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Nashville Predators Issue Injury Updates

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A few weeks ago the Nashville Predators were being written off as deadline sellers with no chance at the postseason. Now, after an incredible 11-2 run since the middle of March, the team holds the final playoff spot in the Central Division. GM David Poile’s confidence in his group has paid off, but his resolve to hold onto his deadline chips will be tested once again.

The Predators have issued several injury updates today. Eeli Tolvanen and Dante Fabbro are now both considered week-to-week with their respective injuries, while Mathieu Olivier will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. The team has placed Filip Forsberg on injured reserve after also being listed as week-to-week recently.

As Adam Vingan of The Athletic points out, the list of injured for the Predators has grown quite long. Forsberg, Fabbro, Tolvanen, Matt Duchene, Mark Borowiecki, Brad Richardson, Ryan Ellis, and Luca Sbisa are all week-to-week, while Alexandre Carrier (3-5 weeks) and Olivier are out even longer. That’s an incredible amount of talent watching from the trainer’s table while the team tries to hold onto this newly found playoff position.

Things won’t get easier down the stretch for Nashville either. The team will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow and still have seven games after that against the top three teams in the division. With the Chicago Blackhawks still close on their heels and the Dallas Stars starting to show signs of life, the Predators can’t afford any type of stumble down the stretch.

Bobby Ryan Expected To Miss Rest Of Season

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The Detroit Red Wings have one fewer trade chip for Monday’s deadline. The team announced today that Bobby Ryan is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with an upper-body injury. Ryan is a pending unrestricted free agent.

It’s a brutal end to the year for Ryan, who was on something of a comeback tour this season after going through difficult times in Ottawa. The 34-year-old forward had seven goals and 14 points in 33 games for the Red Wings and could have ended up on a contender at the deadline. Instead, he’ll now have to head into an uncertain offseason once again without a contract.

Hopefully, Ryan is able to recover and return to the NHL next season, but for players of his age season-ending ailments are never a positive sign. Over a long successful career, the veteran forward has suited up in 866 regular season games, scored 569 points, and won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2020.

For Detroit, losing Ryan isn’t ideal, but he wasn’t expected to bring back a premium asset anyway. The team is perhaps missing out on a mid-round pick, but GM Steve Yzerman has plenty of other trade chips to use—not to mention already owns six selections in the first three rounds this year.

Trade Deadline Primer: Vancouver Canucks

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We are now just a few days away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Vancouver Canucks’ season was over well before this ongoing team-wide battle with the Coronavirus. Their current extended stoppage is just the final nail in the coffin of a disappointing campaign. At least the team can move some expiring contracts, add some futures, and get ready for next year, right? Well, there are a few different factors working against the Cancuks making much of an impact as a seller at the trade deadline.

The first is that they lack any of the top available rentals and the seconds is that their best trade assets are not really available. The Canucks opted to re-sign Tanner Pearson rather than trade him, removing arguably their top rental from the market. Additionally, veteran defensemen Alexander Edler and Travis Hamonic have No-Movement Clauses and have expressed no inclination to waive them. If Vancouver had any chance of landing a substantial return at the deadline, it would have been by dealing these three players.

Beyond that, the COVID status of nearly the entire roster also does not help. While there is no rule against trading a player on the NHL’s COVID Protocol list, it isn’t exactly an attractive attribute for buyers. While there has been recent progress in Vancouver that suggests the team could be healthy, perhaps even by the deadline, their current status is not encouraging.

So what is there to expect from the Canucks in the coming days? The team still has a few pieces that they may be able to move for moderate returns, but don’t be surprised if it is a relatively quiet deadline in Vancouver.

