Stars Place Jamie Benn On IR
The Dallas Stars announced today that captain Jamie Benn is headed to the injured reserve. While no one player can quite make up for his absence, they activated Antoine Roussel from the IR to assist with the efforts. Roussel has missed the past four games with an upper body injury and remains a game-time decision for tonight’s match-up against the Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile, Benn was considered just day-to-day with a foot injury and there were hopes that he could play tonight, but now it appears as if he could be out much longer.
Over the past three years, few players have dominated the NHL like Benn has. The Star winger has 255 points over the last three seasons, including his league-leading Art Ross-worthy 87-point campaign in 2014-15 and a career high 41 goals in 2015-16. However, over the past six months, Benn has also proven that he is not invincible. He spent most of the summer recuperating from a core muscle injury sustained in the 2016 playoffs, a process that took longer than expected and kept Benn out of the World Cup of Hockey and threatened his Opening Night availability. Now he has a lower body injury, and a expected short-term, day-to-day diagnosis has instead landed him on the injured reserve. An offense that is built around so few core weapons – Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp – has had it’s fair share of struggles this season as all have dealt with injuries and missed considerable time. With Benn now on IR and out for an unknown amount of time, the pressure is again on the supporting cast to pick up the slack. The Stars are tied with both the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets in fifth place in the Central Division this year, and stand almost no chance of defending their division crown in 2016-17. If they even want to return to the playoffs, Dallas needs to get healthy and get their offense going.
Roussel’s return will at least add another able body to the top nine to make up for the loss of Benn. Once exclusively just an agitator and checker, Roussel has begun to evolve his game into something more well-rounded. The 27-year-old French forward has been trending toward a 30+ point season for a few years, but has just missed his mark. With five goals and 12 assists thus far, Roussel may just hit a career high in points this season. It’s good timing too, as the Stars’ 18th ranked scoring is a far cry from their high-flying offense of a year ago. They need more goals than grit right now from Roussel if they want to right the ship.
Snapshots: Pedan, Benn, Auvitu
The Vancouver Canucks have decided that Andrey Pedan might have a better chance of realizing his potential if he actually plays. The team has sent him back to the AHL to join the Utica Comets. Pedan has spent multiple periods with the Canucks this season, but has yet to get into a single game. Like Frank Corrado in Toronto, he’ll go back to the AHL to get some game time in.
The 23-year old has had trouble with his defensive game since coming over from the Islanders organization, but is a physical presence and can chip in offensively when he’s playing well. He’s played 19 games this season for the Comets, registering three points and 30 penalty minutes.
- Jamie Benn is listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury for the Dallas Stars, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. The captain will hopefully be able to play in the team’s next game, which thankfully isn’t until Wednesday. Benn has 34 points in 38 games this season, though his 10 goals is a far cry from the 41 he put up a year ago.
- The Devils have sent Yohann Auvitu to Albany to make room for their recent waiver claim, Reid Boucher. In welcoming back the former Devil, Auvitu will head back to the AHL after playing 24 games this season with the NHL club. The French-born defenseman has four points (two goals, two assists) in those 24 games this season.
- Arizona, the other team who made a waiver claim today, has moved Ryan White to injured reserve to make room. White hasn’t played since December 21st due to a lower-body injury, and has five points in 30 games this season. Likely back soon, the team will have to make a move to accommodate him when he does return.
Auston Matthews Scores 20th Goal Of Rookie Season
Since the 2005-06 season when the NHL brought itself into a new era, 33 players have scored 20 or more goals in their rookie year. Headlined by the unbelievable rookie campaigns of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin (the latter of which who scored more than 50, the first of seven such seasons) it’s a group of all-stars and perhaps even more than a handful of hall of fame players. It also includes Petr Prucha and Peter Mueller, showing that it’s not a guarantee for success though a pretty good indicator.
This year, the group will likely have a handful of entrants. With players like Patrik Laine in Winnipeg and Matthew Tkachuk in Calgary having great success, this may be the best rookie crop in years. But today it’s Toronto that took the rookie spotlight, with Mitch Marner, Connor Brown and Auston Matthews all scoring in the Centennial Classic. Matthews, who scored twice (including the overtime winner) has already punched his ticket as the 34th player to score 20 as a rookie in the salary cap era.
