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Toronto Marlies With Several NHL Veterans In Camp

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While many AHL camps have gotten underway in recent days largely with the early cuts from their NHL affiliates and ECHL hopefuls as “campers”, the Toronto Marlies drew some attention today when they announced a 40-man initial roster featuring several familiar names.

Among the many in attendance are NHL veterans Jordan Caron, Brandon Gormley, Matt Hackett, and Mackenzie Skapski. Caron and Gormley are especially interesting as past first-round picks, while Hackett and Gormley are two of the very few remaining free agent goaltenders on the market. All four players have value in their own right, yet end up not on NHL contracts, or in NHL camps, or even on AHL contracts. Why?

Skapski may be the easiest to explain. After two impressive spot starts at the young age of 21 with the New York Rangers in 2014-15, Skapski’s career has been in free fall. The next year, Skapski posted a 3.00+ GAA and nearly a .900 save percentage in the AHL and ECHL. Those numbers continued to plummet this past season, with Skapski making 13 rough starts in the AHL and spending the majority of the season in the ECHL.

The once-promising Hackett also made his NHL debut at 21 years old with the Minnesota Wild back in 2011-12. Hackett made 12 appearances with the Wild in his rookie season and had an impressive 2.37 GAA and .922 save percentage. While that level of performance was unsustainable, Hackett continued to make a living as a backup or third-string option for the Wild and Buffalo Sabres for years, before taking on more of an AHL depth role for the Anaheim Ducks since 2015. However, too much depth in net, as well as injury issues, limited Hackett to only seven starts last season, in which he was less than spectacular. More of an unknown commodity now than the future-starter tag from years ago, Hackett needs to prove himself once again at the pro level.

Gormley, the 13th overall pick in 2010 by the Arizona Coyotes, has not had the career expected of him when he was selected before fellow defensemen like Derek Forbort, Mark Pysyk, and Justin Faulk early in the draft. Gormley has just 58 games of NHL experience and has not played at the highest level since midway through the 2015-16 season. However, Gormley had been a productive AHLer, with 75 points, more than half a point per game, through his first three pro seasons. In the past two seasons? Only 21 points in 91 games. With the points disappearing, Gormley faces the possibility that his career could be coming to an end soon at just 25 years old. Gormley could use a big camp to keep that from coming to fruition.

Caron is probably the most notable player in any AHL camp on a tryout basis, not just the Marlies’, as the Boston Bruins’ 2009 first-rounder was a “black ace” call-up by the St. Louis Blues mere months ago. While Caron has the appearance of having stuck around the NHL, in actuality he has only played in four NHL games since the end of the 2014-15 season. Nevertheless, the 6’3″, 205-lb. power forward is still a veteran of over 150 NHL games and has shown flashes of ability from time to time. If any of these four player can make the Marlies – and make a difference – it is Caron.

Snapshots: Lecavalier, Miller, Rodrigues

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will retire the second number in their franchise history this season, when they raise Vincent Lecavalier’s #4 to the rafters on February 10th. Lecavalier, who last played in 2015-16, is the franchise leader in goals and was once the NHL’s youngest ever captain (since broken by multiple players) when he was given the “C” at just 19.

In 1,037 games with the Lightning, the 1998 first-overall pick scored 874 points and led them to a Stanley Cup in 2004. Twice he was nominated for the Hart Trophy as league MVP, including 2006-07 when he led the league in goals with 52. A prototypical number-one center, Lecavalier played an exceptional all around game that combined speed, power and skill. He finished his career with 949 points in 1,212 games.

  • Despite spending time in the middle during the preseason, J.T. Miller will be back in his familiar wing position when the season starts, Alain Vigneault confirmed today to a group of reporters including Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Vigneault has been impressed with the play of 2017 first-round draft picks Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, as well as former University of Michigan standout Boo Nieves. While it has been expected for a while that just one of the young players would make the roster with David Desharnais taking the other center role, there is a growing suspicion that both Andersson and Chytil could start the year with the Rangers. That would be quite the turnaround for a team that hadn’t even drafted in the first round for several years.
  • Buffalo Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues was injured this weekend in a preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs when Andreas Borgman crumpled him into the boards, and will be held out for the time being with a hand injury. Head coach Phil Housley was non-committal when asked if it would linger into the regular season, similar to the way he spoke about Jake McCabe’s upper-body injury. Both players were expected to be in the lineup for opening night, which now could open spots for some others to start the year in Buffalo instead of Rochester.