Record

16-18-3, .473, 5th in North Division

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$0 in full-season space ($5.13MM in LTIR space), 0/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2021: VAN 1st, VAN 2nd, VAN 3rd, VAN 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th, VAN 7th
2022: VAN 1st, VAN 2nd, VAN 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th, VAN 7th

Trade Chips

With Pearson, Edler, and Hamonic off the table, veteran two-way center Brandon Sutter is the Canucks’ top trade chip. The impending UFA is a shadow of his former self, but is still a valuable depth piece due to his experience, versatility, and defensive ability. An ideal fit for a contender as a bottom-six forward, face-off asset, and penalty kill specialist, Sutter is the type of player who ends up being an invaluable acquisition to a team that makes a Cup run. His value isn’t what it used to be, but Sutter could still net a nice return, especially if he has a clean bill of health. The Canucks could boost his value by retaining part of his $4.375MM cap hit as well.

Another intriguing rental will be defensemen Jordie Benn. The veteran has plenty of experience, plays a sound defensive game, and is quietly enjoying the best per-game scoring season of his NHL career despite playing career-low minutes. Benn, who is also one of the few Canucks not currently sidelined by COVID, should be healthy and fresh and ready for a new challenge with a contender. An affordable addition at just $2MM, many buyers could do far worse than adding Benn as blue line depth.

While waiver claims are not usually considered trade assets, the Canucks were pretty high in the waiver order when they snagged forward Jimmy Vesey and Travis Boyd recently and they could shop their pair around to see if they can turn a claim into a draft pick. Could the buried Sven Baertschi also draw interest as a depth piece?

While there are not expected to be many term players dealt at the deadline, the Brett Connolly trade has already shattered the perception that they won’t happen at all. The Canucks stand out as a team that could trade away some players under contract next season and beyond. They have already been shopping forward Jake Virtanen for much of the season and there is no reason to believe that they will not still field offers, if any interest exists. A more interesting move would be if Vancouver decided to make underrated forward Tyler Motte available. Motte has been steadily improving over the past few years, but truly broke out in the playoffs last season and continued to perform at a high level this season, though he has missed time due to injury. At a minimal cap hit through next season, Motte is solid, two-way forward who could provide bottom-six value to a contender beyond just this year. Motte could be this season’s Barclay Goodrow if the Canucks make him available.

One major trade that wouldn’t be much of a surprise if it wasn’t for the fact that his name has not even been whispered on the rumor mill: the Canucks moving Braden Holtby. The veteran goaltender has one season remaining on his contract, but his future is not in Vancouver given the strong play and subsequent long-term extension of Thatcher Demko. Holtby has not performed this season, but was a top goalie in the NHL not long ago and could still draw interest, especially with numerous teams seeking help in net this season and beyond. Holtby might be an attractive pick for the Seattle Kraken in the Expansion Draft, but if Vancouver can instead get something in exchange for the capable keeper, they should do so. As long as they can figure out the expansion ramifications of the move, a Holtby trade would make sense for the Canucks if interest exists.

Others to watch for: D Jalen Chatfield ($700K, Group 6 UFA), D Ashton Sautner ($700K, UFA), D Brogan Rafferty ($700K, UFA), F Tyler Graovac ($700K, UFA), F Zack MacEwen ($825K, 2022 RFA)

Team Needs

1) Picks and Prospects – The Canucks are not your typical seller. The team made a playoff run just last year, have a number of talented young pieces, and are looking to reset for next year rather than rebuild for the future. With that said, Vancouver is not exactly boasting an elite pipeline either. They have some truly great young players on the NHL rosters and several players in the AHL and overseas who will be pushing for NHL roles as early as next year. However, their lack of first- and second-round picks last season and no mid- or late-round surprises in recent years have thinned the pipeline among younger prospects. Especially at center, the Canucks have a major need for some future talent. Adding picks or targeting young prospects is the best way for Vancouver to maximize their rentals.

2) Term Defenseman – The Canucks are looking to reload for next year though and with a whopping seven defensemen in the organization headed for unrestricted free agency this summer, it wouldn’t hurt to look for a blue liner with term on his contract. The addition would also solve an Expansion Draft exposure issue that the team currently has no obvious solution for.

