Kings Want To Add Blueline Help
Earlier this season, it was being suggested that the Kings might be willing to part with a defenseman at some point during the year. Now, it appears that not only are they going to keep the ones they have but add as well. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that GM Rob Blake has identified a defender that can shift between the second and third pairings as their top priority heading into the trade deadline.
There is a well-defined top-four for Los Angeles with Derek Forbort sliding in at that fourth spot while averaging 21:04 of ice time. However, their depth players haven’t established themselves as players that can move up in a pinch and as a result, there is a sizable gap between the playing time for their bottom pairing; Christian Folin checks in at fifth in ATOI at just 15:23 per game. Acquiring someone that could play on the second pairing would not only give the Kings some insurance in case injuries arise but would also go a long way to stabilizing their third pairing.
Columbus Blue Jackets Claim Jussi Jokinen
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been looking all season for some help at forward, and today they’ll try a new option. The team has claimed Jussi Jokinen off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings, meaning he’ll join his third team of the season. Jokinen was first signed by the Edmonton Oilers, and then traded to the Kings in exchange for Mike Cammalleri.
Columbus has been rumored to be involved with several forwards around the league over the last year, including making an offer for Matt Duchene before he ended up in Ottawa. While Jokinen isn’t an answer to all of their problems, he does represent an interesting fit in one spot in particular. The Blue Jackets’ powerplay has been among the league’s worst all season, and that’s where Jokinen has made a living over his career.
Since entering the league in 2005-06, Jokinen has recorded 196 of his 552 points on the powerplay, putting him 43rd in the NHL during that time. While he’s certainly not as dominant a presence there as in the past, he can certainly help a group that hasn’t been able to find any consistency this season.
Jokinen also has experience at center, though he hasn’t played the position full-time in several years. With the Blue Jackets finding themselves lacking depth down the middle at times, his versatility will come in handy. Still, that doesn’t preclude the fact that he has just six points on the season and will turn 35 before the season is over. There is no guarantee he can find some of his past success, though Columbus seems about as good of a fit as he could ask for.
Los Angeles Places Jussi Jokinen On Waivers; Paul Martin Clears
Paul Martin has cleared waivers today and can be sent to the San Jose Barracuda, while the Los Angeles Kings have placed Jussi Jokinen on waivers. The Kings acquired Jokinen earlier this year in exchange for Mike Cammalleri, but he’s been generally ineffective with just five points in 18 games.
Jokinen, 34, signed a one-year $1.1MM contract with the Edmonton Oilers this offseason, but got off to a dreadful start to the year with just a single point in his first 14 games. That comes just two years after he was a 60-point player in Florida, where he recorded 34 even-strength assists. Jokinen’s fall from grace has been sharp, but his relatively low cost could potentially lead to a claim.
If he does sneak through waivers, the Kings would be able to bury nearly his entire cap hit in the minor leagues. Though that would be a tough spot to play for a veteran of 923 NHL games, it would certainly provide them with some experienced depth for a playoff run.
Martin on the other hand comes with a much higher price tag. His $4.85MM cap hit is in effect through next season as well, making him almost impossible to claim on waivers. As Craig Custance of The Athletic writes, any team looking to add him would need to send money back or have the Sharks retain some of his salary.
For now though, a trip to the AHL might be the best thing for Martin. He’s only played in three games all season and needs to prove that he can still contribute before any team wants him. Remember that clearing waivers actually does increase his trade value, as any acquiring team would be able to immediately move him to the minor leagues without going through waivers again. The Sharks will save a prorated $1.025MM against the cap by burying him for the time being.
Jake Muzzin Could Return Monday
- Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin is nearing a return to the lineup but it is not yet known if he’ll receive the green light to play for their game tomorrow afternoon against San Jose, notes Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Muzzin sustained an upper-body injury back on December 30th but tried to play through it for a couple of games before going on injured reserve. If he does get cleared to play, a roster move will need to be made as the recall of Jonny Brodzinski earlier today brought Los Angeles back to a full 23-man roster.
Minor Transactions: 1/14/18
With one of the biggest slate of games Saturday, at least since the bye weeks have started, the NHL has just four games today, but several teams will be making moves to prepare for their coming games or their bye weeks.
- The Winnipeg Jets announced they have assigned three players to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL Sunday, including goaltender Michael Hutchinson, and forwards Brendan Lemieux and Jack Roslovic. With the Jets off until Saturday, all three will be sent down to get more playing time. Hutchinson was an emergency call-up to fill in for goaltender Steve Mason, who left the team with an illness, but the AHL goaltender did not see any action. The 21-year-old Lemieux has played in eight games with the Jets. He has one goal and 19 penalty minutes, while Roslovic, the team’s 2015 first-round pick, has played in four games this year and is pointless.
