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Atlantic Notes: Larkin, Point, Brassard, Condon

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The Detroit Red Wings pulled off a big overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday, but suffered an even bigger loss when star center Dylan Larkin had to leave the game in overtime while trying to chase Mitch Marner. He was doubled over and appeared to hurt his rib cage.

Fox Sports John Keating reports that coach Jeff Blashill said that Larkin will miss one to two weeks with a strained oblique muscle, although the team is hoping he will only miss one week. He has already been ruled out for tonight’s game against Ottawa. Andreas Athanasiou is expected to replace Larkin at center on that line.

Larkin has been a key player for the struggling Red Wings. He is having a career-year as he already has 22 goals, just one shy of his career-high and is close to being a point-per game player.

  • In a mailbag article, The Athletic’s Joe Smith writes that Tampa Bay Lightning soon-to-be restricted free agent Brayden Point has made it quite clear that he wants to remain in Tampa Bay for a long time and the scribe suggests that the team might be best offering a five-year deal which might be the perfect compromise between a bridge deal and an eight-year pact. Both sides have agreed to put off contract talks until the summer. With 30 points goals and 65 points already in 51 games, the 22-year-old should receive quite a bump in pay when signing his new deal.
  • Even though the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to get their new acquisitions Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann into their game Friday by giving them a police escort from the airport to the game, the Florida Panthers didn’t do the same thing. The Panthers, who acquired Derick Brassard, Riley Sheahan, three draft picks and future cap room from Pittsburgh earlier in the day Friday, opted to go without the pair Friday and are expected to have the two in the lineup Saturday against Vegas, according to Sun Sentinel’s Wells Dusenbury “I didn’t find out [about the trade] until about 11 [am],” Boughner said. “We were planning on having a different lineup in there tonight and so we built the lineup with what we had and unfortunately [Brassard and Sheahan] couldn’t get in for the game.”
  • The Ottawa Senators continue to be without goaltender Mike Condon, who the team placed on waivers on Oct. 31 who had and still is trying to come back from a hip injury, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The veteran goaltender cleared waivers, but has appeared in just one game for the Belleville Senators in all that time. Condon has recently started skating and working out in Ottawa, but there remains no timetable for his return. The hope is that he can make a return to the ice for Belleville March. The team acquired goaltender Anders Nilsson to be their backup goaltender on Jan. 2, who has fared well in eight appearances for Ottawa with a .922 save percentage, meaning that Condon will have a tough time getting back into the goaltending rotation, barring injury.

Trevor Daley Out At Least Another Week

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  • Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley will be out another seven-to-ten days with as he works his way back from a broken foot, notes Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. The veteran has played in just 31 games this season but a good showing in his return might give Detroit a small chance to move him and get out of the final year of his contract which carries a $3.167MM cap hit.  It’s worth noting that on February 16th, his full no-trade clause drops to a 15-team restriction.

Michael Rasmussen Assigned To AHL

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The Detroit Red Wings have placed young forward Michael Rasmussen on long-term injured reserve, and assigned him to the minor leagues on a conditioning loan. Rasmussen’s IR stint is retroactive to January 4th. Rasmussen has been dealing with a hamstring injury all month, and will likely need some time to get back up to game speed after returning to the ice.

In a lost season for the Red Wings, Rasmussen’s emergence has been a welcome sight. While he hasn’t put up the kind of offensive numbers some would hope for, the simple fact that he’s been a regular in the NHL before his twentieth birthday is a positive sign. Originally selected with the ninth overall pick in 2017, the 6’6″ forward could be a game-changing talent if everything breaks right for him over his career. The Red Wings hope time in the NHL will send him on that path, and let him grow into a core piece of their offensive attack.

Rasmussen will likely play just three games in the AHL before being recalled, and then try to put together a solid second half with the Red Wings. There could even be some increased opportunity if Detroit decides to move on from players like Gustav Nyquist.

Holland: Red Wings Intend To Compete For A Playoff Spot Next Year, Could Affect Their Deadline Dealings

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  • While their placement near the bottom of the league would suggest that Red Wings should be sellers, GM Ken Holland told Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News that he’d like to see the team in a position to make a run for the playoffs next season. Accordingly, their preference at this time appears to be signing their pending unrestricted free agents (headlined by goalie Jimmy Howard and winger Gustav Nyquist) over trading them at this time.  Kulfan notes that a short-term extension for Howard remains likely while the supply of prominent wingers may make it difficult for Detroit to get top value for Nyquist which could push them towards trying to work out an extension.

