Snapshots: Reilly, Kokkonen, ‘Canes
The Minnesota Wild have sent defenseman Mike Reilly to the AHL after just one game, allowing the 23-year old to play bigger minutes and be in the lineup every night. Reilly was a scratch against the Los Angeles Kings, and instead of watching from the press box he’ll go down and lead.
The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Reilly in the fourth round of the 2011 draft out of the BCHL and watched as he flourished in the NCAA, increasing his scoring totals in all three years at the University of Minnesota. They couldn’t sign him however, and he ended up getting a contract from the Wild in 2015. Last year for the Iowa Wild he put up 23 points in 45 games and earned himself an extended look in the NHL.
Though this is a setback in his career, it won’t be long until he’s back up with the NHL squad if his development continues as it has. His long wingspan and offensive pedigree will be excellent tools once he improves his work in his own end.
- According to FinnProspects.com, 15-year old Mikko Kokkonen will make his Liiga debut for Jukurit tomorrow, making him the youngest player to ever play in the league. The defenseman was born in 2001, and isn’t NHL draft eligible until 2019, but has turned heads already in Europe. Kokkonen played in a pre-season tournament against this same level, but will now experience it when it counts. His 5’11”, 190-lb frame is already big enough to handle some punishment, but is almost certainly still growing.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have made some lineup changes going into Tuesday’s tilt with the Oilers, as Michael Smith reports. Phillip Di Giuseppe, Martin Frk and Jakub Nakladal will all dress according to coach Bill Peters.
Potential Short-Term Replacements For Quick
With Jonathan Quick set to possibly miss 3 – 4 months due to a groin injury, the Kings are for the time being expected to ride it out with internal options Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj manning the net. But the Kings are well within their window of Stanley Cup competition and with several of their key players – Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Alec Martinez – already or nearing 30, and the team may not want to let the season get away should the Zatkoff/Budaj combo struggle between the pipes. In that case L.A. could visit the trade market to look for a short-term solution.
The Kings have little in the way of cap space, according to Cap Friendly, with just around $1.5MM available. They could add $5.8MM if they place Quick on LTIR, should they choose. But with Quick under contract for six seasons beyond this one, it’s likely the club elects to stick with less expensive options or, at the very least, limit their search to goaltenders in the final year of their deals. Within these parameters, here are a few goaltenders who could be made available by their current team and who might prove to be of interest at some point to the Kings.
Ondrej Pavelec – He was waived by Winnipeg at the end of the regular season and after going unclaimed, was assigned to the Jets’ Manitoba AHL affiliate. Pavelec’s only above-average NHL season came during the 2014-15 campaign when he posted a Save % of 92.0% and allowed a GAA of 2.28. That’s the only season in the last five Pavelec has posted a Save % above 90.6% or a GAA lower than 2.78. He is in the final year of his contract and set to earn $2.95MM; a figure the Kings could find reasonable enough for a stop-gap solution. NHL reporter Brennan Klak agrees with the premise the Kings don’t want to commit much in the terms of money or term, and mentions Pavelec as a hypothetical option.
Ryan Miller – Miller is expensive, $6MM cap charge, but has a solid track record of success at the NHL level and like Pavelec, is in the final season of his deal. It’s possible, if the Kings can tread water in the interim, their interest increases as the trade deadline approaches and the team can better afford that cap hit. If the Canucks find themselves on the outside looking in at the playoffs, they could field offers for the veteran netminder. This would likely represent a worst-case scenario in that it assumes Quick wouldn’t be ready to return at the end of four months.
Thomas Greiss – Greiss had a good year with the Islanders in 2015-16 and when Jaroslav Halak went down with an injury late in the season, the German goalie guided New York into the second round of the playoffs. Greiss is in the final year of a deal that comes with a cap hit of just $1.5MM, and would represent a low-cost option on an expiring contract. The Islanders chose to keep three netminders on the roster to begin the season, likely out of fear that Jean-Francois Berube would have been claimed on waivers. It’s feasible they could take a reasonable offer for Greiss and commit to Berube and Halak for the rest of 2016-17.
Scott Wedgewood – The Kings could have had Wedgewood for just the cost of assuming the remaining season and $587.5K left on his contract but of course Quick was healthy when Wedgewood was available on waivers. It seems apparent the Devils still value Wedgewood’s potential but with Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid holding down the top two spots in New Jersey, it’s conceivable they could entertain offers for the 24-year-old goalie. Wedgewood has little NHL experience – four starts – but would represent a low-cost, low-risk flier for the Kings.
