Pacific Division Snapshots: Kings, Meier, Coyotes
Like many teams in the league, the Los Angeles Kings have battled their fair share of injuries. Star sniper Marian Gaborik has appeared in just nine games this season and has posted just one goal and four points. Anze Kopitar, one of the league’s top, two-way centers has missed some time. And perhaps most importantly, Jonathan Quick has been out since season’s first game, forcing the team to rely on a combination of Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj to hold down the fort until he returns. It’s not an ideal situation but the Kings have hung tough in the standings, as Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times writes, and currently hold one of two wild card slots in the Western Conference.
Because of injuries to Zatkoff, it’s been Budaj that has seen most of the action between the pipes for L.A. Originally signed to be the team’s third goalie, Budaj has posted a career-best 2.17 GAA while winning 14 of his 26 starts. While he’s had his ups and downs, Budaj has been good enough most nights to keep the Kings in games.
As Elliott notes, the team has managed to stay afloat thanks in large part to their work ethic. Now, the Kings are close to full health, though Quick is still expected to be out until February, and are just five points behind the San Jose Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division with one game in hand. Assuming Budaj can continue to play adequately enough, or the team finds a better stopgap option, and Gaborik can rediscover his scoring touch, the Kings have a good chance to again qualify for the postseason. Once there, anything can happen.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:
- Highly-touted rookie Timo Meier made his debut with the San Jose Sharks last season and by all accounts it was a huge success, as Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News recounts. Meier scored his first career NHL goal on his first shot last night and the Sharks erupted for three goals in the first period of their 4 – 2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Meier would finish with three shots on net in just more than 10 minutes of ice time. That’s exactly the type of spark the Sharks were hoping for when calling up the 2015 first-round draft pick. Meier’s insertion into the lineup pushed veteran forward Joel Ward to the press box last night and while it’s certain the first-year pro will remain in the San Jose lineup for the immediate future, it’s less clear how that fact will impact the rest of the Sharks forward group. As long as Meier produces, DeBoer will undoubtedly find a way to mix and match his forwards.
- Desperate for help up the middle, the Arizona Coyotes recently acquired Peter Holland via trade from Toronto and added Josh Jooris off of waivers from the New York Rangers. Veteran center Brad Richardson is out indefinitely with multiple fractures in his right leg while rookie Dylan Strome failed to find consistency at the NHL level; two factors which created a need for Arizona. While it’s only a small sample, just two appearances for each player, the additions are already paying off for Arizona, writes Sarah McLellan of The Arizona Republic. Holland tallied two helpers in his Coyotes debut and scored the shootout winner in his return to Toronto. Again, it’s only to games but Holland’s play has helped the team to their first winning streak since late November; a stretch which saw the Coyotes earn just five of a possible 16 standings points.
Snapshots: Kings, Hunlack, Bogosian
In his latest column, ESPN Insider Pierre LeBrun takes a look at the Los Angeles Kings roster and suggest strategies for the upcoming expansion draft. LeBrun boils the issue down to two names: Brayden McNabb and Dustin Brown. If the team wishes to protect McNabb, they’ll have to go the “eight skaters” option, since Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez will undoubtedly need protection. If they do, they put at risk some of their big names up front, including former captain Dustin Brown. While Brown is coming off the worst year of his career, he’s turned it around a bit this season and may be an interesting option for the Vegas team to bring in a veteran forward who could immediately become their first captain.
On the other hand, if they choose to leave McNabb exposed he may not necessarily be the selection since he only has one year remaining before becoming a highly sought after free agent in 2018. At 27, the shutdown defender would have teams lining up to bring him into the fold, and he’ll be looking for a substantial raise from the $1.8MM he’ll make next season. For the Kings, just like every other team, the expansion draft will be a game of chicken with George McPhee and the Vegas front office.
