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Snapshots: Three Stars, Expansion Draft Tool, Senators

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News and notes around the NHL this evening:

  • The NHL named its three stars of the week today: (1st) Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, (2nd) Chicago Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov, and (3rd) Detroit Red Wings defenseman Mike Green. Cam Talbot leads all goalies in wins, and racked up a 3-0-0 record with a .970 SV% and a 1.00 GAA. Talbot topped it all off with a shutout in the Heritage Classic last night against the Winnipeg Jets. Artem Anisimov led the league in points this week, scoring 4G and 3A in three games. Anisimov has struggled to find his foothold in the NHL, but with more opportunity in the Chicago Blackhawks organization after they shed salary to remain cap compliant, this year could be the year Anisimov fulfills his potential. Finally, Mike Green scored 3G and 2A in four games, though all three came in a 5-1 win against the Ottawa Senators.
  • Capfriendly—PHR’s cap tracker website of choice—has unveiled a new Expansion Draft tool that allows visitors to mock a team’s expansion draft protections. The addition comes a week after the Las Vegas NHL Expansion Team hired General Fanager creator Tom Poraszka and shut down the General Fanager site, including its popular Expansion Draft tool.
  • The Ottawa Senators have mixed up their offensive lines ahead of their three-game Western road trip, reports Ottawa Sun reporter Bruce Garrioch. The Senators are 3-2 this season and sit 6th of 8 in the Atlantic Division. Tom Pyatt joins Mike Hoffman and Kyle Turris, and Ryan Dzingel gets a chance to play with Bobby Ryan and newcomer Derick Brassard. Ottawa has struggled to find chemistry after losing winger Clarke MacArthur to yet another concussion in the pre-season.

Heritage Classic Primer

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The third ever Heritage Classic takes place this afternoon as the Winnipeg Jets host the Edmonton Oilers.  Here are some news and notes to get you set up for the fourth outdoor game on Canadian soil:

  • Although there isn’t much history between Edmonton and this current version of the Jets, Winnipeg owner Mark Chipman wanted the Oilers as their opponent, writes Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun. If you go back a bit further, Winnipeg and Edmonton were the teams in the final Avco Cup championship back in the WHA, just before Wayne Gretzky joined the NHL.  The Oilers also faced the old Jets franchise in each of their five Stanley Cup championships.
  • As is customary with the outdoor games, alumni from both teams faced off against each other yesterday with the Jets winning 6-5; the winning goal coming from Teemu Selanne (who still holds the NHL record for most goals in a rookie season) on a penalty shot.
  • This will be Winnipeg’s first time participating in an outdoor game while it will be Edmonton’s second opportunity. The Oilers were the losing team in the inaugural Heritage Classic back in 2003 to the Montreal Canadiens.  Calgary and Vancouver have hosted the other two games; the Flames beat Montreal in 2011 while the Canucks fell to Ottawa in 2014.
  • Edmonton’s Benoit Pouliot is the outdoor game veteran of the two teams as he will be making his fourth appearance in one. He suited up for Montreal in 2011 and also in a pair of games for the New York Rangers as part of the NHL’s Stadium Series back in 2014.  For Winnipeg, Mathieu Perreault has the most outdoor game experience with two, suiting up in games while playing in Washington in 2011 and Anaheim in 2013.
  • The goaltending matchup will be Connor Hellebuyck for the Jets and Cam Talbot for Edmonton.

Franchise Faceoff: Calgary Flames vs Montreal Canadiens

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There is a common theme among teams that miss the playoffs: weak goaltending.  That’s what is credited as the biggest contributor to the demise of the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens last season. The Habs lost all-world goaltender Carey Price early enough to torpedo their chances at the post season, while the Flames have been looking for a reliable netminder since the heyday of Miikka Kiprusoff.

This summer saw a fix for both clubs as the Canadiens got their Vezina winner back from injury, and the Flames brought in two established NHL goalies in Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson. While obviously these are different paths, they’ve provided the same hope to both fan bases. A return to the playoffs is certainly possible for both, though they’re off to much different starts.

