Snapshots: Bowness, Johnson, Vegas
Tampa Bay’s Rick Bowness is the all-time leader in games coached. You may be shocked to hear that, given that Scotty Bowman’s 2,141 games as a head coach is a record that will likely last for a long time. But it’s not the head coaching record that Bowness is breaking, but that of total games coached. Bowness has been behind the bench in an associate or head coaching role for 2,165 games after tonight’s match-up against the Minnesota Wild. 463 of those have come as the head coach, split with five different franchises, but most of his work has been as an assistant. Congratulations to Bowness for a long, successful career in the NHL that doesn’t look like it’s ending anytime soon.
- Sticking with Tampa Bay, and following the report from earlier, the team was indeed missing Tyler Johnson from the lineup tonight when it headed into battle with the Wild. He was out with an undisclosed injury and played only 14 minutes on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings, more than four minutes less than his average. Johnson is the topic of much conversation lately, as his name has recently come up in trade speculation. The Lightning have a tough roster crunch coming up this summer and with Johnson’s RFA status he may be deemed expendable. An injury at this junction would be a terrible blow to GM Steve Yzerman and the Lightning if they are indeed looking to move the diminutive center. With Johnson’s relatively down season—he has just 33 points in 54 games—Yzerman already wouldn’t be selling at a high point.
- ESPN’s Craig Custance reported today (subscription required) that as many as six NHL teams have already reached out to George McPhee and the Vegas Golden Knights brain trust. Not necessarily to make deals—the team isn’t allowed to make a deal until the final expansion payment is made official on March 1st—but to figure out their ideas heading into the expansion draft. NHL teams have a very important trade deadline coming up that will determine who will be left exposed for Vegas come June 17th. It won’t be easy to operate in the dark, and as Custance says, more teams will likely reach out as they decide whether they’re buyers or sellers.
Snapshots: Del Zotto, Treliving, Howard, Lightning
Although he has been listed as day-to-day for the better part of three weeks now, Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto is finally close to returning to the lineup from his ankle injury and is targeting Wednesday against the Flames as a return date, reports Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. He had started skating a couple of weeks ago but had to stop after suffering a setback.
Del Zotto’s season has largely been one setback after another due to injuries and struggles that have seen him spend time as a healthy scratch as well, hardly an ideal spot for a pending unrestricted free agent. In 30 games, he has four goals and six assists but a poor -10 rating while seeing his average ice time drop by nearly four minutes per night. Accordingly, there’s a chance that the Flyers could look to move him by the deadline despite still being in the playoff picture.
[Related: Del Zotto’s Trade Candidate Profile]
Elsewhere around the league:
- While Calgary GM Brad Treliving remains without a contract beyond this season, Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun doesn’t anticipate that ownership will be looking to make a change. The scribe takes a closer look at his moves since joining the team a little under three years ago and notes that there are considerably more successful ones than mistakes. Francis notes that the team is comfortable with having their off-ice personnel operating in the final year of their deals, a departure from most teams across the NHL who don’t typically prefer to have their general managers in their ‘lame duck years’.
- The Red Wings announced that they have recalled goaltender Jimmy Howard from his conditioning assignment in Grand Rapids. He has been out of Detroit’s lineup since sustaining a sprained MCL back in December. To make room for him on the roster, the team placed defenseman Jonathan Ericsson (who was ruled out for the season earlier today) on long-term injury reserve. MLive’s Brendan Savage adds (Twitter link) that Howard will not skate with the team until Monday meaning the current tandem of Petr Mrazek and Jared Coreau will remain in place for their two games over the weekend. Prior to the injury, Howard had been off to a strong start to the season with a 1.96 GAA and a .934 SV% in 17 games.
- Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson is likely to miss the Lightning’s next two games as a result of an undisclosed injury he suffered on Tuesday night, notes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. On the flip side, they are getting some good news on the injury front as well as wingers Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat are both expected to be in the lineup tonight against the Wild.
Capitals Notes: Burakovsky, Depth, Connolly
Winger Andre Burakovsky will be out until mid-to-late March with a hand injury, notes Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post (Twitter link). Rookie winger Zachary Sanford is expected to take Burakovsky’s spot in the lineup on Saturday against the Ducks but the team hasn’t decided if he or rookie winger Jakub Vrana will be in that spot beyond the weekend.
The injury, which was sustained last night in a victory over the Red Wings, will not require surgery, adds NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. The 22 year old has 11 goals and 18 assists in 51 games this season but has been on a hot streak as of late, picking up 19 points (9-10-19) in his last 25 outings.
The Capitals have been healthy for the most part this season as they’ve missed only 19 man-games due to injury (the fewest in the league) but that total is set to grow as a result of this issue.
More from Washington:
- While the Capitals have often been known as a top regular season team, they’ve taken it to another level this year and as a result, Neil Greenberg, also of the Washington Post, believes this is the most dominating squad in their 42 year history. He notes a pair of key differences from previous versions of the team that have strong regular seasons only to fall short in the playoffs. The Caps have a strong third line that is controlling the play while deepening their lineup that much further. They also have ten different players with at least ten goals, a balanced attack that all teams covet especially as the playoffs hit. Washington finds themselves atop the NHL standings with 82 points through 55 games and it looks like they’ll once again be pushing for the Presidents’ Trophy for the second straight season. Though they fell short last year after losing in the second round, this roster may be better poised to push through the postseason.
