Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Cory Conacher
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Cory Conacher from the AHL to fill in for Nikita Kucherov while he’s out with injury. Kucherov is listed as day-to-day after falling into the boards awkwardly last night.
Conacher last played in the NHL in 2014-15 for the New York Islanders, and since has bounced around the AHL and Swiss league. Last year for Bern of the NLA he posted 52 points in 48 games, his most productive professional season since 2011-12. The diminutive winger has never found much consistent success in the NHL, though is at least an experienced body to plug into the lineup.
For the Lightning, losing Kucherov for any length of time would be devastating, as the winger is arguably their top forward outside of Steven Stamkos and is a huge part of their offense. While at the moment it doesn’t seem serious, it’ll be interesting to see who takes his spot in the top six.
Bryan Little To IR, Marko Dano Up To Winnipeg
When Bryan Little was injured in the Winnipeg Jet’s season opener, it was originally believed that he would only be out for a short time. Yet, two weeks later he has not made his return and head coach Paul Maurice stated yesterday that he could be out for another month. The team backed up those words today, placing Little on the injured reserve.
The team’s second-line center and a key point producer, Little’s long-term absence will certainly mean trouble for the Jets. The team is already off to a disappointing start, with just two wins thus far, and now they are missing one of the centerpieces of their team. A holdover from the Atlanta Thrashers days and a career member of the organization, Little has always been relied upon to play big minutes for the team. A strong two-way player who is a perennially puts up 40+ points, Little’s absence will be felt in all aspects of the game. Unlike the loss of unsigned Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg does not have the same depth up front as they do on the back end, and are not structured well to deal with the loss of a key forward. The team certainly hopes that Little returns before the end of November.
In his stead, the Jets have called up Marko Dano from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Once considered a top NHL prospect, Dano has had an interesting few years. A first-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013, Dano made his debut in 2014-15 with 21 points in 35 games, playing a complete and exciting game. He caught the eye of the Chicago Blackhawks, who asked for Dano in the Brandon Saad trade. However, Dano failed to find his footing in Chicago, and was once more traded after putting up just 10 points in 34 games. This time he was shipped to Winnipeg as part of the package for Andrew Ladd and finished the season with the Jets, recording eight points in 21 games. Dano failed to make the team out of camp this week, but will now get his chance to stick at the NHL level with Winnipeg. The 21-year-old winger has a ton of skill, and if he can put it all together like he did as a rookie in Columbus, that will greatly help the Jets cope with the loss of Little and turn their early struggles around.
Kucherov Out With Upper Body Injury
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov left last night’s game, a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and did not return. Kucherov took a hard check midway through the first period and looked to have injured his left shoulder. Kucherov skated to the bench afterward, and did come out for his next shift, but did not return to the bench following the period break.
When asked about the status of the team’s leading scorer in 2015-16, The Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith reports that coach Jon Cooper had little to add. Other than confirming that Kucherov had not suffered a concussion, Cooper said that the nature of the injury and it’s extent were still unknown. Cooper believes that Kucherov was simply hit “the wrong way” on that check, indicating that it should not be a long-term injury.
In the meantime, if Kucherov is out for a few games, the Lightning will not be too short-handed. Ryan Callahan is nearing return to the lineup, after rehabbing from hip surgery, and may be ready to go as early as the team’s next game on Saturday. Tampa also has the luxury of experienced wingers like Cory Conacher and Erik Condra playing in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch who could be called up as well. While no one can replace Kucherov point-for-point (he has 131 of them over the past two seasons), the Lightning are well-equipped to handle a short absence for the Russian scorer.
What’s Going On With The Chicago Blackhawks?
Both Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo and Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times address the Chicago Blackhawks struggles out of the gate. Wyshynski tackles the anemic penalty kill while Lazerus touches on a number of issues that have been plaguing the Hawks.
Wyshynski begins with the penalty kill, pointing out the unusually bad stats (46%) but looking at it closer and highlighting some of the anomalies contributing to the struggles. Wyshynski points to usual stalwarts Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson, both of whom have been on the ice for nine goals against when defending against the man advantage. Captain Jonathan Toews has been on the ice for seven out of 14 power play goals against, while Marcus Kruger has seen six pucks head into the net during a kill. On Corey Crawford, Wyshynski says this:
Corey Crawford, meanwhile, has faced nine high-danger chances on the PK and let in six goals, giving him the lowest HD save percentage in the league on the penalty kill (via Corsica). That ranks fifth in high-danger chances shorthanded and first in goals allowed. He’s not bailing them out.