Montreal is undefeated in regulation through four games and leads the Atlantic Division with seven points, while the Flames have struggled out of the gate to a 1-3-1 record.  The season is very young however, and both teams have more success planned for their immediate future.

The Flames locked up their top two players this summer, inking Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau to long-term deals, while the Habs have youngsters Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk looking like stars in their own right.  Both franchises have questions on their blueline past their big #1’s (Mark Giordano and Shea Weber), but have intriguing young players filling the holes.

[Calgary Flames Depth Chart vs Montreal Canadiens Depth Chart]

On Monday we asked who would you rather have, the Oilers or Maple Leafs roster and it was remarkably close after almost 500 votes were cast. This week we’ll ask the same of two other teams north of the border.

If you were buying a roster (not all the franchise perks that go with it) to build a championship team, which would you take?

Injury Updates: Leddy, Hossa, Fayne, Brodziak, Gunnarsson

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The New York Islanders, off to a 1 – 3 – 0 start this season, recalled defenseman Ryan Pulock from Bridgeport of the AHL on an emergency basis due to an injury to one of the team’s regular blue liners, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. Staple later tweeted that it was Nick Leddy who was injured and was not practicing with the team this morning. Head coach Jack Capuano revealed that Leddy had suffered an upper-body-injury and was day-to-day suggesting that he might be able to play in the Islanders next game on Friday.

Pulock was expected to make the Islanders out of training camp but once the team inked free agent defenseman Dennis Seidenberg and made the decision to keep three goaltenders, sending the young blue liner, who isn’t subject to waivers, to Bridgeport was the easiest solution to the team’s roster crunch.

Leddy, who is averaging close to 24 minutes of ice time per game so far this season, has two points through four games but has a plus-minus rating of -7. He led Islanders blue liners with 40 points and ranked fifth overall on the team in scoring in 2015-16.

  • Marian Hossa, who was hurt blocking a shot in Chicago’s 7 – 4 victory over Philadelphia, has been ruled out of tomorrow’s game against Columbus, tweets Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. The tweet leaves open the possibility Hossa could be available for Saturday’s contest with the Leafs, however. Hossa is off to a strong start for the Hawks, with one goal and three assists. He has tallied one point in each of Chicago’s four games this season.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have placed blue liner Mark Fayne on IR with a leg injury and according to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal, the veteran defender could miss “weeks” as a result. In a related move, the team recalled Ben Betker from Bakersfield of the AHL to fill the role of 7th defenseman. Matheson notes the team elected to call up Betker as opposed to other options for salary cap reasons. though with Fayne on IR the Oilers have just south of $4MM in cap space according to Cap Friendly.
  • The St. Louis Blues will welcome back center Kyle Brodziak for tonight’s game against the Oilers, tweets Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Brodziak, who missed the team’s last contest, has been held off the score sheet in three appearances this season. Meanwhile, defenseman Carl Gunnarsson is still out but is said to be “close” to a return. Robert Bortuzzo has been filling in with Gunnarson out of the lineup.

Injury Updates: Penguins, Predators, Blues, Oilers

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As he approaches the midpoint of his recovery window, Penguins goaltender Matt Murray is close to rejoining the team for practice, writes Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune.  Murray is coming back from a broken hand sustained at the World Cup of Hockey.  Head coach Mike Sullivan provided an update on Murray’s situation:

“Matt’s getting real close to joining the team for practice. Obviously that’s progress from his standpoint, and that’s the next step for him. He’s been skating a lot. He’s been working with our goalie coach, Mike Bales. He’s been skating with some of the guys that have been trying to recover from their injuries.”

Still with the Penguins, right winger Bryan Rust is nearing a return to full health.  He has been skating with the team for the last week and Sullivan noted that he’s close to being a coach’s decision as to when he returns to the lineup.

As for Sidney Crosby, he continues to skate as he recovers from his concussion.  While Sullivan won’t put an estimate on his return to action, he noted that their “hope is that he can make a big step this week”.

Other injury news:

Franchise Faceoff: Maple Leafs vs Oilers

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It’s a tough thing rebuilding. For all the excitement and hope that prospects give fans, many of them don’t fulfill the promise they show, or just don’t seem to fit into the system you’re trying to build.

