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Injury Notes: Hertl, Sharp, Bortuzzo

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Tomas Hertl has flown back to San Jose to undergo an MRI on his knee, according to Kevin Kurz of CSN. The Sharks forward injured himself in the second period last night, leaving the game and not returning. While the extent of the injury is unknown, “waiting for MRI results” has not been a nice feeling for fans around the league of late; both Steven Stamkos and Taylor Hall received terrible news following trips home for examination.

If Hertl is to miss any length of time, it would adversely affect a Sharks squad that is already having trouble scoring goals. With 39 goals scored, they rank ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference. While the team is still carrying a positive 9-8-0 record through the first 17 games, losing one of their top scoring threats would be devastating.

  • Patrick Sharp is set to make his return to the lineup Saturday night for the Dallas Stars. The veteran sniper has missed the last fourteen games with a concussion suffered on a hit from Brayden McNabb in October. The consistent scoring threat is coming off his eighth 20-goal season, and hoping to reach that mark again in what is a contract year for the 34-year old. Sharp is earning $5.9MM this season in the final year of a five-year, $29.5MM deal signed way back in 2011. Even at his advanced age he’s likely to be looking for a multi-year contract to end his career.
  • The Blues are starting to get healthier, as Robert Bortuzzo will be returning this weekend as well. The defenseman has missed the past ten games with a lower-body injury, though it’s not a guarantee that he’ll crack the lineup right away. As Ken Hitchcock points out “The one challenge for us is we’re carrying lefty-righty right now and it’s working, so that’s something we’ve got to think about also.”  With Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk ahead of him, Bortuzzo would have to beat out Colton Parayko to skate on the right side, which is much easier said than done the way the 23-year old has established himself this season.

Dallas Stars Send Down Lindell, Activate Eakin

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The Dallas Stars are starting to get healthier. Mark Stepneski reports that the team has activated Cody Eakin from injured reserve today, while sending Esa Lindell down to the AHL.

Eakin was originally injured in training camp and was given a six week timetable, a big blow to a Stars team that expected big contributions from the center. After three straight seasons of 35+ points, the team is still waiting on that big breakout from the 25-year old. With Jiri Hudler, Patrick Sharp and Ales Hemsky all still injured, he’ll get his chance over the next few weeks.

Lindell had played ten games for the Stars this season, but was a healthy scratch the last few and shouldn’t be a surprising demotion. The 22-year old blueliner has shown that he can at least provide NHL minutes on a part-time basis, but will go back down to log more icetime and continue his development at both ends of the rink.

Quotable: Stars GM On Eight Defensemen, Injuries, Nichushkin, Goalies

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Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill sat down for an interview with Mike Heika of the Dallas News over the weekend.  The full interview is certainly worth a read but here are some of the highlights.

On whether there are any challenges associated with carrying eight defensemen instead of the standard seven:

“I don’t think so. I think you look at the schedule and it’s going to be a grind, so I really feel we will need that depth. You look at last season, and we didn’t need that depth until the end of the season, but if we didn’t have that depth, we would have been in trouble. So it worked out for us. I think this year, somebody steps in and somebody steps out, and we’re seeing growth in those players. Jamie Oleksiak, I think we’re seeing growth in him. Esa Lindell, we’re seeing growth in him. That’s what we want.”

Jamie Oleksiak’s situation has been well documented as he has effectively been the eighth blueliner dating back to last season.  He has played just 24 of a possible 98 regular season games since 2015-16, hardly an ideal scenario for a 23 year old former first round pick.

Regarding the decision to not utilize potential LTIR on right winger Ales Hemsky ($4MM cap hit) and Mattias Janmark ($800K cap hit), both of whom are out for at least several more months:

“It’s a complicated process, and that’s why we haven’t done it yet. But if we had to do that, we could and we could allow ourselves more spending space. To simplify it, I can just say we don’t anticipate any problems with the cap. We should be fine.”