Will it turn around? Wyshynski figures that when Andrew Desjardins returns from injury, it will boost the penalty kill unit. While it won’t be as dominant as it once was with the current cast of players, Wyshynski figures it to improve from the disappointing start.
Lazerus scours some of the other issues plaguing the Hawks. Aside from the penalty kill, Lazerus writes that the grueling schedule certainly isn’t doing Chicago any favors. From Patrick Kane:
“We have a lot of young guys that probably haven’t played in that type of scheduling before,” Kane said. “It’s something to get used to, and something for us veteran guys to lead by example and make sure we’re getting off to good starts. Especially in the United Center. There’s no excuse not to come out and have a good first period and dictate the pace of play right away.”
Lazerus also points to the lack of production from key players. Toews has yet to score in seven games. Artem Anisimov has been great on the score sheet but struggling in the faceoff circle (35%). Richard Panik has been a nice surprise and Crawford has been stellar at even strength, only giving up three goals at 5 on 5. Despite the negatives, there have been positives, such as Panik and Crawford, to feel good about as a Chicago fan.
Lazerus finishes by saying that the “troubling signs” are of a team trying to figure things out–something unlike the championship Hawk squads of seasons past.
Shane Prince Activated From Injured Reserve
Isles winger Shane Prince has been activated from the injured reserve list. The 23-year old was put on the shelf more than 10 days ago after suffering a lower-body injury against the Washington Capitals.
After scoring 43 goals in his final season in junior, Prince took the AHL by storm becoming a 65-point player in 2014-15. He got into 42 games for the Senators last season before being dealt (along with a seventh rounder) for a third-round pick at the deadline. Prince was part of the Islanders’ playoff run, scoring four points in eleven games, including a two-goal effort in game 1 of the second round.
A second-round pick from 2011, Prince has yet to find consistency at the NHL level but is still regarded as a potential top-six scorer in the future. While injury has slowed the start of the year, he’ll likely be back in the lineup tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Metro Division Snapshots: Carolina, Jooris, Buchnevich, McIlrath, Poulin
The Carolina Hurricanes, a team projected by some as a potential dark-horse in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, have won just one of their first six games and currently reside in the Metro Division basement. They’ll finally get a taste of home cooking Friday after starting the campaign on a six-game road trip as the Hurricanes will host the New York Rangers. Despite a respectable offense that is averaging three goals a game and a defense limiting opponents to the fourth-fewest shot attempts, Carolina has been undone by poor goaltending and as Ben Pope writes for Today’s Slapshot, it might be time for the Hurricanes to panic.
Cam Ward and Eddie Lack have combined for an 85.3% save percentage, the worst in the NHL, and have allowed four goals a game. Beyond the common numbers, the Hurricanes goalie duo is also performing at a below average level preventing goals against on low-, medium-, and high-danger shots, as Pope notes.
After just six games it’s fair to wonder about sample-size but Pope goes on to write that Ward, while sometimes making the spectacular save, has been a subpar netminder for much of his career. Lack, on the other hand, is nearly league-average in stopping shots from the outside but struggles mightily against attempts from in close.
Citing statistics available on Corsica.hockey, Pope opines the team’s defense hasn’t done the goalies any favors. Even though they have been excellent overall in suppressing shots, the ones they do allow have been of the medium-to-high-danger variety. The data shows 81.2% of the shots Carolina gives up are either of the medium of high-danger variety with the league average coming in at 63.4%.
Ultimately, the Hurricanes need better play between the pipes if they want to remain a relevant playoff contender. If that improvement doesn’t come internally, Carolina may have to scour the trade market to find a solution.
More from around the Metro Division:
- With Pavel Buchnvich expected to return to the lineup Friday the New York Rangers were facing a difficult decision regarding whom to remove from their 23-man roster to open a spot for the rookie forward. But the injury to Josh Jooris Wednesday night allowed the Rangers to delay that decision a little longer, writes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. However, instead of taking advantage of that opportunity, the Blueshirts this morning have placed Dylan McIlrath on waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the club will likely send their 2010 first-round draft pick to Hartford of the AHL. McIlrath has suited up for just one game this season and has been a healthy scratch six times.
- Former New York Islander netminder Kevin Poulin has signed a deal with Barys of the KHL, tweets Igor Eronko of Sports Express. Poulin showed promise early in his career after debuting in the league with a 92.4% save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.44 in 10 appearances as a 20-year-old back in 2010-11. It’s been downhill ever since with his save percentage declining in each subsequent campaign. Poulin last saw action in the league in 2014-15, starting once and allowing three goals on 26 shots. He appeared in 29 contests for Stockton in the AHL, winning 14 and stopping 90.9% of the attempts against.
