Canadiens Recall Schlemko From Conditioning Stint
- David Schlemko’s conditioning stint was a short one as the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they have recalled him from Laval of the AHL, only one day after loaning him there. Schlemko suffered a hand injury early in training camp and did not suit up for Montreal in the preseason or in any of their first four regular season games. However, although he is now back with the Canadiens, he will not play tonight against Toronto.
Three Teams Showing Strong Interest In Andreas Athanasiou
The Canadiens, Kings, and Senators are among the teams showing the most interest in unsigned Detroit winger Andreas Athanasiou, reports Ken Campbell of The Hockey News. All three make some sense as potential fits as Montreal is in need of scoring help, Ottawa has been looking for more depth up front since training camp when Clarke MacArthur failed his physical, while Los Angeles is looking to play a faster pace this year and the 23-year-old is one of the speedier players in the league.
Darren Ferris, Athanasiou’s agent, noted to Campbell that this situation will be resolved within the next week. How it gets resolved remains to be seen. Obviously, he could re-sign with the Red Wings but there has been little movement on Detroit’s offers or his asking price over the past several weeks. An offer sheet at this point is unlikely considering it hasn’t been done already. That leaves signing with an international team with the potential for an NHL out-clause by December 1st, his NHL signing deadline.
Campbell adds that although the offer that Athanasiou had received from Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL has now been withdrawn, Avangard Omsk (also of the KHL) has put an offer on the table believed to be worth $2.5MM, the amount he’s seeking from Detroit. He has Swiss NLA offers from HC Lugano (where he’s currently skating), Lausanne HC, and one other team but from a financial standpoint, those teams won’t be able to offer close to that type of money.
MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that part of the current stalemate may have something to do with his role with the team. Last season, Athanasiou was up and down in the lineup and also found himself a healthy scratch at one point. He averaged 13:28 per night in 2016-17 which is fairly low for a player who had 18 goals in 64 games. GM Ken Holland has reportedly assured him of a top-nine role with some power play time but that’s not really anything beyond the role he had last year.
If Ferris’ expectation that Athanasiou’s situation will be sorted out within the next week holds true, there should be an end to the standoff soon but there are a lot of different ways that this still can go in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Montreal Sends Streit, Schlemko To AHL
UPDATE: TVA’s Renaud Lavoie confirms that Streit will not report to Laval and will take some time to evaluate his options. It seems the two sides are likely headed toward a mutual split, which is best for both.
12:00PM: The Montreal Canadiens have sent defensemen Mark Streit and David Schlemko to the AHL’s Laval Rocket, according to a pair of team releases. However, for those proponents of keeping Streit in Montreal, it is not just a clean-cut demotion for Schlemko. Schlemko is coming off an injury – the exact reason why Streit was placed on waivers yesterday and cleared today – but for now he will play with Laval on a conditioning stint. Once Schlemko is healthy, he will be back with the Habs and nine defenseman would be one too many to fit on the roster.
There will remain increased focus on the play of young Victor Mete and a fringe talent like Joe Morrow, but for now the easiest move was to waive 39-year-old Streit and subsequently loan him to Laval to make eventual room for Schlemko upon his return. On a one-year, 35+ deal, the entirety of Streit’s $700K contract can be buried in Laval for now, while the team further evaluates their blue line situation.
However, the question becomes what the next step is for Streit and the Habs. The nearly-40-year-old defenseman can’t be happy about being placed on waivers, nevertheless being assigned to the minors. Having cleared waivers, it will be easier for Streit to be traded now, but the market may not be there for his services. The most likely result is that Streit asks for his release and heads overseas, likely home to Switzerland and perhaps later Pyeongchang. Stay tuned.
Minor Transactions: 10/13/17
Today’s minor news and notes from around the league:
- The Florida Panthers have loaned forward Denis Malgin to the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, per a team release. Malgin, 20, was not expected to play much of a role for the Panthers in 2016-17, but ended up skating in 47 games and recording 10 points. This year, however, Malgin has yet to play to suit up for any of Florida’s first three games. With 2017 first-round pick Owen Tippett in the same boat, the Panthers needed to free up some opportunity and sending Malgin back to Springfield is no surprise. The Swiss forward was nearly a point-per-game player in the minors last season and can continue honing his skills while waiting for another opportunity to arise in Florida.
- Luc Snuggerud remains sidelined after a preseason upper-body injury, but now he’ll be sitting on the sidelines in Rockford rather than Chicago. The Blackhawks announced today that the young, offensive defenseman has been reassigned to the AHL Ice Hogs. Snuggerud is no good to the ‘Hawks injured, but even if he is ready to go by the end of his original three-week prognosis, Chicago has no space in the lineup for him to play next week or any time in the near future. The Nebraska-Omaha product is in his first full pro season, but if he can produce at a similar rate in the AHL as he did in the NCAA, then Chicago will have him back up sooner rather than later.
