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Ottawa Senators Receiving Calls On Curtis Lazar

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Trade season is alive and well with just a week left before the deadline, and in Ottawa they have been struck with a rash of injuries up front. Bobby Ryan, Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone are all dealing with different ailments, and the team might need to make a move to solidify their top-six as they try to capture the Atlantic Division crown. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that GM Pierre Dorion has received calls on the underperforming Curtis Lazar, but would prefer to keep him if possible. Lazar amazingly has just one point this season despite seeing more ice time since the injuries.

It has been previously reported that the Senators would like to extend Lazar, banking on his pedigree and potential over production. The former 17th-overall pick now just has 36 points in 175 NHL contests and has seen his entire game weaken this season. Still just 22-years old he’s by no means a lost cause but has to start to turn around his career soon or be labelled as another late first-round bust.

Garrioch adds that Dorion has received permission from owner Eugene Melnyk to make a move at the deadline if it means making it back to the playoffs. The Senators haven’t won a playoff round since 2012-13, and need the revenue generated by home dates to help with their internal budget. They are by no means a cap-ceiling team, and have a lot of room to make an addition if ownership signs off on the salary increase. Dorion admits the only thing he would do is go after a forward to help up front, as his defense corps is pretty well set going into the stretch run.

In goal, Mike Condon appears to be ready to sign a long-term deal with the Senators at some point after showing his capabilities this season. Garrioch reports though that the two sides have tabled talks until after the busy deadline. After playing in 55 games for the Montreal Canadiens last season when Carey Price was injured, Condon was forced into a similar role when Craig Anderson needed to leave the team to be with his ailing wife. In 33 games with the Senators this season, Condon has a .913 save percentage which is right in line with goaltenders like Martin Jones and Frederik Andersen. Condon is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, but the Senators do still have Anderson under contract for another season. For a team like the Sens, holding two goaltenders with substantial cap hits isn’t really an option. We’ll see how they deal with it as they head into the summer and expansion draft.

Snapshots: Vegas, Expansion Draft, Theodore

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While it has been widely expected that the Vegas Golden Knights would be ready to start doing business with teams around the league on March 1st, it sounds now like they’ll miss the opportunity to be in calls on the trade deadline. The team could have never participated in deals involving active NHL or AHL players, but could have swapped picks or starting hammering out deals for the expansion draft. Now according to owner Bill Foley on KXNT, the team will only be able to have informal discussions because their paperwork won’t be filed in time.

In practice, this doesn’t stop George McPhee and the rest of the front office from being involved on deadline day, but nothing they do can officially be signed off or sanctioned by the NHL. That leaves room for doubt, and on a day where so much is at stake may scare off potential teams. Teams around the league are having a tough time deciding what to do because they run the risk of exposing a new asset in the expansion draft, and making hard deals with the Golden Knights might help to assuage those fears.

  • While it’s been a slow lead up so far, Pierre LeBrun of ESPN spoke to one GM that wondered if the 48 hours before the expansion draft would be a little more hectic than the 48 before the March 1st deadline. With the Stanley Cup perhaps being awarded as late as June 15th, the protection lists being due June 17th, and the draft occurring on June 20th it is sure to be a hectic few days for teams to get their ducks in a row. As CapFriendly notes, the buyout window will (likely) open on the 15th giving those few days an extra wrinkle.
  • The venerable Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated profiled the struggles of being a waiver-exempt young player with his latest piece on Anaheim Ducks defender Shea Theodore, who has been shuffled back and forth all season. Theodore has been involved in 13 transactions this year heading one way or the other between the NHL and AHL, and at this point doesn’t even remember most of them. “When you’re up and down so often, you don’t realize how many it’s actually been,” he tells Prewitt, before going into detail on his packing routine (or lack thereof). Theodore will actually be exempt for another two seasons, or 105 games depending on what comes first. While the Ducks—and Theodore himself—hope that he will be firmly entrenched in the lineup by then, it does show the value of having a player able to bounce back and forth. The San Jose Sharks do a similar thing with Mirco Mueller, who has played just four games for the NHL club despite being called up almost a dozen times.