Jonathan Quick Could Be Out 3-4 Months
Per a tweet from Sportsnet’s Daren Millard, Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick will be out for the next 3-4 months due to a severe groin injury. This is significantly worse news for the Kings as only earlier in the day, general manager Dean Lombardi wouldn’t speculate on the injury. Lombardi indicated that it was in the same area as his last major injury–one that kept him out for two months. Millard added in his tweet that the injury could require surgery. Nick Kypreos adds that Quick will be looking at every option before deciding on “rehab options.”
After placing him on injured reserve, Quick was initially seen as being week to week. Clearly, it’s much worse. Quick was hurt on what appeared to be a routine save in the first period during the Kings 2-1 loss to San Jose Wednesday night.
The focus now turns onto who the Kings will rely on without their #1 option available. Adam Gretz of NBC Sports writes that the Peter Budaj/Jeff Zatkoff duo will have to do for now as the Kings have little wiggle room within the salary cap to find a #1 goalie elsewhere. Kypreos also said the Kings will most likely search internally for a solution before “looking elsewhere.”
Pacific Notes: Quick Update, Brouwer, Despres, Sharks
Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi provided a brief update on Jonathan Quick’s injury situation on Friday. At this time, Quick and the team are still consulting with doctors with regards to the best way to proceed, reports Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Lombardi is hoping a decision in that area is made sooner than later and at that time, the team will know more about how long he’ll be out instead of the current week-to-week designation.
A few years ago, Quick suffered a groin strain that caused him to miss two months of action. While Lombardi didn’t specify that this is another groin issue, he did indicate that the injury is in the “same area”.
In the meantime, Jeff Zatkoff will take over as the interim starter and will get the nod tonight in their home opener against Philadelphia. Veteran Peter Budaj will serve as the backup.
More news and notes from the Pacific Division:
- While he has been with Calgary for all of one game since joining the team in July, Flames right winger Troy Brouwer has been a vocal presence both on and off the ice, notes Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun. Accordingly, the team has named him one of their alternate captains, making him just one of four players to wear a letter after changing teams in the offseason. Brouwer had a strong debut with Calgary, picking up a goal while playing just over 16 minutes.
- Anaheim defenseman Simon Despres may be dealing with another concussion, notes Eric Stephens of the OC Register via Twitter. Speaking with reporters regarding the Rickard Rakell contract, GM Bob Murray noted the plan is to have Despres meet specialists and that something is wrong that they need to get to the bottom of. He added that this latest problem was not the result of a hit or a fall.
- The San Jose Sharks have assigned top prospect Timo Meier to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, the team announced. He has been dealing with mononucleosis and is still likely a little while away from returning to game action. Last season, he had 34 goals and 53 assists in 52 games in the QMJHL. The Sharks recalled right winger Dan Carpenter from their farm team. Carpenter led the Barracuda in scoring last season with 55 points in 66 games and got into one game with the big club.
Successful Waiver Wire Pickups
As teams frantically worked to trim their rosters to the league-mandated, 23-man limit this week, several interesting players were exposed to waivers, eligible to be picked up by new teams for nothing more than assuming the remaining term of the player’s contract. Occasionally the claiming team lands a talented young player who simply didn’t have an opportunity to crack the lineup of his former employer due to the presence of experienced veterans. Other times it doesn’t work out, but it’s still a worthwhile gamble for clubs that may not have better options already on their roster.
In the last few days, Emerson Etem (Vancouver to Anaheim), P.A. Parenteau (New York Islanders to New Jersey), Teemu Pulkkinen (Detroit to Minnesota) and Martin Frk (Detroit to Carolina) changed clubs via waivers. All, with the exception of Parenteau, are younger players still looking to establish themselves as regular NHL contributors. Obviously, their new teams are hoping their faith in these players will be rewarded. Here are a few examples of younger players who have changed teams via waivers and have gone on to carve solid NHL careers for themselves.
Chris Kunitz – Originally signed in 2003 as an undrafted free agent by Anaheim, Kunitz would appear in 21 games with the Mighty Ducks, as they were known then, during the 2003-04 campaign. Following the lockout which wiped out the entire 2004-05 schedule and just before the 2005-06 season began, Kunitz was picked up by the then Atlanta Thrashers on waivers. He would last just two weeks in Atlanta, seeing action in two games before being placed on waivers again and being claimed by Anaheim.
Kunitz would go on to tally 192 points in 313 regular season games over parts of the next four seasons with the Might Ducks/Ducks as he firmly established himself as a quality middle-six winger. He was later dealt to Pittsburgh where he really blossomed as a top-six scorer. Kunitz has potted 20+plus goals in four of his seven full seasons with the Penguins and has netted 359 points in 498 games during that time.
