Snapshots: Carlson, Ellis, Kovalchuk, Nash
If John Tavares re-signs with the New York Islanders, Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson would become the undisputed top free agent on the market this summer. However, Carlson’s priority is also to re-sign with his current team and the Capitals’ current Stanley Cup run may only sell him on staying even more. Plus, the estimated cap increase could make it easier for Washington to retain their blue line leader. Yet, Carlson is unlikely to ignore what the open market might offer in a world with no Tavares and a higher cap ceiling. The 28-year-old defenseman could command much more from another team than he’ll likely be able to get from the Caps. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun believes that one of the top suitors will be none other than Carlson’s current opposition, the Vegas Golden Knights. Despite their unforeseeable success this season, the Knights’ defensive corps is far from an elite unit and is in need of a leader. Although they have been connected to Erik Karlsson in the past, LeBrun opines that the easier route for Vegas may be to simply sign Carlson. The need, the cap space, and the connection to GM George McPhee may be enough to entice Carlson to make the cross-country trek. If the Knights are able to win the Stanley Cup, it would add insult to injury to steal both a title and a top player from the Capitals.
- LeBrun also had the inside scoop on another defenseman, the Nashville Predators’ Ryan Ellis. Although Ellis is not a free agent until 2019, LeBrun learned from Nashville GM David Poile that signing Ellis to an extension will be the Predators’ top priority this summer. Citing the loss of Ryan Suter years ago, LeBrun says that Poile is no longer willing to wait on re-signing his key players. However, the negotiations with Ellis may prove to be more difficult than anticipated. Ellis has been one of the best values in hockey over the last five years at a cap hit of just $2.5MM. No one will blame the offensive defenseman for seeking top dollar in his next deal and he is more likely to find that on the open market.
- One player who may not be as concerned about money is Ilya Kovalchuk. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Kovalchuk’s main priority in returning to the NHL is to win the Stanley Cup. Kovalchuk is allegedly focused on finding a multi-year deal with a good fit. One possible suitor could be the New York Islanders, as Kovalchuk expressed to Dreger that he appreciated how then-GM Lou Lamoriello handled his sudden departure from New Jersey and shared that the two have maintained a positive relationship. Now that Lamoriello is in New York with more than enough cap space to sign Tavares and quite a few more, Kovalchuk could be a target. The KHL’s reigning leading scorer may sign with any team on July 1st.
- One player who could be locked up before July 1st is Rick Nash. Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney has expressed a desire to bring back several of his impending free agents, but has noted the reality that there is not enough space for all of them. The Bruins appear to have prioritized a new deal with their blockbuster trade deadline acquisition, as The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson reports that Sweeney and Nash will continue negotiations next week. On the topic, Sweeney said “Rick indicated when he came to Boston that he was excited about the opportunity. He wants to win. He wants an opportunity to win. He felt badly, and certainly he’s not responsible for this, because he got injured.” What Nash feels badly about is likely both the drop-off in his play during the playoffs and the premature end to the Bruins season at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. Nash suffered a concussion late in the regular season and never seemed to get back to 100%, but prior to his injury looked unstoppable on the Bruins’ second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. At the right price, it’s understandable why Sweeney and company would like to give Nash another chance to re-create that chemistry and help bring a Cup to Boston.
Evgeny Kuznetsov “Day-To-Day” With Upper-Body Injury
Friday: Amazingly, Kuznetsov is on the ice at the Capitals option skate this morning. No word on whether he’ll play tomorrow, as Trotz still claims he has not been cleared to return to game action.
Thursday: The Washington Capitals came away with a big road win in Game Two of the Stanley Cup Final last night, but they also lost a key contributor in the match-up. The postseason’s leading scorer, Evgeny Kuznetsov, was forced out of the game early after he was the recipient of a hip check into the boards from Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb. Speaking to the media earlier, head coach Barry Trotz offered no update on Kuznetsov’s condition, other than to say that he is “day-to-day” with an undisclosed upper body injury, reports Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post. Trotz seemed unsure if Kuznetsov would be available for Friday’s practice as he deals with this injury, but hopes to give a more educated update tomorrow.
