Penguins Demote Frank Corrado
Frank Corrado‘s stay in Pittsburgh is over and the hunt for a another top-six defenseman continues for the defending Stanley Cup champs. The team announced that they have reassigned the young blue liner to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and appear to be happy to move forward with Matt Hunwick or Chad Ruhwedel as their final starter.
Corrado, 24, was acquired by the Penguins from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline last season in exchange for a package of Eric Fehr, Steve Oleksy, and a fourth-round pick. The former Canuck was unhappy with his play time in Toronto, but things have hardly changed in Pittsburgh. Corrado played in only two games with the team last season, missed out on the entire playoff run, and is now back in the AHL after only three games this season. Corrado suited up for the Pens in their first three games of November, being held scoreless and averaging only eleven minutes of ice time, and had been sitting in the press box ever since.
With Hunwick recently activated from injured reserve, the Penguins have made the unsurprising choice to move forward without Corrado. Hunwick has played in only seven games this season, while Ruhwedel has been forced into 18 already. The pair have a combined three points and an even rating and could work as a serviceable sixth man duo for Pittsburgh this season. However, given the injury-prone nature of Kris Letang and Justin Schultz as well as the team’s shockingly low goals-for and goals-against rankings, “serviceable” may not be enough. GM Jim Rutherford may stick with the veteran options for now, but will surely be looking for an upgrade come the trade deadline. This season, the likes of Corrado won’t be the target.
Wild Activate Charlie Coyle From Injured Reserve
Little by little, the Minnesota Wild are getting healthier. The team announced this afternoon that they have activated forward Charlie Coyle from long-term injured reserve. In a corresponding move, they have moved fellow forward Zach Parise to LTIR, though Parise has yet to play a game for the team this season due to lingering back issues.
Coyle suffered a right fibula fracture back on October 12th in a game that saw three Wild forwards go down with serious injuries. Coyle was originally given a six-to-eight week time frame for his return, so his activation just over a month after a major injury scare is a best-case scenario for Minnesota. The young Massachusetts-native has missed the Wild’s past 16 games, the vast majority of the season, but in his first three contests in 2017-18 had a pair of assists and was seeing career-high ice time.
Up until this injury, Coyle had been developing quite the iron man reputation with three straight 82-game seasons. His scoring totals have jumped significantly with each campaign as well, so a healthy Coyle for the remainder of th year would be a major boost for Minnesota. With Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and Marcus Foligno all back and healthy as well, the Wild are as close as they’ll come to full strength for the time being and can begin to work on climbing out of the basement of the Central Division. The team is currently riding a five-year postseason streak; if that is to continue they need to keep everyone at full health and contributing at full strength.
Sharks Notes: Goodrow, Karlsson, Burns
San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer was less than forthcoming when facing the media today, but he did reveal a few interesting pieces of information as relayed by beat writer Curtis Pashelka. Among them was the fact that energy-liner Barclay Goodrow will be out more than a week. Goodrow will not be be out for a “significant amount of time”, but his upper body injury should keep him sidelined through the Sharks’ busy four-game week. Goodrow has had an odd NHL career, skating in 60 games in his rookie season in 2014-15, only to play in only 14 games and three games respectively in the past two seasons. Goodrow already has two points in six games in 2017-18, which would put him on pace for the best scoring numbers of his career should he play in 60 games again. Goodrow is a reliable fourth-liner and an ace on the face-off dot, so San Jose will be looking forward to getting him back on track as soon as possible.
- Joining Goodrow on the injury report is winger Melker Karlsson, who DeBoer states was “banged up” against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. Karlsson is also suffering from an upper body injury and is day-to-day. However, unlike Goodrow, Karlsson is relied upon for offense in San Jose and one of the league’s lowest scoring teams and worst powerplay units can ill-afford any extended absence for the two-way forward. Karlsson too was on pace for a career high in points with three goals and three assists in 18 games, but this injury could bring him back down to the consistent low-20’s range he has shown in his first three seasons.