- In Toronto, a nickname has surfaced for the veteran third pairing of Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak; “Hunlack”, as many fans refer to the duo has been chided incessantly by the analytics community for their constant struggle with possession metrics. While the two rank terribly in terms of Corsi and Fenwick, head coach Mike Babcock dismisses the notion that they’re unplayable. When asked by Chris Johnston of Sportsnet what makes up a good game for them, Babcock replied “There’s a bunch of ways to look at the game. So Corsi’s one, maybe. But who turns the video on and rewinds to see if those shots actually hit the net or not? Because our math and theirs don’t add up. So what I do is I say: ‘Did the puck go in or did they get scoring chances against?'” While the metrics available to the public don’t necessarily share Babcock’s assesment of the pairing, he does seem to imply that the Maple Leafs’ internal numbers don’t match up exactly. Perhaps even though ‘Hunlack’ doesn’t generate shots like Toronto’s other pairings, they can be effective in other ways – or maybe it’s just talking them up for the trade deadline.
- For Buffalo, their season-long struggle with injuries is starting to see an end. After Jack Eichel has rejoined the team and shown why he shouldn’t be forgotten as last season’s second-overall pick, the team got more good news today. Zach Bogosian, out since the beginning of November with a knee injury, took full part in today’s practice and should be back before long. Now they just have to figure out a way to motivate Zemgus Girgensons and Evander Kane, both of whom will skate on the fourth line tonight against the Los Angeles Kings.
Anders Lindback Signs In Sweden
Swedish goaltender Anders Lindback is headed home. After months spent hoping an NHL opportunity would arise, Lindback has finally made the decision to go overseas to continue his hockey career. Over the past few weeks, rumors and speculation have predicted the move, but today Lindback officially signed with Rogle BK of the Swedish Hockey League, the top pro league in Sweden.
Originally drafted by the Nashville Predators, a steal by GM David Poile in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL Draft, Lindback made a name for himself as the sturdy, young backup to Pekka Rinne. One of the larger goalies in the NHL at 6’6″, 200 lbs., teams saw the youthful Lindback as a bona-fide future starter. However, it didn’t play out that way. Lindback signed on to be the starter for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012, but that never came to fruition. Lindback’s performance was lacking, and he ended up splitting time with Mathieu Garon in 2012-13, before being supplanted by Ben Bishop in 2013-14. After back-to-back seasons with a 2.90 GAA and more losses than wins, Lindback left Tampa having missed his opportunity. Lindback joined the Dallas Stars for 2014-15, but was traded mid-season for fellow disappointment Jhonas Enroth. He played the best hockey of his NHL career in 16 appearances for the Sabres, but it still wasn’t enough to earn him a starter role. Last season, Lindback played in 19 games for the Arizona Coyotes and had a career-worst .894 SV% and 3.11 GAA. Unable to even find a guaranteed contract this summer, Lindback joined the New Jersey Devils on a tryout agreement in training camp, but did not make the team. He then signed another PTO, this time with the Los Angeles Kings, who had lost Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff. However, the Kings decided to stick with their emergency backup duo of Peter Budaj and Jack Campbell, sending Lindback to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Lindback left the team recently, signaling what very well could be the end of his pro career in North America at just age 28.
Ironically, Lindback’s new position with Rogle BK may include some adversity as well. Although he is likely to step in as the starter immediately, he will not be without competition. The team has two noteworthy young goalies, Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Oscar Dansk and Boston Bruins property Lars Volden, already on the roster. The 22-year-old Dansk, a 2012 second-round pick by Columbus, was drafted out of Sweden after dominating at the junior level in his home country. However, Dansk failed to live up to expectations, with moderate to below-average numbers in the OHL, AHL, and even ECHL, before returning to Sweden. Now in his second season with Rogle BK, Dansk continues to disappoint, posting a 2.85 GAA and .907 SV% in 20 games thus far. Dansk’s backup, Volden, has never made the trip across the Atlantic to try his hand at North American hockey. Instead, the Bruins 2011 sixth-rounder has bounced around various leagues in Europe over his career and has been a member of the Norwegian national team as well. Volden finally settled in with Rogle BK a few years ago, but has not showed signs of improvement. Although his career stats are not as blemished as Dansk’s, he has not faced the same level of competition and has been wildly pedestrian. Volden has put up very similar numbers to Dansk the past two years, which is to say that he has not done enough to unseat the struggling starter. While the duo is consistent, they are consistently average which prompted the team to bring in the veteran Lindback for a boost.