The hit in question (video) seems to show the brunt of the impact landing on the right elbow and forearm area of Kuznetsov. If Kuznetsov suffered a break of any kind in that area, it would severely limit his stick-handling ability and would likely mean the end of his season. If he cannot return in the series, it would be a major blow to Washington’s Cup hopes. Kuznetsov has 25 points this postseason, including eleven goals, and had been on an 11-game point streak as well. Should the Capitals go on to win the series, the 26-year-old center would likely be one of the favorites to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
For what it’s worth, Kuznetsov’s teammates do not seem overly concerned about his availability. Alexander Ovechkin told Khurshudyan that he’s “sure he’s going to be fine”, while Nicklas Backstrom offered an open-ended “We’ll see what happens”. If Kuznetsov does miss any time, it is also comforting to Washington players, personnel, and fans alike that Lars Eller performed well when he was forced to take over Kuznetsov’s ice time last night. Eller’s tenure in Washington has not been without bumps in the road, but he has taken his play to a new level in these playoffs. It would not be easy to fill the shoes of the postseason’s most dangerous forward, but Eller seems to be up for the task if called upon.
Bruins Notes: Free Agents, Czarnik, Injuries, Draft
Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney spoke with the media today from the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo and was very up front about the team’s plans this off-season. The Bruins exceeded expectations this season with a young team that finished with one of the best records in the NHL. Sweeney has previously stated that he would like to return many of the team’s impending unrestricted free agents – Anton Khudobin, Riley Nash, Rick Nash, Tommy Wingels, Tim Schaller, Nick Holden, and Austin Czarnik – but due to salary cap restraints and a promising prospect crop in the AHL in need of opportunity, he did not expect that all would be back. Today, Sweeney went in a different direction, confirming that the team would not offer new contracts to several other free agents: Brian Gionta, Kenny Agostino, and Paul Postma. The announcement should come as no surprise, as the trio all underwhelmed in Boston this season. A late addition to the team for the stretch run and postseason, Gionta looked as if he would have been better off retiring after the Olympics. The veteran forward contributed only seven points in 20 regular season games and played in just one playoff game, in which he was a liability against the fast-paced Tampa Bay Lightning. Gionta is likely to call it quits for good this off-season. Agostino, the 2017 AHL MVP, not only made little difference in Boston with just one point in five games, but finished the minor league season in Providence with 30 points less than his MVP campaign in only one less game. Agostino will need to search for a new home for the third straight summer. Postma, while not necessarily a disappointment in Boston, ended up being of little use to the team. The relative health of the Bruins’ four right-handed defenseman and the emergence of rookie Matt Grzelcyk on the left side made Postma the #8 option for much of the year. He was unable to even retain that role after the Bruins acquired Holden at the trade deadline. Overall, Postma played in 14 games in Boston, recording just one point, before clearing waivers and being assigned to the AHL, where he played another 17 games with Providence in the regular season and postseason. The long-time Winnipeg Jets defender will be on the hunt for a more regular NHL role next year, if he can find one.
- Sweeney briefly touched on the situation with Czarnik, which has put the Bruins in somewhat of a pickle. Czarnik, 25, played in 49 games as a rookie with Boston in 2016-17, but lost out on a roster spot this year to the likes of fellow youngsters Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Anders Bjork, and Sean Kuraly. Czarnik managed to play in ten games for the Bruins, and looked good doing so with four points, but roster restrictions forced him back to the AHL each time. In the minors, Czarnik was unstoppable with 69 points in 64 games – good enough for third in the AHL scoring race. It was an impressive performance, but still not good enough to vault Czarnik back to the top of a Bruins’ prospect pipeline that is very deep, especially at center. Ideally, the Bruins would have liked to deal Czarnik as a restricted free agent with his value at its highest. However, as a 25-year-old with three pro seasons under his belt but less than 80 NHL games played, Czarnik instead qualifies for Group 6 unrestricted free agency per the NHL CBA and is free to sign with any team. Sweeney expressed that both the team and Czarnik have not closed the door on an extension, but that he feels Czarnik is “intrigued by what may exist elsewhere”. There will surely be a market for the swift, play-making forward and a return to Boston seems unlikely.
- Sweeney also updated the injury status of his team, revealing that banged-up checkers Schaller and Noel Acciari both underwent surgery following the season. The Bruins’ fourth line, while not much of an offensive threat, was one of the best defensively this season. However, their play began to tail off in the postseason and the major injuries for Schaller and Acciari certainly lend some explanation to that trend. The duo were just two of myriad injuries for Boston, but join only Brandon Carlo in going under the knife. Sweeney stated that the rest of the injured – Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Backes, DeBrusk, Nash, and Nash – will all avoid surgery for now.
- Finally, Sweeney responded to a question about whether or not he would try to trade back into the first round of the NHL Draft next month. The Bruins sent their first-rounder to the New York Rangers in the Rick Nash deal and do not own any other team’s pick. Sweeney seemed hesitant to promise anything, saying that it is “hard” to trade back in, but did add that “you never know what some team may want to do”. In a draft class that many feels runs out of elite prospects after the first 15 or so selections, Boston may not be scrambling to trade current or future assets for a first-round pick anyway. With a late second and an early third from the Florida Panthers, the Bruins should be able to add two players with similar career projections to some late first-round picks. Even if they don’t get a future star, the Boston system is one of the best in the league with more than enough talent pushing for play time in the NHL as it is.