Snapshots: Mock Draft, Arizona State, Jokinen

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Itching for the NHL Entry Draft already? Several fan bases are, as many teams are beyond a reasonable shot at the postseason as the unofficial second half of the season begins. After a recent rash of mid-season draft rankings were published, NHL.com writers Adam Kimelman, Mike Morreale, and Guillaume Lepage tried their hands at a mock draft of the first round for the upcoming draft. They did not conduct a lottery simulation nor did they try to predict how the playoffs would unfold, so the mock is strictly the current standings inverse. However, each of the trio made their own selections and interesting trends can already be spotted. Of course, all three had the Colorado Avalanche, using the Ottawa Senators’ first-rounder, taking U.S. National Team Development Program phenom Jack Hughes first overall. Regardless of who picks first, Hughes is the unanimous pick to go No. 1 in any scenario. There was also a consensus for Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko going second to the New Jersey Devils and Russian winger Vasili Podkolzin going third to the Los Angeles Kings. However, there was not much agreement the rest of the way. Western Hockey League centers Dylan Cozens and Kirby Dach and USNTDP forwards Alex Turcotte and Trevor Zegras went early for all three writers, but no two agreed on the fit for any one team. There was also dissent over the first defenseman taken and where, as Kimelman placed Swedish rearguard Philip Broberg at No. 6 to the New Jersey Devils, while Morreale and Lepage had Canadian blue liner Bowen Byram going No. 7 to the Florida Panthers or No. 8 to the Edmonton Oilers, respectively. One of the biggest surprises was Morreale’s selection of wunderkind goaltender Spencer Knight to the Panthers. While many consider Knight to be the best draft-eligible goalie prospect in some time, no keeper has been taken in the top ten since Carey Price in 2005. The other two writers had Knight at No. 14 to Colorado and No. 24 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Later in the round, opinions differed greatly on OHL defenseman Thomas Harley and hyped overage forward Brett Leason as well. There is still a lot to be decided about the upcoming draft board, not to mention the draft order and the impact of trades, but it is interesting to get a good look at this point in the season as the picture becomes more clear for both the teams and prospects.

  • Arizona State University continues to make waves this season in college hockey. In just their fourth year of existence as an NCAA program, ASU is currently ranked No. 17 in the country and could push for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. As AZ Central’s Jeff Metcalfe writes, the play of forward Johnny Walker and goalie Joey Daccord is making all of the difference and beginning to draw national attention. After blanking the immensely talented Boston University Terriers 3-0 on Saturday night, Walker’s two tallies put him in the NCAA lead for goal scoring, while Daccord’s shutout was his NCAA-best seventh of the year. Daccord, 22, was a seventh-round pick of the Ottawa Senators back in 2015 out of Cushing Academy and it is beginning to look like the Sens’ late-round waiver on the long-term project could pay off. Daccord is a junior and could be enticed to turn pro this off-season if Ottawa hopes to avoid him becoming a free agent after another year. Walker, 22, went undrafted as a Phoenix native playing in the NAHL and is only a sophomore at ASU. However, that won’t stop NHL teams from trying to pry him away from college to get a look at his near goal-per-game pace at the pro level. A tournament run by Arizona State would only further amplify the status of these unlikely heroes of the collegiate campaign.
  • Veteran forward Jussi Jokinen has been unable to find NHL employment this season. The fact is somewhat amazing considering Jokinen played in 14 or more games with four different NHL teams last season. The well-traveled 35-year-old signed a PTO with the Detroit Red Wings this summer, who would have become his tenth different NHL team, but it did not pan out and no one else has come calling. Finally, Jokinen has decided to move on. Finnish reporter Pasi Tuominen reports that Jokinen is set to sign with Karpat of the Liiga in his native Finland for the remainder of the season. Jokinen will be a valued mentor for top NHL prospects like Rasmus Kupari (LAK) and Aleksi Heponiemi (FLA) while with Karpat and may even lead the first-place team to a championship. Regardless, it is highly likely that Jokinen’s days in the NHL are done. The well-liked and respected forward leaves a great legacy behind him in North America, but will surely continue to play overseas for a few years to come.