The Stars currently have over $1.5MM in salary cap space according to Cap Friendly despite effectively carrying a 28-man roster due to all of the injuries they’re currently dealing with.  As some players return to the lineup, that number should only increase, suggesting that they’ll be in good shape moving forward without needing to dip into LTIR.

On the decision to let Valeri Nichushkin go back to the KHL – given the injury woes the team has up front, does Nill believe he should have been more flexible in negotiations with the former first rounder?

“No, not at all. We’re comfortable with the offer we gave and we’re comfortable with the process. Every contract you sign can affect another contract, especially with younger players. We made a decision, and he made a decision, and that’s just negotiations. I think in the end, it could be good for him to go back there and maybe mature, and then maybe when he has the opportunity, he will better understand what he has here and want to come back.”

Regarding one contract possibly affecting another, Nill later added that the team is trying to follow a certain structure when it comes to restricted free agents and that consistency in that process is important.  In recent years, the Stars have been pushing for shorter-term bridge deals with restricted free agents coming off their entry-level deals even though that goes against the current league-wide trend.

On the current struggles of goaltenders Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen:

“The numbers aren’t good, but at the same time I get back to the injuries and the team that’s in front of them. It’s a challenge for both of them, and I think there have been times when they have really stepped up. I think they both had great training camps, and they both have stepped up a times. We just need to strive to improve every game, but that’s the same for the whole team.”

The Stars currently have a team goals against average of 3.44, ranking 26th in the league and a team save percentage of .890, good for 27th.  Those are hardly ideal numbers for a team that is spending more money on their goaltenders (a combined $10.4MM) than any other team in the NHL.  In a follow-up question though, Nill noted that he isn’t worried about looking for an upgrade right now.

Injury Update: Athanasiou, Eichel, Sharp

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Injury updates from around the NHL this morning:

  • Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou will be out for one-to-two weeks with a knee sprain, reports MLive’s Ansar Khan. Athanasiou suffered the injury last night in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks, and did not return for the start of the second. The Red Wings will call up the much-heralded prospect Anthony Mantha as a replacement. Mantha has been tearing up the AHL so far this year with 8G and 2A in 10 games. The 2013 first round draft pick has been slowly developing in Detroit’s minor league system and may finally get the chance to make the jump to the NHL.
  • Buffalo Sabres Coach Dan Bylsma told reporters this morning that former 2nd overall pick Jack Eichel is progressing in his recovery from a high ankle sprain. Eichel skated today for 45 minutes and that followed a 25 minute session yesterday. The Sabres’ top prospect has yet to play a game this season as he suffered the injury in practice the day before the Sabres’ season opener. Buffalo will have to wait a little longer to see if Eichel builds off his excellent rookie campaign where he scored 24G and 32A in 81 games.
  • Dallas Stars forward Patrick Sharp returned to practice today for the first time after suffering a concussion, reports the Dallas News’ Mike Heika. Sharp suffered the concussion on October 20th after being hit by the Los Angeles Kings’ defenseman Brayden McNabb. Heika does not expect Sharp to play tonight, but a weekend return is not out of the questions.

Stars Notes: Sharp, Lineup Changes, Goaltending

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The Dallas Stars have been without Patrick Sharp for almost three weeks now after the veteran forward experienced concussion-like symptoms. The problems arose after Sharp took a devastating hit from Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings on October 20th, and initially there was no timetable for his return. Sharp skated with the team today, and according to head coach Lindy Ruff (via Mark Stepneski) doesn’t sound too far away:

It’s a step in the right direction and some light at the end of the tunnel for him. He’s feeling better. Hopefully we can get him two or three practices and he can be ready possibly for Sunday.

Sharp, one of the most consistent goal scoring wingers in the league over the past decade had a successful first season with the Stars last year after being traded there last summer. He provided another 20-goal season and recorded 55 points mostly skating alongside Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.  His return to the lineup would help deepen a Stars forward group that is really struggling to score goals. With Jason Spezza, Cody Eakin, Jiri Hudler and Ales Hemsky all missing time for various injuries this season, Sharp would be a sight for sore eyes for Ruff and the Dallas coaching staff.