20 Teams Interested In College Free Agent Neal Pionk

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The NHL is a different place in 2017. With the advancement of analytics and systems, the increased speed and skill, and almost-extinction of the “goon” it’s like a whole new sport. Now, if you’re smaller than the prototypical center, or defenseman you have a chance in the NHL. You no longer have to be a hulking beast capable of rubbing people off the puck in the corners or protecting your star player with your fists. Or at least that’s what one college player is hoping.

Neal Pionk was passed over in his draft year due to his small size—5’11”, 170-lbs on the most generous of measurements—but is turning heads with his strong play at the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a sophomore. After scoring 17 points in an up-and-down rookie season, Pionk has 24 points in 30 games and is showing that he may be able to compete at the next level after all. Craig Custance of ESPN reports that as many as 20 teams have expressed interest in the Bulldog, including the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who can sign college free agents in March like any other team (provided their final expansion payment goes through without a hitch).

Pionk attended the Washington Capitals development camp in 2015 before heading to school. It will be interesting to see if Washington will be back in the mix to sign him when his season ends. The right-handed defenseman likely has so many suitors because not only does he possess the puck-moving skill that usually accompanies the smaller defenseman at this level, but also has a slight nasty streak that leads him to physically challenge opposing forwards as well. Some might liken his play to Connor Carrick of the Toronto Maple Leafs (and previously those same Washington Capitals), who doesn’t let his height dictate the type of game he plays.

While this year’s crop of NCAA free agents doesn’t have a huge name leading the way, players like Pionk can still be valuable assets to any team. Look for Vegas to go hard after several of them as it tries to add depth to a system that will have very little of it to start. The Minnesota native is already 21 (and will turn 22 in July), meaning he’ll have to adapt quickly to the increased difficulty of the AHL and beyond, but if that many teams are interested, he’ll likely have a fighting chance.

Lightning Notes: Deadline, Playoffs, Stamkos

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Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times caught up with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman for his latest column and discussed things from expiring contracts to injured players. When broaching the subject of the trade deadline and the possibility of moving upcoming free agents like Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle, Yzerman wasn’t willing to give up on his squad.

We’re competing for a playoff spot so if I’m going to move people.. I’m not just giving people away here. If it makes sense, I’ll do it. If it doesn’t make sense, I’m not. It’s not a firesale.

That’s a common opinion among GMs across the league, who are finding the deadline this year extremely difficult. The looming expansion draft is changing the way teams operate this year, and as Yzerman notes “protection issues, that is a factor in acquiring and trading players.” Indeed, adding a player who might have to be left exposed is just another complication to a deadline that has become more and more difficult since the salary cap debuted.

  • The other thing to note about the Tampa Bay deadline is that playoff spot that Yzerman mentions. Even though the team is just two games over .500 and four points out of last place in the entire Eastern Conference, he’s right when he says they’re still in a playoff race. The Atlantic division in particular is still wide open, with only 12 points separating first and last place. The Lightning find themselves just five points out of the final wildcard spot, and six out of third in the Atlantic.
  • Yzerman is still operating as if Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan will return at some point this season, which would greatly affect their salary cap situation. If the two can get back though, they’ll be a bigger addition than any trade deadline acquisition. Stamkos has reportedly begun some light skating, and is still on his 4-6 month timeline—that leaves much speculation though, as four months would be mid-March and six would be the end of the playoffs.
  • Even if a firesale isn’t happening, the Lightning will have some tough decisions up front. As we’ve detailed before, they have an expansion draft crunch and a salary situation that will make for a tough summer. With Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin all needing new deals, it looks like at least one of their forwards will need to be shipped out. Alex Killorn looks like a natural possibility, but it may have to be the diminutive Johnson depending on the offers that come in.

