Snapshots: Senators, Lindback, Flyers
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson has left the team again for personal reasons, reports the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. Anderson has left the team twice so far this season to be with his wife after her recent cancer diagnosis. Andrew Hammond will serve as back-up to newcomer Mike Condon, who the Senators acquired from Pittsburgh for a fifth-round draft pick. Condon is 2-0-0 since being acquired and has put up a stellar 0.48 GAA and a .983 SV%.
- Former NHL goalie Anders Lindback was ostensibly released from, and reinstated to, his PTO today with the Los Angeles Kings affiliate Ontario Reign, reports Ontario Reign Insider Lindsay Czarnecki. The team initially announced that it released Lindback from the team before retracting that statement within the hour. Lindback was signed to the PTO on October 25th after the Kings found themselves without any starting goalies because both Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff were out with injury. The Kings are now carrying three goalies in Peter Budaj, Jack Campbell, and Zatkoff (injured), and will most likely send Campbell down when Zatkoff heals.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have scratched defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi. In an ironic twist, Gostisbehere was named Philadelphia’s Pro Athlete of the Year by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association earlier this morning. Coach Dave Hakstol says that the benching should be good for his growth and development. The young defenseman currently has 3G and 7A in 17 games for the Flyers. He will be replaced by Andrew MacDonald who has 1G and 2A in 10 games.
Kings Notes: Gaborik, Andreoff, Kopitar, Lucic
Kings winger Marian Gaborik is progressing well in his recovery from a broken foot and is hoping to get back into the lineup somewhat soon, he told Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. He has missed the entire regular season so far after suffering the injury while blocking a shot back in September at the World Cup of Hockey.
Gaborik has been skating lightly over the last week but pushed his workout a bit harder on Wednesday and was pleased with how it went:
“I think I’m right on track. It’s just like I said, a matter of getting the strength back on the ice and skating. I haven’t skated for several weeks or something like that so it’s just a matter of getting those practices in so I can jump in to games ready to go.”
Despite the progress, there remains no timetable for his return to the lineup. When he does get back, he’ll be a welcome addition to a lineup that is scuffling in the goal scoring department as the Kings have just 39 goals in 17 games so far this season.
[Related: Kings Depth Chart]
More news from Los Angeles:
- Left winger Andy Andreoff is nearing a return to the lineup after thumb surgery, Rosen notes in a separate piece. He also appears to be well ahead of schedule as two weeks ago, head coach Darryl Sutter estimated that Andreoff would be out another four to seven weeks. However, the 25 year old is targeting Wednesday’s game against the Islanders as his return date, using the practices between then to work on his conditioning. Andreoff has played in nine games for Los Angeles this season, being held off the scoresheet but is averaging a career high in ice time at 10:02 per game.
- Center Anze Kopitar skated on Wednesday but is not expected to play against the Oilers tonight, reports Curtis Zupke of the LA Times. The captain remains day-to-day with either a hand or arm injury. Kopitar says progress is being made but not enough to return to the lineup: “It’s been feeling better and better but just not quite to where it needs to be and not quite good enough, obviously, to play.” He is off to a bit of a slow start this season with just two goals and six assists in 15 games.
- Milan Lucic is set to face his old Kings squad tonight for the first time since signing in Edmonton in free agency but reiterated to Elliott Teaford of the LA Daily News that he had intentions on re-signing there over the offseason: “I tried everything I could to make it work. I think both sides tried to do everything they could do to make it work. With a cap system, it just didn’t work out in the end.” Lucic spent just one year with the Kings and while he had a strong year (55 points in 81 games), the end result from the trade with Boston didn’t work out too well for LA when you consider that on top of Lucic essentially being a one year rental, one of the players they gave up for him – Martin Jones – is now the starting goalie for a division rival.
Injury Updates: Parise, Kulikov, Kopitar, Lightning
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise practiced with the team this morning for the first time since suffering a foot injury on October 27th, reports Mike Russo of the Minneapolis-St. Paul StarTribune. Parise missed the Wild’s last six games, but could be in the lineup as early as Tuesday against Calgary. The Wild made room for Parise by reassigning Christoph Bertschy to the AHL.