  • Following three straight losses, the Stars will make some lineup changes for tonight. Justin Dowling and Jamie Oleksiak will both get back into the lineup, while Patrik Nemeth and Esa Lindell will visit the press box. Oleksiak is set to skate on the third pairing with Jordie Benn, while Dowling will center the fourth line between Gemel Smith and Adam Cracknell. Both newcomers have played just two games for the Stars this season.
  • Kari Lehtonen will be in net tonight against the Calgary Flames for his third start in a row despite being pulled in his last game. The 32-year old netminder was relieved after giving up four goals on eleven shots against the Jets on Tuesday. Antti Niemi didn’t fare much better though, as he gave up four goals as well on twenty shots. The Stars are now 4-6-3 and off to a terrible start in many facets of the game.

Stars Notes: Oleksiak, Spezza, Smith

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Have the Dallas Stars put defenseman Jamie Oleksiak in an impossible situation?  Mike Heika of the Dallas News suggests that may very well be the case.  Dallas has been carrying eight defenders all season long and while head coach Lindy Ruff said last month that he wanted to keep all of them fresh, that hasn’t been the case with Oleksiak so far this year as he has played just twice and has been scratched since October 20th.

Heika notes that the team loves rookies Esa Lindell and Stephen Johns and want to give them every chance to stay in the lineup.  Both of them are waiver exempt but the Stars aren’t going to send one of them down if they’re playing well enough to be in the lineup most nights.  They’re also hesitant to sit veterans Dan Hamhuis or Jordie Benn while Patrik Nemeth is the one getting into the lineup when any of those players get a night off; Nemeth is even seeing time on the wing due to their injuries up front.

This is the second straight year where Oleksiak finds himself in this situation and he got into just 19 games last season, hardly ideal for a 23 year old.  There have been reports suggesting that Dallas is open to trading him although Heika adds that it’s doubtful they’d be willing to give him away for cheap as he is their injury insurance policy.

More from Dallas:

  • Center Jason Spezza skated yesterday for the first time since suffering a lower body injury over the weekend, Heika notes in a separate column. Ruff told reporters that Spezza is “not close to 100 percent yet” which would suggest that his availability for their next two games, Thursday in Calgary and Friday in Edmonton, is certainly in question.
  • With the Stars being overrun by injuries up front this year (they’re currently missing six regular forwards), one youngster that has taken advantage of his opportunity is Gemel Smith, writes Mark Stepneski on the team’s official site. After starting the season in the minors, Smith has suited up in eight games and has set new career highs in ice time in each of his last three games, including 17:44 last night in their 8-2 loss to Winnipeg.  Ruff acknowledged that Smith wasn’t even on the radar in training camp but that he is becoming a key piece, in part thanks to his positional versatility.  With several of their injuries being longer-term, Smith should get a chance to make a push for a more permanent spot on the roster in the weeks ahead.

Central Division Snapshots: Trouba, Mitchell, Hudler, Dowling

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To this point, the only outcomes discussed in the Winnipeg/Jacob Trouba stalemate have involved either the player caving in and signing a new contract to remain with the Jets or a trade sending the RFA defenseman elsewhere. But as Rory Bolyen of Sportsnet writes, there is a possibility Trouba re-signs with the team as a way to help facilitate a trade down the road.

Bolyen references comments made by Nick Kypreos and Elliotte Friedman made yesterday on the Saturday’s Headlines segment. Kypreos states the a signed Trouba may have more value on the trade market than he does currently.

“Kurt Overhardt (Trouba’s agent) met with Kevin Cheveldayoff in Detroit. The feeling is it’s still pretty quiet on that front, but Winnipeg would love to sign this guy. And sign him to that same contract we’ve seen other defensemen get. The perception out there right now is that there is a deal, like a Morgan Rielly deal, for $5 million, six years.