Snapshots: Vegas, Howard, Flyers

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As the March 1st trade deadline approaches, so does the start of the Vegas Golden Knights capacity to make deals around the league. While he won’t be able to make any moves for active players, he can start shaping the future of the Golden Knights in just over a week. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune caught up with Vegas GM George McPhee and talked to him about the kind of team he’d like to build.

I’ve built high-flying teams in the past, offensive, entertaining teams and would like to do the same thing. What we do with the expansion draft hasn’t been settled yet because until we see the entire universe of what teams want to do, who they want to protect and expose, we don’t know which way we’re going to go.

Indeed, McPhee did build the high-flying Washington Capitals that featured some of the highest goal totals in recent memory. If he constructs the Vegas team the same way, it will be fun to watch at the very least as it likely struggles through its first few seasons. If McPhee wants speed, perhaps a certain Colorado Avalanche centerman who is on the block would be of interest this summer.

  • Jimmy Howard, out since before Christmas with a sprained MCL was seen taking shots today before practice by Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. Howard—who turns 33 on March 26th—carries a hefty cap hit and two more years on his contract. While the Red Wings would love to move him for some cap relief, he’ll have to get back onto the ice and prove the start of his season wasn’t a fluke.
  • Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tells us that Hall of Fame winger and current Kings’ President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille has taken over as chairman of the board for Eisbären Berlin, a German hockey team that plays in the DEL. While under Robitaille’s leadership, the Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin back in 2011 when the NHL was testing out different markets with regular season games.
  • Sam Cardichi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the Flyers and their quickly sinking ship going into the deadline. After benching Andrew MacDonald in a Sunday night win over the Vancouver Canucks, the team is looking to get Michael Del Zotto more ice-time and are still considering their options for the trade deadline. Cardichi includes he thinks the team will be in sell mode come March 1st.

Deadline Primer: Anaheim Ducks

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With the trade deadline now less than two weeks away, we continue to take a closer look at each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?

After four years of taking the division crown with Bruce Boudreau behind the bench, the Anaheim Ducks have a familiar face in Randy Carlyle taking them to the promised land this season. The team is firmly in a playoff spot, though could easily finish third in the division behind San Jose and Edmonton, and will have to take on Hart candidates Connor McDavid or Brent Burns in the first round.

It will be tough sledding down the stretch for the Ducks, who recently lost Antoine Vermette for 10 games (unless reduced by the appeal). They appear to be buyers at the deadline, though with the amount of highly sought after assets in their system, it may not be draft picks that they’re using as currency.

Record

31-19-10, 3rd in Pacific Division

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$2.86MM – full-season cap hit due to LTIR space, 46/50 contracts per CapFriendly.

Draft Picks

2017: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 3rd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th
2018: ANA 1st, ANA 2nd, ANA 3rd, ANA 4th, ANA 5th, ANA 6th

Trade Chips

The Anaheim Ducks have an oft-mentioned group of defensemen that almost the whole league is interested in. While Hampus Lindholm seems untouchable, the other six—Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen, Josh Manson, Brandon Montour, Shea Theodore and Jacob Larsson—have all been rumored to be available at (vastly) different prices. The Ducks will face an expansion draft problem if they don’t move a defenseman (or two), but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen at the deadline. Josh Manson

If they choose to move any of them, they could potentially make the biggest splash on March 1st. Young defense is one of the most sought after commodities in the NHL, and with both rebuilding and contending teams looking for help on the back-end they would have no shortage of suitors.

Other than their blueline depth, the team does have some excellent prospects that they could use in the pursuit of a big fish (if one surfaces). Sam Steel and Max Jones were both picked in the late stages of the first round last summer, and though they’re having very different seasons—Steel is dominating once again with 103 points in 51 games, while Jones has battled injury and suspension, only playing in 29 games thus far—they both still hold excellent value.

There is also the case of Jonathan Bernier, who the Ducks would love to move now that they have Jhonas Enroth playing so well in San Diego. Bernier comes with a hefty cap hit, and moving him would help them make any additional moves. Since he is an unrestricted free agent this summer, perhaps a rebuilding team would be willing to take him on for the rest of the season in a salary-heavy swap.

