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North Notes: Virtanen, Dube, Anderson, Chabot

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After being scratched two games in a row, speculation is beginning to form around Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen. In fact, with the team being in need of defensive help, the Canucks might be willing to move on from Virtanen and his $2.55MM AAV.

The Province’s Patrick Johnston writes that one possibility might be trading Virtanen to Montreal in exchange for defenseman Victor Mete. Johnston notes that Montreal was interested in Virtanen when the two clubs discussed a deal at the 2019 draft for the now-24-year-old forward. Virtanen, who finished with 18 goals last season, so far has struggled with just one goal in nine games this season, which of course, begs the question of whether Virtanen still has any trade value.

  • There will be no hearing for Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube for his hit Saturday(video here) against Montreal Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Dube had a high hit on Kotkaniemi in the head behind Montreal’s net. No call was made. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels adds that the NHL reviewed the hit, but determined, according to Rule 48.1, that head contact was unavoidable.
  • While no official word has come from the Montreal Canadiens, Jonathan Bernier of Le Journal de Montreal reports (translation required) that forward Josh Anderson, who was pulled out of the lineup Saturday due to flu-like symptoms, tested negative for COVID-19. It is believed that Anderson’s symptoms were due to something he ate. Anderson has been quite effective this year with four goals and five points in eight games so far this year after being acquired from Columbus during the offseason. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels confirms that the Canadiens told him that Anderson tested negative on Saturday and are awaiting a test from Sunday morning.
  • Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot will not play Sunday and is listed as day-to-day, according to Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. The team recalled Artem Zub earlier today in case Chabot, who was removed from Thursday’s game due to an undisclosed injury, wasn’t able to go, which Garrioch has now confirmed.

East Notes: Drury, Palmieri, Blackwell, Eller

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While earlier reports have suggested that the Pittsburgh Penguins have focused on two candidates for their open general manager position in Los Angeles Kings’ Ron Hextall and Montreal Canadiens’ Scott Mellanby, another candidate, New York Rangers’ assistant general manager Chris Drury had become a longshot due to the belief that the New York Rangers wouldn’t be granted to interview with the Penguins.

However, New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that the Rangers would not stand in the way of Drury becoming a general manager, although as of Saturday afternoon, there had been no such request from Pittsburgh. The 44-year-old Drury has become one of the most sought-after assistant general managers in the league and the scribe believes that the Rangers are well aware that they will lose Drury to a GM opportunity sooner than later.

Marco Rossi Will Not Play This Season

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Jan 31: Rossi reported late Saturday that sources have confirmed to him that Rossi will not play this season.

Jan 30: The Minnesota Wild have released a statement on Rossi, explaining that he has “returned to Austria to rest with his family due to complications from COVID.” Though Russo reported a six-week timeline, the team says there is “no timetable for his return to Minnesota.”

Anything else would be speculation at this point, but it’s clear that Rossi won’t be back anytime soon.

Jan 29: Though it is still not exactly clear what is wrong, Marco Rossi won’t be playing for the Minnesota Wild anytime soon. The ninth-overall pick has returned to Austria according to Michael Russo of The Athletic and is expected to return in six weeks. Previously, Rossi was listed as out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, but no other specifics have been officially confirmed. The young forward had been living in Minnesota, taking up residence in Thomas Vanek’s house before this return to Austria.

Rossi, 19, played in the World Junior Championship this year, captaining the Austrian squad in four games. Prior to that, he had been assigned to Zurich in the Swiss league but managed to play in just a single game before testing positive for COVID-19. He only experienced mild symptoms and was cleared in November, but the league had been paused because of an outbreak at that point, so he did not play another game.

There was hope that Rossi could be one of the few players from the 2020 draft to jump directly to the NHL, given how polished his all-around game was at the OHL level last season. The young center recorded 39 goals and 120 points in 56 games for the Ottawa 67’s, leading all players in scoring. Instead, he now won’t even be playing in junior or the AHL as he continues to deal with whatever is ailing him. Even when he does eventually return, Rossi would have to obviously deal with any quarantine protocol is in place at the time before rejoining his Minnesota teammates.

