Stars Should Know More About Extent Of Ben Bishop's Injury On Thursday
- Stars netminder Ben Bishop indeed reinjured his left knee on Sunday against Winnipeg, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News notes via Twitter. He missed five games earlier this month due to the issue and while he was initially expected to be re-evaluated in two weeks, Heika reports that a better idea of his timeline to recovery should be known on Thursday.
Avalanche Activate Erik Johnson From IR
The Colorado Avalanche have points in nine of their last ten games and have climbed back into playoff position. Now, they’ll get even stronger as they bring back one of their top defenseman. NHL.com’s Callie Parmele writes that Erik Johnson has been activated from the injured reserve and is set to return to the lineup today against the Detroit Red Wings.
Johnson, who has struggled with injuries throughout his career, was most recently sidelined with an undisclosed upper-body injury. He was placed on IR back on February 19th and has missed Colorado’s past 13 games. Fortunately, the Avs went 7-2-4 in that span and now Johnson’s return could vault them into a playoff spot.
As it stands, Colorado holds the first wild card berth in the Western Conference with 84 points in 71 games. The Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks also have 84 points, but the Avalanche have a game in-hand on both. With Johnson back in the lineup, potentially resuming his play on the top pair with Nikita Zadorov or, as Parmele suggests, possibly taking on a new role, maybe with Patrik Nemeth, the Avs will solidify their back end and could hold off those seeking to take away their postseason chances. Colorado faces the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Vegas Golden Knights twice in their next six games so Johnson’s impact, and the Avs’ ability to fight for their playoff lives, will be on display.
Minor Transactions: 3/17/18
All eyes will be on Tampa tonight as the Lightning host the Bruins in a match-up with major playoff implications. Boston trails Tampa Bay by four points for the lead in the Atlantic Division and top seed in the Eastern Conference, but also holds a game in hand. A win for the Bolts would give them considerably more wiggle room, while a win for the B’s would put them in striking distance of the coveted top spot when they square off with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Outside of this clash of titans though, there are nine other game on the docket on a busy Saturday, yet they might all be caught up in Bruins-Lightning, as it’s been all quiet on the transactions front:
- The Dallas Stars are back to just two goalies, having reassigned Mike McKenna to AHL Texas. McKenna was briefly called up as a precaution, but did not see any action with Dallas. The veteran journeyman has made 29 AHL appearance this season though, posting a 2.64 GAA and .908 save percentage. Despite those pedestrian numbers, he will remain the next man up for the Stars should injury befall Ben Bishop or Kari Lehtonen down the stretch or (potentially) in the postseason.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets will have recently-extended defenseman Dean Kukan back in the lineup, as the team announced that they have activated him from injured reserve. Kukan had missed the past 12 games with an upper-body injury that landed him on IR back in mid-February. It remains to be seen if Kukan will stay in Columbus or instead see some guaranteed game action with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, where he has 15 points in 32 games this year.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they have recalled goaltender Louis Domingue from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. After stopping 26 of 28 saves for the Crunch Friday, the belief is that Domingue will share backup goaltending duties with veteran Peter Budaj, who only recently came back from injury. The belief was that Domingue, who has played eight games for the Lightning, has been stronger in goal than Budaj has been. Domingue has a 5-2-0 record with a 3.07 GAA and a .907 save percentage, while Budaj has a 3-3-1 record with a 3.76 GAA and a .876 save percentage in eight games. The transaction leaves Tampa Bay with just one final recall remaining for the rest of the season as this is the team’s third of four.
Brett Ritchie Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury
- Stars winger Brett Ritchie has been listed as out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, relays Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 24-year-old actually played a season-high 16:47 in his last game on Wednesday against Toronto. Ritchie has been relatively quiet offensively this year with just 13 points in 62 games but he leads all Dallas forwards in hits with 159. Forward Gemel Smith is expected to take his place in the lineup.
Top-10 Finalists Announced For 2018 Hobey Baker
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award is given to the most outstanding player in collegiate hockey, and has a long list of excellent NHL players among previous winners. Will Butcher, Jimmy Vesey, Jack Eichel and Johnny Gaudreau are the latest to take home the award, while others like Brendan Morrison, Paul Kariya and Chris Drury have been honored in the past.
Earlier this year, 67 players from the NCAA ranks were nominated for the award, and today that number has been reduced to just ten. These ten players will be narrowed to just three, a process that anyone can be a part of by participating in the fan vote. Votes will be added to the decision from a selection committee to produce three finalists, from which a winner will be crowned.