Pacific Notes: Boeser, Viveiros, Cammalleri, Carrier
While most people have been under the impression that rookie sensation Brock Boeser would be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season, general manager Jim Benning confirmed that, according to an NHL.com report.
Boeser suffered a back injury back on March 5 when he hit his back on an open bench door and broke a transverse process, a spur that projects off the side off each vertebrae. The injury, which Boeser once referred to as “career threatening,” ended a dominant rookie season to that point. In 62 games, he tallied 29 goals and 55 points. On top of all of that, he also was dealing with a wrist injury he suffered in February, which required platelet-rich plasma injections and four weeks of immobilization.
“My understanding is he’ll be 100 percent for training camp,” Benning said. “My understanding is the cast was taken off a week ago. I haven’t talked to Brock about it, but I believe the cast had to be on a month. The doctor that he went back to see in Minnesota is the Vikings’ hand specialist and that’s the doctor that did Brock’s surgery two years ago. We were able to get an appointment for him and we wanted to get him in there and have the doctor have a look at him. The worst-case scenario was that he would require another surgery, but he didn’t need to do that.”
- Edmonton Journal’s David Staples writes that the Edmonton Oilers’ hiring of WHL Swift Current head coach Emaneul Viveiros is an underrated hire after the team announced their new assistant coaches Friday. What impresses the scribe the most is the way Viveiros’ Broncos, which captured the WHL title this season, had the league’s best power-play unit with a 29.4 percent success rate. If he can bring that ability to an Oilers team that struggled immensely in the last year in special teams play, Edmonton could be on their way to a rebound season. Staples himself adds that he believes the team was misusing both Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the power play as they were usually placed in the right face-off circle, a position that didn’t benefit either player.
- Sticking with the Oilers, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins analyzes the value of bringing back forward Mike Cammalleri for next season. The soon-to-be 36-year-old veteran joined the Oilers in a November trade with the Los Angeles Kings and will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. While his numbers on offense (seven goals and 22 assists in 66 games last year) don’t stand out, they are actually quite solid for bottom-tier forward. His experience and IQ on the ice could prove valuable to a team with a lot of young players. His suspect defense doesn’t help his cause, but his solid face-off skills even out some of that. The scribe concludes that if the Oilers consider bringing him back, it should only be for the league minimum.
- While a report yesterday stated that Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said that he expects forward William Carrier to be available for the Stanley Cup Finals, it looks doubtful that he’ll be available for Game 1 on Monday, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Carrier was wearing a red no-contact sweater in practice today, suggesting he’s likely not ready yet to rejoin the team. He missed the entire Western Conference Finals against the Winnipeg Jets with an undisclosed injury.
Snapshots: Canadiens’ Center Search, Huska, Carrier
With the Montreal Canadiens looking to fill their holes at the center position this offseason and little immediate value at that position with their No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, Montreal could find themselves looking long and hard to find a quality center to fit into their lineup this offseason. Assuming they don’t get star John Tavares to bite on July 1, the team might have no choice but to make a deal for a center to fill their need.
The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) writes that there are two legitimate possibilities for the Canadiens on the trade market, including Ryan O’Reilly of the Buffalo Sabres and Elias Lindholm of the Carolina Hurricanes. The scribe writes that after recent end-0f-the-season comments he made about being more accepting of losing, O’Reilly is trying to force his way out of Buffalo and might be a perfect fit in Montreal. While he would likely make a better No. 2 center, O’Reilly is very talented and the team might be able to package together a combination of picks and young forwards to take on O’Reilly’s contract of $7.5MM over the next five years. The 27-year-old still put up some of the best numbers in his career this year with 24 goals and 61 points.
With the Carolina Hurricanes open for business, Lindholm might be a player the Canadiens take a chance on. The restricted free agent has had a promising start to his career, but also an inconsistent one, but likely would get a big payday after a 16-goal, 44-point season. If Carolina would like to avoid handing Lindholm a big contract, Montreal might be able to step in and give them an alternative as a combination of Lindholm and Jonathan Drouin would give them a solid young core up the middle for years.
- Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun writes that the Calgary Flames are on the verge of announcing their assistant coaches that will aid new head coach Bill Peters this season after the team let assistants Paul Jerrard and Dave Cameron go when they fired Glen Gulutzan on April 17. While he didn’t have any specifics other than the announcement will come some time next week, Francis did speculate that the team might be leaning towards promoting Stockton Heat head coach Ryan Huska.