 

Poll: Which Team Is Under The Most Pressure To Make The Playoffs?

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When the NHL’s unofficial second half kicks off this week, there will be substantially fewer teams with playoff hopes than when the first half began back in October. Of course, no team has been statistically eliminated yet, but a quick look at the standings can help to rule out more than a handful of the league’s bottom-dwellers. In fact, The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn had seven teams with less than a 5% chance of reaching the playoffs in his latest model: the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, and Philadelphia Flyers.

On the other hand, there are also quite a few teams whose first-half success has given them near certainty of playing beyond the regular season this year. Luszczszyn’s projections give eleven teams an 85% chance or better of qualifying for the postseason: the Tampa Bay Lightning, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Islanders.

This leaves 13 clubs remaining – the “fringe” teams – who are vying for a possible five playoff spots. Eight of these teams will miss out. Who least wants to be part of that group?

Well, the team who has been a member of the early off-season club the longest would certainly like to change things up. The Carolina Hurricanes have gone nine seasons since making a postseason appearance and have come close the last few years but fallen short. The team could crack 90 points this season for the first time in eight years, but it might not be enough in the tight Eastern Conference wild card race. The two other teams who are desperate to get back to the playoffs are the Buffalo Sabres, who are on a seven-year drought, and the Arizona Coyotes, who are six years out from a postseason appearance. The Sabres got off to a hot start this season and looked to be a surprise playoff team, but have regressed recently, with three wins in their past then games, and are now tied with Carolina for ninth place in the East. The Coyotes have been resilient in the deep Western Conference wild card race, battling injuries and inconsistency to stay in the mix, but Arizona has their work cut out for them the rest of the way.

Then there are the teams who have made the playoffs recently but not performed. The Blue Jackets – who have never won a playoff series in franchise history – will almost certainly have another shot this year, but what about the Florida Panthers? Many have dismissed the team this season, but the Panthers have plenty of talent and have fallen short of expectations until recently. They face an uphill battle to make the postseason but if they do, the team would have a chance to snap the league’s longest streak without a playoff series win. Florida has not won a round since 1996, a whopping 21 seasons without postseason success and longer than the Blue Jackets have even existed. That’s a substantial mark on the franchise. It’s been a decade now since the Colorado Avalanche have won a postseason series as well and now that they are armed with one of the league’s best forward lines, have a chance against anyone if they can win a spot. The Avs looked like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender early this season and with some trade deadline reinforcements could be a factor this spring. However, recent struggles have plummeted them into the thick of the wild card race in the West and they are in danger of missing the playoffs entirely.

Then, there are teams that simply entered the 2018-19 campaign with high expectations and need to meet them. The defending champion Washington Capitals are of course part of this group. Among the most likely fringe teams to make the postseason, it is nevertheless hard to ignore the disastrous play of the Capitals of late. Three wins in their past ten games, including a number of blowout losses, has begun “Stanley Cup hangover” talk and has legitimately injured Washington’s playoff odds. The team needs to right the ship soon or risk falling out of the current playoff picture. A team on the opposite trajectory are the Minnesota Wild, who have improved their play of late and have pulled away in the race for the final Central Division berth. Minnesota is another team that entered the season with high expectations and are still searching for the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup final appearance. With hopes reaching new highs this season, a collapse for the Wild would be devastating.

Unlike the Capitals and Wild, there are also teams with high expectations who don’t have promising playoff outlooks right now. The Edmonton Oilers and the league’s best player, Connor McDavid, sit atop that list. Edmonton is currently in 13th in the Western Conference and in danger of dropping out of the playoff conversation sooner than any fringe team. The organization has already fired their head coach and general manager this season amid another year of disappointing results and face slim odds that this campaign will end any differently. McDavid and company maintain that the Oilers are a playoff-caliber team, but something has to change with this team down the stretch for that that hypothesis to be tested this postseason. The St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars certainly look like playoff teams on paper, but both have been mediocre at best this season. The Blues, a popular dark horse Stanley Cup pick before the season, have been disappointing in every regard and there has been talk that the team could blow it up this season. A recent improvement paired with the struggles of others in the Western Conference playoff race have revived postseason hopes, but few expected that making the playoffs would be this difficult for St. Louis this season. The same goes for Dallas, who has had highly-publicized feuds between ownership, coaches, and players alike this year as the team continues to fall short of expectations. The Stars currently hold the top spot in the wild card race, but a recent history of late season collapses casts doubt over their ability to hold on to that spot.