The rookie phenom now has 32 points in 36 games, and is on pace to score more goals that even Crosby did as a rookie. The league hasn’t seen a teenager score 40 goals in his rookie season since Eric Lindros did it in 1992-93, and there may be two (with Laine) that do it this year. That exclusive group includes just five players: Lindros, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Dale Hawerchuk and Sylvain Turgeon.
When you add Connor McDavid to the teenage mix (though no longer a rookie), it’s an unbelievable group that is doing unprecedented things in the NHL. With 14 goals in his last 17 games, Matthews is likely on an unsustainable pace, just as Laine was earlier in the year. But even if his production slows down, he’s already in the discussion as an elite center in the NHL and should be for a long time.
The Calder Trophy run should be a heck of a battle down the stretch, with no clear winner emerging so far. We’re excited to watch.
Vegas Golden Knights At The World Juniors
Even though the Vegas Golden Knights don’t start playing until 2017-18, doesn’t mean they haven’t already started to scout the young talent throughout the game. With the World Junior Championships underway in Toronto, the team has sent several scouts to the tournament to watch the collection of under-20 talent. While some are still draft-eligible, and some are under contract with teams around the league, it’s a wonderful opportunity to scout the best of the best all at once. Dan Marrazza of NHL.com caught up with the Golden Knights’ Assistant Director of Player Personnel Bob Lowes to get his take on the tournament.
It isn’t just the draft eligible players. It’s other team’s drafts, guys that are already picked. I think it’s a really good tournament for our staff to see both of those groups of players, and to get a good handle on it going forward for our organization.
While the team will have a chance in the draft lottery this summer (equal to that of the third worst team in the league), something that is often ofterlooked is that they’ll also have the third pick in each subsequent round regardless of where they fall in the lottery. That gives them some strong picks even as the rounds go later, when the lesser-known teams at the tournament will have talent available. On Denmark, who has shocked the world by defeating both the Czech Republic and last year’s winner Finland:
Obviously, they’re having some success, so it makes you take notice a little bit more. It makes you look at a guy that’s maybe slipped through the draft, if he’s draft eligible, and saying: ‘this kid’s doing it on the world stage against some of the best competition in the world.’
Lowes points out that there have been breakout stars at the tournament before, referencing Nino Niederreiter of Switzerland and Oliver Bjorkstrand of Denmark as players who greatly improved their draft stock at the tournament. While obviously the top names of the tournament are often well scouted prior, or even already drafted, it’s a big deal to see under-the-radar guys on this big of a stage. As Lowes puts it:
Performance here goes into a player’s overall profile. You wouldn’t just base it on this tournament, but it is an important part of the development of a player. It’s just a really good snapshot of the possible potential of that player.
The preliminary round ends today with the quarter-finals starting on Monday. Before they do though, Finland will need to fight for it’s tournament life in the relegation round on Monday morning against Latvia.
Stars GM Jim Nill On Goaltending, Roster Management, Identity
After a strong season in 2015-16 that saw the Stars make the second round of the playoffs, expectations were high for Dallas heading into the season. They’ve yet to live up to the hype though and find themselves out of the playoffs coming out of the holiday break. General Manager Jim Nill sat down with Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News to talk about the team. Here are some of the highlights:
On the goaltending which, aside from the last few weeks, has struggled this season:
“Our goalies have taken a pretty good beating from the outside, but I think they’ve been very good. Goals against isn’t just goaltending, it’s team defense and playing the right way and managing the puck. I think we’ve seen in recent weeks that when we’re better as a team at those things, then the goaltending numbers can be very good.”
The goaltending tandem of Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen is the most expensive in the league with a combined cap hit of $10.4MM. For that money, they have a team save percentage of just .899, tied for 27th overall while they are allowing just over three goals per game. While there’s no denying that they have plenty of firepower on paper, it’s difficult to win most nights knowing you’ll likely need to score four or more goals to do so.
In a follow-up question, Nill was asked if he foresaw the team making a run for the postseason with both netminders still on the team and the GM indicated that he doesn’t expect any changes at this time.
On carrying eight defensemen, one more than the standard seven that most teams carry:
“I just think you have to have it for depth. You’re going to have injuries, and you need that depth. In the end, the players decide who is going to play, and I think we’re settling into a group of six or seven, so that’s been good. But we could wake up tomorrow and two defensemen are hurt, so I like having the depth.”
