Defensive Shuffling Continues In Dallas
The Dallas Stars are still trying to work out the kinks on the blue line. At 9-8-5, the season has not started as well as the defending Central Division champs would like and an ongoing theme has been the shuffling of personnel on defense. The latest change is the benching of veteran Dan Hamhuis for tonight’s match-up against the rival St. Louis Blues. This is the second time this season that Hamhuis, who signed a two-year, $7.5MM contract with Dallas this summer, has been scratched, as the Stars desperately seek balance and production on the back end. Hamhuis was brought in in an effort to make up for the losses of Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers, and Kris Russell, but to this point has been a disappointment.
Hamhuis will be joined in the press box this evening by Stephen Johns, who was recently recalled from the AHL’s Texas Stars. Johns was given a starting role to begin the 2016-17 season, but had fallen out of favor and been demoted last week. In his stead, more play time has been given to fellow young defensemen Esa Lindell, Patrik Nemeth, and Jamie Oleksiak. However, that trio has also failed to impress as well, delivering just five points total at a combined -6.
The newest member to the platoon is promising rookie Julius Honka. Honka made his NHL debut last week and appears to be sticking around. A player in the mold of star teammate John Klingberg, Honka appears poised to at least bring some more offensive production from the blue line, even if it’s at the expense of team defense. That is the trade-off that Klingberg brings, and Dallas has fallen in love with the 24-year-old defender who put up 58 points last season. If Honka brings that ability, he may be able to bring some roster stability to the Stars as well.
Klingberg is well behing his 2015-16 pace with just 11 points thus far, but is the undisputed leader of the defense. The other two reliable members of the “D” corps have been Johnny Oduya and Jordie Benn, but Oduya was recently placed on the injured reserve with a lower body injury and is out “indefinitely”. A blue line group that is already struggling will have a hard time without the veteran leadership and locker room presence that Oduya brings. However, it will force the Stars young defensemen into bigger roles. If the increased play time and pressure doesn’t break them, it could benefit the team in the long run.
For tonight, the Stars will ride with Klingberg, Benn, Honka, Lindell, Nemeth, and Oleksiak, but expect Hamhuis to return to the lineup for the next game with a fire underneath him. One way or another, the team will have to find a way to maximize the talent they have on the blue line into a cohesive and productive defense. Otherwise, it will be a long season in Dallas.
Central Division Snapshots: Arvidsson, Blues, Hawks, Johns, Oduya
Nashville Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson is establishing himself as a legitimate top-six forward in the league with a strong early performance in Music City. In a feature on the team’s official NHL.com website, John Glennon writes that Arvidsson, after going undrafted on two separate occasions before finally going in the fourth-round of the 2014 entry draft, is exceeding any expectations associated with someone of that pedigree.
The Swedish winger saw significant action during the 2015-16 campaign, appearing in 56 regular season games and all 14 postseason contests, but only flashed his on-ice abilities. Arvidsson tallied just eight goals and 16 points last year but through 20 games this season, the 24-year-old has nearly matched that level of production with six goals and 13 points. He’s on pace to register 20-plus goals and eclipse the 50-point plateau, which is production commensurate with a top-six forward.
After going undrafted in both the 2012 and 2013 entry drafts, Arvidsson worked hard in his native Sweden to turn himself into an energy player:
“When I got up to the Elite League in Sweden, they wanted me to work on my strength and stamina so that I could play at a high level every game and every shift. I worked really hard, and I think it helped me a lot. Since then, I’ve been an energy player. Before that, I was kind of an average player.”
Glennon compares Arvidsson to a popular former Predator, tough guy winger Jordin Tootoo, in that despite playing different styles, there is a “buzz” generated when they are on the ice.
Earlier this season, Arvidsson graduated to the team’s top line with center Ryan Johansen and winger James Neal. He’s currently fifth on the club in scoring and second behind only Neal in shots on goal with 61.
Arvidsson is just another example that procuring NHL talent is an inexact science at best. Quality players often go undrafted but with hard work can become regulars in the NHL.
