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What Your Team Is Thankful For: Vegas Golden Knights

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for this year. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on.

What are the Vegas Golden Knights most thankful for?

An incredible start in their inaugural season.

No matter what happens, whether this expansion franchise ends up garnering a playoff spot at the end of the year or they fall off and end up in the lottery where everyone expected them to be, the Golden Knights have started in a positive, exciting and un-expansionlike way which Las Vegas fans won’t forget too quickly. Just to remind you, the NHL added nine expansion teams from 1991 to 2001, most of which bottomed out in their first season. The best team was the Florida Panthers who finished with a 33-34-17 season for 83 points in the 1993-94 season. In less than two months, the Golden Knights have a 11-6-1 record and are on pace to easily best those numbers.

Who are the Golden Knights more thankful for?

All those emerging expansion picks. The Golden Knights haven’t been a one-man show on offense, but their offense has been a collected effort in which the scoring has been evenly spread out. The team collected many emerging young players through the expansion draft, whether that is William Karlsson (from Columbus), Oscar Lindberg (from New York Rangers), Erik Haula (from Minnesota), Jon Marchessault (from Florida), or Cody Eakin (from Dallas) just to name a few. That doesn’t include some of the veteran talents such as James Neal (from Nashville) and David Perron (from St. Louis) or the defensive depth such as Luca Sbisa (from Vancouver), Nate Schmidt (from Washington), Brayden McNabb (from Los Angeles) and Colin Miller (from Boston).

What would the Golden Knights be more thankful for?

Healthy goaltending? It’s been well documented on how the team has been playing with their fourth-string goaltender Maxime Lagace in net for the past couple of weeks, who has fared quite well (unless you include that 8-2 loss to Edmonton last week). The team has lost the face of their franchise, Marc-Andre Fleury due to a concussion, backup Malcolm Subban to a lower-body injury and third-stringer Oskar Dansk to a lower-body injury. Lagace marked the fourth and last goaltender in their system, unless you include 2017 seventh-round pick Dylan Ferguson. Oh yeah, they did call Ferguson up on emergency from his junior team. Even the 19-year-old managed to see nine minutes of playing time. However, the team seems to have held on long enough as Ferguson has been sent back, and Subban is reportedly ready to return soon, possibly even tonight, while both Fleury and Dansk could be back shortly as well.

What should be on the Golden Knights’ Holiday Wish List?

Continued health and production for their future trade chips.

While the team is currently on a potential playoff run, the team is very likely to be active at the trade deadline. Players like Neal, Perron and Sbisa, to name a few are likely to be shopped at the trade deadline since all will be unrestricted free agents. It’s likely an expansion team isn’t going to extend any of them to long-term, high-priced contracts when the team plans to build long-term with youth. Considering how well Neal has played, he could net the team a coveted 2018 first-round pick if he can stay healthy. Both Perron and Sbisa have also improved their stocks while with Vegas and could also produce some good picks in the right deal.

Florida Panthers Sign Jonathan Ang To Entry-Level Deal

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Early this morning the Florida Panthers announced the signing of Jonathan Ang to an entry-level contract. The 19-year old Ang was selected 94th-overall in the 2016 draft and currently plays for the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, where he’s off to a fine start. With 30 points in his first 22 games, Ang leads the Petes in scoring and has helped them to a 12-9-1 start.

Ang is most well-known for one specific attribute: speed. The 6’0″ forward can absolutely fly up and down the ice and uses that speed to cause havoc in the offensive zone. He has experience at both center and wing, but still needs to work on the overall polish of his two-way game and use more than just speed when on the attack. Those things can usually be learned though, and Ang remains a legitimate NHL prospect despite his low draft ranking.

Peterborough looks like they have a chance to go deep in the OHL playoffs this season, Ang’s last in the junior ranks. He also will get a look for Canada’s World Junior Team after playing for them in the Summer Showcase. The Team Canada roster will be a tough nut to crack after several big names have been sent back to junior lately, but Ang has as good of a shot as anyone due to his age and success this season.

Poll: Which Team Needs Help At Forward The Most?

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In last night’s Insider Trading on TSN, the panel—comprised of Pierre LeBrun, Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger—spoke about the increased demand for top forwards around the league. According to them, the supply isn’t quite there for all these teams to go out and acquire someone impactful, so it’ll have to come down to the highest bidders.

The list of ten teams that McKenzie gave that are in the market for a forward include some surprises like Tampa Bay—who LeBrun clarified are currently looking for a winger to play with Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn—and obvious choices like Anaheim and Montreal.

Columbus put together a trade offer for Matt Duchene, and as LeBrun stated on TSN radio yesterday they’re still in the hunt for an upgrade down the middle. There’s no clear option at center as impressive as Duchene (or Kyle Turris, who was included in the same trade), but players are sure to shake loose as the season progresses.

So, who on this list needs the forward help the most this year? While deciding your vote, make sure to not just take in the offensive struggles but the proximity to Stanley Cup contention for each club. Which team will be the most willing to spend at the deadline, and go after the big fish to put them over the edge?