- The Vegas Golden Knights are likely to get one of their players back from injury for the Stanley Cup Finals as William Carrier practiced today in a non-contact jersey, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. In fact, Schoen writes that head coach Gerard Gallant announced that he expects Carrier to be available for the Stanley Cup Finals. Carrier didn’t play in the Western Conference Finals due to an undisclosed injury has been a key member of the team’s fourth line.
Nikita Kucherov Not Likely To Get Extension Immediately
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s season is over and now the team must shift its focus for next season. And while the Lightning have a t0-do list for the upcoming season, don’t expect Nikita Kucherov‘s extension to be among the top priorities for the team, writes The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required).
Kucherov is in the last year of the bridge deal he signed in 2016 as a restricted free agent and will receive $4.77MM next year before reaching restricted free agency once again. The difference in the next negotiations is that the 24-year-old forward will have arbitration rights, giving him the leverage to potentially double his salary. An arbitrator could very likely side with a player who just put up 39 goals and tallied 100 points this season and reached the all-star game for the second time in his career.
However, Kucherov’s agent Dan Milstein says there haven’t been any talks of a new extension and he doesn’t expect any to start until after the 2018-19 season starts. After all, Kucherov isn’t going anywhere. Even with arbitration rights, Kucherov will be staying in Tampa Bay, but the Lightning will spend as much time as it can evaluating the play of Kucherov.
“He wants to stay in Tampa — he doesn’t want to go anywhere,” Milstein told The Athletic. “Worst-case, it’s arbitration, they’re not going to lose him. Both sides want him to be in Tampa.”
One possible reason is the way Kucherov struggled in the playoffs, especially in the final series before the Lightning were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals. The lack of scoring from Kucherov and linemate Steven Stamkos were a major issue. While he put up solid 2018 playoff numbers (17 points in 17 games), most of those offensive numbers came in their first-round series against the New Jersey Devils as he scored five goals and five assists in five games. However, from that point on Kucherov struggled, managing just two goals in the next 12 games. He also admitted that he was not dealing with an injury in the playoffs.
“Definitely you want to score goals,” Kucherov said. “Sometimes, it just doesn’t happen, doesn’t go your way.”
Perhaps the lack of an extension will be a motivating factor for Kucherov. He is expected to take a 10-day trip to Russia (half the length of last year) before returning to Tampa Bay to begin training for next season.
Injury Updates: Callahan, Capitals, Mangiapane, Suter
Lightning winger Ryan Callahan will undergo shoulder surgery this offseason, the team announced (Twitter link). The veteran had been out of the lineup on multiple occasions due to shoulder troubles, including two games in the opening round of the postseason against the Devils. Callahan underperformed relative to his $5.8MM cap hit as he put up just 19 points in 67 regular season games and this operation will all but eliminate the possibility of a contract buyout as injured players are ineligible to be bought out.
Other injury notes from around the league:
- Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik is fully participating in Washington’s first practice in advance of Monday’s start to the Stanley Cup Final, notes NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link). He missed some time in Game Seven against Tampa Bay after being boarded by Cedric Paquette but it appears there are no lingering effects. Winger Devante Smith-Pelly, who also was banged up that game, is also skating on a regular line in practice, Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post adds (via Twitter).
- Flames winger Andrew Mangiapane is on schedule, if not slightly ahead of it, when it comes to his recovery from shoulder surgery, reports Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson. He went under the knife in mid-March after sustaining the injury in the AHL and is roughly a month away from getting back to on-ice training. Despite being in the minors at the time, he should have a chance to crack Calgary’s lineup on a full-time basis after holding his own in ten games with the big club this past season.
- Wild defenseman Ryan Suter is making progress in his recovery from surgery to repair his broken ankle, notes Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. However, he is still several weeks away from putting any weight on that ankle let alone resuming any offseason workouts. Suter remains optimistic that he’ll be ready to start the season but that’s far from a guarantee.
Ryan Kesler’s 2018-19 Season Still Up In The Air
Among the biggest disappointments in the Anaheim Ducks season was Ryan Kesler, who battled through injury to return midway through the year only to be a shadow of his former self. In 44 games, Kesler registered just 14 points and averaged his lowest time on ice in more than a decade. He was visibly not the same shutdown two-way center of the past, and he registered just two assists and six shots on goal as the Ducks were swept out of the first round. Now, in the latest 31 Thoughts column by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the possibility of Kesler missing the entire 2018-19 season is brought up.
