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St. Louis Blues Extend Robert Bortuzzo, Logan Brown

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The St. Louis Blues have had a busy morning, announcing contract extensions with two players. Robert Bortuzzo has inked a new two-year deal that will keep him under contract through the 2023-24 season and carries an average annual value of $950K. Meanwhile, Logan Brown has re-upped for one more year at $750K, the league minimum.

It wasn’t all good news though. The team has also moved Scott Perunovich to injured reserve with an upper-body injury, recalling Dakota Joshua to take his roster spot.

Bortuzzo, 32, has been with the Blues since 2015 when he was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been a loyal soldier in the years since. Never confused for a top-four option, he’s averaged just over 14 minutes over his 341 games with the Blues and recorded just 46 points. Still, that kind of reliable depth on defense is incredibly important, especially when it comes with size–Bortuzzo stands 6’4″ 216-lbs–and physicality. The big defenseman played in 17 games for the Blues in their 2019 Stanley Cup run, actually scoring two goals including a game-winner against the San Jose Sharks.

A two-year deal may normally come with a little risk for a player like him, the $950K cap hit effectively eliminates any. Bortuzzo could be buried in the minor leagues if the Blues run into any cap issues and the two-year term would likely actually help him clear waivers if it was necessary. All this means is that the team’s sixth or seventh defenseman will be a reliable one with nearly 500 games of NHL experience.

Brown meanwhile is in a very different situation. The 23-year-old has just 47 games at the NHL level, 17 of those coming with the Blues since they acquired him from the Ottawa Senators at the beginning of the season. The 6’6″ forward was selected 11th overall in 2016 but has never been able to translate his mix of size and skill to the NHL. There are some signs that is perhaps changing, as he gets a few regular minutes with St. Louis but there is still no guarantee he becomes a reliable full-time member of the lineup.

The win here for Brown is that the contract is one-way, meaning he’ll earn that $750K no matter which league he plays in. To this point in his career he had only been on two-way contracts, and with the amount of time he has spent in the minor leagues, this $750K deal should appear like a windfall. He also gets to play at home, given he’s a St. Louis native that played minor hockey in the area before going to the OHL.

For the Blues, this is just another bet that it will all click for Brown and some insurance for next year as they approach the salary cap ceiling once again. If he can establish himself as a regular, the team can only benefit from having a player on a league-minimum contract in the lineup. If he can’t, it’ll be waivers again, where his cap hit can be buried in the minor leagues.

Injury Updates: Whitecloud, Dvorak, Batherson, Rask

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The Golden Knights suffered a blow to their back end as head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters including Owen Krepps of Vegas Hockey Now that blueliner Zach Whitecloud has a broken bone in his foot and has been ruled out of their games this week at a minimum.  The 25-year-old has quickly become an important part of the defense corps for Vegas as he is logging over 19 minutes a game while chipping in with a dozen points in 31 games.  It’s the third time this season that Whitecloud has been injured after missing time with a wrist injury and back spasms.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that center Christian Dvorak has been cleared to return from his upper-body injury and is expected to play on Tuesday against New Jersey. He sustained the injury against Minnesota two weeks ago and was placed on IR soon after.  Montreal has two open roster spots at the moment but they also have wingers Cole Caufield and Joel Armia coming back from COVID protocol so they will need to make some sort of roster move in order to add Dvorak to the active roster.
  • Senators winger Drake Batherson is targeting a return of either late March or early April from his ankle injury, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Batherson was injured on a hit from Buffalo goaltender Aaron Dell late last month.  While normally, a return in early April would only bring a player back for a couple of games, the late finish to the regular season would still allow the 23-year-old to get into the final 15-20 games even with Ottawa extremely unlikely to make the playoffs.
  • Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask won’t practice this week as he continues to battle a lingering lower-body injury, relays Conor Ryan of the Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link). The veteran has played in four games since signing with Boston last month but has posted a save percentage of just .844.  There is no timetable for his return but it stands to reason that after not skating for at least two weeks once this week is finished, he’ll need some time to get back into game shape.

Latest On Jack Eichel’s Recovery Timeline

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The Vegas Golden Knights will be represented well at this weekend’s All-Star Game, with Jonathan Marchessault joining Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo at the hometown event. There’s another star player who has stolen the headlines today though, as Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer told reporters including David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Jack Eichel could be cleared for contact after the break.

Eichel, recovering from artificial disk replacement surgery in November, was originally given an aggressive three-month timeline to return to action. When he was spotted on the ice just a few weeks after surgery it appeared as though it would be possible and now it seems his return is right around the corner.

Obviously, there are still the normal caveats that come with any player returning from injury, but Eichel’s Golden Knights debut will likely come with even more caution and patience because of his position as the first NHL player to receive this procedure. Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson, who underwent the same surgery in December, is expected back in March according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, which would be along the same three-month timetable.