The top-10 finalists are as follows, with the NHL organization who owns their draft rights in parenthesis:
Henrik Borgstrom, University of Denver (Florida Panthers)
Ryan Donato, Harvard University (Boston Bruins)
Matthew Galajda, Cornell University
Adam Gaudette, Northeastern University (Vancouver Canucks)
Dylan McLaughlin, Canisius College
Cale Morris, University of Notre Dame
Colton Point, Colgate University (Dallas Stars)
Jimmy Schuldt, St. Cloud State University
Dylan Sikura, Northeastern University (Chicago Blackhawks)
C.J. Suess, Minnesota State University-Mankato (Winnipeg Jets)
Minor Transactions: 03/14/18
We saw a few more hat tricks last night, as both David Pastrnak and J.T. Miller lit the lamp three times, though the latter couldn’t overcome the Ottawa Senators’ offensive onslaught. Will we see another performance like that tonight in one of the five games on the schedule? As you prepare to watch some hockey tonight, make sure to check back right here where we’ll be keeping track of all the minor moves around the league.
- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Justin Bailey, bringing up the 22-year old forward after just a few days in the minors. Bailey has four points in eight games for the Sabres this season, and is expected to be a real contributor down the road. His development is something to watch for frustrated Sabres fans over the remaining few weeks.
- The Dallas Stars have recalled Dillon Heatherington as they deal with injuries suffered last night. Marc Methot was hit by a shot and had to leave the game after just 7:32 of ice time, but there is no word on how long he’ll be out. Heatherington had one point in five games earlier this season when Methot was dealing with a knee injury, and could be asked to step back in if needed.
- After coming up yesterday under emergency conditions, Calle Rosen has been sent back to the minor leagues. The Toronto Maple Leafs had brought Rosen up as Nikita Zaitsev and Travis Dermott were dealing with illnesses, but will not need his services after all. Dermott returned to the Maple Leafs’ optional skate this morning and should play tonight against the Stars.
- The Ottawa Senators have sent Erik Burgdoerfer back down, even after recording his first NHL point last night. The 29-year old defenseman is nothing more than a depth piece for the Senators at this point.
- As the Pittsburgh Penguins start to get healthier up front, they’ve sent Josh Jooris back to the minor leagues to help Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Jooris played just five minutes in Sunday’s game, given just nine shifts through the entire match.
Injury Update: Stone, Marchand, Duclair, Crawford, Nutivaara, Bishop
Ottawa Senators winger Mark Stone will not be making the trip to Florida for their game against the Panthers on Monday, according to Ottawa Sun’s Don Brennan. Stone suffered a leg injury after colliding with Calgary’s Micheal Ferland on Friday.
Brennan added that Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said today that he did not know whether the injury would keep Stone out of the lineup short-term or long-term. The loss of Stone would be another disappointment in the Senators’ season. Stone has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season. The 25-year-old already has broken his career-high in assists with 42 and is on track to have a career-high in goals. He currently has 22 this season. He was one of the few untouchable players at the trade deadline this season.
- The Boston Bruins announced that Brad Marchand would miss Sunday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks with an upper body injury. The move has received a lot of attention as the forward was yanked at the last minute before the game, just one day after Marchand had another collision with a player, this time with Chicago’s Anthony Duclair. Many believe the team held him out as a precaution from potential retribution.
- Speaking of Duclair, Tracey Myers of NHL.com writes that Duclair was wearing a walking boot on his right leg this morning. Coach Joel Quenneville said yesterday after the game that Duclair is expected to miss one to two weeks. Myers added that goaltender Corey Crawford is still not skating with the team, although he is working out on his own.
- Steve Gorten of the Columbus Dispatch writes that good news could be coming for two players with the Columbus Blue Jackets as defensemen Dean Kukan and Markus Nutivaara are both practicing in full gear and may be close to returning to the team. Kukan and Nutivaara were both injured in the same game on Feb. 16. Kukan, who has been out with an upper-body injury, has appeared in 10 games for Columbus this year. Nutivaara has been on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He has played in 51 games so far this season with three goals and 15 assists.
- Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News writes that Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop, who has been out since Mar. 5 with a knee injury, skated today with no pads and is scheduled to skate tomorrow with pads. No word on how soon, the veteran goaltender is expected to return. The 31-year-old has played 51 games for Dallas, posting a 2.49 GAA and a solid .917 save percentage.