Trade Deadline Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning

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We are now less than a week away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning needed to look for a new challenge this season after stomping the competition in the 2020 postseason. They decided that if the league’s teams weren’t good enough to beat them, they would just take on the league itself. This season, the Lightning have stretched the NHL’s hard salary cap to it’s limit. Some might even throw the word “circumvention” out there. Tampa has managed to hold on to it’s extremely talented and fairly compensated roster due almost entirely due to the timely injury of Nikita Kucherov and the acquisitions of other injured players Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson. The Bolts have over $17MM in salary on Long-Term Injured Reserve – and they’ve used up all but $370,500 of it. There is zero space for the Lightning to do anything at the trade deadline beyond a minor depth addition, but they will get a major boost in the postseason with the return of Kucherov. Barring another opportunistic injury or a hockey trade that no one sees coming, the Bolts may have to settle for that this season.

Record

26-11-2, .692, 3rd in Central Division

Deadline Status

Stand Pat

Deadline Cap Space

$0MM in full-season space ($371K in LTIR space), 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2021: TBL 1st, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, NJD 7th, NSH 7th, TBL 7th
2022: TBL 1st, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th

Trade Chips

There is a difference between what the Lightning could offer and what they will offer, given that they are in no position to make much of a trade. It is unlikely that the team is going to move any of their roster players to open up space, so even though pieces like Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn may seem expendable, it is hard to imagine the team trading them in-season as opposed to waiting for the off-season.

As a result, Tampa has little space to work with and that means their targets will not be high-priced pieces. The most likely result for the Bolts is that they add a cheap depth piece in exchange for a late pick or low-end prospect. Those are the “chips” that will probably move, if there is any move at all.

In the event that Tampa tries to make a bigger move, using the very limit of their salary cap potential despite the risks, they will still be looking at a picks-and-prospects scenario in this buyer’s market. Without a second-round pick for the next two years, the Lightning’s first-rounders are probably off the table unless they are asking a team to give up one of the top rentals on the market and retain the maximum 50% of his salary in order to make the deal work under the cap. The likelihood of such a deal is low. Expect for them instead to dangle multiple mid-round picks and prospects like Jack Finley or Jack Thompson if they really want to make a splash.

Others to Watch For: F Taylor Raddysh ($833K, RFA), F Boris Katchouk ($833K, RFA), F Alex Barre-Boulet ($759K, RFA), F Sam Walker (Draft Rights), D Eamon Powell (Draft Rights)

Team Needs

1) Defense – If, and it’s a big if, the Lightning are able to find a way to clear enough cap space to add a player of note at the deadline, it has to be on the blue line. The forward corps is deep and talented and will only get better once the postseason arrives and Kucherov can return. The net is well-manned, with Andrei Vasilevskiy enjoying another Vezina-caliber season. Both of those units remain largely unchanged from last season’s title-winning lineup. However, the defense has taken a hit. The top four is still stout, but the bottom pair and depth options range from young and inexperienced to old and ineffective. Tampa could really use a stabilizing force on the back end, especially with Jan Rutta sidelined and Erik Cernak dealing with a nagging injury. Of course, cost will be a factor. Without making a trade to move out salary, the Bolts can only open up another $1.5MM max and still be able to ice a full lineup, demoting the likes of Luke Schenn and Ben Thomas. That leaves the Bolts with a maximum $1.9MM or so to acquire a defenseman, but adding that much salary is a risk should another injury occur. The need is there, but the means to address it are problematic. The team likely thinks small with a value addition.

Boone Jenner Undergoes Surgery

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have lost another forward and another potential trade chip. Boone Jenner has undergone surgery to repair a broken finger and will miss approximately six weeks. That effectively ends his season, unless the Blue Jackets make a run down the stretch and creep into a playoff spot in the Central Division.