I once had occasion to speak with a high-ranking member of the Ducks front office who told me that of all the acquisitions he personally had a hand in, both the original signing of Kunitz and bringing him back via waivers qualified as two of his proudest achievements.
Kyle Quincey – Quincey was Detroit’s fourth-round selection in the 2003 draft and would suit up for 13 contests over parts of three seasons. He would be placed on waivers in October of 2008 and was claimed by the L.A. Kings. In his first season in Southern California, Quincey scored 38 points which is still the 11-year veteran’s career best total. In 495 career NHL games, Quincey has tallied 30 goals and 140 points, while averaging better than 20 minutes of ice time.
David Schlemko – While not a household name and maybe not young by today’s standards, Schlemko has proven himself to be at least a quality third-pair defender since the start of the 2015-16 season. An undrafted free agent signing by the Arizona/Phoenix franchise back in 2007, Schlemko would spend parts of seven seasons with the Coyotes before being placed on waivers during the 2014-15 season. The Stars would grab Schlemko and he would spend five games in Dallas before hitting the waiver wire again, with the Calgary Flames winning the claim. He would finish without a point in 19 games with Calgary and became an unrestricted free agent following the season, ultimately joining the Devils on a one-year deal. Schlemko would finish with career-highs in games played, goals, assists and points with the Devils and would parlay that steady play into a four-year deal with San Jose this past summer.
Andrej Nestrasil – Nestrasil was chosen by Detroit in the third-round of the 2009 draft and spent most of his time in the organization playing in the minors with Grand Rapids in the AHL and Toledo in the ECHL. His best minor league campaign came in 2013-14 with Grand Rapids, scoring 36 points in 70 games. He debuted in the NHL with Detroit during the 2014-15 campaign but was placed on waivers after appearing in 13 games and claimed by Carolina. Finally given a regular role, Nestrasil has responded for the Hurricanes, totaling 41 points in 96 games for Carolina. He’s also been an excellent puck possession driver, recording a 55.0% Corsi For % since joining the Hurricanes.
Of course with the possible exception of Kunitz, none of the above mentioned players can be considered stars, either today or at any point in their respective careers. But they’ve each developed into quality NHL players who can fill a regular role and that has value in today’s NHL. Any of the teams who claimed a player this week would be happy if their new acquisition developed into a quality regular.
Snapshots: Sabres, Oilers, Kings
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- The Buffalo Sabres inked GM Tim Murray to a multi-year contract extension today. The Sabres hired Murray in January 2014 to replace Darcy Regier. In his first full season, Murray orchestrated a 27-point jump in the standings. The team is building through drafting and with smart acquisitions, a hallmark of the burgeoning Murray era. So far in his short tenure Murray has acquired Dmitry Kulikov, Ryan O’Reilly, Robin Lehner, Evander Kane, and Zach Bogosian.
- The Edmonton Oilers have placed defenseman Brandon Davidson on Injured Reserve today after suffering an apparent upper body injury last night against the Calgary Flames. Davidson was tangled up with Flames’ forward Matthew Tkachuk and fell backwards onto the ice. In response to the injury, the Oilers have called up defenseman Eric Gryba. Davidson played 51 games for the Oilers last season, scoring 4G and 7A. The defenseman is no stranger to injury— he overcame testicular cancer during his first year of professional hockey.
- The Los Angeles Kings have called up goaltender Peter Budaj in the wake of Jonathan Quick‘s injury, reports LA Kings insider Jon Rosen. Budaj led the AHL in wins as well as GAA and SV% among goalies who played more than 25 games. The Kings are fortunate that Budaj was not claimed off of waivers last week when they sent the Slovak goalie back to the AHL. While calling up an AHL goalie is automatic when a starter is out with an injury, Budaj’s veteran presence could mean that current starter Jeff Zatkoff is on a short leash.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Eleventh Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
Now we move forward to the eleventh pick, which was held by the Los Angeles Kings.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Kings selected Slovenian center Anze Kopitar. While it’s uncommon for someone from a ‘non-hockey’ nation to make it big in the NHL, it’s safe to say that Kopitar has done more than anyone could have hoped for. He has played in 765 games so far in his career – all with Los Angeles – and has 685 points, making him the second highest scorer of this draft class only behind Sidney Crosby and now serves as their team captain as well. Back in January, the Kings handed him the richest deal in franchise history, an eight year pact worth $80MM.
With the eleventh pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft and Kopitar now off the board (having gone third overall), who should the Los Angeles Kings select? Cast your vote below!
Mobile users, click here to vote.