DeBoer even went so far as to say that Eichel has been the best player on the ice at some recent practices, a dream scenario for the Golden Knights after taking a substantial risk in acquiring him earlier this season. The hope is that Eichel can return to full strength quickly and become a game-changing center at the top of the Vegas lineup, but that certainly is no guarantee after he missed so much time waiting for surgery. The 25-year-old’s last NHL game was played on March 7, 2021.

Eric Robinson Out Six Weeks With MCL Injury

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The Columbus Blue Jackets seem to announce a serious injury every week these days. Eric Robinson is the latest to hit the shelf, as the team announced that he will miss six weeks with an MCL sprain in his right knee. The winger was injured in Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers on a hit from Radko Gudas, one that did not draw a penalty or any supplementary discipline from the league.

Robinson, 26, has gone from undrafted college free agent to full-time NHL forward in a few short years and has 17 points in 42 games with the Blue Jackets this season. He averages 14 minutes a night in a bottom-six role, with a good chunk of that coming on the penalty kill. He and Sean Kuraly lead all Blue Jackets forwards in shorthanded ice time this season, and given the recent injuries to Alexandre Texier and Jake Bean, the team has lost a lot of the options they’re comfortable with when down a man.

Six weeks doesn’t rule him out for the rest of the season but does take him right up against the trade deadline. Any chance the Blue Jackets had to try and chase down a playoff spot before then is slipping further away with every injury that chips away at the organizational depth. The team now sits 18 points behind the Washington Capitals for fourth in the Metropolitan Division and 14 points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wildcard spot.

Noel Acciari Sent To AHL On Conditioning Stint

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The already incredibly deep Florida Panthers may be getting even deeper. Noel Acciari has been loaned to the Charlotte Checkers for a conditioning stint, a sign that he may be ready to make his season debut at some point in the near future.

Acciari, 30, suffered an injury in the preseason that required surgery and has been on long-term injured reserve ever since. This move doesn’t actually remove that LTIR designation just yet, but even if it did the Panthers are still okay cap-wise because of Markus Nutivaara’s absence. The real question would be where exactly Acciari even fits into the lineup when he returns, given how incredible Florida’s forward group has looked to this point.

While he may not be a household name for many NHL fans, remember that Acciari has been a valuable bottom-six option for the Panthers the last two seasons, even registering 20 goals in 66 games during the 2019-20 campaign. He received Selke Trophy votes that year because of the hard defensive minutes he was asked to play–Acciari almost never started a shift in the offensive zone–and there was no Panther who averaged more short-handed ice time last season. Florida’s penalty kill has actually been one of their biggest weak spots this season, as they sit 19th in the league behind several Atlantic Division rivals.

As a lineup crunch seemingly approaches, Owen Tippett’s name keeps coming up in trade talks and just yesterday Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet threw Frank Vatrano into the rumor mill as well. While Acciari certainly wouldn’t be a one-to-one replacement for either of those offensive wingers, the Panthers will need to make room for him somewhere when he’s ready to return.

Meanwhile, the team has also loaned Spencer Knight to the Checkers, where he can continue to play through the All-Star break.

Snapshots: Cooley, Miller, Blackwood

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For quite some time now, Shane Wright, the consensus preseason favorite to go first overall in the 2022 draft, has been falling closer and closer to the pack. The Kingston Frontenacs forward has been good after missing all of last year when the OHL was forced to cancel the season, but he hasn’t been outstanding. With 15 goals and 43 points in 31 games, he now sits fourth on his own team in scoring (though he is the only draft-eligible among that group) and was no longer a unanimous top pick in Bob McKenzie’s midseason scout poll for TSN.

Now, a leading publication has put him second. Chris Peters of Daily Faceoff ranks Logan Cooley as the best prospect in the 2022 draft, ahead of Wright, and notes that he is a more dynamic player at the moment. The USNTDP center was always expected to go near the top of the draft, but going first overall would certainly be a big climb for a player that wasn’t even in the top five in many preseason polls.

  • J.T. Miller has been the focus of trade speculation for the last few weeks as the Vancouver Canucks march toward the deadline, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet may have thrown some cold water on that in his latest 32 Thoughts column. He starts it by explaining that the Canucks have investigated the idea of re-signing Miller, not trading him, and notes that that could be one of the reasons why a name like Conor Garland has surfaced in recent days. The Canucks need to clear cap space and Miller’s $5.25MM hit is the fourth-highest among Vancouver forwards, but he’s also been the team’s most reliable and productive player this season. He would not be eligible for an extension until July 13 when free agency opens and he officially enters the final year of his current contract.
  • One other note from Friedman’s column regards New Jersey Devils goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood and his heel injury. The netminder is getting a second opinion over what treatment method to pursue and there is no timeline for his recovery. Blackwood last played on January 19, allowing four goals on 17 shots to the Arizona Coyotes.