We’ve included all the teams on McKenzie’s list, but if you feel strongly that another should join the pursuit of another forward make sure to leave your comments below.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Montreal Canadiens Claim Antti Niemi

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With Carey Price and Al Montoya still not back at practice with the team, and Zach Fucale serving as an emergency backup the team has claimed Antti Niemi off waivers from the Florida Panthers. Price today said that he was getting closer to a return, but with Montoya still out indefinitely the team needed a more experienced backup. Fucale, a prized prospect, needs to get back to starting in the minor leagues.

Niemi is onto his third team this year after being previously waived by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers. That follows a summer that saw him bought out by the Dallas Stars, another team that could deal with his lackluster performance any longer. The Stars will pay him $1.5MM this year as terms of the buyout, but now Montreal will pick up the remainder of his $700K hit—that is, if they were to keep him.

GM Marc Bergevin spoke on the situation today after practice:

[Niemi] gives us some depth. Not knowing how far off [Montoya] is, he gives us a safety net. When Carey is back, we’ll re-evaluate our goalie situation, and same thing when [Montoya] is back.

This move seems destined to lead to another waiving of the 34-year old goaltender as soon as Price returns, unless they decide that having Charlie Lindgren in the minor leagues is better for his development. The young Lindgren has performed admirably in his four starts, showing that he’s ready for an NHL job of some sort.

Niemi of course has history with Bergevin from their days in Chicago. As a rookie in 2010, Niemi led the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup while Bergevin served as Director of Player Personnel.

Florida Panthers Place Antti Niemi On Waivers

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Antti Niemi is used to this by now. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Florida Panthers have placed the goaltender on waivers today, the third time he’s headed to the wire in the last few months. Niemi was waived by Pittsburgh earlier in the year, and by the Dallas Stars this summer before buying the goaltender out of his contract.

The Panthers had claimed him earlier this season after Roberto Luongo went down to injury, but allowed five goals on just 39 shots in his two appearances. While an .872 save percentage is much better than what he put up in Pittsburgh (.797) it’s still not good enough to stick in the NHL. With Luongo back healthy, the team no longer needs his services.

It will be interesting to see if Niemi is claimed this time around, or if the Panthers are able to keep him around in the AHL. Their minor league affiliate in Springfield has two goaltenders, but neither is off to a spectacular start to the season. Niemi comes with just a $700K cap hit, so would not affect the team’s salary cap if he was sent to the minor leagues.

Metropolitan Notes: Santini, Ho-Sang, Hunwick, Niskanen, Vesey

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The New Jersey Devils got back into the win column Saturday after failing to win their previous four games. Despite that fact, New Jersey remains in first place with a 10-4-2 record in a tough Metropolitan Division. Yet, the team’s 2-1 victory Saturday against the Florida Panthers was a defensive effort in which many players praised the play of unheralded defenseman Steven Santini, according to The Record’s Andrew Gross.

The physical 22-year-old defenseman only played in 38 games a year ago, but is a mainstay on the team’s defense this year. The former second-round pick from 2013, showed off his physicality against Florida with big hits, most notably a hit in which he dumped the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov into his team’s own bench in the second period. Santini got plenty of ice time with 23:42, was credited with four hits and was smart enough to avoid a penalty when challenged by Panthers’ enforcer Micheal Haley in the third period.

  • New York Islanders Joshua Ho-Sang made the most of his emergency recall Saturday when he scored a goal against the St. Louis Blues last night, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. Ho-Sang, the team’s first-round pick in 2014, had played six games with the Islanders to start the season, but was sent down to work on improving his in-game mentality — knowing when to drive to the net and when to dump the puck. Ho-Sang had put up two goals and four assists in six games during that span with the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but with Anthony Beauvillier day-to-day, Ho-Sang got his chance to redeem himself. He can stay up on an emergency basis for 30 days or 10 games, but the team could always officially recall him as well.
  • Jonathan Bombulie of The Trib Live writes that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Matt Hunwick, who has already missed 12 games due to a concussion diagnosed on Oct. 17, has hit a plateau in his recovery and will be held off the ice for a few more days. “He’s been having a tough time getting over that last hurdle, and so they want to take a little bit of a different approach to try to get him over that last hump,” coach Mike Sullivan said.
  • NBC Sports Tarik El-Bashir writes that Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen will travel on the team’s upcoming road trip to Nashville and Colorado, according to head coach Barry Trotz. Niskanen, who has been on LTIR since Oct. 14 due to an upper-body injury, will not suit up tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, but could be ready to suit up for one or both of the away games this week. The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan tweets that Niskanen has been cleared for contact, but is not “full go” and may or may not be ready for games this week. A key veteran defender, the team’s defense would get a big boost upon his return.
  • New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey went straight to the dentist after Saturday’s victory over the Edmonton Oilers, according to Newsday’s Steve Zipay. The 24-year-old wing took a Zack Kassian skate to the mouth in the second period. Two of Vesey’s teeth had to be removed from his lip. Despite the injury, Vesey returned for a shift in the third period and wore a protective plastic cage attached to the lower part of his helmet. He is day-to-day.