Injury Notes: Lightning, Sabres, Jets

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Despite finishing the 2016-17 season with 94 points and missing the playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the favorite of many to win the Atlantic Division and possibly even the Eastern Conference. Why? It’s not because they added Dan Girardi, Chris Kunitz, and Michael Leighton this off-season. No, the real reason for the resurgence of hope in Tampa is of course the return of captain Steven Stamkos. The Bolts’ superstar is set to return to the team after missing nearly all of last season, and the first step is his preseason debut tonight at home against the Predators. Stamkos told the Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith that, more than anything, he’s feeling curious about his first game action since November 15, 2016, eager to see how he feels and how he plays. Lightning fans are eager as well; their season rides on the health and performance of Stamkos. When Stamkos returned from a broke leg in 2014, he tells Smith that he felt he was playing “the best hockey of my career”. However, the serious knee injury that sidelined him for much of 2017 could take a bit longer to work back from. Only time will tell how one of the best players in the game returns from his latest injury, but there is no doubt that the spotlight will be on him, starting tonight.

  • Smith also issued an update today on Anton Stralman, the Lightning defenseman whose undisclosed injury had kept him from even practicing this week and had some worried about the start of the season. That is, until today. Previously, Stralman had only been seen skating at practice in a red, non-contact jersey and was not taking part in drills, but Smith reports that he was back it today, cleared for contact and participating fully. Stralman told Smith that he expects to be back t full strength for the season opener, easing the fears of the fan base.
  • Another team with a pair of potential difference-makers currently sidelined are the Buffalo Sabres. The Buffalo News’ John Vogl reports that big off-season trade acquisition Marco Scandella was back at practice today after sitting out the last few days. Still recovering from hip surgery, Scandella said that he is preparing for the season mentally, even if he’s taking it easy physically. The Sabres plan to use Scandella on the top pair this season, and while they would love for him to be at 100% come October 5th, his long-term health and durability is of greater concern.
  • Unfortunately, Vogl’s article didn’t have as much optimism about young scorer Alexander Nylander. The team’s 2016 first-round pick has yet to take the ice in training camp after suffering a lower body injury in the Sabres’ prospect camp. Nylander’s status is up in the air, but it seems highly unlikely that he will be ready for the season if he is still watching practices from the stands. New head coach Phil Housley acknowledged that the team is letting Nylander move slowly with his recovering, but admitted that there is no definite time table for his return.
  • The NHL is trying to cut down on injuries this season and to achieve that goal they are ramping up the enforcement of penalties. That presents a substantial problem for the Winnipeg Jets, who have taken more penalties than any team in the league over the past four seasons and haven’t been very good on the penalty kill either. In a stroke of genius, the team hosted former NHL referee Paul Devorski in camp today, who provided some in-depth instruction on how to void penalties, especially those like slashing that have been given special emphasis by the league this season.

NHL Orders Independent Evaluation Of Joffrey Lupul

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Joffrey Lupul may not want a second opinion, but the NHL does. Sportsnet’s John Shannon was the first to relay the news from a league source that the NHL plans to have the veteran forward evaluated by an independent doctor. It’s not surprising giving the recent allegations made against his “current” team. No specific time frame has been given, but one would expect the league to have interest in putting an end to this saga sooner rather than later.

It was only three days ago that Lupul turned heads around the hockey world when he publicly accused the Toronto Maple Leafs of “cheating” by keeping him on the Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) when he is healthy enought to continue playing. Lupul, who turns 34 this Saturday, has not played in a game since February 6, 2016, having been kept on LTIR for the entirety of the 2016-17 season. When he went in for his yearly physical with the Leafs’ medical staff last week, he was once again told that he would remain on LTIR. Frustrated and wanting to play again, Lupul lashed out on Instagram and accused the team of mismanaging not only his injury status, but several past and “current” teammates’ injuries. Yet, given a week to seek a second opinion, Lupul announced last night that he would not. Many have taken that to be backtracking on Lupul’s part and perhaps an end to this issue.

Well, the league would rather get a clear answer than continue watching Lupul’s animosity boil over while he sits on LTIR, maybe injured or maybe not. An independent evaluation will set things straight, once and for all, whether Lupul is healthy and able to return to his playing career, signaling that Toronto may have in fact been “cheating”, or whether he simply wishes and believes he can play contrary to medical sensibilities. The saga continues, but at least there now appears to be a definitive end in sight once the league schedules the exam. Of course, a decision in Lupul’s favor would open a new can of worms, one of the cap circumvention variety…

Torey Krug Out With Broken Jaw

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The Boston Bruins have had some bad injury luck, as the team announced today that Torey Krug will be out for the remainder of training camp with a non-displaced fracture after taking a puck to the jaw on Tuesday night. He’ll be re-evaluated in three weeks, which casts doubt over when his season will get started. The team also announced that Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and Matt Beleskey are both dealing with day-to-day injuries.

