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Russia Adds Top Talent For IIHF World Championship

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Teams that lose in the first round of the NHL playoffs often represent the biggest source of talent for the IIHF World Championship, and for Team Russia that is certainly the case this season. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express tweets that Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Nikita Zaitsev have all accepted an invitation from Russia to suit up in next month’s tournament. Evgenii Dadonov from the Florida Panthers will be joining them, giving the Russians quite the powerful forward group.

It’s not just those players who are headed to Slovakia for the tournament, as the team had previously received commitments from Evgeni Malkin, Nikita Kucherov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Mikhail Sergachev, Kirill Kaprizov, Andrei Vasilevskiy and others.

For Ovechkin, this is just another chance to add to his incredible international resume. The Washington Capitals have been knocked out of the playoffs early many times in the past, leading to the superstar forward suiting up 12 times in the past for this tournament. While still looking for an Olympic gold—Russia won last year when the NHL did not attend—Ovechkin has won this tournament three times previously and has a total of eight medals.

The action begins on May 10th.

Snapshots: Kings, Checkers, Hornqvist

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In 2017-18, the Los Angeles Kings finished with 98 points, were a playoff team and had both a Norris Trophy and Hart Trophy finalist (and Selke winner) on their roster. Dustin Brown had found his edge again and recorded a 60-point season, while Jonathan Quick took home the Jennings Trophy as the goaltender for the team with the lowest goals against average in the NHL. Then, it all came crashing down. The club finished 30th in the NHL in 2018-19, fired their coach and traded away several assets. Things looked grim.

As Todd McLellan comes in to try and turn the team around, he spoke with Mark Spector of Sportsnet and was clear that it won’t be a quick process. The Kings aren’t expecting to be back competing for the Stanley Cup next season, and are just “at the beginning of the process.” The question now becomes what happens with the other veteran assets on Los Angeles, as names like Brown, Quick, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter aren’t getting any younger. If “it’s not going to be an overnight thing” as McLellan says, where does that leave the aging stars?

  • The Charlotte Checkers will be without two key defenders for their next game, as both Trevor Carrick and Bobby Sanguinetti have been given suspensions. While Sanguinetti will serve just a single game for a check to the head, Carrick is out for three games after leaving the bench to join an on-ice altercation. The Checkers are tied 1-1 in their first-round series against the Providence Bruins, and will need to find a way to win without two of their veteran blue liners.
  • Patric Hornqvist will suit up for Sweden at the upcoming IIHF World Championship, continuing his season after a disappointing exit with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hornqvist joins a squad that needed some help up front, and could very well find himself skating beside rookie sensation Elias Pettersson. The 32-year old winger won a gold medal with Sweden last year, scoring two goals in five games. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that teammate Marcus Pettersson will be an alternate for the Swedish squad.

Snapshots: Svechnikov, Hischier, Lack

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It appears as though the Carolina Hurricanes aren’t going to rush back one of their young stars, as head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters, including Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. that Andrei Svechnikov is “doubtful” for tomorrow’s game. The Hurricanes are on the brink of elimination, but with Svechnikov such an integral part of their future and dealing with such a serious injury, the team simply can’t push him back too fast. With the Washington Capitals losing T.J. Oshie for the rest of the series (if not the playoffs), both teams will be short-handed in game six.

  • While Switzerland isn’t a traditional hockey powerhouse, they have performed as well as anyone at recent international events. The Swiss are coming off a silver medal finish at last season’s IIHF World Championship, and will add a top name to the squad for this season. The New Jersey Devils today announced that Nico Hischier will be suiting up for his country in next month’s tournament, adding a dangerous offensive player to a group that is always extremely disciplined in their own end.
  • One of Hischier’s former Devils teammates may be leaving the NHL. Swedish news source Hockeypuls reports that veteran goaltender Eddie Lack is in talks to return to his native Sweden to play for Leksands IF of the SHL. The 31-year-old is an impending free agent who did not make an NHL appearance this season and was limited by injuries to just six AHL starts with pedestrian results. While Lack has played in close to 150 NHL games, he has not been a regular contributor for two years and has not put up standout numbers for another two years before that. It’s time for Lack to move on with his career, and Leksands is reportedly excited to bring him in. The team was just promoted back to the SHL and acquiring an experience netminder could help them avoid being relegated right back to the Allsvenskan. Lack played for the organization for three years prior to jumping to North America and would be welcomed back with open arms.