Another interesting note on Rogle BK: playing in front of Lindback will be none other than top 2017 NHL Draft prospect Timothy Liljegren. Considered by many to be second only to Nolan Patrick in the upcoming entry draft and a foregone conclusion as the first defenseman off the board, Liljegren is a rare talent at just 17 years old. With a more experienced and reliable keeper in net now, Rogle BK can give Liljegren more ice time and more responsibility, which can only help the young blue liner’s draft stock.
Jonathan Quick Out Until Mid-February, Kings Not Willing To Overpay For Goaltender
12:45pm: Lombardi is now telling Elliott that he misspoke today and though the worst case is still March, he actually expects Quick back in mid-February. While this lines up closer to what Sutter said on Monday, it still is a long-time for Quick to be sidelined.
11:45pm: The continuing saga of Jonathan Quick got another chapter today, as Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi told Helene Elliott of the LA Times that he’d be out until March. This comes after head coach Darryl Sutter said just two days ago that it’d be a month before the next step was even revealed.
Lombardi also told Elliott that he’s “not willing to throw the kitchen sink” at his goaltending situation, meaning that he doesn’t want to part with important assets to fix it. The team has been riding Peter Budaj this season to mixed success, as the 34-year old started hot but has struggled recently. Last night Budaj allowed four goals on 22 shots, marking four out of five games where he’s recorded a save percentage under .900. Jeff Zatkoff, brought in this offseason to be the backup, has struggled with injury and ineffectiveness himself, carrying an .882 save percentage through Wednesday.
The Kings, 14-12-2, are sitting fifth in the Pacific Division just outside a wild card spot but are in danger of slipping further and further should they not fix their goaltending situation. If Budaj can get back to the level he started the season at, perhaps the team would not need to find a solution outside the organization.
While there are talented options on the trade market – namely, Ben Bishop and Jimmy Howard – the Kings would have to take on a large amount of salary or give up substantial assets to get them. Though the team has a good amount of cap space currently due to Quick’s designation on LTIR, the team would be left unable to make any additional moves at the deadline for a playoff run, or in trouble should Quick make a return any earlier than expected.
A lesser option – like Ondrej Pavelec or Jonathan Bernier – comes with substantial risks as well and may not be any more effective than the Budaj-Zatkoff duo in the long run. For the Kings, it’s likely a game of trying to improve the team in front of them than spending assets for an answer in net.
PTO Checkup
During the offseason NHL teams extended a total of 194 professional tryouts (PTOs) to players trying to earn a professional contract for the upcoming season. Of those 194 players, only eleven earned a permanent NHL/AHL contract. Those lucky 5% have had varied success this season, and this article looks at how those players have fared so far.
Steve Bernier: New York Islanders
Steve Bernier failed to garner a contract on his PTO right away, but the New York Islanders signed him to a one-year, two-way deal on October 24, 2016. The contract pays him $600K (NHL) / $200K (AHL). Bernier has remained with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers—the Islanders’ AHL affiliate—all season, posting 8G and 5A in 15 games.
Gabriel Bourque: Colorado Avalanche
Gabriel Bourque signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Colorado Avalance worth $800K (NHL) / $200K (AHL). The 26 year-old forward has split time with the Avalanche and its AHL affiliate San Antonio Rampage this season. Bourque has failed to register a point with Colorado, but has 3G and 5A in 16 games for San Antonio
Rene Bourque: Colorado Avalanche
Rene Bourque signed a one-year, one-way deal with the Colorado Avalanche worth $650K. Bourque has impressed so far, scoring 8G and 3A in 11 games for the Avalanche. He’s already surpasses last years totals (3G and 5A in 49 games) and could come closer to regaining his prior form.
