 23-man threshold. Instead, they made several moves. Martin Hanzal and Jason Dickinson have both been placed on injured reserve with back injuries, while Connor Carrick was activated. Gavin Bayreuther, the odd man out on defense, has been sent back to the minor leagues.
The most notable transaction here is Hanzal, who only returned to the lineup for the first time this season three weeks ago. Back injuries have already stolen huge chunks of Hanzal’s career, and are clearly a chronic issue that will not go away entirely. That’s frightening for the Stars, who invested $14.25MM on a three-year deal in the big center in the summer of 2017 and have only received 45 games of mostly ineffective play. During his time in Dallas, Hanzal has only recorded 12 points while registering horrendous possession numbers and a -18 rating. That’s a terrible performance for a player carrying a $4.75MM cap hit, especially one who previously in his career was considered a potential Selke winner as a shutdown center.
Though Hanzal’s injury may never truly go away, Dickinson’s has been given a three to four week timeline according to Mark Stepneski of NHL.com. It’s terrible timing for a young player who was starting to establish himself as an everyday option, as Dickinson has 11 points in 34 games this season. The 23-year old was a first-round pick five years ago, but has had trouble shedding the minor league status and earning himself a real opportunity with the Stars. Now he’ll have to fight through injury to get back and not lose his latest chance.
Central Notes: Hartman, Crawford, Davidson, Dickinson
The Department of Player Safety announced they have fined Nashville Predators forward Ryan Hartman $1,000 for spearing Boston Bruins’ Chris Wagner Saturday with less than a minute left in the second period.
Hartman has been in trouble with the Department of Safety before as he was suspended for one game on Apr. 19 for an illegal check to the head against Colorado’s Carl Soderberg and then was fined for $2,320 for slashing Brayden McNabb in Oct. of 2017 against Vegas.
- The Chicago Blackhawks may get a better idea today of where starting goaltender Corey Crawford is at after he sustained another concussion on Dec. 16. According to NBC Sports’ Charlie Roumeloitis, head coach Jeremy Colliton confirmed this morning that Crawford was in the building, but still hadn’t talked to the coach. “As far as I know he’s still in the protocol. He is here, so that’s a positive,” Colliton said. Crawford missed quite a bit of time when he suffered a concussion last year in December as he still wasn’t ready to return at the start of this season. The team hopes Crawford can return much earlier this time.
- John Dietz of the Daily Herald reports that defenseman Brandon Davidson says that he should be ready to return to the Blackhawks lineup in 7-10 days. The blueliner underwent surgery on Nov. 27 on his right knee and was expected to be out for six to eight weeks, which suggests he could be ready at the six-week mark. The 27-year-old has only appeared in seven games for Chicago this year.
- The Dallas Stars may have lost one of their own Saturday when forward Jason Dickinson was forced out of the second period of Dallas’ game against Minnesota with an upper-body injury, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski. Head coach Jim Montgomery said that Dickinson was doubtful for their game today against the Islanders. The 23-year-old has been a mainstay for Dallas on the bottom-six as he has five goals and 11 points in 34 games.
Martin Hanzal Out With A Sore Back, Jason Spezza Expected To Return
- Stars center Martin Hanzal will miss tonight’s game due to a sore back, notes Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge (Twitter link). Even though he’s expected to suit up tomorrow, this has to be cause for concern considering he just came back to the lineup earlier this month after undergoing spinal fusion surgery on his back in March. The veteran is off to a slow start offensively with just two points in six games but has been particularly sharp at the faceoff dot, winning over 61% of his draws. Jason Spezza (illness) will take Hanzal’s spot in the Dallas lineup.
John Klingberg Cleared To Return To Game Action
Though it had been expected since earlier this week, the news was made official today. John Klingberg will return to the Dallas Stars lineup tomorrow night. Klingberg has been cleared by the Stars medical staff and will be reinserted into the lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks. Joel Hanley, who had cleared waivers earlier this week, has been assigned to the minor leagues.
It’s been over a month since Klingberg suited up for the Stars, suffering a hand injury in early November that required surgery. In his stead, young defenseman Miro Heiskanen has stepped up and become the leader on the blue line while Esa Lindell has continued to log big minutes against tough competition. With Klingberg back, the Dallas defense corps will immediately get a huge offensive boost as they wait for some of their injured compatriots to return.
The 26-year old Klingberg finished sixth in Norris Trophy voting last season while establishing a new high in points with 67. Though it’s unlikely he’ll match that total now that he has missed so much time, his near point-per-game pace from the early part of the season should be a welcome addition to the Dallas attack. He had also been logging more minutes than ever before in his career, something that may not continue right away given Heiskanen’s emergence. Still, it’s a huge boost for a Stars team that still has playoff aspirations and sits just a few points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The team is now 17-14-3 on the year and carries a positive goal differential at +1.