Five Players To Watch: D Josh Manson, D Cam Fowler, G Jonathan Bernier, LW Ryan Garbutt, D Shea Theodore

Team Needs

1) Top Six Winger – The Ducks are committed long-term to their big three up front of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler, and Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg have fit in well on the wings this season. But as they head into the playoffs, they could use another legitimate scoring winger to help take the load off those five players. Nick Ritchie and Andrew Cogliano are fine players, but would look better slotted in a little lower in the lineup.

2) Depth Center – Anaheim is going to feel the loss of Vermette most in the faceoff circle, where he has won more than 60% of his almost 1000 draws this season. He is a huge part of their defensive zone coverage, getting the majority of the draws in his own end and on the penalty kill. They’ve moved Rakell back to his natural center ice position for the time being, but that has only created another problem in the top six. Depth centers don’t cost a ton, but Anaheim would be smart to go out and get one that could move up to the third line in the case of an injury in the playoffs—and no, Nate Thompson isn’t that guy.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pittsburgh Penguins Looking To Add Defense

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With Olli Maatta (hand surgery) and Justin Schultz (concussion) out for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the next few weeks will test their defensive depth unless they can make a move to bring in someone at the deadline. That’s exactly what Jim Rutherford is trying to do, according to Jonathan Bombulie of TribLIVE, who spoke with the Pittsburgh GM earlier today.

We’re going to have to go through these next two weeks and go along on the time frame of everyone else. We’ll be looking at adding one or two more defensemen.

Rutherford has been on the phones already trying to add to his blueline, but with the market not having quite materialized just yet, it’s been tough sledding. Just finding one defenseman on the market that doesn’t come with red flags is difficult, acquiring two seems almost impossible. The Penguins don’t exactly need all-stars on the back end, but if they don’t want to see Kris Letang have to log 30 minutes a night (like he did yesterday against the Columbus Blue Jackets) for the rest of the season they need capable defenders.

The Penguins’ GM goes on to say that his search won’t be focused entirely on defense at the deadline and is open to anything. It does sound like he will be an active participant on March 1st, hoping to propel his group to another Stanley Cup. Last season he acquired Schultz, Trevor Daley and Carl Hagelin in-season, though all three came before deadline day (with Daley and Hagelin well before).

Look for them to target rentals mostly, as they are already going to have some tough decisions heading into the expansion draft. Anyone under contract for more than this year would likely be at risk in the Vegas draft.

For now, they will turn to the group of Steve Oleksy, Chad Ruhwedel and Cameron Gaunce to fill the holes, though the former two only got 14 minutes each yesterday. The pairing of Letang and Brian Dumoulin were leaned on heavily, something that will be interesting to follow down the stretch.

Where Do The Dallas Stars Go From Here?

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In a couple pieces written about the Dallas Stars, The Dallas Morning News’ Mike Heika and Fan Rag’s Carolyn Wilke both look at what has gone wrong with the Stars and how best to reverse course. Heika calls them “toast,” recognizing that a 1-7-0 run sunk the Stars chances at the playoffs. Heika notes that though the Stars have missed the playoffs six out of the last eight seasons, it isn’t often in February that their season obituary could be written. While some fans may think it’s unfair to write the Stars off so early, he shows that unless the Stars go 18-5 the rest of the way, it’s pretty hopeless.

Heika offers advice, noting that the Stars need to evaluate their young defensemen, determining which ones should be kept since the expansion draft is around the corner. He also believes they need to assess their best veterans, seeing if they should take a flier on Ales Hemsky, Lauri Korpikoski, Adam Cracknell and Jiri Hudler beyond this season. It would also be best if the Stars chose one goaltender between Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen since it’s leading to a financial impasse.