For two teams, last year was another one bouncing off the bottom of the league standings, jockeying for the first overall pick.  The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers both have storied histories, championships and hall of fame alumni. But even as one finally retires the numbers of some of its greats, and the other welcomes back the greatest of all time, they both look to young players to find that excitement, and hope.

McDavid, Draisaitl, Eberle or Matthews, Marner, Rielly. Both have a wonderful group of young players led by generational talents, and have shown them off this week. The top two stars of the NHL were Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews this week, both 19-year old kids leading their teams out of the basement.

[Maple Leafs Depth Chart vs Oilers Depth Chart]

We’d love to hear what you think about these two teams. If you were buying a roster (not all the franchise perks that go with it) to build a championship team, which would you take?

Snapshots: Reilly, Kokkonen, ‘Canes

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The Minnesota Wild have sent defenseman Mike Reilly to the AHL after just one game, allowing the 23-year old to play bigger minutes and be in the lineup every night. Reilly was a scratch against the Los Angeles Kings, and instead of watching from the press box he’ll go down and lead.

The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Reilly in the fourth round of the 2011 draft out of the BCHL and watched as he flourished in the NCAA, increasing his scoring totals in all three years at the University of Minnesota. They couldn’t sign him however, and he ended up getting a contract from the Wild in 2015. Last year for the Iowa Wild he put up 23 points in 45 games and earned himself an extended look in the NHL.

Though this is a setback in his career, it won’t be long until he’s back up with the NHL squad if his development continues as it has. His long wingspan and offensive pedigree will be excellent tools once he improves his work in his own end.

  • According to FinnProspects.com, 15-year old Mikko Kokkonen will make his Liiga debut for Jukurit tomorrow, making him the youngest player to ever play in the league. The defenseman was born in 2001, and isn’t NHL draft eligible until 2019, but has turned heads already in Europe. Kokkonen played in a pre-season tournament against this same level, but will now experience it when it counts. His 5’11”, 190-lb frame is already big enough to handle some punishment, but is almost certainly still growing.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have made some lineup changes going into Tuesday’s tilt with the Oilers, as Michael Smith reports.  Phillip Di Giuseppe, Martin Frk and Jakub Nakladal will all dress according to coach Bill Peters.

Oilers Recalling Goaltender; Gustavsson Unable To Play

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Update 2:26pm: It will indeed be Brossoit coming up for the Oilers, according to Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.

1:34pm: According to a team release, the Edmonton Oilers will recall a goaltender from the AHL to fill in while Jonas Gustavsson nurses a head injury sustained last night on a collision with teammate Adam Larsson.

Gustavsson was one of the first examples of the NHL’s new concussion spotting protocol, and though he was initially left in the game, he was pulled later in the period due to a spotter reporting the collision. Now, seeing as he is unable to dress for the next game, it seems as though the system worked perfectly. Gustavsson had indeed suffered a head injury, but had convinced his trainers that he was good enough to continue.

With concussions and brain trauma at the forefront of every contact sport now, this is a shining example of how athletes can be seemingly unaware that anything has happened, or stubborn enough to think they can play through it. These protocols are a step in the right direction for limiting CTE and other brain injuries.

On the hockey side, it’s unclear who the Oilers plan to bring up from their AHL club. Nick Ellis, the Provedince College import is a possibility, though it would be his first professional game at any level, as he didn’t get into any with the Condors last spring. The most likely candidate is Laurent Brossoit, who actually started five games for the Oilers last year in similar situations.

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Oilers Fallout, Montoya

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It’s been a pretty good start to the NHL season for two of the best young players in the game.

Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews have been dominant to start the year, and they’ve been named the NHL’s first and second stars of the week. Veteran goaltender Roberto Luongo has been named third star.

The newly-minted youngest captain in NHL history scored 3 goals and 6 points in three games. McDavid had three points in each of the Oilers’ first two games before being held pointless in Sunday night’s 6-2 loss.