Snapshots: Anderson, Henderson, Letang

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Partway through the game against the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson’s absence was noticeable. It wasn’t clear at all what had forced him from the game, but afterward, Claude Julien gave an update that no one wanted to hear.

Anderson had been pulled with flu-like symptoms. The power forward tested negative for COVID-19 but will be tested again tomorrow. Hopefully, further testing continues to come back negative and Anderson will be able to get back into the lineup in the coming days.

  • That likely won’t be true for at least one player in the Henderson Silver Knights-San Jose Barracuda preseason contest, given that it was suspended mid-game due to COVID protocols. Henderson was winning 1-0 as the teams came out to start the third period, but they were sent off the ice and the game was canceled. More information will come as the team gets it. UPDATE: The Silver Knights say the game was not suspended because of a positive COVID test from any Henderson players or staff.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins were already down most of their starting defensemen heading into tonight before Kris Letang suffered a lower-body injury and was removed from the game. Head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that Letang is still being evaluated. The Penguins still managed to win the game in overtime, but losing Letang would be a huge blow for a team already scraping the bottom of their depth chart.

West Notes: Dunn, Avalanche, Balcers, Talbot

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The report earlier this week that the Blues are engaging in trade discussions around defenseman Vince Dunn came as a surprise to some but a slow start and eventual cap challenges once Vladimir Tarasenko is cleared to return is certainly among the reasons his name is out there.  In a reader chat, Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posits another idea in that there is potentially a wide divide between what the team feels he’s worth versus what Dunn believes he’s worth.  Timmermann draws some parallels to former Blue Joel Edmundson who went year-to-year on his deal as the two sides were just too far apart to find common ground on a long-term agreement.  If that is indeed the case, moving Dunn now with three years of team control left after this one would make more sense than what happened with Edmundson who was moved to Carolina last year as salary ballast in the Justin Faulk trade.

More from the West Division:

  • The injuries continue to pile up for the Avalanche as Peter Baugh of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is expected to miss an extended amount of time, joining winger Matt Calvert and goalie Pavel Francouz in that particular category. Bellemare sustained a lower-body injury in Thursday’s game against San Jose.  Meanwhile, defenseman Devon Toews, who also briefly left yesterday’s contest, is also banged up with head coach Jared Bednar indicating that he’s unsure regarding the blueliner’s status.
  • Sharks winger Rudolfs Balcers has been cleared to play and will head to the minors for a conditioning stint, reports CapFriendly (Twitter links). The 23-year-old was claimed off waivers back on January 12th and received a non-roster designation the next day that lasted through today.  Balcers will be able to skate with AHL San Jose for up to two weeks before he must be recalled.
  • Minnesota is hoping to have goalie Cam Talbot available for their next game against Colorado on Saturday, notes Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. He has missed the last three games due to a lower-body injury with Kaapo Kahkonen making all three starts in his absence.  The team has sent Andrew Hammond back to the taxi squad while Dereck Baribeau has gone from the taxi squad to the minors, reports CapFriendly (Twitter links), suggesting that Talbot is indeed ready to return.

Kevin Fiala Suspended Three Games

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The Department of Player Safety has handed down a stiff penalty, suspending Kevin Fiala for three games after his boarding penalty last night. As the accompanying video explains:

It is important to note Fiala is entirely in control of how this play develops. From the time the puck is dumped in, he sees nothing but Roy’s numbers. This is not a case of a player turning his back immediately prior to contact in a way that turns a legal body check into an illegal one.

While we acknowledge Fiala’s assertion that he did not intend to cause Roy’s impact with the boards, the contact is delivered at high speed and at a dangerous distance from the boards. The onus is on Fiala to create a new angle of approach that allows him to deliver this hit legally, avoid the hit entirely, or at the very least minimize the contact to ensure this is not a dangerous play.