“And that would still come with the thought that it could be tradable if in fact he signs this and starts playing again, that they could be in a position where teams would love the known certainty of Jacob Trouba for the next six years and it would be tradable if that’s the direction they wanted to go.”

Friedman added that Overhardt went through a similar situation with another client, Kyle Turris.

“Just so you know, Kyle Turris when he went through the situation, he signed on November 22, he was traded on December 17,”

Sitting out the season likely would do little to enhance Trouba’s value so getting back on the ice should be a priority. Obviously he would sacrifice the only leverage he possesses as Winnipeg could simply choose to hang onto the young blue liner instead of moving him. But perhaps it would be best for both sides if Trouba signs a new deal and gets back to playing while the Jets continue to pursue a trade to their liking.

Elsewhere in the Central Division:

  • The Colorado Avalanche placed John Mitchell on waivers Friday and the veteran pivot, who is in his ninth NHL season, cleared Saturday. Mitchell, who has been held scoreless in five appearances this season, is in his fifth season with Colorado. He has reached double-figures in goals and tallied at least 20 points in each of his first four campaigns with the Avalanche. With only a projected $1.7MM in available cap space, the move was made in order to provide additional cap flexibility for GM Joe Sakic, as Mike Chambers of The Denver Post writes. The club can now send Mitchell down to their AHL affiliate in San Antonio at any point over the next 30 days to open up a spot on the roster for a younger player and/or to clear an additional $950K in salary cap space. Mitchell is in the last season of a three-year deal worth $5.4MM. He is making $1.9MM in actual salary.
  • According to Mark Stepneski, who covers the Stars for the team’s official website, Dallas has placed Jiri Hudler on injured reserve due to an undisclosed illness and recalled forward Justin Dowling from Texas of the AHL. Hudler was signed this summer to provide secondary scoring but the 12-year veteran has played in just four games and has so far failed to record a point. Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News adds that since Dowling played both Friday and Saturday in California for the Texas Stars, head coach Lindy Ruff may elect to dress seven defensemen for tonight’s game. According to Ruff (via Heika), the team has no idea what specifically has afflicted Hudler as tests have revealed nothing.

 

Teenage Superstars On A Historic Pace

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The NHL has always been good to its young stars, allowing the top-tier talents to succeed at the earliest of ages. Teenage superstars are not something new, we’ve seen them with every generation. Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Eric Lindros, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky. All have had huge seasons before they were able to drink (in the US at least).

This year, there is a new crop trying to put their name in the history books. Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski, Travis Konecny are all off to blistering starts and look like all-stars already in the league.

There have only ever been 22 seasons in which a teenage player scored at a point-per-game pace (minimum 40 games), but that is what each of these players is close to. Obviously, to keep it up for an entire year is incredibly difficult but it isn’t so long since we’ve seen it happen.

McDavid fought through injury last season to put up 48 points in 45 games, though the second ranked teenage Jack Eichel only had  0.69 PPG. Both teenagers are leaders of their teams already, and expected to lead their franchises to the promised land.

We saw Crosby do it twice, in both 2005-06 and 2006-07. He recorded seasons of 102 and 120 points, actually setting the high mark for his career so far. He was alone though in the teenage group, as Alex Ovechkin lost out on his age-19 season due to a lockout (he’d go on to score 106 points as a 20-year old).

Perhaps the best example of a group this talented, this young, is way back in the early 80’s, when we saw the debuts of Larry Murphy, Denis Savard, Ron Francis, Dale Hawerchuk, Phil Housley and Steve Yzerman, among others. It was an unprecedented youth movement, that defined the game as we know it. While obviously this isn’t quite the same as those all-time greats (especially when speaking after just 10 games), this group should at least compete to have their names put in the all-time teenager lists.

Snapshots: Desjardins, Fisher, Gilbert, Chychrun

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Darren Dreger’s been making the radio rounds of late and today, while appearing on Ottawa’s TSN 1200, among many notes the NHL insider discussed was the suggestion that Vancouver bench boss Willie Desjardins could soon find himself on the hot seat if the Canucks can’t right the ship in short order. Dreger was clear that he didn’t believe that was the case as of this moment but the organization believes it has a roster capable of making the playoffs and if the team falls further out of the race, they could decide to make a change behind the bench.