Joel Hanley Placed On Waivers
Tuesday: Hanley has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.
Monday: With several defensemen approaching a return from injury, the Dallas Stars have placed Joel Hanley on waivers. That’s according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, who also reports that Max McCormick of the Ottawa Senators has cleared. McCormick was subsequently assigned to the minor leagues.
Hanley, 27, is no more than a seventh defenseman for the Stars, playing in 15 games this season but seeing relatively little ice time. The undrafted UMass-Amherst graduate has suited up 37 times in the NHL between the Montreal Canadiens, Arizona Coyotes and Stars, while recording six points. None of those points have come since the start of the 2016-17 season, and Hanley is still looking for his first NHL goal.
With a two-way contract that brings just a $650K cap hit at the NHL level there may be some interest in Hanley, but the likely outcome is his assignment to the Texas Stars of the AHL. The veteran will serve as some help to that group while being able to come back up to Dallas at a moment’s notice. Connor Carrick, John Klingberg and Stephen Johns meanwhile will continue their recovery, and likely get into the lineup over the next few weeks. All three were present at practice this morning, though Klingberg is the only one facing an imminent return. Marc Methot, also dealing with an injury, still has no timetable for return according to Sean Shapiro of The Athletic.
Oilers Notes: Hitchcock, Koskinen, Krug
Since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers back on November 20th, the team is 7-2-1 and back in the Western Conference playoff picture. The Oilers’ players seem to have embraced Hitchchock’s system and the veteran coach may be the author of a turnaround for a franchise that had been heading in the wrong direction for more than a year. Will that earn him an extension beyond his current interim role? TSN’s Darren Dreger thinks so, as he stated on the latest segment of “Insider Trading” that Hitchcock appears to be a long-term option for the Oilers. The 66-year-old was set to retire from coaching at the end of the 2016-17 season, back when he was with the St. Louis Blues, but was fired by the team before the end of the season. That made his hiring by the Dallas Stars in the following off-season even more surprising. After last season, Hitchcock again announced his “retirement”, only to join the Oilers when they called this season. Hitchcock doesn’t really seem to be committed to moving on from the game and Dreger believes that a winning season would leave Edmonton with little choice but to extend their new coach’s contract. Dreger adds that Hitchcock could wind up with a deal that would allow him to transition from the bench into a front office role if he so chooses, but doesn’t doubt that Hitchcock could continue to coach the team “well beyond this season”.
- One of the more evident changes under Hitchcock has been his trust in backup goaltender Mikko Koskinen, if backup is even the correct title anymore for the import keeper. After Cam Talbot started each of the Oilers’ first eight games of the season, Koskinen has received 13 starts to Talbot’s nine the rest of the way. Under Hitchcock, it has been seven games for Koskinen out of ten total. After shutting out the Calgary Flames last night, Hitchcock announced that he would stick with Koskinen again tonight when the Oilers take on the Colorado Avalanche. Admittedly, Koskinen has outplayed Talbot with a .929 save percentage, 2.06 GAA, and three shutouts – all among the league’s best marks – so the real test of Hitchcock’s trust in the “rhythm” will come when Koskinen begins to struggle. For now, the new coach and his new starting goalie are helping each other make a case for extended stays in Edmonton.
- Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug has been a name connected to the Oilers, through unconfirmed rumors and media speculation, for some time. It was believed that Boston and Edmonton were close to a deal that would have sent Krug to the Oilers at the NHL Draft this past June, while rumors of ongoing discussions continued through the summer. Edmonton could certainly use Krug, one of the most productive defensemen in the NHL over the past few years, and there is some level of familiarity with the player on the Oilers’ side in former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. While they have leaned on Krug as the team fought through injuries early this season, the defenseman is also not as crucial a piece for the Bruins as he would be for other teams, with Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk representing future offensive threats on the blue line and Krug’s contract expiring after next season. As such, a hypothetical deal has some intrigue and Boston Globe beat writer Matt Porter re-ignited the discussion recently when he posited that the Bruins could potentially pry Ryan Nugent-Hopkins out of Edmonton with a package of Krug and a young forward. As the idea picked up steam among fans, The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson put an end to the possibility – possibly for good – with his report that the Oilers are in fact one of the team’s on Krug’s limited no-trade list, a clause that kicked in for the first time this season. So, while the Bruins and Oilers may make fine trade partners hypothetically, a Krug-to-Edmonton deal is unlikely to happen.