- Buffalo Sabres defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will miss Tuesday’s game against St. Louis, reports the Olean Times Herald’s Bill Hoppe. Kulikov missed practice today, and the Sabres—practicing with only five defensemen—will most likely require more than one call-up to fill its lineup. Buffalo, however, will minimize both actual cost and league cap space use by calling up those players on game day as needed.
- Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar may miss Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, reports LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen. Kings coach Darryl Sutter made some cryptic remarks regarding Kopitar’s playing status, but Rosen believes that those remarks indicate that the Slovenian forward may be out longer than expected. Kopitar suffered an upper body injury late in Friday’s game against the Ottawa Senators, and missed yesterday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning are without both Anton Stralman and Jonathan Drouin tonight against the New York Islanders, reports Tampa Bay beat writer Bryan Burns. Both players are recovering from upper body injuries. Stralman left Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks after taking a Joe Thornton slap shot to his upper body. Drouin’s injury, however, is more of a mystery. It is thought that Drouin suffered a concussion on November 1st against the Islanders after taking a hit to the head from Isles defenseman Calvin de Haan. The team has not confirmed that Drouin suffered a concussion, but only that he’s expected to rejoin the team during its upcoming five-game road trip.
Pacific Division Notes: Burns, Kopitar, Virtanen
Assuming he resists overtures from the Sharks to sign a massive extension first, Brent Burns will hit free agency next July as one of, if not the top player on the market. In fact, as Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News writes, his situation closely mirrors that which confronted Steven Stamkos last season.
Like Stamkos, Burns will be a much-desired commodity if he reaches the open market. And just like Tampa Bay, the Sharks surely want to retain their star player. Though again, like Tampa Bay, San Jose will want to do so at a price less than that which Burns will be able find in free agency.
Of course the situation has already generated a lot media attention and will continue to do so until a resolution is reached. For many players, his pending free agency can prove to be a distraction and perhaps even impact his performance on the ice. That doesn’t seem to be the case to date for Burns as the 31-year-old blue liner has already tallied six goals and 14 points through 15 contests. But should Burns struggle with the attention and seek advice on how to handle things, he has a good resource in his friend Stamkos.
As Pashelka notes, the two players have known each other for more than two decades and spent some time together this summer. But according to Stamkos, Burns didn’t broach the subject of his free agency:
“Can’t say we’ve had a lot of discussions about it. I’m definitely open to a conversation if it comes a point where he needs somebody to talk to. But I know Burnzie. He knows what he’s doing.”
Burns certainly enjoys playing in San Jose and likely will give the Sharks every opportunity to extend his contract. Surely the Sharks will hope that Burns, like Stamkos, decided to forsake the probability of more money to remain somewhere he is happy.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:
- It looks like the Kings may have dodged a bullet as the upper-body-injury suffered by team captain Anze Kopitar is considered day-to-day, reports Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times. Kopitar appeared to injure his wrist/upper arm area when taking a spill along the boards in the third period of the team’s tilt with Ottawa. Kopitar, one of the NHL’s best centers, did miss this afternoon’s game against Winnipeg but the fact he’s been listed as day-to-day is good news for a team that dropped to 7 – 8 – 1 after today’s shootout loss to the Jets. The 29-year-old native of Slovenia is off to a slow start production-wise, with just eight points in 15 games.
- Earlier this week the Vancouver Canucks assigned 20-year-old winger Jake Virtanen to their AHL affiliate in Utica. However, as reported, the team recalled Virtanen today after he saw action in two games this weekend for the Comets. Virtanen is off to a tough start to the campaign with just one point, an assist, in 10 games with Vancouver. He was also held off the scoresheet this weekend while suiting up for Utica. Virtanen did not play today in the Canucks 5 – 4 win OT win over Dallas.
