New York Hockey Notes: Halak, Tavares, Rangers
The New York Islanders face an interesting choice when deciding who will be between the pipes to start the 2016-17 season. They have three goalies on one-way contracts – Jaroslav Halak, Thomas Greiss and Jean-Francois Berube – though realistically when it comes to the starting job, the choice will be between Halak and Greiss.
Halak had a solid season in 2015-16, winning 18 of his 36 starts and stopping nearly 92% of the shots he faced. The advanced stats crowd holds Halak in particularly high regard due in large part to his ability to limit goals against on high danger shot attempts. Over the last two seasons, Halak has stopped 84.03% of shots against from high danger scoring areas in 5v5 situations. That figure is good for seventh overall in the NHL among goalies who have seen at least 1,500 minutes of 5v5 play. Halak ranks higher than bigger names like Braden Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist.
Greiss was excellent in goal for the Islanders in the postseason with Halak unavailable due to injury. He also ranks among the best goaltenders in preventing goals in high danger situations. His 84.97 HDSv% at 5v5 is the fourth highest over the last two seasons. It’s his strong play last season and the presence of Berube that has led some to postulate the Islanders could look to trade Halak to address other needs.
This issue was addressed by Arthur Staple of Newsday in this reader mailbag. Staple points to Halak’s strong play in the World Cup as the starter for the surprising Europeans and indicates that the Islanders organization is intent on keeping him on board. That means Greiss is likely headed back to the #2 role while Berube is likely to have to wait his turn while suiting up for Bridgeport in the AHL.
Other points of interest in Staple’s mailbag and roster notes on the Islanders Big Apple rivals:
- Staple takes an early stab at what it will ultimately cost the Islanders to extend captain and face-of-the-franchise John Tavares. He reasons that since Tavares is the “one true star” of the team – unlike in Chicago (Toews/Kane) and Pittsburgh (Crosby/Malkin), he will be able to command a larger piece of the Islander salary cap pie. Staple refers to it as a “blank check situation for him,” and a max length deal in the range of $9.5MM to $10MM annually is where the negotiation will end up. Tavares likely could push for more and certainly the Islanders would prefer a lower number but the team will undoubtedly do whatever necessary to ink their captain to a long-term deal.
- Answering a query regarding the continued development of defenseman Nick Leddy, Staple feels the 25-year-old blue liner can take the next step and become an “elite” defender. Staple suggests the Islanders will limit Leddy’s ice time by cutting his penalty-killing duties in the hopes he will remain fresher and produce better numbers at five-on-five.
- Steve Zipay of Newsday projects the Rangers opening night roster and notes the team will have a significant amount of cap space remaining for one of the few times in recent memory. The Blueshirts had just $200K in cap space to open the 2015-16 campaign but assuming Zipay’s projections are close to accurate, the team will have in excess of $3MM with which to play with. Of course having that flexibility would allow the Rangers to add salary at any point during the season, rather than waiting until the trade deadline, should they find a deal to their liking.
Snapshots: Tkachuk, Rinne, Red Wings
Matthew Tkachuk scored the game winning goal for the Flames in their 2-1 victory over Vancouver Friday night. But all of Calgary took a collective sigh of relief after Tkachuk looked to suffer an injury early in the second period. Pat Steinberg tweeted the reaction as soon as Tkachuk was rocked into the boards by defenseman Joseph Labate. What appeared to be a serious injury barely kept him off the ice. Tkachuk returned to score the game winner and the sixth overall draft pick of the 2016 has looked good early on a line with Sam Bennett and Troy Brouwer. Calgary bench boss Glen Gulutzan said this about Tkachuk:
“(Brouwer) certainly helps and Bennie, they’ve got a little chemistry, but Matthew, he fits right in. He’s always around the net so he’s always picking up loose change.”
In other NHL notes:
- Adam Vingan writes about Pekka Rinne and his approach to the game after playing for Team Finland in the World Cup of Hockey. The 33-year-old netminder has been fighting the perception that he is in decline and Vingan notes that Rinne was the rock of Nasvhille’s team for many years. Last season, Rinne had 66 starts, which was second in league for all goalies. Vingan points out, however, that Rinne led the league in starts with a save percentage less than 85 percent during eleven of those 66 starts. Regardless, the Preds don’t seem too concerned about Rinne’s performance. Captain Mike Fisher agreed with coach Peter Laviolette who said Rinne is capable of winning games for the Preds:
“We’re all excited to see him back. He’s a leader around here. Practices, games, he works so hard. He brings the level up by the way he competes.”