Justin Fontaine: New York Rangers
Justin Fontaine signed a one-year, two-way deal with the New York Rangers worth $600K (NHL) / $300K (AHL) after failing to earn a contract with the Minnesota Wild. The 29 year-old forward remains in the AHL so far this season and has racked up 3G and 8A in 21 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Nicklas Grossmann: Orebro HK (SHL)
Nicklas Grossmann initially signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Calgary Flames for $575K. The Swedish defenseman lasted three games before the Flames attempted to demote him to the AHL Stockton Heat. Grossmann, however, did not report to Stockton, so Calgary terminated his contract. Grossman failed to register a point in those three games with the Flames.
Eric Gryba: Edmonton Oilers
Eric Gryba signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Edmonton Oilers worth $950K (NHL) / $250K (AHL). The move has not yet panned out as Gryba remains pointless through 14 games. The Oilers placed Gryba on IR on November 30th, and the defenseman is reportly nearing a return. While Gryba was never an offensive defenseman, the Oilers do expect more from him and could send him down if he doesn’t improve when he returns.
Lauri Korpikoski: Dallas Stars
Lauri Korpikoski signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Dallas Stars worth $1MM after failing to sign with the Calgary Flames—the team that initially offered Korpikoski a PTO. In 29 games for the Stars, Korpikoski has 4G and 5A, which is respectable but nothing noteworthy. He’ll have to improve if he wants to stay in the lineup after all the Stars’ injured players return.
Tom McCollum: Calgary Flames
Tom McCollum signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Calgary Flames worth $575K and $650K in the NHL and $175K and $200K in the AHL. Despite the two-year deal, however, McCollum has seen little action. The former first rounder has played 1 game in the AHL with the Stockton Heat and 3 games in the ECHL with the Adirondack Thunder.
Devin Setoguchi: Los Angeles Kings
Devin Setoguchi returned to the NHL this year with the Los Angeles Kings on a one-year, two-way deal worth $575K (NHL) / $45K (AHL). The former eighth overall pick has 3G and 4A in 24 games. Setoguci returns after playing in Switzerland for a year, and is still looking to regain his scoring touch with the Kings.
Jack Skille: Vancouver Canucks
Jack Skille signed a one-year, one-way deal with the Vancouver Canucks worth $700K. In 22 games this season Skille has 3G and 1A and plays less than nine minutes a night. Skille has never lived up to his draft position—7th overall in 2005—and has bounced around the league ever since.
Kris Versteeg: Calgary Flames
Kris Versteeg signed a one-year deal with the Calgary Flames worth $950K after failing to maintain a contract with both SC Bern (Swiss) and the Edmonton Oilers. Versteeg’s SC Bern contract was voided when Versteeg failed his medical exam. In 19 games with the Flames, however, Versteeg has 4G and 7A. So far the signing seems to have paid off for Calgary.
Comparative Standings: One Year Ago
With the first third of the season completed for all but Columbus (who have amazingly played just 26 games, six fewer than the Winnipeg Jets), there have been some huge swings from a year ago.
Those Blue Jackets are the league’s most improved team, with a staggering 18 more points through 26 games than last season. Their huge swing is only matched by the Dallas Stars equally amazing drop-off of 18 points the other way. The Jackets can attest their improvement to the development of young players like Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg, while the Stars have seen a litany of injuries to their star players including Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya.
The Central Division as a whole is off to a slower start this year, with only the Chicago Blackhawks bettering their 2015-16 record. The Colorado Avalanche, expected to take a step forward with their young core has suffered the exact same fate with 23 points through 27 games.
The two biggest Canadian rebuild stories, Edmonton and Toronto have both improved, though not as largely as the fan bases in each city might have you believe. Four points for the Maple Leafs and five for the Oilers lend credence to the idea that it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish that counts. Though both franchises have a lot to look forward to, keeping up an advanced pace for an entire season is extremely difficult. The two teams finished last season with just 69 and 70 points respectively.
Below are the current standings. In parenthesis is the difference in points through the same amount of games last year.
Jonathan Quick Not Close To Returning
It hasn’t been a very quick recovery for an injured Los Angeles Kings goaltender.
Jonathan Quick injured his groin in the Kings’ first game of the season, leaving Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj to mind the net in his expected three-month-long absence. While the Kings have been better than many expected with a record of 14-11-2, they’re still just fifth in the Pacific Division and hanging on to the last Western Conference Wildcard spot.