“I’m not suggesting he’s on the hot seat today as we have this conversation. But Jim Benning, the general manager, had a much higher view of where he thought this team was coming out of training camp. He told many that he believed that the Vancouver Canucks are a playoff team and would definitely contend for a playoff spot. And they’re not playing that way right now.”

The Canucks got off to a surprisingly strong start winning their first four games but have since lost five straight to even their record at 4 – 4 – 1. Offense. or rather a lack of, is the biggest issue in Vancouver as the team is last in the league in goal scoring, averaging just 1.78 per contest. Their power play is also among the worst in the NHL converting just 10.7% of their opportunities, which ranks 26th overall.

The team invested heavily in skilled Swedish winger Loui Eriksson, to the tune of a six-year, $36MM contract this offseason but the former Bruin has failed to find the back of the net in nine games with Vancouver. Bo Horvat leads the club in goals with four but only five players have tallied more than once this season. At the other end of the scoring spectrum, the New York Rangers lead the league averaging four goals per contest with 10 players who have at least two markers on the campaign.

Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot relays a quote from Pierre LeBrun indicating the Canucks would like to pull the trigger on a deal for a proven 20-goal scorer, assuming they can find a trade partner. They’ve been rumored to be in that market since the summer but aside from inking Eriksson the Canucks have done little in the way of adding impact offensive talent.

Desjardins is in his third season as coach of the Canucks and owns a career mark of 83 – 71 -19. He guided the team to a 101-point season and a second place finish in the Pacific Division in 2014-15, his first as bench boss. Last season, Vancouver dropped 26 points in the standings and placed sixth in their division. Prior to being hired in Vancouver, Desjardins served as head coach of the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate and guided them to the Calder Cup championship in 2014.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Mike Fisher, who was injured in Tuesday’s 5 – 1 win over Colorado, is being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body-injury, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Fisher, who replaced Shea Weber as Nashville’s captain, is tied for second on the club in scoring with five points in eight games. Now in his 17th season in the NHL, Fisher has scored 261 goals with 287 assists in 1,024 contests.
  • According to the NHL Department of Player Safety (Twitter link) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Gilbert will face a hearing for his hit on Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night. No penalty was assessed on the play but the league indicated the hearing is for boarding/charging. Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register provides an update on Ritchie and says the big winger won’t be in Anaheim’s lineup tonight as the Ducks host Pittsburgh. Gilbert has appeared in eight of L.A.’s 10 games this season and has recorded three points. Ritchie, meanwhile, has scored two goals and three points in 10 contests with Anaheim.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have elected to keep rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun on the roster instead of returning the 18-year-old blue liner to his junior team, according to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. As a result, Chychrun will burn the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. The Coyotes made a trade with Detroit during the 2016 entry draft to move up four spots to select Chychrun and so far has rewarded management’s faith. Chychurn has averaged 17:15 of ice time and has three points in eight games so far.

Ales Hemsky To Miss 5-6 Months

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The Dallas Stars will be without Ales Hemsky until at least March, after the skilled right winger underwent surgery to repair a labral tear in his hip this morning.

Stars GM Jim Nill released a statement saying the injury was sustained at the World Cup, where Hemsky represented for the Czech Republic.

The Stars will be without Hemsky and Mattias Janmark for essentially the whole season, with the two wingers combining for one game played this season. Winger Valeri Nichushkin signed for two seasons in the KHL back in September, meaning the Stars are missing three top-nine wingers who were on their roster in August.

The Stars just got Jason Spezza and Jiri Hudler back from injury, but Patrick Sharp and Cody Eakin remain out with a concussion and knee injury respectively.

Hemsky has 565 points in 824 career NHL games, with the Oilers, Senators, and Stars.

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