Roope Hintz Returns For Game 3
- Before Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals kicks off between the Dallas Stars and the Edmonton Oilers, one major change in the lineup was made for the Stars. Earlier today it was alluded that forward Roope Hintz would be a game-time decision for Dallas, but Stars radio host Owen Newkirk confirmed that Hintz is now officially back in the lineup. Hintz has been out of the lineup for Dallas for the last two weeks with an upper-body injury, but will now look to add to his six points already earned in this year’s postseason.
[SOURCE LINK]
Afternoon Notes: Hintz, Goldobin, Sharks Coaching
The Dallas Stars will once again be left with a game-time decision on centerman Roope Hintz, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Hintz has missed Dallas’ last four games with an upper-body injury sustained in Game 4 of the second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.
Hintz was an integral piece of the Stars lineup through the regular season, posting 30 goals and 65 points – both marks he’s also reached in the last two seasons. He’s maintained that strong presence into the postseason, posting six points through the 11 games he’s been healthy for. Maybe more importantly, Dallas hasn’t yet found their de facto fill-in for Hintz’s injury.
Radek Faksa was previously filling the vacancy, but head coach Pete DeBoer decided to switch to Ty Dellandrea for Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. Dellandrea recorded three shots on goal through 11:39 in ice time but did little to command the lineup spot as his own. Hintz should return to the team’s top six immediately upon his return. But Dallas will be left with a tricky lineup decision should he once again be unavailable.
Other notes from around the league:
- Former San Jose Sharks first-round pick Nikolay Goldobin has signed a two-year extension with Moscow Spartak of the KHL (Twitter link). The 28-year-old forward is coming off a career year, posting a career-high 37 goals and 78 points through 67 games this season and adding nine points in 11 playoff games. His regular season scoring tied him for second in the KHL in scoring behind Reid Boucher, who posted 44 goals and 78 points of his own. It was Goldobin’s third full-time season in the KHL, having posted 39 and 36 points over the last two years, respectively. He’ll look to build off a dazzling season, now re-upped in Russia.
- The San Jose Sharks are advancing their search for their next head coach, providing second interviews to both Jeff Blashill and Ryan Warsofsky, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the recent 32 Thoughts Podcast. Warsofsky has been an assistant coach in San Jose for the last two seasons, moving to the NHL after leading the AHL’s Chicago Wolves to a Calder Cup win in 2022. Meanwhile, Blashill has been an assistant to Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning for his last two seasons – proceeding his seven-year tenure as the Detroit Red Wings head coach.
Evening Notes: Hintz, Hakanpää, Arvidsson
Dallas Stars radio host Owen Newkirk is reporting that Stars forward Roope Hintz is travelling with the team to Edmonton and will be a game-time decision for Game 3 tomorrow night. Stars head coach Pete Deboer told reporters today that he’s optimistic that Hintz will play in the next two games and added that he was close to playing in Game 2.
Hintz suffered an upper-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche in the second round back on May 13th and has had a quiet playoff thus far by his standards with just two goals and four assists in 11 games. The Tampere, Finland native had a strong regular season with 30 goals and 35 assists in 80 games but has seen his play drop off considerably in the playoffs, particularly his possession numbers as his CF% has dropped more than 10 percent from the regular season.
In other evening notes:
- Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpää won’t play in Games 3 or 4 and is not on the trip with Dallas (as per Newkirk). DeBoer told reporters that Hakanpää won’t join the team until he’s close to returning, which indicates that he likely isn’t close to returning to game action. The 32-year-old hasn’t played since March 16th and has not been practicing with the team. At this point, he’s missed 28 consecutive games and has no timetable for a potential return.
- Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic is reporting that Los Angeles Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson is expected to test the free-agent market on July 1st. The Skelleftea, Sweden native dealt with injuries this season and dressed in just 18 games. While he was limited in playing time, the 31-year-old had solid numbers in a low sample size, posting six goals and nine assists. Arvidsson has been a good point producer since joining the Kings via trade in July 2021, in 161 games as a King he has registered 52 goals and 71 assists.
Hintz Listed As Game-Time Decision For Tonight
- The decision on Roope Hintz’s availability for tonight’s second game against Edmonton will come down to the wire. Stars head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters including Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News that the center is listed as a game-time decision. The 27-year-old has been out since suffering an upper-body injury in the fourth game last round. He took part in the morning skate today but was also skating with the projected scratches so it appears he’ll be a true game-time call.