Jenner, who has one year remaining on his contract and carries a cap hit of $3.75MM, could have been an interesting trade chip if the Blue Jackets decided to sell at the upcoming deadline. He’s the second name that is now out of that conversation after Riley Nash was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury yesterday.

While Nash was perhaps more likely to get dealt given he is on an expiring contract, Jenner is a more important player to the Blue Jackets, playing 18 minutes a night as the team’s most reliable center. He has just eight goals and 17 points this season, a far cry from the 30-goal performance he registered as a 22-year-old in 2014-15, but sees more short-handed ice time than any other player on the team and is also a contributor on the powerplay. Even if he hasn’t been exceptionally effective, taking a piece that involved out of the lineup certainly won’t help the Blue Jackets as they look to go on that stretch run.

It is still possible that a team could acquire Jenner for next season, but more than likely this means he’ll remain with Columbus through Monday’s deadline.

Injury Updates: McAvoy, Hagg, Hischier, Wild

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The Bruins got some more bad news on the injury front as just prior to their game against Philadelphia, the team announced (Twitter link) that Charlie McAvoy was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury.  The 23-year-old has been a key cog on their back end this season, leading the way offensively with 22 points in 35 games while averaging a team-high 24:23 in ice time.  For context, he’s the only regular Boston blueliner averaging more than 20 minutes a night.  Adding help on the back end has seemingly been a goal for the Bruins dating back to last offseason and if McAvoy is going to miss any extended period of time, that need will only intensify.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • Flyers defenseman Robert Hagg is a couple of days away from returning to the lineup, relays Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has been out for the last three weeks with a shoulder injury and is averaging three hits a game in 21 appearances so far this season.
  • New Jersey center Nico Hischier has resumed skating as he works his way back from nasal surgery three weeks ago, notes Sam Kasan of the Devils’ team website. It has been a tough season for their new captain as the 22-year-old has been limited to just five games between this, a stint on the CPRA list, and an offseason leg injury.
  • Wild center Nick Bjugstad (upper body) is being evaluated to see if he’s able to play on Wednesday after leaving Monday’s contest early, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Meanwhile, winger Mats Zuccarello (lower body) skated today and is questionable for Wednesday after missing the last two games due to the injury.  As for Zach Parise, he is expected to be available to play tomorrow, his first appearance since being put into COVID protocols last month.

Goalie Notes: Senators, Price, Ranking

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The Ottawa Senators have moved Pierre Groulx out of his role as goaltending coach, replacing him with Zac Bierk. Groulx will now work with the scouting staff and development team after serving as goalie coach since 2016. Senators GM Pierre Dorion explained the move:

Unfortunately, a number of our goaltending performances this season have been underwhelming. I think very highly of Pierre Groulx, he’s as dedicated and tireless a worker as anyone in the organization, but we recently reached a point where we thought a fresh outlook could help return some stability to our crease.

The Senators have a combined save percentage of .887 this season, only ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers’ .878 mark. The biggest contributor to that poor performance has been Matt Murray, who has an .880 in 22 appearances after signing a four-year, $25MM deal with Ottawa in the offseason. Murray’s contract is actually back-loaded with $15MM in salary owed over the last two years, meaning he’ll need to get his game back on track to be worth it for Ottawa.

  • Carey Price will not be traveling with the Montreal Canadiens to Toronto for their upcoming games, instead remaining at home to get treatment on his injury. Cayden Primeau has been recalled from the AHL to the taxi squad to give the team a third goaltender during the trip. Head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that Price’s injury is a lingering one and the goaltender should only be considered day-to-day at this point.
  • Even though Price hasn’t been good this season, posting a .903 save percentage through 23 appearances, his contemporaries still believe he has the ability to be among the best in the world. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski polled ten active NHL players (including three goaltenders) and ten people in hockey operations to create a ranking of the best goalies in the game and Price still came in third behind Andrei Vasilevskiy and Connor Hellebuyck. The list speaks to the up-and-down nature of the position, with other names like Carter Hart and Jacob Markstrom also ending up ranked despite brutal 2020-21 seasons.