- After a slow start to the season, winger Brett Connolly has found his niche with the Caps, suggests Tommy Chalk of the Washington Times. He spent time as a healthy scratch in the early going this season but has settled in nicely on their third line in recent weeks. Connolly is also starting to pick up the pace offensively as he matched his career high in goals with a marker last night while he also has a shot at besting his 25 point output with the Bruins last year. After failing to receive a qualifying offer from Tampa Bay and Boston over the past two summers, the 24 year old has a decent chance of ending that streak if he can keep up his play down the stretch.
Ryan Carter Attempting Return To Wild
For the first time since April of last year, Ryan Carter will attend an NHL practice. The Star Tribune reports that the former Minnesota Wild forward will skate with his former teammates today and is expected to continue working with the team through the remainder of the month. Carter played for the Wild for the past two years, recording 25 points in 113 games as a regular on the team’s checking line. However, when the Minnesota native hit free agency this summer, he decided he would sign with his hometown team or not at all. Unable to commit to a contract for the 33-year-old, Minnesota invited Carter to camp this fall, but he was released due to issues with a lingering shoulder injury. Carter underwent a procedure on a torn labrum in his right shoulder four months ago, and is just now returning to full strength.
With experience not only playing with much of the current roster, but also with 46 playoff games under his belt, including two last spring, the Wild’s interest in reuniting with Carter makes sense. Although they have been one of the most dominant teams in the NHL this season, Minnesota is not without fault and a gritty veteran is on their wish list this Trade Deadline season. Rather than use up valuable picks and prospects to acquire such a player, they have the option of simply giving Carter a cheap pro-rated deal for the rest of the season. As long as the Wild make the signing official prior to March 1st, Carter will be eligible to play in the postseason.
If he truly is back at full strength, Carter would likely present an upgrade to the Wild’s current group of energy liners like Jordan Schroeder, Kurtis Gabriel, and Tyler Graovac. Carter is a veteran of 473 career regular seasons games, during which he has scored 41 goals and added 52 assists. He’s a physical player who knows how to check and win battles along the boards, and he’s also above average at the face-off dot. More than anything, what makes Carter so appealing to Minnesota at this point in the season is his playoff success. The journeyman grinder won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and returned to the final in 2012 with the New Jersey, adding five goals for the Devils along the way. A return to the Wild lineup for a local guy who has had to fight his way back into the fold would be quite a story, and will be something to watch for over the next month.
Flyers Place Travis Konecny On IR
The Philadelphia Flyers will be without rookie center Travis Konecny for the next 4-6 weeks.
Konecny suffered an lower-body injury earlier this week, and has now been placed on injured reserve. GM Ron Hextall announced the move via the team’s Twitter account. In a corresponding transaction, the Flyers have recalled Lehigh Valley’s top scorer, Jordan Weal.
A first round pick in 2015, Konecny has had a solid rookie season in the Flyers’ bottom six, scoring 22 points in 51 games. That total ties him with fellow rookie Ivan Provorov and sophomore Shayne Gostisbehere for fifth on the Flyers. In his OHL career with the Ottawa 67’s and Sarnia Sting, Konecny had 239 points in 183 games.
Weal was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings last January along with a third round pick in exchange for Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn. Weal has 47 points in 43 games in Lehigh Valley this season. The former third round pick was held pointless in 14 NHL games last season split between Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Injury Notes: Burakovsky, Ericsson, Hanzal
Injury updates around the NHL during tonight’s busy slate of games:
- Washington Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky will miss the rest of tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, reports the NHL’s Tom Gulitti. The Capitals’ young forward went down with an upper body injury after blocking a Detroit slapshot around the midsection that may have injured his hand. Burakovsky has 11G and 18A in 51 games this season, and is on pace for a career-high in points.
- Tom Gulitti also reports that Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson will also miss the rest of that Washington-Detroit game. Ericsson suffered an upper body injury during a hit by Washington’s Niklas Backstrom. Ericsson has 1G and 8A in 50 games this season and averages 19:29 minutes a night on Detroit’s second defensive pairing.
- AZCentral’s Sarah McLellan reports that pending unrestricted free agent Martin Hanzal did not participate in the Arizona Coyotes‘ pregame skate this evening, meaning that Hanzal will miss tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. Scouts attending the game will surely be disappointed as Hanzal is a hot commodity for teams looking for a playoff-run rental. Hanzal has 10G and 9A in 43 games so far this season.
Ondrej Pavelec Out With Injury
After starting eight of the Winnipeg Jets’ nine games since he was called up from the AHL in mid-January, Ondrej Pavelec will take a seat once again. After leaving Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild, coach Paul Maurice confirmed today that Pavelec has suffered a lower body injury. The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe reports that Pavelec is expected to be out “about a week”.