Dallas Stars Acquire Reece Scarlett From Florida Panthers

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The Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers have made a minor league trade today, swapping Reece Scarlett and Ludwig Bystrom. Scarlett will head to Dallas after less than a year in the Florida organization as he was traded from New Jersey at last year’s deadline.

Scarlett, 23, was selected in the sixth round by the Devils in 2011 but hasn’t been able to take a step past solid AHL blueliner. That’s not to say he doesn’t have value in that role though, as he continually puts up solid point totals and can play in various situations.

Bystrom on the other hand was a second-round pick of the Stars in 2012. Selected 43rd-overall, he’d been holding his own in the Swedish Elite League and looked like he could make the jump to North American pro quickly. After a couple more successful seasons in the SHL he did come to the AHL in 2015, but hasn’t turned into the puck-rushing player they’d hoped for. He’d fallen down the depth chart considerably in Dallas, and will look for a fresh start with the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Minor Transactions: 11/09/17

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The NHL is about to play regular season games in Europe for the first time in many years, as the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche are set to duel tomorrow night in Stockholm. As they entertain Sweden, the rest of the league is tightening up to continue their respective playoff runs. As always, we’ll keep track of the minor moves right here.

  • The Florida Panthers have recalled Dryden Hunt from the AHL, the first such transaction of his career. The 21-year old Hunt was an undrafted free agent, who scored 58 goals and 116 points in his final year of junior hockey. The Panthers signed him to an entry-level contract in the spring of 2016.
  • Roland McKeown has been assigned to the AHL by the Carolina Hurricanes, ending his short stint with the team. McKeown made his NHL debut just a few nights ago, and in his second game impressively recorded two assists. Those points came in fewer than ten minutes, as the Hurricanes limited his playing time considerably and heaped the minutes onto Jaccob Slavin and Justin Faulk. McKeown might not be quite ready for the NHL, but it won’t be long before the 21-year old is holding down a full-time role in the league.
  • The Hurricanes have also activated Lee Stempniak from injured reserve, only to send him to the AHL on a conditioning stint. Stempniak hasn’t played yet this season due to an upper-body injury, but is an important part of their offense. Despite his age (Stempniak will turn 35 in February) he still seemed as effective as ever last year scoring 40 points, most of which came at even strength.
  • With Nathan Beaulieu and Josh Gorges expected to return soon, the Buffalo Sabres have sent Zach Redmond back to the AHL. Redmond was acquired earlier this season from Montreal as a depth piece, and they’ve already needed him for three games. Since Rasmus Ristolainen has been downgraded to week-to-week, it’s possible you’ll see Redmond right back up if the Sabres experience another injury on the back end.
  • Austin Czarnik is on his way back to the AHL after his latest call-up with the Boston Bruins. The 24-year old will be assigned to the Providence Bruins on paper, but could be on his way back up if Brad Marchand isn’t able to go this weekend. Both Marchand and Noel Acciari are game-time decisions for the team tomorrow night, but the former isn’t actually with the team yet in Toronto.

Owen Tippett Sent Back To OHL

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The Florida Panthers—taking a page out of the Edmonton Oilers book—have sent 18-year old Owen Tippett back to his junior club. Tippett had played seven games with the Panthers, scoring one goal, but will now return to the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL. He will not burn a year of his entry-level contract as he played fewer than ten games. With the announcement, GM Dale Tallon released a statement:

Owen was impressive in his time with our club and has a bright future with the Panthers. This was a tough decision, but we think it’s best for his long-term development.

It’s hard to argue that this isn’t the best move for Tippett’s development, especially given what will likely transpire over the next few months. While Mississauga has gotten off to a slow start, they do have plenty of talent still and could turn things around enough to at least make the OHL playoffs. What will be very interesting though is Tippett’s international play. He’ll almost certainly be taken by Team Canada to the World Junior tournament in Buffalo after attending the Summer Showcase this year, but there could be an even more intriguing option.

Canada’s Olympic management team has already had discussions with the CHL on taking junior players to Pyeongchang, with Elliotte Friedman reporting on the negotiations. Friedman mentioned Jordan Kyrou as a possibility, but Tippett’s name would likely be added to that list. Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press reported earlier this summer that junior players would be eligible even if they’d already signed their entry-level contracts, and further to that even if they’d already played in the NHL. In specific, Whyno told PHR “if someone’s on a slide, in theory he’s eligible.” That would include Tippett (and Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto for the United States), making him an interesting player to watch over the next few months.

McCann, Sceviour, And Brickley Set To Return To The Lineup

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  • The Panthers will be getting some help from the infirmary tonight as NHL.com’s Alain Poupart reports (Twitter link) that forwards Jared McCann, Colton Sceviour, and Connor Brickley are all set to return to the lineup. McCann (lower-body) and Sceviour (upper-body) have each missed the last five games while Brickley (upper-body) has sat out the last three games.  Florida made a pair of roster moves yesterday to free up spots on the active roster when they returned forwards Denis Malgin and Chase Balisy to AHL Springfield.

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