- The New York Islanders announced they made an emergency recall of Tanner Fritz from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL Sunday after they placed veteran forward Andrew Ladd on injured reserve. The 26-year-old Fritz is having a solid season with Bridgport, putting up 10 goals and 27 assists in 32 games. He has played three games with the Islanders already this year with no points. Ladd, suffered an upper-body injury Jan. 5 in a game against Pittsburgh, and is still not ready to return. Ladd has nine goals and nine assists this year.
- Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen tweets that the Los Angeles Kings recalled forward Jonny Brodzinski from the Ontario Reign this afternoon. The 24-year-old forward has already played 22 games for Los Angeles and has two goals on the year, but has received just an average of 9:36 minutes of ice time this year. He has been thriving, however, with Ontario as he has six goals and eight assists in 11 AHL games this year.
- The Carolina Hurricanes announced that they have reassigned center Lucas Wallmark to Charlotte of the AHL. Wallmark suited up this afternoon against Calgary but with the team now off on their bye week, this will allow him to keep playing. He has a goal in four games with Carolina so far this season while adding 23 points in 20 games at the minor league level.
Pacific Notes: Cogliano, Martin, Dell, Bellemare
The Department of Player Safety announced they will have a hearing today for Anaheim Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano for his illegal check to the head on Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe during the first period of Saturday night’s game between the two teams.
A possible suspension for the iron man Cogliano in jeopardy. The veteran has not missed a game since 2007 and has played 830 consecutive games, ranking fourth highest in NHL history, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. Elliotte Friedman added that he is just 134 games behind Doug Jarvis, who played with Montreal, Washington and Hartford between 1975 to 1988.
- On his Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Friedman reports the San Jose Sharks are trying to trade defenseman Paul Martin. The veteran defenseman, in his third season with San Jose, was injured in the second game of the season and has only appeared in one game since then on Dec. 7. He played a four-game stretch of games in the AHL on a conditioning loan, but has been called up and has been a healthy scratch since. With the emergence of defensemen Tim Heed and Joakim Ryan on San Jose’s blueline, there is no place for Martin. With defenseman Dylan DeMelo about ready to be activated off of injured reserve, the team hopes to send Martin elsewhere. Martin played 159 games in his first two seasons with the Sharks. The problem is Martin is owed $4.85MM both this year and next, which might make moving the veteran much more difficult than it looks.
- Paul Gackle of the Mercury News writes that while the Sharks are likely to move goaltender Aaron Dell before he hits unrestricted free agency this summer, the team cannot consider moving their backup goaltender until the last possible moment as the team finds itself fighting for a playoff spot. The Sharks are currently one point out of a playoff spot in a highly competitive race. “We need great goaltending in the second half,” head coach Peter DeBoer said. Due to the recent struggles of starter Martin Jones, the team doesn’t want to lose Dell too quickly in case Martin, who has struggled since the beginning of December, fails to bounce back. Gackle adds that in a perfect world, the team would try to send Dell off as soon as possible to get a fourth-line center or a wing.
- The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp writes the Vegas Golden Knights avoided a possible injury Saturday in their game against Edmonton when forward Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare took a puck to the face off a shot from defenseman Darnell Nurse. The veteran tough-guy took three stitches and only missed one shift.
Pacific Notes: Vancouver’s Defense, Kane, Muzzin, Sekera
The Vancouver Canucks have been hurting for offense for quite some time. Yet despite adding veteran Thomas Vanek and rookie sensation Brock Boeser to the team’s lineup, the team is ranked 27th in the league in scoring. The Vancouver Sun’s Jason Botchford writes that the main reason is due to the defense’s inability to move the puck forward and help create offense.
Vancouver lacks a true offensive defenseman as the team seems to have little, but defensive blueliners in their rotations. The team’s top offensive defenseman is offseason acquisition Michael Del Zotto, who has 12 points this year, but Botchford says that the 27-year-old has rarely been the answer this season. The teams had hoped that third-year defenseman Ben Hutton might improve on his rookie year’s 25 points. Yet he has no goals and just six assists so far this year. Alexander Edler also has failed to improve on his offense as well.
Botchford says the team does have one possibility in AHL’s Philip Holm, who has seven goals and 19 points in 30 games this year in Utica. However, the team has not used him this year despite their need for an offensive spark. The team has a logjam of defenders and a trade deadline deal to move out Erik Gudbranson might be the best thing for the Canucks as it would allow the team to start playing the 26-year-old Holm.