- The Red Wings have trimmed their roster and included veteran Dan Cleary who was signed to a professional tryout. Cleary will now report to Grand Rapids, and it appears that his days, or opportunities with the Red Wings are over. Since signing again with Detroit during the 2013-14 season, Cleary has been in steep decline and a lightning rod of criticism from fans who felt he took a spot from younger players to play.
Red Wings Notes: Hicketts, Howard, Zetterberg, Kronwall
The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James pens an article about 20-year-old defenseman Joe Hicketts and his adjustment as he graduated from juniors and embarks on the newest stage of his career. Hicketts was a free agent pickup by Detroit in 2014, and though he has a smaller stature, Hicketts certainly feels that it works to his advantage:
“Being a smaller guy, you’re always going to have doubters. But if I can be physical and win those battles, it helps me and the team.”
Though Jeff Blashill has described him as a slower skater, Ansar Khan writes that Blashill also believes that Hicketts is a hockey player “through and through” and must be willing to have “statement” games every time he laces up the skates. Hicketts will be assigned to Grand Rapids once exhibition games cease, but for Hicketts, whose childhood dream was to be a hockey player, just going out and having fun with the game he loves is how he will overcome the questions of his 5’8 frame and lack of speed.
In other Red Wings news:
- St. James adds that goalie Jimmy Howard was slated to be in the net for the entirety of tonight’s contest against the Bruins. When asked about Howard, Blashilll had this to say:
“I spoke to Jimmy about two weeks ago. I’m not going to discuss everything I talked with him about in terms of his role, but the one thing I will tell you is that I said there’s no question that he is going to have an impact on our success this year.
Howard, of course, was the subject of trade rumors and beyond that, a likely candidate for being left unprotected for the upcoming expansion draft next summer. Though it’s an expensive tandem with Petr Mrazek, Howard was instrumental last season in picking up the club when Mrazek struggled.
- Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News tweets that Blashill believes captain Henrik Zetterberg and defenseman Niklas Kronwall could skate on Tuesday. Zetterberg’s availability has been a source of uncertainty because of a knee injury. Kronwall has suffered through his own knee issue that has lingered on and would threaten his career if he chose to have surgery. Zetterberg is expected to move to the wing this season while Kronwall will most likely see his minutes reduced as a result of the knee problem.
2016-17 Season Preview: Vancouver Canucks
We’re now less than two weeks away from the start of the 2016-17 regular season. PHR continues with our season preview series, moving on to the Vancouver Canucks.
Last Season: 31 – 38 – 13 (75 points); finished sixth in the Pacific Division and missed the playoffs.
Cap Space Remaining: $2.771MM, via Cap Friendly.
Key Newcomers: Loui Eriksson (free agent – Boston); Erik Gudbrnason (trade – Florida); Philip Larsen (free agent – KHL)
Key Departures: Radim Vrata (free agent – Arizona); Jared McCann (trade – Florida); Matt Bartkowski (free agent)
Player(s) To Watch: Bo Horvat and Ryan Miller: Horvat represents a key building block for the future whereas Miller can help the Canucks compete for a playoff spot and/or become a valuable trade deadline chip.
Horvat may have already established himself as the team’s second best center after Henrik Sedin following a 40-point sophomore season and depending on how Brandon Sutter rebounds from an injury-filled 2015-16 season. While 40 points is strong production for a 20-year-old, second-year player but Horvat still needs to work on his overall game. This past season he finished with a -30 plus-minus rating and he also struggled in the puck possession department ranking 212th out of 234 forwards who played at least 800 minutes at 5v5 in Corsi For % with a 45.8%.
The third-year pivot will not only be a key contributor for the Canucks in 2016-17 campaign but his further development is an instrumental part of the organization’s roster retooling. With many of the team’s best players nearing the end of their careers – either with Vancouver or in the NHL – Horvat will be counted on to help lead the next wave of stars and to help guide the team back to the postseason.
Miller has long been regarded as one of the better goalies in the league, even if his average numbers don’t necessarily concur with that reputation. Of the 28 netminders who have seen 5,000 5v5 minutes combined over the last three seasons, Miller ranks just 22nd in Save % at 92.2%. He rated better when facing high danger chances at same strength situations, placing 15th with a HDSv% of 81.05%.