Elsewhere in the Central Division:
- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides updates on a couple of injured Blues. According to Rutherford, Alexander Steen returned to practice Saturday but it’s still unclear when he’ll return to action. Steen has missed the last five games due to an upper-body-injury. Meanwhile, the news is more optimistic for blue liner Joel Edmundson. He also returned to practice Saturday but Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock indicated the 23-year-old defender could be ready to return to game action next week.
- After a 3 – 3 – 1 start to the campaign, the Chicago Blackhawks have turned their fortunes around, winning 11 of their last 16 decisions and accumulating 24 of a possible 32 standings points. This is despite boasting the league’s worst penalty kill, which allows nearly three goals for every 10 opportunities. The team has fared much better at even strength with a +13 goal differential in five-on-five man situations. But, as Chris Hine writes for the Chicago Tribune, the team feels as if they need to be even better. Head coach John Quenneville believes the team needs to generate more offensive opportunities at even strength: “We haven’t given up much five-on-five, but we haven’t generated what we’re looking for. A lot of games we’re neutralized (five-on-five), be it the neutral zone or both zones.”
- Lastly, Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News discusses the juggling that Stars head coach Lindy Ruff is having to do with the team’s blue line. Dallas has eight NHL-caliber defenders on the roster but obviously can only dress six on any given night. Johnny Oduya is currently on IR with a lower-body-injury but Ruff has still found it difficult to get Stephen Johns into the lineup. Consequently, the team assigned Johns to their AHL affiliate to get some game action this weekend. Johns scored three goals in two games for Texas, earning a quick recall to the big club. Meanwhile, Oduya appears to be nearing a return, according to Heika.
Recalls and Reassignments
Recalls and Reassignments this morning in the NHL:
- The Dallas Stars assigned defenseman Stephen Johns to the AHL Texas Stars today, reports Mark Stepneski of the Dallas Stars website. Johns’ demotion was foreshadowed by being scratched for two straight games. The big defenseman—6-4, 230lbs—has struggled of late, going pointless since November 5th and racking up 2G and 2A in 16 games.
- The Montreal Canadiens assigned defenseman Zach Redmond to the St. John’s IceCaps for conditioning purposes, announced the AHL club. Redmond broke his foot six weeks ago, and will join St. John’s to get back up to speed. Redmond surprised many when he made the Canadiens out of training camp, and the team is hoping that the injury will not derail what they saw in the young defenseman.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have officially placed Matt Calvert on IR retroactive to Monday. The team has called up Justin Scott to replace him. Calvert hasn’t played since he took a slapshot to the face—and then scored the game winning goal in overtime—but the team has not announced his underlying injury. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch notes that calling up Justin Scott is a bit of a surprise given the candidates available. The Blue Jackets passed on both Sonny Milano and Oliver Bjorkstrand, arguably better players in the system. Scott has 3G and 3A in 18 games with the AHL Cleveland Monsters.
- The Calgary Flames have recalled forward Mark Jankowski from the Stockton Heat today. Jankowski—Calgary’s 1st round pick in 2012—is lighting up the AHL with 3G and 9A in 13 games so far this season. The forward spent the last four years with Providence College in the NCAA and coincidentally returns nearby as the Flames play the Boston Bruins tonight. Despite the geographical connection, the Flames confirmed that he will not play tonight but could see time in the future.
- The Ottawa Senators have reassigned forward Max McCormick to the AHL Binghamton Senators. McCormick did not get much ice-time with the big club, averaging under 10 minutes a night, and only 5 minutes in his last game. The smaller forward will look to improve his game back in Binghamton, where he has 3G in 10 games.
Central Notes: Blues, Blackhawks, Predators
The Blues offense have received a spark in their offensive production writes the St. Louis Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann. It’s been the shifting of lines that has opened up the scoring for the Blues, who were struggling to put the puck in the net. Timmermann reports that Hitchcock began tinkering with his lines after the second period began during their 4-2 vicotry over Boston, and success was born. Timmermann adds that Hitchcock is a big fan of Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stastny on a line and they’ve seen a bump in their production with the pairing. Timmermann also writes about Jake Allen‘s dominance in net, stopping all 64 shots he’s faced in third periods dating back to November 3. In his last four games, Allen has allowed two goals or less, and has posted a .953 save percentage.