- Perhaps the most interesting topic discussed with DeBoer today, albeit not quite newsworthy, was whether he had considered moving Brent Burns back to forward. DeBoer answered with a resounding “no” before expanding on his perceived ridiculousness of the notion. Granted, Burns is the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the league’s best defenseman, but the idea of playing him at forward is not as ludicrous as it may seem. Burns has played a substantial amount at forward during his time in San Jose and regardless of his performance last season is nonetheless goal-less through 18 games and has just seven assists. Conversely, the big blue liner scored 75+ points in each of the past two seasons. Given the team’s overall offensive struggles, if one of the league’s top scoring defenseman continues his disappearing act, maybe DeBoer will revisit a shakeup at some point.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Bouwmeester, Eichel, Backes, Borowiecki
The NHL announced their “Three Stars” of the week ending on Nov. 19, with Carolina Hurricane’s Teuvo Teravainen taking top honors after a week in which he led the NHL with five goals and 10 assists in four games. The 23-year-old forward posted his first NHL hat trick against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 13, then had two assists on Nov. 16 against the New York Islanders. He had one assist against the Buffalo Sabres two days later before putting up two goals and another assist against the Islanders Sunday.
Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen and Colorado Avalanche’s center Nathan MacKinnon each received the second and third stars of the week, respectively. Andersen was perfect in two starts for Toronto, stopping 75 shots and helping Toronto to a six-game winning streak, while MacKinnon scored two goals and had five assists in the team’s two wins. The 22-year-old had career highs with four assists and five points in the team’s victory over the Washington Capitals on Nov. 16.
- St. Louis Blues head coach Mike Yeo said the plan is to take defenseman Jay Bouwmeester off injured reserve today and is expected to return to the lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas. The 34-year-old blueliner has not played yet this year due to an ankle fracture, but should provide a big boost to the team’s penalty killing unit immediately. Thomas also notes that Patrik Berglund will not play versus Edmonton on Tuesday, but is inching closer to a return to the ice after missing the entire season so far after undergoing shoulder surgery.
- Buffalo Sabres center Jack Eichel looks to have been demoted to the team’s third line at Monday’s practice ahead of their game tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to Amy Moritz of The Buffalo News. Head coach Phil Housley placed him with Zemgus Girgensons and Jason Pominville. “We’re obviously trying to get things going and switch things up so we’ll see tonight,” Eichel said of the new line combinations. “No message. It’s part of the game.”
- Steven Harris of the Boston Herald writes that just three weeks removed after having part of his colon removed, Boston Bruins’ David Backes returned to practice today in a non-contact sweater. Despite an eight-week prognosis, Backes was skating, shooting and handling pucks. “The doc’s advice (was), if it doesn’t hurt, I can continue to progress and add more workload on,” said Backes. “I haven’t been notified that the timeline has changed at all. So I’m just going to keep putting in the work.”
- Edmonton Sun’s Ken Warren reported that Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki will return to Ottawa after sustaining a viscous hit Sunday from New York Rangers defenseman Brandon Smith that left the Senators’ blueliner momentarily unconscious after he hit the boards. He will be further evaluated once he returns to Ottawa, and could miss significant time as coach Guy Boucher referred to the injury as a concussion.
Stars’ Methot Out 4-6 Weeks, Hanzal Out Too
The Dallas Stars will be without two regulars as the team announced today that defenseman Marc Methot will miss four to six weeks after having his knee scoped today, while center Martin Hanzal will miss three to seven days with a hand injury.
The Methot injury explains the team’s minor transaction earlier today when the team recalled defenseman Julius Honka. The 32-year-old Methot had missed the previous four games with what was described as a lower-body injury. He attempted to practice on Friday, but had to leave the ice after just 15 minutes. Methot has been a fixture in the Stars’ defensive rotation all season since the team acquired the veteran from the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2020 second-round pick. While Methot has not accumulated a point in 15 games, the veteran has averaged 19:23 of ice time and has a -1 plus/minus rating.
Hanzal has been a disappointment so far after the team signed the 30-year-old this offseason to a three-year, $14.25MM deal. He has just a goal and two assists in 17 games so far this season, although there were reports that his play was starting to improve, especially in the team’s victory over the Florida Panthers last Tuesday.
Snapshots: Price, Girard, Kane, Devils
Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price has been out with a “minor” lower-body injury since Montreal’s Nov. 2 game against the Minnesota Wild. Two weeks later, Price hasn’t returned to the lineup. Last Tuesday, it was announced that he would sit out two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) as his injury wasn’t healing as suspected. Then he proceeded to sit out of practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the team didn’t practice Sunday. That led Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan to suggest that things don’t seem to be adding up in Montreal.
The scribe writes that this no longer seems like a “minor” injury at all and questions whether it ever was. When Cowan asked Canadiens’ coach Claude Julien about whether there was an update on Price’s condition, his response was, “No.”
No one has said what the specific injury is that Price has sustained and the goalie insists that it has nothing to do with the right knee injury in November two years ago that was also held secret for a large chunk of the season. Cowan suggests the lack of information the team has given out can only lead to speculation, suggesting that maybe the team might be looking to trade Price before his eight year, $84MM extension kicks in next year.