Regardless, excellent goaltending can help overcome a roster devoid of prime talent and if Miller turns in one of his better career performances in 2016-17, he may be able to keep the Canucks playoff chances alive late into the campaign.
It’s also quite likely that the team will shop Miller, who is entering the final year of his contract, ahead of the trade deadline in an effort to add futures to help speed up the rebuild. Even if no playoff contenders are in dire need of a starting goalie, an experienced option like Miller would still carry value as a backup. Since the Canucks probably would have little interest in re-signing the 13-year veteran, they might consider trading him – even for a second-round pick or less – a better option than losing him for nothing after the season.
Key Storyline: Will the Canucks fully buy in to a rebuild or continue to pretend they can be a playoff team at the same time they inject youth into the lineup? The harsh reality is the Canucks would need too many things to go right for them to make the postseason in 2016-17. Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom would have to provide top-notch play between the pipes. The Sedin twins will have to continue to stave off Father Time and perform at an elite level. Several of the team’s younger players – like Horvat – will need to improve further. And even if all of that goes their way it still probably wouldn’t be enough in a division that sent three teams to the postseason in 2015-16 and saw every other non-playoff squad make significant moves to improve their rosters.
Vancouver probably should have embraced the rebuild last year when they potentially could have moved some veteran assets for futures. But they shouldn’t be afraid to do so now, particularly if they don’t get off to a hot start to the season. It’s important that the organization adopts and implements a strategy that’s going to ensure on-ice success for the organization in the future as opposed to simply treading in the waters of mediocrity as they seem to be doing now.
Injury Notes: Janmark, Ekblad, Schwartz, Fabbri, Nosek
Dallas center Mattias Janmark was spotted leaving the arena today on crutches, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report. No update has been provided on his condition although one is expected later today.
The Stars have been bit hard by the injury bug early on with center Cody Eakin (knee), right winger Ales Hemsky (groin), and center Tyler Seguin (heel) all down already.
Janmark had a solid rookie campaign last season, scoring 15 goals and 14 assists in 73 regular season games while averaging 14:10 per game. He had a slightly bigger role in the postseason, recording two goals and three helpers in 12 contests while logging 14:41 per night in ice time.
Dallas has one of the strongest and deepest forward groups in the league but it is getting put to the test early on.
Other injury news and notes:
- Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad was dealing with whiplash and not a concussion from a hit sustained as the World Cup of Hockey, writes George Richards of the Miami Herald. The symptoms from the neck issue mimicked those of a concussion, causing the early confusion. Ekblad was given the green light to return to practice on Wednesday.
- Blues left winger Jaden Schwartz suffered a minor upper body injury (believed to be a hand/wrist issue) in practice today, report Tom Timmermann and Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Schwartz will be held out through the weekend for precautionary reasons. From the same report, Robby Fabbri (upper body) missed his fourth straight day of practice but is believed to be close to being able to return.
- Detroit center Tomas Nosek has started skating as he continues to recover from a knee injury, notes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Nosek got into six games with the Red Wings last season and will likely see time as an injury recall during the year if he doesn’t earn a spot in training camp. He sustained the injury in a collision with teammate Steve Ott in a scrimmage game.
Flyers Notes: Schultz, Gudas, Cuts
Training camp can be dangerous. According to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, Nick Schultz will be out 4-7 days with a ‘lower body injury’ after crashing into the boards last night. Schultz is coming off back to back seasons in which he played at least 80 games, and isn’t in danger of missing any time at the beginning of the season.
Penciled into the bottom pairing for the Flyers, Schultz provides a dependable presence on the back end, but won’t provide much in terms of offense. In his entire 14-year career, his highest point total came in at 20.
- Another defenseman on the mend, Radko Gudas is set to return to game action very soon according to Jordan Hall of CSNPhilly. Gudas say’s he’s pretty close to 100 percent and has already begun shooting pucks with his ailing hand. Gudas, like Schultz, isn’t one of the marquee defenders on this team but does see almost 20 minutes a night in a shutdown role. He’ll continue to get a lot of defensive zone starts, while Michael Del Zotto and Shayne Gostisbehere provide all the offense from the back end.
- Issac also tells us that another round of cuts is coming tomorrow, after the ones earlier today. Philadelphia trimmed the roster to 49 today, and is expected to take about 15 off that number tomorrow. Eventually, the team will have some tough decisions to make about their last defense spot. Will it go to the big contract of Andrew MacDonald, or does Brandon Manning deserve a real chance? The Flyers open the season October 14th in Los Angeles.