While Dallas has an excess of depth at that position on their roster, it hasn’t necessarily helped in terms of developing some of their young blueliners. Patrik Nemeth has been scratched for 19 games this season while Jamie Oleksiak has only played in a total of 14 games and is in his second of spending the bulk of his time in the press box.
On the identity of the team and if it changes from year to year:
“I think the core of your team dictates your identity, and we know what the strength of our core is. Now, injuries can force you to play a different style or force you to tweak or adjust, and I think we’ve seen that this year. We have an identity as a fast, skilled team, and I think we still are that. In more recent weeks, we have been more defensive, and in the long run that might be a good thing for us. I think you always have to be able to adapt.”
After coughing up six goals in the first game of the month, Dallas has been better defensively as of late, allowing just 21 goals in ten contests since then, well below their season average in goals allowed.
If Dallas plans to make a push to get back into the postseason (they currently sit three points out of the last wild card spot), they will need to keep up their improved play in their own zone, especially since the team isn’t scoring as much as they expected to at the beginning of the year (only two players are over 20 points currently in Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn).
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
11th Overall: T.J. Oshie (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Keith Yandle (New York Rangers)
13th Overall: Paul Stastny (Buffalo Sabres)
14th Overall: Marc Staal (Washington Capitals)
15th Overall: Patric Hornqvist (New York Islanders)
16th Overall: Niklas Hjalmarsson (Atlanta Thrashers)
17th Overall: Anton Stralman (Phoenix Coyotes)
18th Overall: Jack Johnson (Nashville Predators)
19th Overall: Matt Niskanen (Detroit Red Wings)
20th Overall: Justin Abdelkader (Florida Panthers)
21st Overall: Martin Hanzal (Toronto Maple Leafs)
22nd Overall: Andrew Cogliano (Boston Bruins)
23rd Overall: Kris Russell (New Jersey Devils)
24th Overall: Darren Helm (St. Louis Blues)
25th Overall: Cody Franson (Edmonton Oilers)
Now we move forward to the 26th pick, which was held by the Calgary Flames.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Flames took defenseman Matt Pelech from the Sarnia Sting. Since being drafted, Pelech played a total of 13 games in the NHL, tallying four points (1-3). Of those 13 games, Pelech spent five with the Flames and the other eight with San Jose. During the 2013-14 season, Pelech spent time in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies after playing for both San Jose and its AHL affiliate Worcester. A season later, Pelech recorded 39 games with the Rochester Americans. Last season, Pelech appeared in 49 games for the Schwenningen Wild Wings in the DEL (Germany) and has played the current season with Graz EC in the Austrian league.
With the 26th pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft, who should the Flames select? Cast your vote below! Mobile users, you can vote here!
Snapshots: Connolly, Stars, Varlamov, Red Wings/Hurricanes
When right winger Brett Connolly signed a one year, $850K contract with Washington in the summer, some believed that playing in a more offensive-oriented environment might help unlock the potential he has shown over the years after being the sixth overall pick to Tampa Bay back in 2010. However, he has been a healthy scratch for nearly half the season and admitted to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post that his lack of playing time has been taking its toll on him:
“It’s obviously frustrating, you don’t want to be sitting out no matter what the reason is. But we’ve talked about kind of my situation and what’s going to be going on moving forward.
“I need to be playing. I need to be out there, so we’ll see. It’s obviously a big year. I’m being patient, and there’s still 51 games left. There’s still a big chunk of the season left and then playoffs, so you’ve just got to stick with it and hopefully you can get in there and be kept in there and play well and produce.”
Connolly has played in 17 games this season, scoring three times while adding an assist. However, ice time has been hard to come by as he has spent the bulk of the year on the fourth line when he has played and as a result is playing less than 11 minutes a night. He’ll get another chance as he will be back in the lineup tonight against Tampa Bay but once again will be on the fourth line.
Elsewhere around the league:
- The Stars are likely to dress seven defensemen tonight as they take on the Kings, notes Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge. Dallas is still without Cody Eakin due to his four game suspension and they are not permitted to replace him on the active roster. Meanwhile, winger Antoine Roussel and defenseman Stephen Johns are both listed as doubtful but are also on the active roster, leaving them without a spot to bring up an extra forward. Head coach Lindy Ruff said that if they have to use a defender as a forward at times, it will be either Patrik Nemeth or Jamie Oleksiak.