Stars Notes: Sharp, Lineup Changes, Goaltending
The Dallas Stars have been without Patrick Sharp for almost three weeks now after the veteran forward experienced concussion-like symptoms. The problems arose after Sharp took a devastating hit from Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings on October 20th, and initially there was no timetable for his return. Sharp skated with the team today, and according to head coach Lindy Ruff (via Mark Stepneski) doesn’t sound too far away:
It’s a step in the right direction and some light at the end of the tunnel for him. He’s feeling better. Hopefully we can get him two or three practices and he can be ready possibly for Sunday.
Sharp, one of the most consistent goal scoring wingers in the league over the past decade had a successful first season with the Stars last year after being traded there last summer. He provided another 20-goal season and recorded 55 points mostly skating alongside Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. His return to the lineup would help deepen a Stars forward group that is really struggling to score goals. With Jason Spezza, Cody Eakin, Jiri Hudler and Ales Hemsky all missing time for various injuries this season, Sharp would be a sight for sore eyes for Ruff and the Dallas coaching staff.
- Following three straight losses, the Stars will make some lineup changes for tonight. Justin Dowling and Jamie Oleksiak will both get back into the lineup, while Patrik Nemeth and Esa Lindell will visit the press box. Oleksiak is set to skate on the third pairing with Jordie Benn, while Dowling will center the fourth line between Gemel Smith and Adam Cracknell. Both newcomers have played just two games for the Stars this season.
- Kari Lehtonen will be in net tonight against the Calgary Flames for his third start in a row despite being pulled in his last game. The 32-year old netminder was relieved after giving up four goals on eleven shots against the Jets on Tuesday. Antti Niemi didn’t fare much better though, as he gave up four goals as well on twenty shots. The Stars are now 4-6-3 and off to a terrible start in many facets of the game.
Atlantic Notes: Leafs Skate, Soshnikov, Blunden
In a scene from a mid-90’s sports movie, the power went out at Maple Leafs practice today as the team was put through a hard practice by head coach Mike Babcock. The Leafs lost 7-0 to the Los Angeles Kings last night and, as Morgan Rielly put it (via Pierre LeBrun)“I think we all understood if we didnt skate last night we were going to skate today.” The young Leafs were on a three game winning streak before getting dismantled by the experienced Kings.
- Also from practice today, Nikita Soshnikov was absent according to David Alter of NHL.com. With a groin injury, the coaching staff didn’t want to put him through the high-tempo practice. Soshnikov only just returned from injury a few games ago, but has contributed two points already and saw time with Auston Matthews during the loss.
- Despite saying that Craig Anderson would be the starter whenever he was with the team, Mike Condon will start for the Sens tonight, according to head coach Guy Boucher. Condon recorded a shutout in his first game for the Sens last week.
- Mike Blunden will be recalled from Binghamton to play tonight for the Senators, though no word has been given on who he’ll be replacing. The 29-year old has four points in nine AHL games thus far.
- According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Jonathan Drouin is working out on his own, and still has no timetable to return to the Lightning. Drouin was injured a week ago on a hit from Calvin de Haan. Coach Jon Cooper says he’s “gradually coming along” in his recovery.
LeBrun’s Latest: Budaj, Trouba, Hanzal
When the Los Angeles Kings lost not just Jonathan Quick but Jeff Zatkoff as well in the span of a few days, panic immediately set in for a franchise known for its excellent goaltending over the years. Even with Peter Budaj, an experienced NHL netminder coming in to start, the team was looking everywhere to find some help in net. That might have come to an end, says Pierre LeBrun in his latest column, as Budaj has performed extremely well and Zatkoff is back from injury. The team has stopped looking for help and is at least somewhat comfortable with the Budaj/Zatkoff tandem for now.
Budaj, the AHL goalie of the year in 2015-16, has posted a .912 save percentage and 2.06 GAA in ten games, including a shutout of the Calgary Flames on Saturday. The former Colorado and Montreal netminder has a ton of NHL experience over the years, and at 34 is still playing well enough to help the Kings. Zatkoff will likely figure in a bit more as the season stretches on, though he does have much less experience.
- Even though Jacob Trouba has signed on for two years and said that he’s ‘committed’ to the Winnipeg Jets, doesn’t sway LeBrun from thinking he’ll eventually be dealt. Though head coach Paul Maurice has said he’ll use Trouba in a variety of situations in order to keep him involved, the conviction that led to his holdout can’t possibly have all dissipated at this point. Trouba still wants to be a top pairing blueliner on the right side, something that simply won’t happen in Winnipeg, at least not right now.