Ducks, Lindholm Agree To New Pact
According to Bob McKenzie, the Anaheim Ducks have come to terms with RFA defenseman Hampus Lindholm, signing the Swede to a six-year deal with an AAV of $5.25MM. It had been reported in recent days that the chasm between the two sides had shrunk to around $250K annually but that each had “a line drawn in the sand.” Now, with the new pact coming in short of the recent contract inked by Buffalo blue liner Rasmus Ristolainen, it’s fair to speculate it was Lindholm who lowered his salary demands in order to get a deal done.
At this point Lindholm likely concluded it no longer made sense to miss any more paychecks. If the two sides were in fact hung up on just $250K per year, the Ducks defender will earn more than that in four games under terms of his new deal.
Given the two sides seemed to be locked firmly into their relative positions just 24 hours ago, it’s clear significant progress was made last night in order for the deal to be announced this morning. In fact, Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot provides a timeline demonstrating the “shift” in negotiations based on the reports of insiders Darren Dreger, Elliotte Friedman and McKenzie.
Cap Friendly reports that the Ducks are now about $1.4MM over the salary cap ceiling meaning the team will have to make a roster move or moves in order to clear sufficient space. As Cap Friendly further notes, even if the team sends Emerson Etem – who cleared waivers yesterday – and Dustin Tokarski down to San Diego of the AHL, the Ducks will still be approximately $150K over the cap ceiling.
It’s been widely rumored that the team could look to deal a player like Cam Fowler – $4MM cap charge – and that still might be the case; especially if the Ducks can acquire an impact LW in the trade. It’s also possible the club could simply put C Nate Thompson and his $1.6MM cap hit on LTIR. Thompson had surgery to repair an Achilles tendon injury in June and his return date is unknown.
Of course with Simon Despres already on LTIR and temporarily clearing his $3.7MM cap hit from the books, it’s likely the Ducks will still have to trim salary at some point this season when Despres and or Thompson are healthy enough to return.
Despite officially being under contract, Lindholm likely won’t see the ice for Anaheim for at least another week to 10 days, according to McKenzie. Lindholm, who has been in Sweden during the holdout, will require a new work visa and the process, as McKenzie notes, can take up to two weeks.
Pacific Division Snapshots: Boedker, Megna, Stecher, McGinn
After an “underwhelming” start to the 2016-17 campaign, San Jose bench boss Peter DeBoer has shuffled his lines in an effort to spark the 2 – 3 Sharks, writes Paul Gackle of The Mercury News. Tomas Hertl, who has spent much of the season skating on the top line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton, slides down the lineup and will center the third line. Meanwhile, Mikkel Boedker and Joel Ward have been promoted and will each move up a line.
Hertl, who has two goals and three points in six contests, will center a line with Patrick Marleau and Melker Karlsson on his wings. Boedker joins the aforementioned Pavelski and Thornton on the first line. Ward takes over as the second line right wing and will skate with Logan Couture and Joonas Donskoi.
For DeBoer, it’s not about punishing poor play or rewarding good; it’s about trying to find the right combinations that will allow the coach to roll four forward lines.
“It’s not a panic situation or anything, but you’re always looking for ways to get the most out of your group and our four-line game hasn’t been where I want it to be. I want to make sure that we are a four-line team and we’ll keep shuffling things until we are.”
Hertl’s play at center last year when Couture was out gave DeBoer the necessary confidence to move the young Czech forward back to the pivot spot.
“Hertl can play anywhere, his game is at that point. He’s a good enough player now that, not only can he play anywhere, I think he can make other people better around him.”
The Sharks currently sit tied with Anaheim for third in the Pacific Division but have a minus-four goal differential and have tallied just 14 markers on the season. Whether DeBoer’s changes pay off for the Sharks remains to be seen but it’s evident some form of shakeup was needed in San Jose.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:
- The Vancouver Canucks have announced via their team website that they have recalled forward Jayson Megna and defenseman Troy Stecher from Utica of the AHL. Furthermore, according to Jon Abbott who covers the Canucks for TSN1040, Megna is slated to play on the fourth line tonight against Ottawa. Stecher is set to make his NHL debut tonight and will skate with Alex Edler, with whom he partnered during preseason action, again per Abbott. Megna appeared in six games for the New York Rangers in 2015-16, netting a single goal and two points for the Blueshirts. Stecher signed with Vancouver as an undrafted free agent following three seasons playing for the University of North Dakota. The two draw into the lineup due to the continued absences of Derek Dorsett, Alexandre Burrows and Chris Tanev.