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post tweets that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard is in the lineup against the Detroit Red Wings, meaning that he officially has entered into Year 1 of his entry-level deal. He played five games for the Nashville Predators, and after being dealt to Colorado in the Matt Duchene trade, has played five games for the Avalanche. He would have had to be returned to his junior team before he played in his 10th game had the team wanted to avoid burning the first year of his entry-level deal.
- The Athletic’s Craig Custance (subscription required) did a Q&A on Buffalo Sabres winger Evander Kane and the forward was quick to say that he is well aware of the trade speculation that surrounds him and rather than block it out, he just chooses to focus on his on-ice play. “It’s not going to do you any good or help your case or your team. For me, I just embrace it. I enjoy it. It’s something that you have to be aware of,” Kane said.
- Andrew Gross of The Record writes that the New Jersey Devils have shaken up their lines in practice today, which are expected to go into effect in their game Monday against Minnesota Wild. There will be several changes, but Pavel Zacha, who was a healthy scratch for four of the last five games, is expected to move into the top six, while Adam Henrique is expected to move down to the fourth line.
Minor Transactions: 11/19/17
There are only five games on tap today, but teams may use their time to make some roster adjustments in preparation of a new week of play. Keep up with everything right here:
- Winnipeg Jets insider Jamie Thomas tweets that the Jets will recall defenseman Tucker Poolman to replace defenseman Toby Enstrom, who will reportedly miss eight weeks due to a lower-body injury. Poolman has been up with the team before and has played three games for Winnipeg. He had played seven games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, picking up an assist. The 24-year-old blueliner signed with the club earlier this year after playing three years with the University of North Dakota.
- The St. Louis Blues announced they have sent Wade Megan to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. Megan was recalled Friday by the Blues for Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, but was a healthy scratch. The 27-year-old center has played in just one game for the Blues, but has played 10 games with the Wolves and has three assists in that span.
- According to Ducks beat writer Eric Stephens, Anaheim has returned rookie Kalle Kossila to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. After making his NHL debut with one game in 2016-17, the French-Finnish forward has already skated in seven games for the Ducks this season and has performed well. A four-year product of St. Cloud State, Kossila was a major scoring threat for the Gulls last year and has shown flashes for the Ducks, with a goal and an assist already. Undersized, but strong on the puck, Kossila is likely to get another shot at the NHL soon enough.
- The Florida Panthers have announced that Curtis Valk is headed back to the AHL, as they have loaned him to their affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. Valk made his NHL debut on Tuesday, albeit he played only 3:25 and contributed only three face-off losses, but in doing so reached a level that likely seemed impossible at a time. Despite a solid junior career in the WHL, Valk spent almost all of his first two pro seasons in the ECHL, a rare way for a future NHLer to start out. It was only after a breakout AHL campaign with the Utica Comets last season that he drew any big league attention, signing a one-year deal with Florida on July 1st. Valk is small, but has a scoring touch that should keep him in the AHL for a while and could afford him some more looks at the highest level.
- Arizona Coyotes promising defender Dakota Mermis is on his way back to the AHL, the team announced. Mermis has played in seven games for the ‘Yotes thus far, but can get some more work in with the Tuscon Roadrunners, especially with the likes of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jakob Chychrun soon returning from injury. However, Mermis has looked good in his limited exposure and will continue to be the next man up on the Arizona blue line.
- Following the first two games of his NHL career, Andrew Crescenzi has been reassigned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign, their parent club, the L.A. Kings, announced. The 6’5″ forward debuted on Tuesday vs. the Vancouver Canucks and skated again on Thursday against the Boston Bruins, but failed to make much of an impact in limited ice time. He’ll head back to the minors for some more seasoning.
Pacific Notes: Oilers, Theodore, Brodzinksi, Miller
What has gone wrong with the Edmonton Oilers? After a 7-11-2 start to the season, fans have to wonder what is going on with their team who many expected to be competing for the top spot in the Western Conference. Instead, the team who has two of the top young franchise players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are floundering.
Allan Mitchell of The Athletic (subscription required) details what has gone wrong for the storied franchise this year, pointing to the team’s success in achieving their goal of locking up both McDavid (eight years, $100MM) and Draisaitl (eight years, $68MM), but to their lack of success to bringing in more talent to help this squad. The scribe points out that while Jordan Eberle was moved to the New York Islanders for spare parts to solve cap issues, that deal could have been delayed a year as their cap problems weren’t going to be an issue until the 2018-19 season.