Injury Notes: Ekblad, Backlund, Meier
After sustaining a head and neck injury during the World Cup, Aaron Ekblad has been skating in Florida for a few days now, and has officially been cleared by doctors to return to full activity. Panthers fans everywhere can now release a huge sigh of relief as arguably their best player won’t miss the start of the season.
Ekblad, still just 20-years old, signed a huge eight year, $60MM extension this summer that will kick in after the 2016-17 season. The number one pick from 2014 has already made a huge impact at the NHL level, stepping in as an 18-year old and becoming the Panthers top defender. Now joined by all-star Keith Yandle and steady-as-she-goes Jason Demers, the Florida blueline looks impressive going into the season.
If there is any downside to the World Cup and seeing the best on best right before the season, it’s this. Ekblad could have easily suffered a concussion and put his season if not his career at risk for the tournament. When coupled with the news that Matt Murray and Marian Gaborik will both miss extensive amounts of time, owners around the league may be slightly more wary of sending their players during the next World Cup.
- For the Flames, it’s been two straight days of good news, as after Sean Monahan took the ice yesterday before practice, Mikael Backlund was back at it today according to Ryan Leslie of NHL.com. While he didn’t work with the team, he will re-join practice tomorrow wearing a non-contact jersey. The Swedish forward is working his way back from a concussion suffered during the World Cup (one of a list of injured players at the tournament) that apparently wasn’t as severe as originally thought. A return before the season opens would be huge for Backlund, who played in all 82 games last season for the first time in his career. 47 points was also a career high, something that Backlund will try and build off of this year.
- Timo Meier, the ninth overall pick in last year’s draft, is still ill and will miss Friday’s game against Arizona according to Curtis Pashelka of Mercury News. While he hasn’t been ruled out of the Sunday contest in Vancouver, the team will take it slow as he nurses himself back to health. Meier had a tremendous year in junior last season, scoring 87 points in 52 games despite being traded mid season. The Swiss forward has dominated the QMJHL since he came over, including some amazing playoff performances.
Canucks Notes: Horvat, Gaunce, Gudbranson, Hutton
Based on the composition of their roster it would seem the Vancouver Canucks are approaching a transition year. Many of the players they will rely on for production – specifically Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Loui Eriksson, Alexandre Burrows, Jannik Hansen, Alexander Edler and Ryan Miller are in or nearing the twilight of their careers. Others, such as Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen, Sven Baertschi and Ben Hutton have either little experience or have yet to reach their potential in the NHL. With so few players comfortably in their respective primes the Canucks will need a few of their younger players to take the next step in their development if they want to push for a playoff spot.
One who will be given an opportunity to take that next step is Horvat, who, as Jason Botchford writes, is slated to center the top line in the Canucks opening exhibition game tonight against San Jose and whom head coach Willie Desjardins expects to spark the offense. Brandon Sutter is currently listed as the team’s second-line pivot, but he tallied just nine points in an injury-shortened first campaign in Vancouver and has only reached the 40-point plateau once in his eight-year NHL career. Horvat scored 40 points in his second season in the league last year and at 21 should be capable of more.
Henrik Sedin just turned 36 and his days as a #1 center are likely numbered. In fact, it would behoove the Canucks to try to keep Sedin away from the opposition’s top defensive players night-in-and-night-out in order to maximize his effectiveness. Sutter has yet to demonstrate he can consistently produce in a top-six role but perhaps Horvat can, if allowed the opportunity. Chances are he’ll get his chance this season.
On to other Canucks notes:
- Within the same piece, Botchford mentions Brendan Gaunce, who the Canucks drafted in the first round of the 2012 draft, as another young player who could grow into an important role this season. Scouts originally were skeptical of Gaunce’s quickness and foot speed but as Botchford notes, the young winger has made great strides in those areas since coming to the Canucks organization. Surprisingly, Gaunce believes what hindered his skating had more to do with his brain rather than his legs. “I was never slow, I just tried to read the game too much. You don’t really have time to read NHL defencemen. It was in my head. It was not necessarily changing my footspeed, it was being more instinctual. Before I would try to read the play before it happened and now, it’s move the feet first and then react.” Gaunce made his NHL debut in 2015-16 but scored only a single goal in 20 appearances. His performance with Utica, the Canucks AHL affiliate, was strong as the 22-year-old winger netted 17 goals and 38 points in 46 games for the Comets.