- The Arizona Coyotes will receive a welcome boost tonight as offseason free agent addition Jamie McGinn is set to make his 2016-17 season debut, as Coyotes Senior Director of News Content Dave Vest writes. McGinn missed the team’s first five games due to an upper-body-injury. Head coach Dave Tippett says the veteran wing will have to quickly readjust to the speed and pace of the game: “He’s going to have to get up and going. At least he had exhibition games (and) played well in the exhibition games. He’s been off for a couple weeks now. The pace has gone up. He’ll have to get into the pace of the game, but he’s a good veteran guy. He’s hard around the front of the net. Hopefully he brings us a little veteran presence we need right now.” Vest also notes that goalie Justin Peters is slated to make his first start of the 2016-17 campaign between the pipes tonight for the Coyotes. The 30-year-old Peters, who has 67 NHL starts on his resume, appeared in a relief role for the Coyotes last Thursday and stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced. Peters has assumed the backup role in Arizona behind Louis Domingue following the lower-body-injury to Mike Smith.
Anton Khudobin Out Three Weeks
Boston’s goaltending depth is about to get put to the test as the team announced on Tuesday that Anton Khudobin will miss the next three weeks with an upper body injury that was sustained in practice on Monday. This comes at the same time that the team is currently missing starter Tuukka Rask due to general body soreness and there remains no timetable for his return to action.
Khudobin has played in a pair of games this season while subbing for Rask. Both contests were losses with the 30 year old posting a 4.10 GAA and a .849 save percentage.
As a result of the injury, the team will be running with a duo of prospects Malcolm Subban and Zane McIntyre for the time being, the latter being recalled on an emergency basis today. McIntyre leads the AHL in both goals against (0.44) and save percentage (.977) this season while Subban, Boston’s first round pick in 2012, has struggled, being pulled in two starts already while posting a 4.50 GAA and a .846 save percentage. Subban is expected to get the start between the pipes tonight against Minnesota.
The team will also be without center David Backes for that game, who is day-to-day with an unspecified injury, adds Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). However, veteran blueliner Adam McQuaid will make his season debut for the Bruins, the team announced (Twitter link).
The Bruins also assigned defenseman Rob O’Gara to their AHL affiliate in Providence. The rookie has played in three games with Boston this season, logging just over 16 minutes per night in ice time.
Injury Updates: Penguins, Bruins, Stars, Blues, Kings
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby returned to practice for the first time on Monday since sustaining a concussion just prior to the start of the regular season, notes Sam Kasan of the team’s official website. He also wasn’t wearing a non-contact jersey which is a sign that he should be nearing a return to the lineup in the near future. Crosby skated on the top line in practice along with wingers Patric Hornqvist and Scott Wilson. There remains no firm timetable for his return, but head coach Mike Sullivan wouldn’t rule out a possible return this week.
Still with the Penguins, Kris Letang (upper body) and Conor Sheary (eye) did not practice today, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter). Both players are currently listed as day-to-day.
Other injury updates from around the league:
- With Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask still unavailable to practice, the team announced that they’ve recalled prospect Malcolm Subban on an emergency basis. On top of that, Anton Khudobin left practice early with an upper body injury, adds Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. Rask remains day-to-day while there’s no word yet on the severity of Khudobin’s injury.
- After returning to the lineup on Saturday from a groin injury, Dallas right winger Ales Hemsky is once again on the shelf with a groin injury and won’t play tomorrow, notes Mike Heika of the Dallas News. Additionally, center Jason Spezza tweaked something and is listed as questionable. Jiri Hudler (flu) is skating and is nearing a return to the lineup but is not expected to play on Tuesday night. The team announced that Hemsky has been placed on IR while center Justin Dowling has been recalled from Texas of the AHL.
- St. Louis center Jori Lehtera skated on his own today as he continues to recover from an upper body injury, reports Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). In a follow-up tweet, Timmermann adds that right winger Dmitrij Jaskin is day-to-day with a back issue.
- Kings goaltender Jeff Zatkoff is expected to miss around a week with his groin injury, head coach Darryl Sutter told reporters including Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Zatkoff was expected to be the backup to Jonathan Quick this season but was thrust into the starting role with Quick expected to miss the next three months. In the meantime, Los Angeles will continue to go with Peter Budaj as their starter while speculation continues that the team will eventually have to add some help via the trade route.