Krug is obviously a huge part of the Bruins defense group this year, as captain Zdeno Chara starts to slow down and more responsibility is given to the younger players. While Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo are heading in the right direction, 26-year old Krug is likely the most important piece. Last season in 81 games Krug recorded 51 points and received votes for the Norris trophy as the league’s best defenseman.

The undersized talent is a deadly force on the powerplay and at even-strength, firing stretch passes and skating the puck out of trouble. After losing Colin Miller to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, replacing Krug for any length of time could be difficult.

Injury Notes: Steen, Fabbri, Vigneault, Parise

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As we mentioned this morning, the St. Louis Blues have suffered another potentially dramatic injury after Alex Steen was ruled out of the rest of training camp with a hand injury. Like Jay Bouwmeester yesterday, Steen will be re-evaluated in three weeks, which likely means the start of the season is out of the question. The veteran forward is a big part of the Blues’ offensive presence, and will be sorely missed.

Since Zach Sanford, one of the potential replacements for Steen in the top-six is already out for several months, the team will have to look elsewhere to fill his two-way role. An interesting option would be Ivan Barbashev, who impressed the Blues’ brass in his 30-game stint last year. Scoring 12 points as a rookie, Barbashev has some of the same versatility that Steen brings and can move in and out of several roles. Still, losing another key player is a tough way to begin any campaign.

  • There was some good news for the Blues though, as Robby Fabbri is coming along right on schedule from the ACL surgery that ended his 2016-17 prematurely. Head Coach Mike Yeo told reporters, including Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Fabbri has a little bit of pain but nothing to worry about. He was given a couple of extra days before making his preseason debut, but expects to play in four exhibition contests. Fabbri was our “Player To Watch” in the recent St. Louis Primer, and could take a big step forward into stardom this season. The 21-year old has excellent offensive talent, and could very well finish the year among the team leaders in points if he can stay healthy.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets made some cuts today from their training camp roster, but will also be without Sam Vigneault for the next four to six weeks through no fault of his own. The young NCAA signing that made his professional debut last year in the AHL broke his finger, and will have to delay the start of his 2017-18 campaign. Vigneault only had an outside shot at cracking the Blue Jackets roster out of camp, but could potentially be an injury call-up during the year should he show the same combination of power and skill that he exhibited at Clarkson University.
  • Michael Russo of The Athletic caught up with Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher today, who reported that Zach Parise is “skating and progressing daily” after being held out of practice with a back injury. Parise has had issues with his back for years, but it doesn’t seem serious enough to jeopardize much of the season.

Faceoffs, Slashing & Powerplay Opportunities

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The first taste of preseason hockey the last few days has been notable for two things: injuries and penalties. While teams like the St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators have already had their fair share of the former, the league seems intent on increasing the latter. Through 18 preseason games so far (the boxscore for three matches is unavailable on NHL.com) teams are averaging 7.25 powerplay opportunities per game, thanks in part to the crackdown on slashing and faceoff violations.

Joe ThorntonThough part of that is due to the bigger gap in talent preseason games represent, and the league trying to show off their new stance on enforcing rules that have always technically been part of the game, this number would be monumental should it carry over to the regular season. Powerplay opportunities peaked in the first season after the lockout, when obstruction rules were put into place to speed the game up. In 2005-06, teams were afforded 5.85 powerplays per game. That resulted in some pretty spectacular totals.

In that year, a whopping seven players broke the 100-point mark, with Joe Thornton leading the way with 123. He did it on the back of 54 powerplay points, and each of the rest of the group tallied at least 40 points with the man advantage. Last year, when powerplay opportunities were at an all-time low of 2.99 per team, per game, Niklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals led the entire league with 35 powerplay points.

While no one is expecting the league to suddenly hand out close to 15 powerplays a game, even a moderate increase will have huge effects on the league. If, suddenly players are given two or three more opportunities a game for points, the overall increase in production could have a marked effect on the contracts signed next summer.

As an example, William Nylander led the Toronto Maple Leafs with 26 powerplay points, good for 15th in the entire league. Should that total balloon to 40+ due to no other fact that he was given more opportunities, he’ll likely be looking at an 80-point season, and a huge negotiating boost next summer when he looks to cash in. In seems then, that teams who took advantage of a signing window this offseason may be rewarded in the short term. Though obviously teams will try to use even strength totals as the basis of contracts, agents will use anything they can to try and secure the best deals for their clients.