- Although noted more for being a strong, stay-at-home defenseman, Erik Gudbranson bested every other Canucks blue liner in a skating drill conducted during a recent four-day camp, writes Iain MacIntyre of The Province. Gudbranson’s speed caught teammate and potential defense partner Ben Hutton off guard. Hutton was beaten by Gudbranson three times and afterwards said: “I saw that. Three times. One time I had a little bit of a stumble, but the other two I was thinking he must have been cheating or something. He was bugging me about that. Honestly, I think he’s a great skater for a guy that size.” Gudbranson is expected to fill a spot in the team’s top-four and with the league becoming more of a speed and quickness game, it bodes well for the Canucks that the 6-foot-5, 216 pound blue liner is showing he can more than keep up.
World Cup Notes: Gaborik, Getzlaf, Babcock
After Marian Gaborik was given a timeline of eight weeks to rehab his leg injury, sustained in Team Europe’s semi-final victory, head coach Ralph Krueger has replaced him with Mikkel Boedker in the lineup. While Boedker can be an effective player and has speed to burn, Krueger admits to Helene Elliott of the LA Times that it’ll be a step down from one of their leaders:
We’re losing some leadership and smarts on the puck that were exemplary.
Gaborik obviously is one of the most important players on Europe, with 933 games and 773 points under his belt in the NHL. The three-time forty-goal man put up his worst season last year while fighting injury, only scoring 12 goals in 54 games. The 34-year old will not be ready for the start of the season, making it even harder to bounce back after the career-worst campaign.
- Team Canada hit the ice this morning before the first game of the finals versus Team Europe, and every player was present including Ryan Getzlaf, who according to Pierre LeBrun missed practice yesterday. The Ducks forward was given a “maintenance day” in preparation for the three-game series, as he’s battling a few small nagging injuries. Now 31, the big center doesn’t bounce back as easily as he did when he was young, but has still played in 77 games in each of the last three seasons. While he’s a big part of Team Canada, the Ducks are hoping he comes back fully healthy, as a bounce-back year from him and Corey Perry is integral for a successful season.
- While the talk swirls about the NHL not heading to the Olympics in 2018, especially now that the World Cup has been a success, one influential voice sounds unconvinced. When asked about the difference between the two events, Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock said “The World Cup is great, but it’s not the Olympics. Let’s not get confused.” As Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports, the Maple Leafs coach would like to see the event spread across two cities so that only night games were played, while having only countries compete. These changes would make it more like the Olympics, and would seem to be a future plan for the NHL’s tournament. If the league doesn’t go in 2018 (which it doesn’t look likely to), the World Cup will have to become the preeminent international event. Having Team North America and Team Europe prevents it from ever fully replacing the Olympics, despite their success as individual story lines.
Camp Notes: Gagner, Flyers, Sergachev
Sam Gagner has had a roller-coaster career. After looking like a young all-star in his early Edmonton Oilers career, he just hasn’t been able to put all his talents together for a full season. Heading into this season with his fourth NHL club, he’s trying to show the Columbus Blue Jackets that he can be relied upon as a top-six contributor.
As Rob Mixer writes on NHL.com, he’s already starting to turn heads in Ohio. Skating alongside Brandon Saad at times, the 27-year old center has proven his ability both 5-on-5 and on the powerplay early in camp. Whether he plays with Saad during the season or not, Gagne is just happy to be a part of the squad:
At the end of the day, it’s not really my decision as far as where I play or who I play with. I’m happy to play with whoever and wherever they decide to slot me.
- The Flyers have made a round of cuts, according to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, and one of them is 2016 second-round pick Carter Hart. Even though the Everett Silvertips starter is only 18, many believe he is polished enough to make an NHL impact within the next few years. While many goalies don’t hit their prime until their late-twenties, perhaps it will come slightly earlier for Hart, who already logged a hefty workload last season. In 63 regular season games, Hart carried a 2.18 GAA and .918 sv%.
- After sustaining an injury earlier this summer, Mikhail Sergachev has been cleared to return to practice this afternoon. While some had speculated it was a concussion, Brian Wilde of CTV tells us that Sergachev has actually been skating by himself all week, likely removing that possibility. Wilde believes it was a shoulder injury, which would be a much better scenario for the recent draftee. Sergachev was Montreal’s first round pick, ninth overall in the past draft and won the OHL’s Defenseman of the year in his rookie season.