Coach Darryl Sutter provided an update on his superstar goaltender’s recovery to L.A. Kings Insider:
“In terms of [his progress], he’s just starting moving to the end of training from therapy. He’s still very much in the rehab mode. They’re still talking about a month before he could even begin to say what that next step was. It’s not in this year [2016] before there’s any sort of update.”
That means the Kings will be without Quick until late January or early February. While Budaj has been decent at 0.910 SV%, it’s still below league-average goaltending. The Kings have gone the first two months of Quick’s injury without acquiring another goalie, with just Anders Lindback being brought in to their AHL team on a tryout basis. Quick will be very motivated on his return, as he was rather poor in his World Cup appearance. He was 0-2, with an 0.863 SV% and seven goals against in his two games. If Quick comes back and plays to the high level that he can, then the Pacific Division should be very wary of the Kings.
Notable Major Junior Trades From Recent History
We reported yesterday that Pierre-Luc Dubois, the 2016 third-overall pick, is about to be traded from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to Blainville-Boisbriand Armada when the QMJHL trading period opens on December 18.
While the Screaming Eagles’ return on Dubois won’t be known until that date when the trade goes through, let’s take a look at the most recent top-five picks to be traded in junior:
John Tavares – Tavares was the first player to be granted exceptional status by the OHL; in fact, the rule was colloquially known as the John Tavares Rule for years afterward. Tavares is a little different from the rest of the players on this list, in that he was traded during his draft year, as opposed to after. On January 8, 2009, the Oshawa Generals (who will appear a few more times in this list) traded Tavares, future NHL defenseman Michael Del Zotto, and goaltender Daryl Borden to the London Knights for winger Christian Thomas, defenseman Scott Valentine, goaltender Michael Zador, and six draft picks. Tavares and Del Zotto were rentals who went on to play in the NHL the following seasons, while Borden played three games with the Knights before ending up in senior hockey. Thomas scored 246 points in 212 games with the Generals before turning pro. He’s appeared in 27 NHL games with three points to his name, and 241 AHL games with 125 points. He’s currently a member of the Hershey Bears. Valentine played out his uneventful CHL career in Oshawa and then bounced around North American pro leagues before heading to Europe. Zador is now retired.
Brayden Schenn – The younger Schenn brother was traded while he was playing for Canada at the 2011 World Juniors. The Los Angeles Kings 2009 fifth-overall pick was traded from the Brandon Wheat Kings to the Saskatoon Blades, who were gearing up for a playoff run. Schenn had played just two games that season prior to the WJC due to injury. Schenn was fantastic for the Blades, scoring 53 points in 27 games and another 11 points in 10 playoff games. The Wheat Kings received four draft picks (two first round picks) and two 15-year-old prospects, Tim McGauley and Ayrton Nikkel. Nikkel is now playing Canadian University hockey, while McGauley was actually a member of the Wheat Kings until last year; he’s now on the AHL Hershey Bears roster.
Leon Draisaitl – The Oilers selected Draisaitl third overall in 2014 with high expectations for “The German Gretzky.” Draisaitl had earned that nickname while playing German junior where he scored a ridiculous 192 points in 29 games. He then came to the WHL, where he scored 163 points 128 games before being drafted. With only two actual NHL centers (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Boyd Gordon) on the roster, Draisaitl made the Oilers out of training camp despite not showing he was ready. He played 37 games with the Oilers, scoring just 2 goals and 9 points before Oilers GM Craig MacTavish orchestrated a trade of Draisaitl’s rights in the WHL. The Memorial Cup-bound Kelowna Rockets acquired Draisaitl from the Prince Albert Raiders for forward Kris Schmidli, defenceman Dalton Yorke and three draft picks. Neither player did much for the Raiders, while Draisaitl scored 53 points in 32 games for the Rockets and was named the MVP of the Memorial Cup, which the Rockets lost to the aforementioned Oshawa Generals in overtime.