Central Notes: Klingberg, Koivu, Morrissey, Kayumov
While many people may not have noticed as much with the impressive play of rookie Miro Heiskanen, the Dallas Stars have been missing their top defenseman John Klingberg for an entire month after suffering a hand injury. The team’s top defenseman, however, is closing on a return and is expected to be back somewhere around Christmas, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski.
“The latest we would think would be Dec. 27, the game after Christmas,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said earlier this week. “But he might be right before Christmas.”
Klingberg has already missed 13 games and is not expected to join the team for their upcoming four-game road trip starting on Sunday. However, the 26-year-old hopes to begin practicing with the team when they return from that road trip. While his hand has been improving, he still has trouble of doing specific things with his hand, which includes tying his skates. However, he has gotten clearance to do more with his hand.
“It’s been tough because I haven’t been able to lift anything with this hand,” Klingberg said. “I saw the hand doctor [Thursday], and they said they you are good to go and try as much as you can and no sharp pains. So, I am going to grab a stick next week and when the guys come back home we will see where I am.”
- Sarah MacLellan of the StarTribune writes that with Minnesota Wild Mikko Koivu returning to Minnesota to get his lower-body injury looked at, the team hopes that other players might step up with more minutes available. Koivu led all forwards this season in ATOI with 18:32. That could mean more minutes for guys like Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter as well as youngsters Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway. “Mikko’s obviously a huge part of our team,” goalie Devan Dubnyk said. “He’s irreplaceable, but that’s a good opportunity for people to fill some different roles and get some more ice time. When we’re winning, we’re winning because we’re deep and everyone’s chipping in. That doesn’t change when somebody goes down.”
- While sitting out for the last week, Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey has been doing nothing but studying film in his off time, according to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. Morrissey has watched more than a dozen NHL games, including some of his own to see what’s missing from his game, while keeping an eye on future opponents. In the meantime, the defenseman has passed all of his tests, while recovering from a lower-body injury, and hopes to return to the Winnipeg lineup on Sunday.
- While the Chicago Blackhawks have liked what they see on the ice from 2016 second-round prospect Artur Kayumov so far in his early career, the 20-year-old picked up some negative publicity recently as the KHL announced that Kayumov has been suspended for 13 games after a hit to the head to Jokerit’s Jesper Jensen as well as punching a referee in the process. Kayumov, playing currently for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv, has 11 points and 55 penalty minutes this season.
Trade Rumors: Senators, Blackhawks, Avalanche
With leading scorer Matt Duchene on injured reserve and expected out for “weeks”, what little chances the Ottawa Senators had of making the playoffs this season are likely to slip away. This was always the expected result of the 2018-19 season for Ottawa, but their efforts thus far to stay out of the basement of the NHL have surprised many and inspired some. However, as reality now begins to finally set in, the team must decide what they want to do with Duchene and fellow impending free agents Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel. As Ken Warren of the Ottawa Sun writes, Duchene – currently tied for ninth in the league in scoring – will likely ask for an eight-year deal in the ballpark of $60-70MM to remain in Ottawa, reflective of the salary he will likely command on the open market. Stone will be in the same neighborhood, with Dzingel significantly lower albeit not cheap by any means, but the Senators cannot even begin negotiations with the pair until the new year, per the rules pertaining to their recent salary arbitration decisions. As such, the team is dealing with three high-quality expiring assets without any guarantee that they will be re-sign or if the team will be willing to meet their salary demands. In a season in which Ottawa could finish with one of the worst records in the league but lacks their first-round pick – given to the Colorado Avalanche in the deal that landed Duchene – it stands to reason that GM Pierre Dorion will strongly consider recouping as much trade capital as possible if extensions are not in place by the trade deadline. Given the uncertainly surrounding the ownership status of Eugene Melnyk, whose tactics thus far leave much to be desired anyway, Warren believes that Duchene, Stone, and Dzingel, as well as any other free agent in the coming off-season, will think twice about a future in Ottawa. All things considered, it’s beginning to look like the trio stand a better chance to all be traded away in the coming months than any of them do of signing a long-term extension.
- The Athletic’s Graeme Nichols wonders if yet another Senator is prime trade bait right now as well. With veteran goaltender Craig Anderson playing his best hockey of the season so far, Nichols opines that Ottawa would be best-served to try moving their starter while his stock is high. While the recent home-and-home series with the Montreal Canadiens did not go so well, Anderson did look very good in wins over the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks prior, recording 63 saves on 65 shots over the two contests. Anderson also made 48 saves against the Dallas Stars last month and notched wins over the Tampa Bay Lighting and Pittsburgh Penguins. Admittedly, even as this best, Anderson is still a 37-year-old replacement-level goaltender at this point in his career and won’t command much of a return. However, the Senators’ season is sinking and they should get what they can while his value is potentially at its peak. The knock on moving Anderson this season has been that Ottawa has no suitable replacement – backups Mike Condon and Mike McKenna have performed very poorly in limited appearances – and thus trading Anderson means giving up on the season. Yet, with Duchene out long-term, any postseason hopes will fade and moving Anderson will begin to make more sense. As Nichols recalls, Anderson himself also alluded to a desire to move on from Ottawa this summer, so making a deal seems to be in the best interest of all parties. There are plenty of teams out there who would be intrigued by adding an established veteran in net this year and Anderson could soon fill that role.