- The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that while he believes that San Jose Sharks might be interested in acquiring Buffalo Sabres forward Evander Kane at the trade deadline, there are definitely some issues with doing that. While Kane would provide the Sharks an immediate top scorer (his 35 points would make him San Jose’s top point-getter) which could offer the Sharks the depth needed to field three solid lines, there are other factors San Jose would have to consider before making a trade. The current asking price by Buffalo is a first-rounder, a top prospect and a conditional pick. The team lacks resources as they attempt to retool their franchise, so moving those three assets would be tough to do. On top of that, the team would have to have confidence to re-sign Kane to a long-term deal and would they want to do that. He has a history of concerning incidents in his past, including a recent scuffle with teammate Justin Falk. Would the team want to sign him to a seven or eight year deal?
- Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin is listed as doubtful, according to Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen. Muzzin, who had played in a consecutive 281 games, broke that streak last Saturday when he missed a game against Nashville with an undisclosed injury. He is not expected to play tonight against the Ducks, but is making progress.
- Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal grades the performances of all the Oilers after Friday’s victory over Arizona and points out the defenseman Andrej Sekera has improved every game he’s played since returning and is already looking more as himself since returning from a torn ACL.
2018 All-Star Rosters
The NHL released the rosters for this year’s All-Star game in Tampa Bay, leading to an inevitable onslaught of discussion over who missed out and who didn’t deserve to go. The event will take place on January 27-28th. The full rosters can be found below:
Atlantic Division:
F Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning (captain)
F Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
F Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
F Aleksander Barkov – Florida Panthers
F Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins
F Jack Eichel – Buffalo Sabres
D Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
D Erik Karlsson – Ottawa Senators
D Mike Green – Detroit Red Wings
G Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
G Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens
Head Coach: Jon Cooper
Metropolitan Division:
F Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals (captain)
F Taylor Hall – New Jersey Devils
F Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
F Josh Bailey – New York Islanders
F John Tavares – New York Islanders
F Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers
D Seth Jones – Columbus Blue Jackets
D Noah Hanifin – Carolina Hurricanes
D Kris Letang – Pittsburgh Penguins
G Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers
G Braden Holtby – Washington Capitals
Head Coach: Barry Trotz
Central Division:
F Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche
F Blake Wheeler – Winnipeg Jets
F Brayden Schenn – St. Louis Blues
F Eric Staal – Minnesota Wild
F Tyler Seguin – Dallas Stars
D P.K. Subban – Nashville Predators (captain)
D Alex Pietrangelo – St. Louis Blues
D John Klingberg – Dallas Stars
G Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators
G Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets
Head Coach: Peter Laviolette
Pacific Division:
F Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers (captain)
F Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary Flames
F Brock Boeser – Vancouver Canucks
F James Neal – Vegas Golden Knights
F Rickard Rakell – Anaheim Ducks
F Anze Kopitar – Los Angeles Kings
D Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings
D Brent Burns – San Jose Sharks
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Arizona Coyotes
G Jonathan Quick – Los Angeles Kings
G Marc-Andre Fleury – Vegas Golden Knights
Head Coach: Gerard Gallant
Jeff Carter Still Expected Back This Season
- While there is no timetable for his return, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes that Los Angeles Kings veteran center Jeff Carter has been much more visible in the last week. He’s shed the Roll-A-Bout and crutches and is walking around without a boot. He has suffered no setbacks so far since he was injured on Oct. 18 and required ankle surgery. “Progression-wise and everything he’s doing right now shows he will be back this season,” Blake said.
Kings Place Muzzin On IR; Activate Folin
Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake announced the Los Angeles Kings have made a roster swap as the team has placed defenseman Jake Muzzin on injured reserve and countered that move by activating defenseman Christian Folin Sunday.
Muzzin, who was injured during Thursday’s game against Calgary, was placed on IR, retroactive to that game on Jan. 4. He was previously listed as questionable for tonight’s game anyway with an undisclosed injury. Being placed on injured reserve is practically meaningless and could just be a way to save some cap space as the Kings have their bye week starting after tonight and don’t play again until Jan. 13, which is exactly when Muzzin could be activated. Muzzin is looking to be heading for a bounce-back season with three goals and 20 assists at the halfway mark of the season. The 28-year-old blueliner had just 28 points all of last season after putting up a pair of 40-point seasons the previous two years.
Folin returns after having missed six games. He was injured during a Dec. 18 game against Philadelphia. He has played in 26 games for the Kings this season since signing a one-year deal in the offseason after spending four years with the Minnesota Wild. He has two goals and three assists. Folin should fill in for Muzzin in tonight’s game.