Riley Nash Out 4-6 Weeks

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The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without one of their key depth players for a while, as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Riley Nash will be out for four to six weeks. The veteran center suffered a lower-body injury in last night’s game when he collided with Noel Acciari.

Importantly, Nash was a potential trade chip at next week’s deadline given his status as a pending free agent. Portzline even tweets that he was “likely to be moved,” meaning this injury will cost the Blue Jackets an asset or two as well. This is exactly why teams like the New Jersey Devils pull top rentals from the lineup as the deadline approaches, hoping to avoid an injury that takes any deals off the table.

Of course, the 31-year-old Nash was never going to bring back a premium asset for the Blue Jackets in a season where he has just two goals and seven points through 37 games. A one-time 40-point center, Nash has been nothing more than a bottom-six checker for the majority of his career and has just 33 points in his 179 games with Columbus. With a $2.75MM cap hit his market was likely relatively small, so pulling him from the lineup would have certainly seemed like overkill.

Now, Nash goes into the offseason as an unrestricted free agent and could have played his last game with Columbus.

Kyle Palmieri Held Out In Anticipation Of Trade

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Last season when the New Jersey Devils were getting closer to a trade of Taylor Hall, they kept the winger out of the lineup to ensure he didn’t suffer an injury. The Devils will do it again as Kyle Palmieri will not dress tonight due to “precautionary reasons.” Palmieri’s agency Bartlett Hockey confirms that the move is made “in anticipation of a trade” in the coming days.

Just last night, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweeted that Palmieri and the Devils were trying to hammer out a last-minute extension, but that things were trending toward a trade of the veteran winger. That seems to be the decision now with just over a week before the trade deadline and Palmieri heading to unrestricted free agency at the end of the year.

The 30-year-old winger has 17 points in 34 games this season and has recorded at least 24 goals in each of the last five years. That kind of consistent offensive production will be very attractive to contenders in need of a boost in the top-six, as long as they can fit in his salary. Palmieri carries a $4.65MM cap hit, though the Devils could retain up to half of that to maximize the return.

Of note, Palmieri also has an eight-team no-trade clause (which James Mirtle of The Athletic believes includes the Toronto Maple Leafs) and could have some say in the upcoming discussions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Updates: Carlo, Panthers, O’Connor, Predators

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The Bruins will be without defenseman Brandon Carlo for a little while.  The team announced today that Carlo will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis due to an upper-body injury sustained on Thursday against Pittsburgh.  It was just his second game back in the lineup after returning from a concussion but this injury isn’t related to that and is instead below the neck.  Carlo is a big part of Boston’s back end, averaging more than 20 minutes per game over his five-year career in a predominantly shutdown role and would likely be at that average this season had it not been for the two games he was injured early.

More injury news from around the league:

  • Florida is getting some good news on the injury front today. Jameson Olive of the Panthers’ team site notes that center Aleksander Barkov and winger Patric Hornqvist are set to return tonight against Columbus.  Barkov had missed the last six games with a lower-body injury while Hornqvist had missed five in a row with an undisclosed injury.  Despite missing those contests, they sit second and fourth respectively in team scoring.
  • Avalanche winger Logan O’Connor was frequently recalled from the taxi squad in recent weeks but that won’t be the case for a while. Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that O’Connor will be out for several weeks due to a lower-body injury.  The 24-year-old has five points in 22 games this season.
  • Nashville’s long injury list has been expanded once again as the Predators announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Alexandre Carrier will miss three to five weeks with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old has logged more than 20 minutes a night over 15 games on an injury-riddled back end after playing in just five career NHL games heading into this season.  The Preds have also transferred Mark Borowiecki (upper body) to injured reserve; he was previously listed as being out week-to-week.  Luca Sbisa and Ryan Ellis are Nashville’s other rearguards that are out of the lineup.

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