There are still many teams whose playoff futures this season remain in question. These franchises all have varying degrees of desperation based on history and expectations. Of the 13 “fringe” teams, which team is under the most pressure to make the playoffs?

Which NHL Team Is Under The Most Pressure To Make The Playoffs?
Edmonton Oilers 27.24% (671 votes)
Washington Capitals 18.03% (444 votes)
St. Louis Blues 13.24% (326 votes)
Montreal Canadiens 8.53% (210 votes)
Buffalo Sabres 8.00% (197 votes)
Dallas Stars 7.43% (183 votes)
Minnesota Wild 5.40% (133 votes)
Carolina Hurricanes 4.34% (107 votes)
Colorado Avalanche 2.44% (60 votes)
Anaheim Ducks 2.31% (57 votes)
Florida Panthers 1.46% (36 votes)
Arizona Coyotes 0.89% (22 votes)
Vancouver Canucks 0.69% (17 votes)
Total Votes: 2,463

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Trade Rumors: Kreider, Athanasiou, Hurricanes

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Several sources have reported that New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider could be available ahead of the trade deadline this season, and while they’re not wrong, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports that it will take a “perfect deal” for the Rangers to give him up. Brooks writes that Kreider, the team’s leading goal scorer, is too valuable to give up while term remains on his contract. The big winger is signed through next season at a below-market $4.625 and the rebuilding club needs to take advantage of that while they can. Brooks goes so far as to state the team would prefer to re-sign the 27-year-old long-term if possible. So what would it take for them to deviate from those plans? Brooks believes the Rangers would ask for a young roster forward with similar offensive upside as a starting point or else an elite prospect. He even names players like Cale Makar, Martin Necas, Ryan Donato, Troy Terry, Eeli Tolvanen, and Cody Glass as preferred targets, all of whom are among the best pro-ready prospects in hockey. That’s a high asking price for a player of Kreider’s caliber and makes it seem as if the power forward isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

  • It seems that the Detroit Red Wings’ Andreas Athanasiou is finally off of the trade block. After two years of rumors about the young forward’s availability, TSN’s Darren Dreger stated on WGR 550 in Buffalo yesterday that it appears the Red Wings are no longer willing to move Athanasiou. While Detroit continues to struggle in the standings, they have made some strides in their rebuild this season with more young players taking on larger roles. Athanasiou has been one of those key youngsters, currently second in goals and third in points for the team and on pace to break his career-high in scoring within the next few games. With the 24-year-old finally meeting expectations and signed to a reasonable $3MM salary for another year, the cap-strapped Red Wings have many reasons to hold on to Athanasiou.
  • The Athletic’s Scott Burnside, Pierre LeBrun, and Craig Custance spent some time discussing the trade deadline status of the Carolina Hurricanes on the latest “Two-Man Advantage” podcast. The trio all agreed that there is a large market for forward Micheal Ferland right now and the power forward is nearly a lock to be dealt by the trade deadline. However, the more intriguing deadline story line in Raleigh is who among the defensemen are moved. As a bubble team, Carolina could be both a buyer and/or seller in the rental market, but are likely more focused on the long term with hockey trades. It has already been reported that the Hurricanes are willing to move one of their six impressive starters – all of whom are signed through at least next season – in exchange for forward help. However, Custance adds another reason why the team might need to move a blue liner sooner rather than later. He believes that Carolina’s best chance to sign impressive collegiate defenseman Adam Fox, the oft-forgotten third piece received from the Calgary Flames, is to sign him immediately following the end of his season at Harvard University and let him play down the stretch and possibly in the postseason this year. To do that, the Hurricanes would need to thin their current defensive group to allow for Fox to play meaningful minutes. All signs point to a defender being on the move out of Carolina. The only question now is which one.