Martin Hanzal To Have Season-Ending Back Surgery
Martin Hanzal‘s first season in Dallas hasn’t gone as expected. After battling injury for much of the year, the Stars today announced that Hanzal will undergo back surgery and is out for the rest of the season. The spinal fusion procedure comes with a recovery timeline of six to seven months, but should not threaten his career.
Hanzal was signed last summer to a three-year, $14.25MM contract as one of the top free agent centers available. The Stars believed they had a solid, big bodied middle-six player who could provide some offense while being responsible defensively, but nothing has gone according to plan. Hanzal’s penchant for injury perked up again, and he’ll finish this season with just 38 games played for the Stars, with a career-low of 10 points registered along the way. He was generally ineffective even when he was in the lineup, but could have been very important as Dallas prepares for a playoff run.
At the deadline, we wrote that the Stars may need to consider adding some center depth due to the inconsistency they’d had at the position. Instead, they lay silent on February 26th and now face the daunting task of heading into the postseason with a patchwork group down the middle. Tyler Seguin is a superstar, and Radek Faksa has shown a good shutdown ability, but beyond that there are question marks galore. Jason Spezza isn’t the same player he was a few years ago, and young options like Devin Shore, Mattias Janmark and Jason Dickinson are anything but experienced. Obviously, they could move Jamie Benn back to the middle if they need to, but that’s far from ideal.
This is just the latest injury for Hanzal, who has played in more than 80 games in a single season just once in his entire career. More often, he spends long stretches on the sideline nursing some sort of ailment, and it will be tough to pencil him into the lineup for the next two years of his contract. Stars fans can hope, but shouldn’t expect him to be around all season, especially after major back surgery and as he heads into his thirties.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Minor Transactions: 03/06/18
After a relatively quiet Monday night in the NHL, the league is back with nine games on tap tonight including a few huge matchups. The Tampa Bay Lightning try to tighten their grip on the Atlantic Division against the red hot Florida Panthers, while the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators battle in what could be a first-round matchup. As they prepare for these contests later tonight, we’ll keep track of all the minor movement around the league.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without Sergei Bobrovsky tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights, meaning Jeff Zatkoff is on his way up to the NHL. Bobrovsky is just dealing with a minor illness, which likely means Joonas Korpisalo will be in net when the Blue Jackets try to keep their playoff hopes alive.
- The Dallas Stars have recalled Roope Hintz and goaltender Mike McKenna from the minor leagues, both under emergency conditions. That may be confusing as Hintz was also recalled yesterday, but after the Stars’ game against the St. Louis Blues he was returned to Texas—at least for a few hours. McKenna is on his way up because Ben Bishop is out with a minor injury, giving Kari Lehtonen the starting role for the time being.
- The Buffalo Sabres announced that Kyle Criscuolo is out four to six weeks with an upper-body injury, meaning he’s likely headed for injured reserve through the end of the season. The 25-year old forward made his NHL debut this season, and would have been a welcome addition to the Rochester Americans’ playoff run.
Minor Transactions: 03/05/18
The NHL has just five games on the schedule for tonight, but that doesn’t mean the action ends. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor transactions right here as teams move players up and down in preparation.
- The Dallas Stars have brought up Roope Hintz from the AHL, but under emergency conditions. Hintz has registered 27 points in 55 games during his first professional season in North America, suiting up for the Texas Stars all year. The second-round pick is coming off a big year in Finland, and could get his first chance in the NHL during the next few weeks.
- The Winnipeg Jets announced that Steve Mason‘s conditioning stint is over, after playing in just a single game with the Manitoba Moose. Mason allowed four goals on 22 shots, but will get the chance to help the Jets down the stretch and into the playoffs. While Connor Hellebuyck has staked his claim to the starting role, and Michael Hutchinson has shown well in his infrequent opportunities, the Jets need Mason to find his game after handing him a two-year, $8.2MM contract last summer. Hutchinson is on his way back to the AHL to make room for activating Mason.
- With Carey Price out indefinitely, and Antti Niemi battling a minor injury, the Montreal Canadiens have recalled Zach Fucale under emergency conditions. Fucale will join Charlie Lindgren in the Montreal net for the time being, after spending time in the AHL and ECHL this season.
- The Colorado Avalanche have returned goaltender Spencer Martin to the San Antonio Rampage. The 22-year old did not appear in a game during this call-up. It could mean the return of Jonathan Bernier is right around the corner, as he is travelling with the team on their current road trip through Chicago and Columbus.