- The Chicago Blackhawks made it known yesterday that they are looking to move out some of their defensive depth, but NBC Sports’ James O’Brien asks if they are focused on the wrong players. Rather than try to flip the likes of Brandon Manning or Jan Rutta, for which they would receive relatively little, O’Brien believes that the team’s long-term needs would be better served by trading away a mainstay like Duncan Keith or Brent Seabrook. This is not so cut-and-dry, as O’Brien admits, but would be worth looking into. Both players carry no-trade clauses that Chicago GM Stan Bowman would first need to ask them to waive. Even if Seabrook was to agree, it seems very unlikely that Bowman would find a taker for the depreciating defenseman and his albatross of a contract. If by some chance he does, it would be a small return similar to Manning or Rutta, but with a far greater salary cap relief. Keith is another matter; while not what he once was, the 35-year-old is still a very capable defenseman who would play in the top four for nearly every team in the NHL, at least for now. The worry is that Keith will continue to age and his ability will fall off, while the Blackhawks continue to pay him more than $5.5MM per year and rely on him for top minutes. Removing that crutch (and cap hit) now, in what appears to be another lost season for the team, would give Chicago a strong return that they could use to begin rebuilding the team. The alternative, which also appears to be the current plan, of waiting for the current roster to turn things around, will only increase the risk of injury or drop-off from Keith while damaging his market value as he ages. A move now would be painful to the fan base in the short term, but the right move looking toward the future.
- One team who could be a dangerous player at the trade deadline this season are the Colorado Avalanche. Per CapFriendly, the Avs are currently projected to have more than $56MM in cap space available at the deadline, or in other words have no limit to the amount of talent they can bring in if they so choose. Colorado is currently tied for the lead in the Central Division with the Nashville Predators and could even emerge as President’s Trophy threats this season. Armed with the best line in the NHL, including the top two scorers in the league, Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon, and the best power play as well, the Avalanche are second in goals for per game among all teams. They also play well in their own end, seventh in goals against per game behind the efforts of Semyon Varlamov. Yet, the Avalanche are not without fault and could stand to add a contributor or two both on defense and up front. The team was expected to add top prospect Cale Makar to their blue line by the end of the regular season, but with his college squad, the UMass Minutemen, ranked No. 1 in the nation, Makar could be occupied through the Frozen Four tournament in mid-April. A capable puck-moving defenseman should thus be at the top of the list for Colorado, followed by an injection of offensive ability and two-way accountability among the forward corps, where their secondary scoring and penalty kill could both use work. While the matter of cost in trade capital is another question entirely, the Avalanche will have the cap space to hypothetically address their needs by adding the likes of Jordan Eberle, Kevin Hayes, and Jay Bouwmeester for example. That’s a dangerous premise for other contenders to consider as Colorado continues to excel this season.
Boston Bruins Claim Gemel Smith Off Waivers
The Boston Bruins have added some depth to their forward group, today claiming Gemel Smith off waivers from the Dallas Stars. Smith was the odd man out in Dallas now that Roope Hintz has established himself as a full-time player and Martin Hanzal is returning to the lineup.
It’s not hard to understand why the Bruins claimed Smith, given the struggles of their bottom six this season. The team went out this offseason and added Chris Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom to replace some of their outgoing talent, but the pair has combined for just eight points on the year. Add that to the fact that David Backes is a shadow of his former self and young players like Danton Heinen and Ryan Donato have seemingly taken a step backwards and you have a clear picture of top-heavy situation in Boston. Only five forwards have more than 10 points on the season, and even David Krejci‘s 19 includes just two goals.
To be sure, Smith isn’t some sort of offensive dynamo that will be the cure to everything that ails the Bruins. In fact he only has 20 points in 77 career games, and was never an elite scoring threat in junior or the minor leagues. What he does bring though is a consistent two-way effort every night that can chip in a goal now and then, while providing some positional versatility. Smith has a history at the center position, though he has rarely gotten the opportunity to play there in Dallas.
It’s not a home run for the Bruins, but another swing for a team that has yet to find much consistency in the bottom part of their lineup. Add in that Smith is just 24, is a restricted free agent at the end of the year and costs only $720K this season, and it’s easy to see why the claim was made.