Apr 29, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing <a rel=

Wilke takes a different look, wondering if the coaching staff is to blame, and takes the approach that Ruff simply cannot be the sole blamed for the season they’ve endured. A roster decimated by injury didn’t help matters, she writes, but Ruff can still shoulder some blame with his playing decisions and deployment, not to mention an anemic penalty kill. But going in Ruff’s favor is a lack of coaches on the market, none of whom seem a good fit for the young and fast Stars. Wilke sees the Stars selling off and warns fans to wave goodbye to some of their favorite players. She also asks some questions about Jim Nill’s job.

PHR’s Glen Miller wondered a few weeks ago if the Stars are going to follow in Minnesota and Columbus’ footsteps, finding success only a year after a throw away season. Injury is certainly the greatest factor in Dallas’ fall. Further, coaches or front office executives don’t suddenly become geniuses or buffoons over one season’s time. Nill sat a little too long on the goalie issue, as Wilke points out, but without Nill, the Stars don’t have last season’s successes. His aggressiveness and eye for talent, especially with prospects, will pay dividends for the Stars. Further, looking at Jim Rutherford, who made a few tweaks to a Penguins roster and shuttled a coach, suddenly found himself hoisting a Stanley Cup six months later.

There is no secret formula. Teams like the Detroit Red Wings have shown that not everything can last forever, especially with a loyalty that has been one of the strongest in the NHL  Rutherford’s example shows that sometimes it takes a few changes to win. Others, like the Avalanche, struggle to find success no matter how many changes they make.

The Stars have the roster to compete. It may just be a few Rutherford-like moves that shows this season was an anomaly.

Flames Ink Matt Bartkowski

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In a widely expected move, the Calgary Flames have signed defenseman Matt Bartkowski to a two-year, two-way contract.

Bartkowski joined the Flames on a Professional Try-Out (PTO) on Wednesday morning, after spending the first half of the season on a minor-league contract with the Providence Bruins. It’s his second PTO this season, after going unsigned by the Ottawa Senators back in training camp. The defenseman had two goals and 10 points in 34 games during his second stint in the Bruins organization. He has six goals and 42 points in 211 NHL games, split between Boston and Vancouver.

It’s a strategic signing by GM Brad Treliving; because Bartkowksi is under contract for this year and next, he will count towards the Flames’ expansion draft requirement of exposing one defenseman who has played 40 games in this season or 70 games over the previous two seasons. Bartkowski appeared in 80 games with the Vancouver Canucks last season, and therefore satisfies the requirement.

Bartkowski joined the Canucks after five seasons with the Bruins. He was brought over by Canucks GM Jim Benning, who was previously in the Bruins front office. In Calgary, he’ll be playing under head coach Glen Gulutzan, who was the assistant coach with the Canucks last season. The Flames are looking for defensive help, and while Bartkowski is a bottom-pairing defenseman, he’ll get a shot with the big club under a familiar face in Gulutzan.

Deadline Primer: Nashville Predators

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With the trade deadline now just weeks away, we’re taking a closer look at each team.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?

Many people, including everyone’s favorite PHR writer, considered the Nashville Predators to be a dark horse candidate to win the Stanley Cup in 2016-17. While we are still a few months out from seeing if that comes to fruition, at this point in time the team looks an awful lot like the same team it was last year. The addition of P.K. Subban and what many suspected would be the best puck-moving defense in the NHL has been hindered by long injury absences to both top pair defensemen. Ryan Johansen is performing well, but still not up to the level that he exhibited with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Scoring bumps by captain Mike Fisher, Viktor Arvidsson, and Colin Wilson have been counteracted by drop-offs from James Neal, Craig Smith, and Mattias Ekholm. Overall, the teams middling numbers in goals for and goals against are eerily similar to what they were in 2015-16.