With Pavelec back out of the picture, the Jets will return to their young duo of Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson for the next week and beyond. When Pavelec was recalled on January, Winnipeg made the decision not to subject the 26-year-old Hutchinson to waivers and to instead carry three goalies. However, in the last month, Hutchinson has not made a single appearance, while Hellebuyck had just one start before relieving Pavelec on Tuesday. The pair have been less than stellar this season anyway; Hellebuyck has been the better of the two with 17 wins, a .909 SV%, and 2.78 GAA in 36 appearances, while Hutchinson has just four wins and a ghastly .894 SV% and 3.23 GAA in 20 appearances.
Despite getting nearly all the ice time in net since his resurrection from the minors, Pavelec has not been all that successful either. In fact, he’s actually been worse than Hellebuyck and Hutchinson. Pavelec currently has a 4-4 record with a horrid .888 SV% and 3.55 GAA. Granted, that is only through eight games, but the Jets may actually be better suited with Pavelec injured and out of the lineup. Winnipeg has just 54 points on the season through 56 contests, which puts them in fifth in the Central Division. While they sit just five points back of the Calgary Flames for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, they have played two or more games than all three teams chasing them for that berth: the Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, and Vancouver Canucks. The playoffs seem like a long shot for the Jets, and going forward it is Hellebuyck that is the goalie of the future. Increased play time for the young keeper down the stretch rather than the ten-year veteran and impending free agent would be the logical move. Though Pavelec has dedicated his career to the Thrashers/Jets franchise, his preseason demotion and poor play at the NHL level in 2016-17 clearly signal that his time is over. Winnipeg would be better served long-term to give Hellebuyck the majority of starts for the remainder of the season.
Snapshots: Canadiens, Bjorkstrand, Avalanche
The Montreal Canadiens are mired in a four-game losing streak and their grip on the top of the Atlantic Division is slipping. They need help down the middle and everyone knows it, making it tough for GM Marc Bergevin to make a deal. Darren Dreger of TSN spoke today about their struggles recently and how broken up the schedule has been for them. He also mentions the defensive side of the ice and how the Habs would like to make incremental improvements there if possible.
He does give some good news on the injury front, telling us that Brendan Gallagher is travelling with the team and should be back in the lineup as soon as this weekend. There is a possibility he’ll return Saturday against the St. Louis Blues, but more likely in the second half of the back to back against Boston on Sunday.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have made Oliver Bjorkstrand an emergency call up on Wednesday evening, bringing him back to the NHL for the third time this season. The 21-year old Bjorkstrand has played five games for the Jackets this season, registering just one point. Last season the Danish winger really shone in the AHL playoffs with 16 points in 17 games, helping the Monsters win a Calder Cup. He’s destined for the NHL in the long-run, but still needs some seasoning to unlock his full potential.
- The Colorado Avalanche have made a goalie swap, sending Spencer Martin to the AHL while bringing Jeremy Smith up to the NHL squad. Martin has been shelled in his short time in the NHL, allowing 13 goals in three games. With Semyon Varlomov out, the team has been relying on Calvin Pickard and would like to have a little more depth behind him. Smith, selected in the second round a decade ago, has never made it into an NHL game. He does have a solid AHL resume, including a .934 save percentage last year for the Providence Bruins.
Sven Baertschi Suffers Concussion
The Vancouver Canucks will be without forward Sven Baertschi for the foreseeable future.
Baertschi was forced to leave Tuesday night’s game in Nashville early in the first period after a collision with Cody McLeod (YouTube link). Interestingly, the Canucks immediately labelled Baertschi’s injury a concussion instead of the standard upper-body injury.
McLeod will not face any supplemental discipline for the hit, which has been deemed accidental according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun. Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said after the game that he feels McLeod knew Baertschi was there before he hit him. McLeod was not penalized on the play.
The Canucks have now lost four games in a row and are seven points out of the final wildcard spot. Last night was the first game of a six-game road trip, which will likely make or break the Canucks’ playoff chances. They visit Columbus, Boston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis in the next week.
Baertschi has 13 goals and 27 points in 50 games this season. He was originally the Flames’ 13th overall pick in the 2011 draft. He was acquired by the Canucks at the 2015 deadline for a second round pick.
Anton Rodin Undergoes Knee Surgery, Out Six Months
After being shut down earlier in January because he re-injured his knee, Vancouver Canucks forward Anton Rodin underwent successful surgery today to repair it, but will be out for at least six months. He should be ready for the start of the 2018 season, though he’s still a long way from knowing for certain.
Rodin has had a nightmare season in his first year back from Sweden. After scoring 37 points in 35 games for Brynas last season in his home country, he returned to North America to try to make an impact for the Canucks. He has only played in three games for the NHL club this season, adding another three down with the Utica Comets of the AHL. Injury has stolen basically his entire year, as he’ll now miss the remainder of the season.
The 26-year old winger signed a one-year deal with the Canucks for $950,000 which they could now move to LTIR to get a little additional cap relief if they needed. He’ll still be a restricted free agent this offseason, but it is still to be seen if he decides to stay in North America. After being drafted in the second round in 2009, he has only played two seasons in the AHL before this. He made his NHL debut for the team this season.