Michael Dal Colle – The Islanders’ fifth-overall pick in 2014, Dal Colle had three productive seasons in Oshawa before struggling in his second season, post-draft. Dal Colle was not picked by Canada for the World Juniors and fought with injuries. He had 25 points in 30 games before the Generals traded him on New Years’ Day 2016. The Kingston Frontenacs traded Robbie Burt, a first round pick, two seconds, and two thirds for the Generals captain Dal Colle. The ’99 born Burt has just 12 points in 56 games, and is not ranked by Central Scouting for the upcoming draft. Dal Colle turned it on in Kingston, scoring 55 points in 30 games and is now playing in the AHL, where he has 11 points in 24 games.
Mark Borowiecki Suspended Two Games
Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki has been suspended for two games for boarding Kings winger Tyler Toffoli on Saturday. He received a major penalty for the hit, which incited a scrum. Toffoli left the game, but later returned.
Borowiecki will miss Sunday’s game in Anaheim and Wednesday’s home game against San Jose. Borowiecki is eligible to return to the lineup on Saturday when New Jersey visits the Senators.
As Director of Player Safety Patrick Burke explains in the suspension video, “Toffoli comes back into his defensive zone to retrieve the puck. Toffoli sees Borowiecki coming, and turns his back to protect the puck. With sufficient time to avoid or minimize the hit, Borowiecki instead forcefully hits through Toffoli’s numbers, driving him dangerously into the glass.”
Borowiecki has one assist and is -1 in 28 games this season, while averaging 13:42 per game.
Custance’s Latest: Projecting Those Most Affected By Flat Cap
The NHL’s Board of Governors (BOG) are in the midst of two days of meetings designed to cover several important topics before wrapping up today. Chief among them – and of particular interest to team executives as well as fans of the sport – is an early projection of the 2017-18 salary cap ceiling. Commissioner Gary Bettman advised the BOG to expect a modest increase, perhaps as much as $2MM, if any at all. Specifically, Bettman suggested the salary cap may remain flat. Naturally, that may present problems for several teams already close to the cap ceiling while pending free agents might find their respective markets depressed due to fewer clubs being in position to take on big salaries.
Craig Custance of ESPN.com wrote about a few teams and players who stand to be affected the most should the salary cap ceiling remain flat for the 2017-18 campaign. Among those he listed were Artemi Panarin, who will be a RFA coming off his ELC and in line for a massive raise. As we already know, Chicago is tight up against the cap and have already been forced to deal away key contributors due to a lack of cap space – Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp and Teuvo Teravainen, for instance. They’ll likely have another tough decision to make given the situation.
Tampa Bay and their GM, Steve Yzerman, are two others Custance mentions as being impacted by a flat cap. The Lightning are set to watch Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin and Ondrej Palat become RFAs this summer and with just less than $60MM in cap commitments already on the books for 2017-18, it’s highly unlikely that Yzerman will be able to re-sign all three players.
In addition to those already brought up by Custance, there are several other clubs who will have a difficult time navigating the salary cap if the ceiling remains at or near the $73MM mark. Here are a few of those teams:
- Los Angeles Kings – The Kings already have just more than $60MM committed to the 2017-18 salary cap with forwards Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli slated to become RFAs next summer. Toffoli tallied career highs in goals (31) and points (58) in 2015-16 and while his scoring out put is down some this year, he could still easily command upwards of $4MM annually on a new contract. Pearson, meanwhile recorded 36 points last year and is on pace for about that same total this season. That could well push his salary north of $3MM next year.
- New York Rangers – The Blueshirts might be in a bigger bind than the Kings. They have about $63MM tied up in 2017-18 commitments with top-six center Mika Zibanejad and checking forward Jesper Fast, among several others, scheduled to become RFA’s. On top of that, the team will likely be in the market for a blue line upgrade and unless they can find a way to unload one of Dan Girardi or Marc Staal, the Rangers won’t have enough cap space to make an impact addition in free agency.
- Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings are projected to have less than $5MM in cap space next season with Thomas Vanek hitting free agency. Additionally, five other players will be RFAs, including Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco. It’s hard to imagine the Wings being anything more than a fringe playoff contender next season given their current roster and with virtually no salary cap space available next season, as it’ll be tough for the team to improve through free agency.