Washington’s Vitek Vanecek Leaves Game, Emergency Backup On Bench

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Washington Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek will be out for the remainder of the team’s game tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins with an upper-body injury, the team announced. Taxi squad goalie Hunter Shepard, who was in the building, is on the bench as the emergency backup.

Vanecek collided with Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen in the crease during the first period, in what looked like a helmet-to-helmet collision. Both Kapanen and Vanecek initially stayed in the game, but Vanecek was pulled shortly after, presumably by a concussion spotter, in favor of Ilya Samsonov.

The 26-year-old Czech netminder has split time with Samsonov this season, posting a 10-6-5 record and .916 save percentage to go along with two shutouts. Tonight was his 23rd start of the season. He’s been the better of the two goalies, however, and it will be a huge blow to the Capitals if he misses time.

If Vanecek does miss time, the team will likely call up Zachary Fucale from Hershey. In his first four NHL games this season, he has a .924 save percentage.

Snapshots: Arizona, Mittelstadt, Verbeek

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The Arizona Coyotes’ proposed plan to spend the next few years in an Arizona State University facility has drawn plenty of concern across the hockey world, but perhaps none more pointed than the quotes from other NHL executives in Sean Shapiro’s newest piece for The Athletic. Shapiro spoke to executives from nine organizations, who, under an agreement that their identities would remain anonymous, had some pretty harsh words for the ASU plan.

Several of them called it “embarrassing” according to Shapiro, who delves into the financial impact that playing at a small rink, including in-ice and board advertisement revenue that could be at risk. The idea to play at the ASU facility currently seems the most likely outcome of the Coyotes’ search for a temporary home, but they are going to have to face very public criticism in the meantime.

  • Casey Mittelstadt will consult with a surgeon over next steps after leaving Sunday’s game in pain, according to John Vogl of The Athletic. The young forward already went under the knife in December for an undisclosed upper-body injury and only returned to the lineup on January 25. He has played in seven games this season, recording a single goal and two points. If he is forced to have another surgery, it looks like this could be a lost season for the 23-year-old, who signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal in September. Since being selected eighth overall in 2017, Mittelstadt has recorded 63 points in 162 NHL games.
  • Pat Verbeek appears to be the frontrunner for the Anaheim Ducks vacant general manager position, as Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff names him “the man to beat.” Verbeek, who has served as an assistant general manager under Steve Yzerman in both Tampa Bay and Detroit, played over 1,400 regular season games in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. He sits 72nd on the all-time points list with 1,062 and has been linked to potential GM openings for several years.

Jake Bean Out Four Weeks With Groin Injury

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have lost another young player to injury, this time announcing that Jake Bean will miss four weeks with a groin strain suffered last night.

Bean, 23, was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes last offseason in exchange for a second-round pick after he was passed over in the expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken. The young defenseman has played in 41 games for Columbus this season, normally averaging more than 21 minutes a night. He played just 6:53 yesterday before leaving and will be a big loss for a Blue Jackets team that is still trying to chase down those Eastern Conference wildcard spots.

A win against Montreal left them at 20-21-1 on the season, still 12 points behind Boston for the final playoff position. After announcing Alexandre Texier’s injury just recently, the team’s depth is certainly going to be tested in the next few weeks. Luckily for the Blue Jackets, tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers is the last before the All-Star break, meaning they have a full week of rest for any other bumps and bruises.

Bean meanwhile is in the first season of a three-year deal and was playing well enough to be considered a legitimate part of the future in Columbus. Even if the team struggles and decides to sell at the deadline, he seems an unlikely candidate to be traded even if healthy.

Sabres Place Zemgus Girgensons On IR; Activate Dahlin, Olofsson From Protocol

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The Buffalo Sabres activated defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and forward Victor Olofsson from COVID protocol ahead of tonight’s game against Colorado after erroneous COVID tests held them out of their last game on Saturday. The team also placed center Zemgus Girgensons on injured reserve retroactive to January 28th with an undisclosed injury.

Girgensons, the longest-tenured Sabre, missed the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign with a hamstring injury suffered during training camp. Back and healthy for this year, he’s brought his extremely solid defensive game to the team’s bottom six.

He’s been in and out of the lineup the past few weeks, though, missing time earlier in the month with another unknown injury and some time in December while on COVID protocol. The Latvian centerman has seven goals and 12 points in 34 games.

Getting Dahlin and Olofsson back in the fold is a large factor for the Sabres and head coach Don Granato. Dahlin, the 2018 first-overall pick, is playing some of the best hockey of his career right now and has 28 points through 42 games. Olofsson is a valuable depth piece who can put pucks in the net and is an important piece with Tage Thompson already out of the lineup.

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