- After recently returning to the lineup from a groin strain, Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov has once again been sidelined with a groin issue, the team announced via Twitter. Varlamov had a tough night against Toronto on Thursday night, allowing five goals on 18 shots before being pulled. Spencer Martin has been recalled and will back up Calvin Pickard until Varlamov is ready to return.
- The Detroit/Carolina game that was postponed due to ice issues earlier this week has been rescheduled for March 27th, the league announced. Interestingly enough, this creates a rare three games in three nights for the Red Wings who host the Wild on the 26th and already were scheduled to play in Carolina on the 28th.
Snapshots: Clinton’s Latest, Crawford, Hossa
The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton breaks down five significant summer signings that haven’t quite lived up to their billing. While a number of players were given lucrative deals, Clinton gives the number one spot to Andrew Ladd, who after receiving a seven year, $38MM deal, has produced at an abysmal level. Ladd had only one assist in his first 12 games, and if his current pace of four goals and seven points continue, he is on pace for only 10 goals and 18 points. It’s hardly a return on investment.
Second on Clinton’s list is Mikkel Boedker, who inked a four-year, $16MM with San Jose. Boedker has six points (2-4) in 33 games, and Clinton wonders if this is why the winger barely fetched anything at the trade deadline last season. On the defensive side, Clinton looks at Dan Hamhuis, who appeared to be a great pickup for the Dallas Stars. It hasn’t worked out as such. Clinton notes that the veteran defenseman has been a healthy scratch twice, seen his average ice time drop by nearly two minutes, and has been relegated to a third line pairing.
With the salary cap not expected to move much in the next year, these signings could serve as a cautionary tale as to spending wisely instead of just spending to spend.
In other NHL news:
- Corey Crawford is set to return in net tonight writes the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Hine. The 31-year-old goaltender has been out since having an emergency appendectomy almost three weeks ago. Crawford will face the struggling Colorado Avalanche, who were dismantled 6-0 by Toronto last night. Crawford has been outstanding for the Hawks this season, posting a 12-6-2 mark with a .927 save percentage.
- With the good comes the bad, and Hine reports that Marian Hossa will miss his first game since suffering an upper body injury Tuesday night against Ottawa. In Hossa’s place will be Tanner Kero, who leads AHL affiliate Rockford in points this season. Kero worked in with Jordin Tootoo and Andrew Desjardins during practice. In addition to Hossa, Artem Anisimov is slated to miss his third straight game with an upper body injury.
Should Joe Sakic Be Shown The Door?
Is it time for the Colorado Avalanche to concede that Joe Sakic isn’t getting the job done? The Denver Post’s Mark Kiszla writes exactly that after the Avs suffered a humiliating 6-0 loss to Toronto and cemented their status as the worst team in the NHL. Frustration is mounting, and Kiszla believes this to be the lowest point in the organization’s history in Denver.
A once proud franchise that won a Stanley Cup immediately after moving from Quebec prior to the 1995-96 season, the last decade has been a wandering in the wilderness. And while the return of Sakic and former bench boss Patrick Roy were supposed to be an indication of happier times, it’s been just the opposite. From Kiszla:
The problem is too big to ignore, and the stink starts at the top. This is a poorly constructed hockey team, a roster that cannot win.
Josh Kroenke tried to recreate the Avalanche’s glory years by bringing back two superstars, with Sakic in the front office and Patrick Roy as coach. Hey, it was worth a shot. I endorsed the idea.
But it’s not working. The grand plan began falling apart late last winter, when Roy told me he thought it was essential the Avs make the playoffs, while Kroenke preached patience.
When Patrick Roy abruptly left the organization back in August, reviews were mixed as to what it meant. Was it Patrick being petulant? Was Sakic painted into a corner? Was it a philosophical difference? Or was it a sign that the players of the past weren’t the answer as management? Now more than ever, it seems like the latter is truly the case.
The Avalanche have been miserable, seeing significant slippage in nearly ever facet of the club. Not only do the Avs have the worst record in hockey, but they’ve been shut out seven times already this season–and it’s not even January. Kiszla goes as far to say that the team’s core, namely Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Semyon Varlamov and Matt Duchene is no longer the answer. Kiszla is hardly alone in his thinking.
Darren Dreger chimed in, tweeting that business as usual in Colorado may change once the roster freeze expires next week. Ray Ferraro agrees, going as far to call Colorado a “train wreck.”