Matthews scored four goals in his NHL debut on Wednesday, breaking the record for most goals in an NHL debut. He was also held pointless on Saturday night, but his debut showing was more than enough to secure the second star of the week.

The Panthers are 2-0-0, and Luongo has been a major part of that. He’s won both games, allowing just two goals; he’s sporting a sparkling 0.957 SV% and a 0.98 GAA.

  • After getting blown out by the injury-plagued Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night, the Edmonton Oilers are in need of a shake-up. They’ve postponed their CBA-mandated day off from Monday to Wednesday. Coach Todd McLellan told the media after the game that “we took [a day off] today, so we’ll skate tomorrow.” Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported the NHLPA is reviewing the decision.
  • Oilers winger Benoit Pouliot has always had a penchant for taking poor penalties. While he’s usually been able to draw penalties to make-up for them, he’s not done well the last two games. He was benched for the second period on Friday after taking three bad penalties in a short period of time, but returned and played well in the third. On Sunday night, he took another two penalties in the first period and was stapled to the bench for the final 40 minutes. TSN’s Ryan Rishaug told TSN 1260 that he thinks Pouliot could find himself in the press box on Tuesday night. “I think they’re going to healthy-scratch him. That’s what I would be doing. At least one, if not more games. Because enough has to be enough. The message needs to be sent … I could see Todd [McLellan] coming down really, really heavy.”
  • Carey Price will miss the Canadiens home opener with the flu. New backup Al Montoya will get the start against the Penguins on Tuesday night. Price did skate with goaltending coach Stephane Waite before team practice.

Snapshots: Rask, Yakupov, Despres

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Veteran goalie Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins didn’t enjoy his best season in 2015-16, finishing with a 91.5% Save % and a GAA of 2.56. Both those rates constituted the worst of Rask’s career to date but as Joe Haggerty writes, the Finnish goalie is using that experience as a learning tool to prepare for the ups-and-downs likely to come in 2016-17.

With the Bruins in the midst of a transition, Rask is likely going to face more adversity this season but he feels the experiences of a year ago have made him “mentally tougher,” and less likely to let a soft or fluke goal affect his game. Rask has already demonstrated this new approach in the Bruins first regular season contest. As Haggerty notes, the Columbus Blue Jackets scored the game’s first goal, a floater from just inside the blue line, and would tally again later in the opening period, but Rask rebounded by stopping 21 of the final 22 shots he faced to earn the victory. Last season the outcome might have been different, but the work Rask put in on the mental aspect of the game paid off for one night at least.

Elsewhere in the NHL:

  • While things didn’t end well in Edmonton for Nail Yakupov, the talented winger is off to a great start with St. Louis and he’s impressing his new head coach and teammates, according to Norm Sanders of the Belleville News-Democrat. Following a two-point performance in the Blues’ 3 – 2 win over Minnesota, Ken Hitchcock had this to say about his newest player: “Much better defensively than I thought. He’s got great outside speed. What I liked more than anything was his conscience. His conscience was there. We’re not trying to overwhelm him by having him do a bunch of things. We’re just going to keep it five on five for the first week to 10 days and see how much he can absorb there.” Veteran scoring forward Alex Steen has been impressed with Yakupov’s decision-making in the early going: “Smart decisions with the puck (and) he’s obviously individually very skilled and makes plays in tight areas. We’re happy to have him.” Yakupov has a ways to go to alter the negative reputation he earned as a member of the Oilers but so far he has done everything the Blues have asked for and may finally be on his way to fulfilling his vast potential.
  • The Ducks, already without blue line stalwart Hampus Lindholm, who remains unsigned as a RFA, could be without fellow defenseman Simon Despres as well. Despres left Thursday’s game against the Stars with what is being called an “upper-body-injury,” and his status is unclear, as noted by Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register. Ducks GM Bob Murray said this about Despres: “He was not feeling good last night. We’re trying to figure out what’s going on with him. … Something’s wrong here and we’re going to get to bottom of it here.” Stephens relays that Murray also referenced Despres’ past issues with head injuries, which seems to hint that the Ducks are concerned this may in fact be another concussion.

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