Fiala has not been suspended previously, but Roy did suffer an injury on the play and was forced from the game. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tweets that Fiala will forfeit $77,586 in salary for the suspension.

It will also go on his record and be taken into account for any future incidents. Fiala will miss three straight games against the Colorado Avalanche, a tough blow for the Wild who are directly behind them in the standings.

Snapshots: Zajac, Laine, Pastrnak

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The New Jersey Devils have announced that Travis Zajac has been placed on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list, which will be released later today. He joins Mackenzie Blackwood as Devils that won’t make the trip to Buffalo for their matches this weekend due to the protocol. Head coach Lindy Ruff explained that the team isn’t making any excuses while they deal with the absence of some top players:

I think we’re becoming accustomed to it. We start the year without [Jesper] Bratt and Nico [Hischier]. But I think every team is dealing with those situations. It’s no excuse.

Zajac, who was supposed to celebrate his 1,000th regular season game this weekend, will have to wait for at least a little while. The 35-year-old forward has two goals in his first seven games.

  • Another player that will have to wait the weekend before joining his teammates is Patrik Laine, who is finally on his way to Columbus this afternoon after acquiring his U.S. work visa. As Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports, Laine will face a 48-hour minimum quarantine period before he’s cleared to play after arriving in Columbus, but he is expected to debut on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. Because he was dealing with a minor injury at the time of the trade, Laine actually hasn’t played since January 14, seeing very little practice time during that stretch at all. Though the Blue Jackets coaching staff were sending him video work to study, he won’t have much time to prepare if he’s in the lineup Tuesday night.
  • David Pastrnak has declared himself fully healthy and ready to get back into the Boston Bruins lineup, a huge boost to a team that is already finding plenty of success without him. The Bruins are now 5-1-1 on the season and have scored 18 goals in their last four games, all wins. The return of Pastrnak will only make the team stronger as they continue their quest for an East Division title. Boston is currently two points behind the Washington Capitals, who are undefeated in regulation this season.

Kevin Fiala To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety has announced it will hold a hearing today with Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala to determine supplemental discipline for his hit on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Roy. Fiala drove Roy hard into the boards from behind, receiving a five-minute major and game misconduct for the play.

The Kings had to help Roy off the ice and he did not return. An injury will be taken into account when the hearing occurs, which is very likely to result in a suspension of some sort. Fiala does not have any history of suspension.

Minnesota will have to find a short-term replacement for their star winger, who had already scored in the game. Fiala is coming off an outstanding 2019-20 season where he scored 54 points in 64 games, but has been snakebitten to start the year. Despite generating 30 shots on net, he has just three goals and no assists.

Snapshots: Dumoulin, NWHL, Engelland

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for a general manager after Jim Rutherford’s abrupt resignation yesterday, but perhaps more urgent is their search for an answer on defense. Head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed that Brian Dumoulin will be out “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury after exiting Tuesday’s game early. Newly signed defenseman Yannick Weber got caught in a snowstorm, meaning he won’t be available to the club until they travel to New York on the weekend, meaning things are awfully thin on the back end.

Kris Letang, John Marino, Cody Ceci, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Chad Ruhwedel, and Kevin Czuczman seem to be the only healthy options the team has with them at the moment, leaving quite a bit to be desired over their season-opening group. The organization doesn’t even have a lot of NHL-ready options in the minor leagues meaning if any other players go down tonight the Penguins might be forced to make a move.

  • The Metropolitan Riveters have withdrawn from the 2021 NWHL season after several members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19. The Riveters were taking part in the Lake Placid bubble, where the league’s six teams were playing out the regular season and playoffs. After being removed from a game yesterday, the Riveters will now be removed from the tournament completely and forfeit their bid for the Isobel Cup. All league games scheduled for today have been postponed and the NWHL will resume play on Saturday.
  • With the Henderson Silver Knights coaching staff filling in for the Vegas Golden Knights, recently retired defenseman Deryk Engelland stepped in to run the AHL practice today, according to Jesse Granger of The Athletic. Engelland announced his retirement last month but remained with the Golden Knights organization as a special assistant to the owner. In times like this, that apparently also means substitute practice coach.