The solution? Kiszla believes it’s time Sakic walks away from the team at the end of the season, doing what’s best for the franchise he won two Stanley Cups with. Should he stay on, it will not only continue to damage the future of the Avs but it could also tarnish the legacy of one of Colorado’s most beloved players.
Friedman On The Post-Freeze Trade Market
With the NHL’s Holiday Roster Freeze underway, there won’t be any big deals to announce in the coming days. No team is getting Kevin Shattenkirk for Christmas or Jason Zucker for Hanukkah. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Frieman is filling the down time with some ideas as to what may happen once the trade market re-opens in his “30 Thoughts”.
There have been deals made immediately following the Holiday Freeze in each of the past three seasons and the end of the freeze always kicks off an active two months of transactions leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline. Friedman warns though that the 2016-17 is a year like no other before. Friedman says “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trade market as paralyzed as this one (due to) so little cap room, so many teams chasing the playoffs and the expansion draft looming.” The reason only minor deals have gone down over the first few months of the season is because no identifiable market has yet formed. With so few teams outside a reasonable shot at the postseason and front offices proceeding with caution in regards to the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft, the market is barren right now. Friedman, and all hockey fans, hope that some excitement is on the way, but he has his doubts that major moves are in the near future this season.
If one big piece does move, Friedman speculates it could be Toronto Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk. Friedman explains that last year the power forward was completely off the table, but this year interested teams are being told that he could be available for the right price. It will definitely be a high price in the current seller’s market. The 27-year-old van Riemsdyk, who has one year remaining on his current contract, is a bona fide scorer and one of the best in the league at net front presence. He’s hit 30 goals once before, in 2013-14, and is on pace to do so again this season. If the rebuilding Leafs decide that they want more young talent or perhaps a top defenseman, van Riemsdyk could net them that return. Eric Staal was traded by the Carolina Hurricanes to the New York Rangers last season for two second-round picks and a top prospect, and he was in the final year of his contract. The Leafs will likely get more than that if they decide to move long-time leader van Riemsdyk.
One team that could be interested is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Although they are pressed for cap space, GM Jim Rutherford seemingly always finds a way to bring in the players he wants and remain salary cap compliant. As Friedman points out, it’s been unusually quiet for Rutherford and the Penguins so far, but with a chance to repeat as Stanley Cup champs, he believes they’ll make a move sooner rather than later. However, Friedman believes the target for Pittsburgh will be a defenseman. With Kris Letang currently injured and always an injury risk regardless, the Penguins may want some added depth. It will have to be a rental though, as Pittsburgh is already in a tough situation in regards to the looming expansion draft and four blue liners – Letang, Brian Dumoulin, Olli Maatta, and Derrick Pouliot – they would like to keep protected and an eye on re-signing Justin Schultz as well.
The Penguins’ biggest trade chip is goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Despite his struggles in 2016-17, Fleury remains a valuable asset and Pittsburgh needs to move him before expansion to protect Matt Murray. Friedman believes the perfect partner would be the Dallas Stars, who continue to get uninspiring performances from the duo of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. Any trade would almost definitely require a one-for-one swap of goalis, and while both Stars keepers are signed to significant contracts through next season, the Penguins will take any deal they can get to ensure Murray’s protection and potentially open up some cap space.
Joining van Riemsdyk and Fleury as big names that have been floated around this season is Arizona Coyotes pending free agent Martin Hanzal. At this point, an extension seems unlikely and Hanzal is almost sure to be moved. Additionally, Friedman believes there could be a market for career Coyote Shane Doan and bounce-back goalie Mike Smith. At age 40, Doan is finally showing some wear and tear, as his numbers are way off the usual pace. If this is his final season, Doan has never been close to a Stanley Cup and deserves a shot. Teams would love to add the toughness and heart of the veteran forward. Meanwhile, Smith has been playing great of late and may be of interest to contenders as well. There is a strong chance that Arizona is leaning towards protecting young backup Louis Domingue over their starter in the expansion draft and may like to jettison Smith while his value is high. Don’t be surprised if Radim Vrbata becomes another name mentioned as heading out of Arizona.
Read up on all of Friedman’s thoughts on the trade market here and enjoy the Holiday Roster Freeze before your team inevitably makes a move or two in the new year.