- It’s an open competition in Colorado now, as the net will be shared between Semyon Varlamov and Calvin Pickard. Though Varlamov came into the season as the clear No. 1, the younger Pickard has played extremely well and forced himself into the conversation. A .946 save percentage even if it is just a few games. With the Avalanche going after a playoff spot this year, they can’t afford to wait for Varlamov’s game to come around.
- When you turn your calendar over to February in a few months, make sure you make a note to watch for Martin Hanzal rumors. LeBrun feels as though the Coyotes center – who’s injured at the moment – is an easy pick for a deadline deal. An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, he’s always had the talent to change a game. Health has always been a factor for Hanzal though, who just can’t seem to stick in a lineup for a full year. LeBrun believes that the Coyotes would need a young player, and not just picks, in return.
Injury Notes: Thursday November 3rd
Injury notes from around the NHL this evening:
- The Los Angeles Kings have officially placed forward Andy Andreoff on IR today. Andreoff suffered an upper-body injury in the Kings’ 3-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. It is unknown what caused the injury, but Andreoff left the ice with 2:24 in the second period and did not return, reports LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen. The former third-round draft pick currently has zero points in eight games for the Kings this season.
- The Arizona Coyotes are without Martin Hanzal, Michael Stone, and Tobias Rieder tonight as all three are out with various injuries, reports AZ Central’s Sarah McLellan. The Coyotes have been hit hard with the injury bug, including losing starting goaltender Mike Smith to a lower body injury. Smith has skated with full gear for the past couple of days, but has not faced any shots or done any actual goaltending yet. The Coyotes look forward to the return of all these players as they sit 3-6-0 on the season.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have activated Michael Raffl off of IR today, and expect him in the lineup tonight against the Islanders, reports the team. Raffl missed the last eight games due to an abdominal injury suffered in a match against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers have scratched Dale Weise tonight to make room for Raffl. Weise has only one point in eight games for the Flyers so far this season.
Tom Gilbert Suspended Three Games
The NHL has suspended Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Gilbert for three games for a boarding incident with Anaheim’s Nick Ritchie, the Department of Player Safety announced. He will be eligible to return to the lineup on November 10th against his former team, the Montreal Canadiens.
The incident occurred in the second period of the Kings’ game against the Ducks on Tuesday night. No penalty had been originally assessed on the play. As a result of the suspension, Gilbert will forfeit a little over $23K in salary. As a non-repeat offender, he loses 3/180 of his pay for the season; had he been a repeat offender, he would have lost 3/82 of his salary, or a little over $50K.
This suspension certainly does little to help the cap woes that Los Angeles is currently experiencing. The team recalled Kevin Gravel earlier on Thursday but that was to take the place of Brayden McNabb who is currently on injured reserve. While most teams like to have a seventh blueliner available, the Kings aren’t in a position to bring one up pending any further roster moves as they have just over $360K in cap space at the moment as per Cap Friendly. They also aren’t afforded the ability to move Gilbert off the active roster while he’s under suspension and Gravel is the only waiver-exempt skater on the roster at the moment. Accordingly, a thin back end is going to stay that way for the next three games.
Los Angeles Kings Recall Kevin Gravel
According to Jon Rosen of FOX Sports, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from the AHL to replace Brayden McNabb who was placed on injured reserve this week.
Gravel is a former fifth-round pick who made his NHL debut last season with the Kings, getting into five games. The hulking defenseman has played two successful seasons in the minors since coming out of St. Cloud State, including two long playoff runs. The 24-year old will try to make his mark on the NHL club this time around, and prove that he deserves a longer chance.
For McNabb, it’s rest and rehab as he tries to work back from an upper-body injury suffered Saturday night. The team will try to replace his outstanding possession numbers somehow; Tom Gilbert, first in line to try, will have a disciplinary hearing today over his hit of Nick Ritchie on Tuesday.