If this team is, for all intents and purposes, the same team it was last year, that’s not a bad thing. The 2015-16 Predators clinched the first wild card spot in the Western Conference and upset the Pacific-winning Anaheim Ducks in the first round. They then lost to the eventual conference champion San Jose Sharks, but took them seven games, which is more than the St. Louis Blues could do in the championship round. It was the best postseason performance in franchise history. However, the current iteration of the Predators is sitting in the second wild card spot, trailing the Blues and trying to hold off the Los Angeles Kings, and is on pace to finish five points shy of last year’s mark. They got off to a slows start and have had to grind their way back into the conversation. Although the numbers are similar, this year’s team feels just a little off. After an impressive 2015-16 campaign, instead of shocking the league with a triumphant sequel, the Predators are not even guaranteed a playoff spot this year, despite playing nearly identical hockey.

As always, Nashville is lousy with salary cap space. GM David Poile is one of the best there is and has already shown a willingness to make moves with the recent acquisitions of Cody McLeod and Vernon Fiddler. If Poile believes that this team has what it takes to go farther than any Predators have gone before, expect him to put that space, a nearly-full collection of draft picks, and quite a bit of prospect capital to work as the Trade Deadline grows closer.

Record

27-21-8, 4th in the Central Division, 8th in the Western Conference

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

Current Cap Space: $13,756,773

Deadline Cap Space: $18,571,644

45/50 contracts, via CapFriendly

Draft Picks

2017: NSH 1st, NSH 2nd, NSH 3rd, NSH 5th, NSH 6th, NYR 6th, NSH 7th
2018: NSH 1st, NSH 2nd, NSH 3rd, NSH 4th, NSH 5th, NSH 6th, NSH 7th

Trade Chips

Just like when the Predators shipped Seth Jones to Columbus for Johansen last year, expect Poile to dangle some young defenseman in front of teams this month. Nashville has Subban, Ekholm, Roman Josi, and Ryan Ellis locked up long term. Do they really need Anthony Bitetto? Petter Granberg? Trevor Murphy? They could even offer up promising young blue liners like Alexandre Carrier, Dante Fabbro, or Samuel Girard for the right return. On the flip side, all of this talented prospect depth on defense could also allow them to move an Ellis or Ekholm if presented with a big-ticket offer. Normally a contender wouldn’t consider such a major move in-season, but this where the upcoming Expansion Draft comes into play. If the Predators want to protect their four star defensemen, as one would imagine they do, they can then only protect four forwards as well, potentially leaving big names like Arvidsson, Smith, and Wilson exposed. It also limits who Nashville can bring in at the deadline, as any player with term remaining on their contract changes the protection formula. However, by trading one of the defenseman and just protecting the three others, the Predators could then protect seven forwards, removing their top six and any additional acquisitions from harm’s way.

Players To Watch

D Anthony Bitetto, D Trevor Murphy, D Alexandre Carrier, F Pontus Aberg, F Miikka Salomaki

Team Needs

1)  Scoring Forward – The Predators simply aren’t putting the puck in the net enough. They need a forward who can score goals himself, help to create goals for the struggling second and third lines, and help out on the 17th-ranked power play. The top name (reportedly) on the market is Matt Duchene, and with Nashville’s wealth of defensive talent, they may actually be able to meet the Colorado Avalanche’s high asking price. Adding another center would also allow the Predators to move Calle Jarnkrok to his natural wing positions. Whether it’s a center or wing or a sniper, speedster, or power forward, Nashville will likely be in on anyone who can help with production up front. A talented scoring forward is really need one, two, and three for this team if there are multiple rental guys out there who they can grab without paying too much.

2) Defensive defenseman – As good as Matt Irwin and Yannick Weber have unexpectedly been for the Preds this season, neither really inspires much confidence as a playoff starter. Nor does Brad Hunt, the next man up, who was picked up off of waivers from St. Louis last month, but has yet to play. What Nashville needs is a veteran shutdown defenseman to eat up some postseason minutes and play responsible defensive hockey. Poile has also shown through his recent moves that he feels the team needs more grit and toughness. If the Predators are still rolling come March 1st and feel good about their playoff chances, this need could turn into a big acquisition. Otherwise, a nice depth player who presents an upgrade over their current #5-#7 defenders would still be helpful albeit more affordable and reasonable.

 

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