Evening Notes: Pospisil, Henrique, Hintz
Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy shared that winger Martin Pospisil‘s shoulder injury isn’t a long-term concern during the Flames Talk segment of Sportsnet 960 The Fan. Pospisil sustained the injury in Team Slovakia’s May 21st matchup against Team Sweden – Slovakia’s final game of the group stage. He’d miss the team’s quarter-finals matchup against Team Canada, a game that’d end in a 6-3 Canada victory and Slovakia’s elimination form the World Championship.
Pospisil was a force to be reckoned with during Worlds, posting three goals and seven points across seven tournament games. He added six penalty minutes – though that’s certainly not representative of the fast and heavy physical presence Pospisil brought to the tourney. It was his first time skating with Slovakia’s men’s team, after representing the team at the 2019 World Juniors and 2017 World U-18 Championships.
The World Championship was a continuation of Pospisil’s breakout season. He made his NHL debut and earned a defiant role on the Calgary Flames this season, recording 24 points and 109 penalty minutes through 63 games. It was just his third season in North American pros, having spent the last two years with Calgary’s AHL affiliate. Pospisil posted 35 points and 119 penalty minutes in 67 AHL games prior to this season – adding six points in six games with the Calgary Wranglers this year. With this injury not expected to linger beyond this summer, Pospisil should be set up to engrain his spot on the Flames lineup even more adamantly next season.
Other notes from around the league:
- Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch described forward Adam Henrique as “98 per cent” to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Knoblauch added that it will be a bit more time before Henrique is fully ready to go, leaving his availability for the Western Conference Finals Game 2 up in the air. Henrique has missed Edmonton’s last six games with an ankle injury. He’s posted 11 points in 28 combined games with the Oilers since joining them at the Trade Deadline. With ample veteran experience, Henrique should be set to return to the lineup as soon as he’s ready – likely bumping Sam Carrick or Connor Brown out of a spot.
- The Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer described centerman Roope Hintz (upper-body) as a possibility for Game 2, per Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News (Twitter link). Hintz joined the Stars practice on Friday, his first appearance since being injured in Game 4 of Dallas’ series against the Colorado Avalanche. Hintz will step immediately back into a top-six role when he’s ready to return, likely bumping Radek Faksa out of the lineup and returning a 65-point scorer to Dallas’ lineup amidst a tough Western Conference Finals matchup.
Roope Hintz Out For Game 1 Of Western Conference Final
The Stars will remain without first-line center Roope Hintz as they kick off the Western Conference Final against the Oilers tonight, head coach Peter DeBoer said (via Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). He remains day-to-day and is an option to return for Game 2 on Saturday.
NHL Announces General Manager Of The Year Finalists
The Canucks’ Patrik Allvin, the Stars’ Jim Nill and the Panthers’ Bill Zito were named finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award today, the NHL announced.
Voting for the GM of the Year award is conducted among the GMs themselves, in addition to a select few NHL executives and media members. Unlike other awards, votes are sent in at the end of the second round of the playoffs, not at the end of the regular season.
None of the nominees are particularly surprising. Allvin earns his nomination after putting together some incredible work in last summer’s free agency period, bringing in depth forwards Teddy Blueger, Dakota Joshua and Pius Suter on one-year deals. All were incredibly impactful value signings, including Suter, who scored the game-winning goal late in the third period of Game 6 against the Predators to give Vancouver its first series win in four years.
He also picked up solid depth defenseman Ian Cole in free agency last summer and swung trades for center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Flames throughout the season, both of whom were some of their best playoff performers. Vancouver took the Oilers to Game 7 before bowing out in the second round despite an early injury to Vezina finalist Thatcher Demko.
Nill is gunning to become the second-ever back-to-back winner of the award, joining the Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello. His signing of Matt Duchene to a one-year, $3MM contract was arguably one of the best moves of last summer, as he maintained solid top-six production in the regular season with 65 points in 80 games. He also scored the overtime winner to send the Stars to the Western Conference Final, beginning tonight at home against Edmonton. He also picked up high-end shutdown defenseman Chris Tanev from the Flames ahead of the trade deadline without parting with a first-round pick.
Zito has now earned a nomination for GMOTY in three of his four years at the helm of the Panthers’ hockey ops department, but he’s yet to be crowned the winner. The Panthers won their second division title in the past three years this season, avoiding an expected lull to begin the season without Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour available while recovering from offseason surgeries. His signing of goaltender Anthony Stolarz to back up starter Sergei Bobrovsky remains one of the most under-the-radar moves of last year’s free agency period – Stolarz led qualified netminders with a .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA this season.