- After clearing waivers today, Calgary Flames beat reporter Wes Gilbertson says that Marek Hrivik is on his way to the AHL. The free agent addition will join the Stockton Heat, a squad already full of talented young forwards such as Hunter Shinkaruk, Mark Jankowksi, and Spencer Foo. Hrivek will not only have to find his place on the new club, but also show that he is more worthy of the next Calgary call-up than some of his younger, more exciting new teammates.
- With the Minnesota Wild facing some major injury questions up front. Marcus Foligno suffered a serious blow to the face in a fight with Chicago’s John Hayden last night, while Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund are day-to-day with lingering issues and the conditions of Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter are also drawing some interest. There’s no easy solution is all five of those forwards are beyond playing condition, but for now the team has announced the call-up of rookie Luke Kunin from the AHL. Defenseman Mike Reilly was demoted to AHL Iowa to make room. Kunin, Minnesota’s 2016 first-round pick, decided to leave the University of Wisconsin after just two years to pursue his pro career and will almost certainly be rewarded with his NHL debut tomorrow. An intelligent, well-rounded center, it should come as no surprise if Kunin impresses in his role as an injury replacement and manages to keep a spot on the team going forward.
- Another Central Division team has swapped a pair of players, as the St. Louis Blues announced that forward Tage Thompson has been reassigned to the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, with fellow forward Sammy Blais getting the call-up. The two players are about as different as can be. Thompson is a 6’5″ center from Phoenix, Arizona who was drafted by the Blues in the first round in 2016 and played the past two seasons at the University of Connecticut before jumping right into the NHL this year. Blais is a 5’10” winger from Quebec who was drafted in the sixth round in 2014 and put up outstanding numbers in the QMJHL before playing a full AHL season last year. Yet, it’s Blais getting the call after an impressive preseason and a largely invisible first four games for Thompson. As the season goes on, watch for these two to be switched in and out depending on the personnel and style needs of St. Louis.
Mark Streit, Marek Hrivik Placed On Waivers
10/13: Both players have cleared waivers as expected, per Sportsnets’ Elliotte Friedman.
4:40pm: Louis Jean of TVA Sports tweets that Streit is unlikely to report to the farm should he clear waivers, noting that the veteran will likely ask for his release so he can play for Switzerland during the Olympics. Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer echoes that sentiment (via Twitter), adding that Streit could ultimately choose to retire.
11:05am: The Montreal Canadiens, so far unable to find a trading partner, have placed Mark Streit on waivers today according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the team would try to assign him to the minors. Instead, it would help find a potential trade partner or rid them of the contract entirely should someone claim him.
Streit signed with the Canadiens just this summer, coming back to the place he started his career in 2005. While he was expected to help a defense corps that was lacking much puck-moving ability, young Victor Mete has taken that role and run with it. While it’s not certain that Mete will stay with the Canadiens for the whole season, Streit is clearly the odd man out in the defense shuffle. With David Schlemko set to return from injury, the team has to rid themselves of at least one defender.
It could be Mete, Brandon Davidson or Joe Morrow, but it seems ever more likely that Streit will be jettisoned in some fashion. Whether he would be willing to go to the AHL is unclear, as he’s now 39-years old. The Canadiens will be on the hook for his entire cap hit regardless, since he signed it after the age of 35.
Johnston also tells us that Marek Hrivik of Calgary will join Streit on waivers, before he ever plays a game for the team. Hrivik was signed this summer to a two-way deal, but was injured in training camp. He started the year on season-opening injured reserve, but it was likely always the plan to put him on waivers and send him to Stockton once he got healthy. Hrivik played 16 games for the New York Rangers last year, but is just a depth option for the Flames.
Overseas Notes: Da Costa, Streit, Steen
Yet another NHL veteran who was trying to hold out for a new contract in North America is now close to settling for European employment. The Swiss Hockey News reports that Stephane Da Costa is nearing an agreement with Geneve-Servette of the Swiss NLA. Da Costa, 28, was a superstar at Merrimack College from 2009 to 2011 and looked to be the next great story in the NHL after signing with the Ottawa Senators – an undrafted player coming from a non-traditional hockey country of France. While Da Costa proved to be a lethal producer in the AHL, he could never quite stick in Ottawa and left the NHL in 2012. Da Costa spent the past three years with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, putting up solid numbers, but it has been his international play on the part of France that has really turned heads. Beginning with a stellar 10-point performance at the World Championships last spring, Da Costa had reportedly been drawing interest from NHL teams and fully planned on playing with the world’s best this season. Yet, with the new season underway, those offers never came and it seems Da Costa is now ready to move on. While Geneve-Servette is off to a tough start in the NLA – second-to-last currently – they are not without considerable talent up front, including NHL veterans Nathan Gerbe, Nick Spaling, and Cody Almond, as well as San Jose Sharks prospect Noah Rod. Da Costa could help kick start a team that typically performs near the top of the NLA and made it to the final of the 2017 Swiss Cup tournament.