Jonathan Quick Out Indefintely
Update (8:00pm): Kings GM Dean Lombardi announced this evening that the team has placed Quick on injured reserve (Twitter link). In a related move, the club has called up veteran goalie Peter Budaj from Ontario of the AHL. Budaj, 34, brings 297 regular season games of NHL experience to the table and has shown to be a competent backup. It appears as if the Kings will have to rely on the duo of Zatkoff and Budaj indefinitely until Quick returns.
(9:17am): Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick sustained a lower body injury late in the first period of their 2-1 loss to San Jose on Wednesday night. While there is no immediate timetable for his return, Lisa Dillman of the LA Times notes that GM Dean Lombardi believes the injury may keep him out for a while. Quick will undergo an MRI later today to determine the extent of the problem. In the meantime, he has been placed on injured reserve and the team is saying he will be out week-to-week.
In the meantime, offseason acquisition Jeff Zatkoff – who replaced Quick to start the second period last night – will take over as the interim starter. However, his NHL experience is limited to just 34 regular season appearances coming into the season while he has yet to appear in more than 20 contests in any single NHL campaign. As a result, he is more suited to backup duty than a starting workload.
The Kings have a couple of options in their system to recall in the meantime. Veteran Peter Budaj is the most likely to be recalled while former Dallas first rounder Jack Campbell is also under contract but has yet to have much success at the minor league level.
[Related: Kings Depth Chart]
The team has a bit of cap space to work with should they want to go outside the organization to supplement their goaltending depth while Quick is on the shelf. The team has a little more than $2.1MM in cap space per Cap Friendly and also have Marian Gaborik eligible for LTIR if the team needs to open up some more room although that would only be a short-term solution.
*Glen Miller contributed to this post.
Devin Setoguchi Signs With Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings have signed Devin Setoguchi to a one-year, two-way deal worth $575K, reports LA Kings insider Jon Rosen. Both sides were rumored to be close to a deal last night, and finally came to agreement late today. Setoguchi initially signed a PTO with the Kings this offseason to try and re-establish himself in the NHL.
The signing is not necessarily permanent, but rather an extension of Setoguchi’s tryout. With forward Marian Gaborik out for at least eight weeks, the Kings needed an experienced stop-gap at a reduced rate. They have just over $2MM in cap space, and it is unclear whether they will place Gaborik on LTIR.
This signing gives Setoguchi a forum to impress. His last NHL season ended in disappointment as he failed to register a point in 12 games for the Calgary Flames in 2014-15. Setoguchi then signed with HC David of the Swiss League and scored 11G and 13A in 30 games. The forward has overcome battles with alcoholism and depression during his career, and looks to turn a new over a new leaf after being sober for almost two years. Setoguchi’s place with the Kings is similar to Theoren Fleury‘s tryout with the Calgary Flames in 2009 before the Flame fan-favorite was released.
Final Training Camp Cuts: 10/11/2016
As teams work to get their rosters finalized before today’s 4pm deadline, the final cuts from camps have started to come down.
Buffalo Sabres (via team release)
Alexander Nylander (to Rochester, AHL)
Nick Baptiste (to Rochester, AHL)
Dan Catenacci (to Rochester, AHL)
Brendan Guhle (to Prince Albert, WHL)
Calgary Flames (via team release)
Linden Vey (to Stockton, AHL)
Daniel Pribyl (to Stockton, AHL)
Brett Pollock (to Adirondack, ECHL)
Carolina Hurricanes (via Chip Alexander):
Warren Foegele (to Kingston, OHL)
Chicago Blackhawks (via team release)
Brandon Mashinter (to Rockford, AHL)
Mark McNeill (to Rockford, AHL)
Colorado Avalanche (via team release):
Trent Vogelhuber (to San Antonio, AHL)
Mike Sislo (to San Antonio, AHL)
New Jersey Devils (via team release)
Scott Wedgewood (to Albany, AHL)
New York Islanders (via Arthur Staple)
Adam Pelech (to Bridgeport, AHL)
Ryan Pulock (to Bridgeport, AHL)
Minnesota Wild (via Michael Russo)
Christoph Bertschy (to Iowa, AHL)
San Jose Sharks (via Mike Halford)
Mirco Mueller (to San Jose, AHL)
Nikolay Goldobin (to San Jose, AHL)
Ryan Carpenter (to San Jose, AHL)
Barclay Goodrow (to San Jose, AHL)
Dan Kelly (to San Jose, AHL)
Kevin Lablanc (to San Jose, AHL)
St. Louis Blues (via team release):
Jordan Binnington (to Chicago, AHL)
Vancouver Canucks (via Bob McKenzie)
Tuomo Ruutu (released from PTO)
Emerson Etem (waived for purpose of assignment to Utica, AHL) – per team release