Trade Rumors: Penguins, Mete, Bjork

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Amidst the shocking news that Jim Rutherford had resigned as GM of Pittsburgh Penguins, it is easy to forget that this was a team that less than a week ago was reported as being active on the trade market. While ownership suddenly needs to focus on the long-term welfare of the franchise by finding a new GM, the Penguins are still in need of defense in the short-term. While Rutherford’s final move was to find a stopgap in free agent addition Yannick Weber, that might not be enough. The Pittsburgh blue line has been devastated by injuries early this season with Michael Matheson, Juuso Riikola, and Zach Trotman on injured reserve, Marcus Pettersson also officially out, and Brian Dumoulin injured in last night’s game. Even the thought-to-be-healthy John Marino was missing at practice today. What’s left is a group that is almost entirely right-handed, including the newcomer Weber, and includes a struggling Cody Ceci and an untested rookie in Pierre-Olivier Joseph. The Penguins need to to continue to be on the look out for help on the back end. With that said, NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz doubts that interim GM Patrick Allvin will have the authority to make a trade, until they potentially remove the interim tag that is. In the meantime, can the Penguins afford to stand pat in a shortened season facing tougher playoff odds and a more difficult division? Can they withstand extended absences from their current injured defenders? Unless owner Mario Lemieux decides to step in and pull the strings while also making a decision on his next GM, they may not have an option but to stick it out.

  • Through their first six games of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have yet to lose in regulation and have earned 10 of a possible 12 points. Everyone in Montreal is happy so far this year, that is except defenseman Victor Mete. With the team rolling on all cylinders, the Habs have had no reason to change out their starting six defenseman. In fact, there has been only one lineup change among skaters for one single game thus far. The Canadiens do not want to lose the promising, young Mete on waivers, but so far that has left 22-year-old sitting in the press box for every game. If Montreal continues to win and stay healthy, then there is also no reason for that to change. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has taken notice and he’s not alone. Friedman reports that there is interest in Mete across the league and offers will be coming to Montreal soon, if they haven’t already. After losing Noah Juulsen on waivers earlier this year, the Habs may be hesitant to part with another young defenseman whose career has been impacted by injuries but could be primed for a breakout. However, if Mete won’t get any opportunity to shine in Montreal, they may as well move him. After all, he will likely be available for free to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft anyway.
  • If there is one thing that has quietly defined the Don Sweeney administration in Boston, it is that they are not afraid to move young forwards who are unable to carve out a consistent role in the lineup. In consecutive years, the Bruins have traded away Frank Vatrano, Ryan Donato, and Danton Heinen, each of whom was struggling and bouncing around the lineup prior to being moved. Now, Anders Bjork could be the next name on that list. The team has liked the upside of Bjork, 24, and made that clear with a three-year, $4.8MM contract this summer. However, injury and inconsistency has made it hard to get a good look at the player. Now healthy and in the starting lineup through six games this season, that look hasn’t been good. Bjork has played on several different lines and with different line mates but nothing has clicked. He has zero points and just two shots on goal and hasn’t made a major impact defensively either. With the emergence of rookies Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic as NHL-ready assets and the upcoming injury returns of David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase, there won’t be space left in the lineup for Bjork. Multiple sources are now reporting that in anticipation of this result, interest is growing in the young winger. Bjork may not be a fit in Boston right now, but as a player with positional and two-way versatility and under team control for several years, a number of teams could be interested in taking a chance. With a lineup that is looking pretty complete so far this season, Bjork may also come cheap with the Bruins opting for a pick or prospect rather than a roster player in return.

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