Minor Transactions: 01/23/19

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Six games will finish up the unofficial first half of the season before teams break for the All-Star game in San Jose this weekend. Among those six is a must-see matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Nashville Predators, two teams battling for position in the Western Conference. It’s never a love affair when these clubs get together, and with a little extra time off after the game you can bet every player will leave it all on the ice tonight.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Trevor Moore under emergency conditions and will insert him into the lineup tonight over Andreas Johnsson. Johnsson suffered a concussion recently and will take the break to try and recover.
  • Christian Wolanin and Rudolfs Balcers have been returned to the minor leagues by the Ottawa Senators in order for them to continue playing over the break. It will also save the Senators some money given they’re on two-way contracts.
  • Similarly, the Calgary Flames have returned Juuso Valimaki and Andrew Mangiapane to the Stockton Heat for at least a few days, giving the young players a chance to stay fresh.
  • The San Jose Sharks have done the same by sending Dylan Gambrell and Jacob Middleton back to the minors, neither of whom are seeing much time in the NHL anyway.
  • The Colorado Avalanche have one more game tonight and have recalled Ryan Graves for it, sending Anton Linholm back down. Graves has impressed during his short stint with the Avalanche and may get a longer look in the second half of the season.
  • Marek Mazanec is on his way back to the minor leagues while Dustin Tokarski has been recalled. This was done in order to have both Mazanec and Alexander Georgiev in the minors over the break, meaning Tokarski will likely be on his way back down in a few days.
  • The Detroit Red Wings announced that defenseman Filip Hronek is headed back to the Grand Rapids Griffins. The rookie blue liner has looked good in 23 NHL games this season and even better in 20 AHL games. He’ll spend some time in the minors while Detroit is on a break to keep the momentum of his season going.
  • Both Devon Toews and Michael Dal Colle are on their way down to the AHL, as the Islanders have opted to give them some work over the bye week. Both players have double-digit games played for the surging Isles this season and have carved out roles for themselves recently, despite having just four NHL games between them prior to this season. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers will be happy to have the two talented player back in the lineup for a short time.

Thomas Vanek Hasn't Thought About Waiving His No-Trade Clause

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Red Wings winger Thomas Vanek is no stranger to being moved at the trade deadline.  It’s undoubtedly part of the reason he pushed for a no-trade clause last summer in free agency and he managed to get one.  Although Detroit is believed to be selling between now and the February 25th trade deadline, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press suggests that it’s unlikely that Vanek will be moved as he’s valued as a leader in the dressing room.  For his part, the 35-year-old indicated that thought of waiving his no-trade clause simply hasn’t crossed his mind.  Vanek has 23 points in 42 games so far this season.

Pavel Datsyuk Not Contemplating Retirement Yet

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When Pavel Datsyuk left North America in the summer of 2016 to return to Russia for his family, it seemed like he would play a few years in the KHL and then hang up his skates. After all, he was leaving the NHL just before his 38th birthday and had just experienced his worst offensive season (on a point-per-game basis at least) since he was a rookie. There were obvious signs of him slowing down, but he has found great success in Russia since leaving the Detroit Red Wings. That success may keep him going a while longer, at least according to his agent.

In an interview given in Russian, agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey makes it clear that Datsyuk isn’t considering retirement just yet. In fact, Milstein leaves the door open on a potential return to the Red Wings, explaining that it would be the right spot to return to if his client decided to pursue an NHL comeback. Datsyuk will at least continue playing hockey through his 41st birthday which comes this July, given his success with SKA St. Petersberg once again this season.

Since returning to the KHL, Datsyuk has recorded 103 points in 125 games, won a Gagarin Cup in 2017 and an Olympic gold last year as captain of the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” team. His current deal with SKA expires at the end of April and his NHL rights—currently held by Arizona—would also expire on July 1st leaving him an unrestricted free agent. Despite that, it still seems unlikely that he would ever pursue a return to the NHL at this point. Milstein explains that it was all up to Datsyuk to leave in the first place, and it would take the same sort of decision to return. More likely, Datsyuk will continue playing in the KHL and add to his already incredible career on the ice.

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