The winner will be announced before a Stanley Cup Final game on June 10.
Jake Oettinger Dealing With Illness
- On the other side of the bracket, the Dallas Stars may be dealing with some trouble in the net ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, as goaltender Jake Oettinger left practice early today with an illness (Article Link). The team is expecting Oettinger to be healthy and ready for the opening matchup tomorrow night, but it could certainly complicate matters in the crease. In this year’s playoff against the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, Oettinger has started in all 13 games for the Stars, producing a solid .918 save percentage and 2.08 goals against average.
- Staying in the Western Conference Finals, the Oilers are not expecting back forward Adam Henrique until at least Game 3 (X Link). Dealing with an undisclosed injury, Henrique only managed to play in Game 2 of Edmonton’s Round Two series against the Vancouver Canucks, and has not returned to the ice since. Now that the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have shrunk to only four teams, the Oilers will need all the help they can get up front to take down the Stars.
[SOURCE LINK]
Afternoon Notes: Stars, Ovchinikov, ECHL
Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer has designated both Roope Hintz and Jani Hakanpaa as day-to-day with injuries ahead of the Western Conference Finals, per Lia Assimakopoulous of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Hintz suffered an upper-body injury during Game 4 of the Second Round, since missing Dallas’ last two games, while Hakanpaa has missed the team’s last 26 games with a lower-body injury.
Dallas managed to pull past the Colorado Avalanche in Hintz’s absence, though there’s no doubt that he’s sorely missed. Hintz has managed six points in 11 postseason appearances while commanding a strong line of Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston. Hintz hit the 30-goal mark for the third consecutive season this year, posting 30 goals and 65 points through 80 games. He’s emerged as a core pillar of the Stars lineup over the last three seasons, and could be a pivotal piece of Dallas’ push to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Hintz’s injury has made space for Radek Faksa, while Hakanpaa has opened a spot for Nils Lundkvist and Alexander Petrovic to compete for a role. Hintz will slot immediately into the lineup when he’s ready to return, while Hakanpaa’s status could be more up in the air after such a long absence.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Minnesota Wild prospect Dmitry Ovchinikov has signed a one-year deal with the KHL’s Sibir Novosibirsk, per Kyle Cush,am of The Score (Twitter link). Ovchinikov has spent parts of the last three seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, though each season has been limited – totaling 12 points across 32 career games in the AHL. He’ll now return to the KHL, where he played he’s already appeared in 103 career games and scored 17 points. Ovchinikov was part of a Trade Deadline swap that sent Connor Dewar to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but stayed loaned to the Marlies for the remainder of the season.
- The ECHL has announced that Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Ernst will depart from the league at the end of the postseason. The news will end Ernst’s storied career in the ECHL, stretching across 33 of the league’s 36 years of existence. He originally served in 16 seasons as a referee before being promoted to Vice President of Hockey Operations in 2011 and to his current role in 2018. Ernst’s role in the league runs so deep that he is not only in the ECHL Hall of Fame – inducted in 2011 – but also serves on the ECHL Hall of Fame Committee. He is stepping away to take on a senior management role with Zawyer Sports and Entertainment, who own and operate four different ECHL clubs – the Jacksonville Icemen, Savannah Ghost Pirates, upcoming Tahoe Knight Monsters, and Allen Americans.
Hakanpaa Now Skating; Hintz Likely Wouldn't Have Played If There Was A Game Seven
- The Stars have been without defenseman Jani Hakanpaa for more than two months after initially being listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. However, it appears he could be available in the somewhat near future as Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News relays that the 32-year-old has been skating on his own and accompanied the team to Colorado for their series-clinching victory on Friday. While he still needs to get in some practices with the team before getting the green light to return, the fact he’s skating and traveling now suggests he could be cleared at some point next round.
- Still with the Stars, head coach Peter DeBoer told team reporter Mike Heika (Twitter link) that center Roope Hintz would have been doubtful to play in Game Seven had the series gotten that far. Hintz suffered an upper-body injury in the fourth game of their series against Colorado and was designated as out day-to-day at the time. Now, he’ll have a few more days to rest up for the Western Conference Final. Hintz has had a quiet playoff performance, notching six points in 11 games but four of those came in one contest in the second round.