Morning Notes: Smith-Pelly, Boychuk, Sweden

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The Washington Capitals have recalled Devante Smith-Pelly ahead of their next game against the Carolina Hurricanes. T.J. Oshie “won’t be playing any time soon” according to head coach Todd Reirden after the forward was run into the boards by Carolina’s Warren Foegele last night. Foegele will not receive any disciplinary action from the league for the hit, but the Capitals will still have to find a way forward without one of their leaders up front.

In comes Smith-Pelly, who spent a good chunk of the year in the minor leagues after being waived by the team earlier this year. The 2018 playoff hero had 14 points in 20 games for the Hershey Bears, but will now try to prove that he still belongs on the NHL team. In 48 career playoff games, Smith-Pelly has 13 goals—just one off the highest regular season total of his career.

USA Hockey Announces 2019 IIHF World Championship Preliminary Roster

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The IIHF World Championship gets underway in just a few weeks and USA Hockey has announced the first group of players that will be suiting up for them. GM Chris Drury released 17 names that will be taking part, including captain Patrick Kane. The group is an impressive list of NHL stars that could very well bring home the country’s first gold medal at the tournament in nearly 60 years. The roster so far is as follows:

G Thatcher Demko
G Cayden Primeau
G Cory Schneider

D Quinn Hughes
D Alec Martinez
D Brady Skjei
D Ryan Suter

F Alex DeBrincat
F Jack Eichel
F Luke Glendening
F Patrick Kane
F Clayton Keller
F Chris Kreider
F Dylan Larkin
F James van Riemsdyk
F Frank Vatrano
F Colin White

Snapshots: Kane, Bruins, Thornton

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USA Hockey has announced their captain for the upcoming IIHF World Championship and it will once again be Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane. Kane served as captain of the team last year when they took home a bronze, and has competed several times internationally.

The club is expected to release their preliminary roster later this week, but it appears as though they will be one of the favorites again. The American squad will also feature Kane’s teammate Alex DeBrincat, along with others like James van Riemsdyk and Quinn Hughes. The group will be led by Jeff Blashill behind the bench, and play their first official game on May 10th against Slovakia.

  • When the dust settled on game two between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, it appeared as though both teams would lose players for their next matchup. Nazem Kadri is expected to be given a long suspension for his cross-check to the face of Jake Debrusk, but the Bruins forward was back on the ice today at practice and is expected to play tonight. The same can be said about Torey Krug, who will take part in the game despite looking severely injured after taking a big hit from Jake Muzzin. Kadri meanwhile is having his in-person hearing in New York with the league.
  • After Kadri’s hearing the league will also be looking at Joe Thornton’s hit from the San Jose Sharks-Vegas Golden Knights game according to David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Thornton made considerable contact with Tomas Nosek’s head, and received a two minute minor penalty for it. It’s not clear if the hit will rise to the level of supplemental discipline, as the Department of Player Safety has not yet announced a hearing for Thornton. UPDATE 1:15pm: The league has announced a hearing for Thornton. It will happen today.

Snapshots: Worlds, McLellan, Hawkey

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Team Canada got turned down by Carey Price for the upcoming IIHF World Championship, but still could have some pretty excellent goaltending for the tournament. Not only will young phenom Carter Hart be part of the team, but Craig Morgan of The Athletic has heard that Darcy Kuemper is also on the team’s radar. There could be several other candidates considered, especially since teams exiting the first round of the playoffs would make their players available.

If it is Hart and Kuemper, it would certainly not be tandem that was expected at the beginning of the season. The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender won’t turn 21 until August, but put together quite an NHL debut this season. In 31 games Hart put up a .917 save percentage and kept Philadelphia in the playoff hunt longer than many expected early in the year. The same could be said about Kuemper, who went from unheralded backup to potential Vezina candidate after posting a .925 in 55 appearances. The tournament begins on May 10th.

  • Now that the draft lottery is over all eyes in Los Angeles will be waiting for the result of the Kings’ coaching search, which appears to still have some work to do. Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times tweets that as of earlier today nothing was imminent for the Kings, though they are still in the “sweepstakes” for Todd McLellan. McLellan has also been meeting with the Buffalo Sabres this week as he also takes in the NCAA Frozen Four, and reports have seemingly come from both sides that they were close to signing the coach. Wherever McLellan does end up, it seems as though the other team will quickly have to move on to their next candidate—unless another team moves on him first.
  • Speaking of the Frozen Four, Minnesota-Duluth won their semi-final game earlier today and eliminated the Providence Friars. That marks the end of several NCAA careers for Providence including goaltender Hayden Hawkey, who will now have to make a decision on whether to sign right away or wait for unrestricted free agency this summer. The Montreal Canadiens traded Hawkey’s rights last summer in exchange for a fifth-round pick, likely to avoid this situation since they already have a full depth chart of goaltenders. The 24-year old posted a .920 save percentage for Providence this season, his third as the team’s starter. He’ll become a free agent in August if the Oilers don’t get him under contract.