Enforcing these rules is a good thing for injury, as hopefully we’ll see less incidents like the ones concerning Marc Methot and Johnny Gaudreau this year. But make no mistake, leaning into the idea of more powerplays will have ripples throughout the structure and finances of the game.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Josi, Faceoffs, White

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The Nashville Predators have named their on-ice leadership group for the 2017-18 season, starting with Roman Josi as the newest team captain. Josi will replace the recently retired Mike Fisher in that role, after wearing an alternate captain’s “A” for the last two years. Josi will be joined by “associate captain” Ryan Ellis and alternates Ryan Johansen, Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg.

Josi will become the leagues second Swiss-born captain following Mark Streit, who wore the “C” for the New York Islanders between 2011-2013. The Predators’ players had a big part in selecting him, but head coach Peter Laviolette had great things to say about his all-star defenseman.

Roman has led by example every day of his life. He is respected by all of his teammates and his peers. His work ethic, communication skills and accountability to his team make him the perfect choice to lead this group moving forward.

Other notes from around the league…

  • As anyone who watched the first few preseason games will have noticed, the NHL is cracking down on slashes to try to stop incidents like the Marc Methot–Sidney Crosby injury last season. Almost everyone is on board with trying to reduce hand injuries, but it’s not so clear cut on the other rule they’ve chosen to enforce. Faceoff violations drew 10 different penalties on Monday night, and the league says they’ll continue to enforce where a player can put his feet—signified by the in-circle hashes—and where they must start their stick. Neither the slashing rule nor the faceoff rule are actually new, they’re just being cracked down upon to try and quicken pace of play and reduce injuries.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have announced that Ryan White likely suffered a concussion and is in the league’s protocol, which doesn’t bode well for his chance to earn a contract in camp. White is on a professional tryout, trying to prove that he’s worth an NHL deal after splitting last year between Arizona and Minnesota. An effective fourth-line player, he could have potentially seen a regular shift for the Canucks who are in full rebuild mode.

Zach Sanford, Jay Bouwmeester Out Long-Term

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The St. Louis Blues announced today that Zach Sanford’s shoulder injury is much worse than originally expected, and the young forward will be out five to six months. Jay Bouwmeester has also suffered an ankle fracture, and will be re-evaluated in three weeks. Sanford was only expected to miss a few weeks, but will require surgery to fix his dislocated shoulder.

It’s a crushing blow for the Blues, who were expecting Sanford to compete for a full-time spot on the team to start the year. Acquired by St. Louis as part of the Kevin Shattenkirk deal, the 22-year old forward scored five points down the stretch and looked to be a big part of what the Blues were building. While his future isn’t in doubt, it’s certainly a terrible way to start what could have been his first full season in the NHL. Six months would put him returning in mid-March, which could feel almost like a trade deadline acquisition for the club.

Bouwmeester is an even bigger blow if he misses significant time. The Blues are much deeper on the right side with Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko, but will now could have to turn to youngsters like Jake Walman or Vince Dunn to play some NHL minutes. There is always the chance the team could go out and get a defenseman from free agency or trade, but St. Louis does have some depth in their prospect pool at defense. Still, none of those young players should be expected to fill the role Bouwmeester played alongside Pietrangelo, logging more than 22 minutes a night for the 13th-straight year of his career.

Joffrey Lupul Accuses Maple Leafs Of Cheating System

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Over the last few years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have made a habit out of using the long-term injured reserve list more than almost any other team in the league. Players like David Clarkson, Nathan Horton, Joffrey Lupul, and Stephane Robidas have all spent full seasons away from the team, apparently too injured to continue their career. While there has never been proof that an injury didn’t exist, Lupul has made it clear in the past that he wants to continue his playing career and once again took to social media to call out the Maple Leafs’ salary cap practices.

In an Instagram comment last night (via Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star), Lupul wrote that he was ready and just waiting for a call to play hockey again, and then subsequently said that the Maple Leafs’ “cheat” and “everyone lets them.” Fans and media alike have used the term “Robidas Island” to describe where Toronto sends their injured players, a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that they may just be more unwanted than unhealthy.

All of this has been speculation and rumor, though Jared Cowen leveled similar complaints towards the team after being bought out last summer. Now, Darren Dreger of TSN asked NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly to comment, which he declined:

We aren’t in a position to comment right now. That may or may not change when we know more.

That at least does sound like the league will be looking into it, a stance they also took when similar skepticism was shown at the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa situation. Hossa has developed a skin condition because of prolonged exposure to the equipment, one that will prevent him from playing this season. His $5.28MM contract and Lupul’s $5.25MM deal will not count towards the salary cap this season.

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