In other Central Division news:
- Mark Lazerus writes that the Blackhawks’ stars are struggling on their long Circus Trip that takes them away from Chicago for seven consecutive games. Lazerus reports that while the bigger name players filed out of the locker room after a 5-0 loss to Edmonton, it was Corey Crawford who stayed to answer the tough questions for the teammates who have been bailed out several times by his performances this season. Lazerus goes on:
Jonathan Toews hasn’t scored a goal in seven games, and hasn’t had a point in all four games on the trip. Patrick Kane hasn’t scored on the trip, and has one goal in his last seven games. After his blistering start, Artem Anisimov has no goals and one assist in his last six games. Artemi Panarin — who is emerging as one of the Hawks’ most important players, given his line’s consistently great possession numbers, and given the way he has rejuvenated Marian Hossa the same way he elevated Kane’s play last season — has just one goal in his last six games. Even Richard Panik, who actually led the NHL in goals through six games, hasn’t scored in 14 games, and is pointless in his last 10.
About the only one who Lazerus feels is pulling his weight on the trip is Hossa, who has helped the Hawks through a tough road trip where they’ve managed to come back several times from large deficits and poor performances.
- The Nashville Predators stunned the hockey world when they acquired P.K. Subban and according to the defenseman’s parents, the change has not been as simple as people thought it would be. Adam Vingan writes that the transition to Nashville has been made simpler because Montreal wasn’t always the best fit for him. But it doesn’t completely cushion the shock that Subban felt when he was dealt. His parents are both confident that he will acclimate to his new surroundings because P.K. is one who “never halfheartedly tackles life’s problems.”
- In other Preds news, Matt Carle and Cody Bass were waived tweets Chris Johnston. Carle was signed to a one-year deal for $700K back in July. Cody signed a two-year deal back in June.
Dallas Will Healthy-Scratch John Klingberg
The Dallas Stars will be without their top defenseman on Monday night versus the Minnesota Wild.
Mark Stepneski, a writer with the Stars website, is reporting that John Klingberg missed the team meeting on Monday morning, and will be a healthy scratch as a result. Julius Honka will take Klingberg’s place in the lineup, according to coach Lindy Ruff.
Klingberg told Stepneksi that he overslept and he’s embarrassed to have let the team down. He said it won’t happen again and he apologized to his teammates.
According to Mike Heika, Klingberg stayed on the ice to skate hard after the practice. Klingberg has just one assist in his last five games, and scored an own-goal in Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to Edmonton when Connor McDavid intentionally banked the puck off Klingberg’s stick.
Starts and Scratches: Stars, Blues, Flyers
- The Dallas Stars are going without defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and forward Curtis McKenzie tonight, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. Both are healthy scratches for tonight’s game against the visiting Edmonton Oilers. Oleksiak has been the odd man out on defense so far, starting in only five games this season. McKenzie has started 15, but has only put up 1G and 2A in those 15 games. Both players are in their final RFA year and were looking to impress this season.
- The St. Louis Blues have replaced former first overall pick Nail Yakupov with Ty Rattie tonight against the Nashville Predators, reports St Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford. Rattie was signed to a one-year deal this summer after scoring 17G and 29A in 62 games for the AHL Chicago Wolves last season. Rattie will skate with Patrik Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin to start tonight. The Blues have also scratched defenseman Petteri Lindbolm for Robert Bortuzzo, reports Rutherford. Bortuzzo will man the bottom pair with Colton Parayko.
- Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is expected to return to the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, reports Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Gostisbehere was scratched the day he was named Philadelphia’s Pro Athlete of the Year by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.
Injury Notes: Hertl, Sharp, Bortuzzo
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
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
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
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.