Russia Announces Several Players For IIHF World Championship

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The Russian National Team has announced several players who will begin preparation next week for the upcoming IIHF World Championship, and there are interesting notes to be gleaned from the list. The group is not exhaustive, meaning that several other players will join the team after being eliminated from their respective KHL or NHL playoffs, while not every player listed may end up suiting up at the tournament in May. The announced names:

Goaltender:

Alexandar Georgiev, New York Rangers

Defensemen:

Artem Zub, SKA St. Petersburg
Dinar Khafizullin, SKA St. Petersburg
Vladislav Gavrikov, SKA St. Petersburg
Artem Sergeev, Salavat Yulaev
Ilya Lyubushkin, Lokomotiv
Egor Yakovlev, New Jersey Devils
Ivan Provorov, Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards:

Ilya Kovalchuk, Los Angeles Kings
Vladislav Namestnikov, New York Rangers
Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks
Evgenii Dadonov, Florida Panthers
Alexander Burmistrov, Salavat Yulaev
Vladimir Tkachyov, Salavat Yulaev
Nikita Gusev, SKA St. Petersburg
Sergei Plotnikov, SKA St. Petersburg
Nail Yakupov, SKA St. Petersburg
Alexander Barabanov, SKA St. Petersburg

First and foremost, the eye will immediately be drawn to Gusev’s name after reports this morning indicated that he may be on his way to the Vegas Golden Knights instead. While Darren Dreger of TSN reports that Gusev’s representation is working to get him out of the last few weeks of his contract with SKA, the Golden Knights themselves have refused to comment on the situation. It’s not clear at this point if he will be allowed to join Vegas for an NHL playoff run, or if Gusev is instead going to join the national team and participate in the upcoming tournament.

Next is Provorov, who is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. Players often avoid going to the tournament if they don’t have a contract for next season due to the injury risk, but perhaps the Flyers have already done work to remedy that situation. In fact, the Russian press release indicates that Provorov will “join the team after he signs a new contract” indicating that they might not be waiting very long. The tournament starts on May 10th, well before Provorov would actually become an RFA.

Dadonov and Anisimov will also not be joining the Russian team right away. The former is dealing with a minor injury and will have to be cleared by the Panthers before reporting, while the latter is said to be joining the group on April 26th.

Hockey Canada Names World Championship Coaching Staff

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Hockey Canada has named their full coaching staff for the upcoming IIHF World Championship, a group that will be led by Alain Vigneault. The former New York Rangers bench boss will be joined by assistants Dave Hakstol, Lindy Ruff and Kirk Muller.

The entire staff has quite a bit of NHL experience under their belt, and were all employed recently if not this season. The group will be commanding a Canadian team that is expected to have quite a bit of talent, although some big names have already dropped out. Connor McDavid was injured in his last game of the season and won’t be able to attend, and Carey Price has already ruled himself out as well. Price’s teammate Shea Weber also is unlikely to go, instead looking forward to a full offseason of rest and training instead of rehab from injury.

Still, Canada always puts together a solid roster and should serve as a chance for Vigneault and others to show what they can do with a talented group. The former Rangers coach has been connected to various vacancies already, though one of those spots has already been filled with the hiring of Joel Quenneville in Florida.

The tournament runs May 10-26 in Slovakia and Canada’s contingent will be put together by a management group including Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill, and former GMs Ron Francis and Ron Hextall.

USA Hockey Announces World Championship Coaching Staff

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The upcoming IIHF World Championship will feature a USA Hockey squad led by GM Chris Drury and a very experienced coaching staff. The team announced today that Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill will serve in that role at the upcoming tournament, while John Hynes (New Jersey Devils), Dan Bylsma (Red Wings) and Kevin Reiter (USNTDP). Blashill will be leading the team for the third consecutive year.

Team USA will have quite a few outstanding options for the tournament, and have already started contacting players to see if they would be willing to suit up. Colin White and Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators, Alec Martinez of the Los Angeles Kings and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks have already all been invited, though some are still taking time to make a decision. It seems likely that Blashill will try to convince Red Wings star forward Dylan Larkin, who has played in the last four tournaments and wore an “A” as alternate captain in the most recent.

The team was able to capture a bronze medal last year but will be looking for a different color this time around. The tournament kicks off on May 10th for the USA squad, with a matchup against Slovakia.

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