He also suggests that Edmonton general manager Peter Chiarelli took numerous gambles with few of them coming up gold so far this year. He put a lot of faith in youngsters ranging from Ryan Strome, Jesse Puljujarvi, Anton Slepyshev, Kailer Yamamoto, Matt Benning and Drake Caggiula, all of which haven’t worked out as expected, although Caggiula’s two-goal performance Saturday could change things if he can continue that success. Possibly. Regardless, the Oilers have no choice but to continue putting out their youth, hoping some of them might figure things out and assist a struggling squad.
- Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen writes that Vegas Golden Knights’ defenseman Shea Theodore has needed more time than expected to adjust to the NHL game, despite playing a chunk of the season last year with the Anaheim Ducks. The scribe adds that after Theodore’s strong performance against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, he might be starting to turn the corner and become a key cog on Vegas’ defense.
- Much of the Los Angeles Kings success has been in thanks to the team’s careful infusion of youth into their veteran lineup. The Los Angeles Times’ Curtis Zupke writes that Jonny Brodzinski scored his first NHL goal Saturday and is the fifth player to pick up their first NHL goal, including Kurtis MacDermid, Michael Amadio, Oscar Fantenberg, and Alex Iafallo. Much of the credit, according to Zupke goes to Ontario Reign coach Mike Strothers, who has worked hard to develop players who could work with the Kings’ quick-movement style of play.
- Anaheim Ducks backup goaltender Ryan Miller, who has looked good in four appearances since being activated a couple of weeks ago, might miss more time. While the veteran goalie was on the ice this morning taking shots, Miller (lower-body injury) was unable to practice, according to the Orange County Register’s Eric Stephens. Coach Randy Carlyle hopes he might be available next week, but with five games in the next seven days, the team may have to consider starting Reto Berra.
Toby Enstrom Out Eight Weeks With Lower Body Injury
According to Winnipeg Jets insider Jamie Thomas (rather nonchalantly), it appears as though the injury suffered by defenseman Toby Enstrom yesterday was much more severe than first imagined. Enstrom left Saturday’s game against the New Jersey Devils with a lower body injury and now it looks like he won’t be back on the ice for quite some time. Thomas reports that the injury will keep Enstrom sidelined for eight weeks. He will be placed on injured reserve.
The loss of Enstrom is a tough blow for Winnipeg, albeit not shocking. Enstrom has played in 60 games, 72 games, and 60 games in each of the past three seasons respectively, only 78% of the possible contests. The 33-year-old has gotten used to being banged up and the Jets have gotten used to dealing with it. Thomas already indicated that Tucker Poolman is likely to be called up and given a regular role on the Winnipeg blue line in Enstrom’s stead.
With that said, it’s still a difficult situation for a club that has the fourth-most points in the NHL and finally have the look of the playoff team that many have speculated over the past few seasons. Enstrom may not bring much offense – in fact he has only two assists this season – but is very reliable in his own end and has been a mainstay for the Jets/Thrashers organization throughout his 11-year career. Enstrom’s offense and ice time may be down in 2017-18, but his absence will still be apparent over the next two months.
Western Notes: Little, Tanev, Stecher, Sundqvist
Winnipeg Jets’ forward Bryan Little has seen a lot over the 11 years he’s been with the Jets franchise. However, one thing he hasn’t seen is his team dominating out of the gate in a season. After Saturday’s 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils, Little finds his team boasting a 12-4-3 record good enough for second place in the Western Conference.
That may not be entirely true. Little was with the Atlanta Thrashers (before they moved to Winnipeg) and witnessed a 12-3-3 start, but that was the year before he joined the franchise, writes Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen. Little, however, is thrilled to see Winnipeg finally work their way into a position where they are not chasing a playoff spot.
“It takes a bit of the pressure off,” Little said. “You’re able to play more relaxed and more confident. When you’re fighting to get back early in the season, it’s mentally stressful. You know you’ve got to win games, and that puts a lot of pressure on everyone.”
- Steve Ewan of The Province writes that Vancouver Canucks defensemen Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher are closing in on returning to the lineup. Tanev, who is recovering from a thumb injury and has missed four games, and Stecher, who is recovering from a knee injury and has only appeared in eight games this season, are both expected to travel with the team on their upcoming roadtrip which opens in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Both skated with the team today, but skated late suggesting they are not expected to play tonight against the St. Louis Blues.
- The St. Louis Post Dispatch’s Jim Thomas writes that center Oskar Sundqvist, who left Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers after taking a puck to the foot, was a full participant in practice today and is expected to play in tonight’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.