Kesler underwent hip surgery last summer in an attempt to solve a chronic issue, but Friedman now reports that he’ll undergo “aggressive rehab and treatment” this time around to try and get back on the ice. There is a chance that he sits out the entire season and tries to return in 2019-20, when he’ll be 35 years old. He still has four years on his contract that carries a $6.88MM cap hit, meaning it’s unlikely he’ll retire either way. But now there is a chance that he could spend all of next season on LTIR should the rehab not work as hoped.
While Friedman doesn’t go into what kind of odds there are of Kesler missing the season, just the fact that he won’t be back at full strength should drastically change the Ducks’ offseason plans. With him in the picture the team has some of the best center depth in the league, with Ryan Getzlaf, Adam Henrique and Rickard Rakell all able to play the position. Without him, things start to deteriorate down the middle for the Ducks. Antoine Vermette, who also dealt with injuries this season but is an effective bottom-six center when healthy is an unrestricted free agent this summer, as is Derek Grant who emerged as a capable option with 24 points this season.
The Ducks face an offseason where they already had to rethink the structure of their forward group, and with the news on Kesler that becomes even more integral. As Corey Perry continues to slow down as he and Getzlaf enter their mid-thirties, the team will be looking to the next generation of forwards to start carrying more of the load. Perhaps free agency is another place they can attract some support, but there isn’t a ton of cap space left. Brandon Montour, Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase all need new deals as they head into restricted free agency, and an extension for John Gibson is right around the corner. It’s not clear how the Ducks will improve their squad for 2018-19, but there is a clear need for something to happen.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Samuel Morin Out Until February With Torn ACL
Though it had already been reported that Philadelphia Flyers prospect Samuel Morin would be out at least six months with a knee injury, Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post is now reporting that it will be even longer than that. Morin is now expected to be out until February of 2019, essentially robbing him of most of the 2018-19 season. Morin was expected to compete for and perhaps win a full-time job with the Flyers next season, but will obviously have to wait to make his way back to the NHL.
Morin, 22, was Philadelphia’s first-round pick in 2013 but has failed to crack the lineup for more than a handful of games. The 6’6″ defenseman missed most of this season with various injuries, only to fall victim to his latest ailment after returning for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the playoffs. Obviously there is still time for him to fulfill his promise as a two-way shutdown defender, but after turning 23 this summer with only three NHL games under his belt, he’s wasted a lot of time.
The Flyers meanwhile have already said they won’t be re-signing Brandon Manning or Johnny Oduya, leaving them with several openings on the blue line for their young defense crop. Travis Sanheim, Philippe Myers and Morin were all expected to compete for playing time with the big club, of which there should be plenty. Now with Morin out of the picture the other two have even better chances of lasting in the NHL next season.
Interestingly, Morin is also a restricted free agent this summer. After missing most of this year and not making an impact yet, it’s likely the two sides agree on a very short-term deal as a sort of “prove it” contract. Morin won’t want to give up many years of control for the low salary guarantee a two-way deal comes with, while Phildelphia still doesn’t know exactly what they have with their hulking defenseman. They could be right back in the same situation next summer, after a very short 2018-19 season.
Injury Updates: Backstrom, Subban, Carrier, Perron
Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom took an important step in his recovery as he works to return to Washington’s lineup. Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post notes that after taking part in a pair of optional skates earlier this week, Backstrom returned to regular practice on Wednesday. However, his status remains up in the air for Game Four against Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Given that he’s dealing with a hand injury, taking faceoffs would be a challenge for Backstrom. However, head coach Barry Trotz stated that he would still use the center in the lineup even if he isn’t 100% recovered, citing that there are many other areas he could contribute in even if he can’t take the draws. Backstrom is one of three Capitals forwards averaging more than a point-per-game this postseason and he will certainly make a big impact whenever he gets the green light to return.
Other injury news and notes from around the league:
- Golden Knights backup goaltender Malcolm Subban is dealing with an undisclosed injury or illness, head coach Gerard Gallant told reporters, including Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). As a result, Maxime Lagace will serve as the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury in Game Three tonight against Winnipeg. Subban is listed as day-to-day so there is no word yet on whether or not he will be available for Game Four on Friday.
- Still with Vegas, the Golden Knights will once again be without winger William Carrier tonight. NHL.com’s Shawn Rourke notes that he has yet to resume skating since being sidelined late in the second round. With that in mind, it’s certainly fair to wonder if the 23-year-old will be able to get back into the lineup before the series comes to an end. Meanwhile, winger David Perron, who missed Monday’s contest due to an illness, is listed as a game-time decision.