- Da Costa hasn’t yet signed with Geneve-Servette, but by the time he does he may no longer be the biggest name in terms of recent additions. With Mark Streit being placed on waivers by the Montreal Canadiens yesterday (with a very good chance of clearing today), it seems more likely that the veteran defenseman will ask for his release than be assigned to the AHL but the Canadiens. Given that the soon-to-be-40-year-old could have simply rode off into the sunset after winning the Stanley Cup last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it is clear that he wants to keep playing. That opportunity will likely come in his native country of Switzerland, where Streit has suited up for the NLA’s HC Davos, ZSC Lions, and SC Bern over his career. A return home to much fanfare and a chance to play in the Olympics seems like much more fitting end for Streit than playing in the minors
- A seemingly minor move in the KHL could be of some interest to Boston Bruins fans. In a round-up of their minor transaction over the past few days, the league revealed that the rights to forward Oskar Steen, Boston’s sixth-round pick in 2016, had been acquired by SKA St. Petersburg. While Steen has been playing for Farjestad of the SHL for three years now, an opportunity to play for SKA may be tough for the young Swede forward to pass up. Farjestad is no slouch, but SKA has been wildly successful in recent years, winning two of the past three KHL titles and again tearing up the league with a 17-point lead over the next-best team. SKA graduated players like Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeni Dadonov to the NHL this off-season, but still carry top prospects like Nikita Gusev and Igor Shestyorkin and talented veterans like Ilya Kovalchuk, Viktor Tikhonov, Sergei Plotnikov, and even long-time defenseman Maxim Chudinov, former property of the Bruins. Joining that mix could be a good career-move for the under-utilized Steen, could give SKA a further boost, and could help round out yet another promising prospect to add to the Bruins’ ranks.
Canadiens Not Currently Pursuing Matt Duchene
The Canadiens have been a team that has been rumored to be in trade talks for Colorado center Matt Duchene for the past several months but TSN’s Darren Dreger reported during a segment on TSN 1040 (audio link) that indications are that they are not in the mix for Duchene’s services.
The suggestion that Montreal isn’t in on Duchene comes as somewhat of a surprise on the surface. They’re a team that is lacking in impact centers and they’re also struggling to score early on and those are both areas that the 26-year-old could certainly help. They’re also one of the few teams that have the cap space to take on his full contract without having to move any money the other way.
However, Colorado’s asking price is well-known and the Canadiens don’t really have the key young defenseman that the Avalanche are coveting. Victor Mete has impressed so far but it’s still too early to peg his long-term future while their other top blueline prospect, 2015 first rounder Noah Juulsen, has yet to play professionally and is currently on injured reserve after breaking his foot in the preseason. As a result, unless Colorado GM Joe Sakic changes his asking price to not include that element, Montreal may not be the best fit trade-wise to land Duchene.
Montreal Canadiens Looking To Deal Mark Streit
According to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, the Montreal Canadiens are “actively shopping” defenseman Mark Streit. This comes just a few months after the team signed him to a one-year, $700K contract in order to give them some depth on the blueline. As Engels writes, this is due in part to the play of Victor Mete who has forced himself onto the roster and is not eligible for the AHL.
The team, faced with too many defensemen as David Schlemko returns from his injury, will have to eventually make a decision to waive one of them. Streit seems like the easy choice, though Brandon Davidson and Joe Morrow are also candidates. The question is both whether Streit would clear waivers, and whether he would report to the AHL’s Laval Rocket. The 39-year old is less than a year removed from winning a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and could easily ride off into the sunset instead of riding the buses in the minor leagues.
Streit has played 786 games in his NHL career, beginning with Montreal back in 2005. While he was brought in to give the team a puck-moving option, Mete has more than filled that role while stepping in beside Shea Weber on the top pairing. Should Montreal bury Streit in the minors, or see him file his retirement papers, the team will be on the hook for his $700K cap hit. Since he was older than 35 at the time he signed his deal, the cap hit is applied regardless. While that’s not a huge problem, it is likely why the Canadiens would rather trade him than simply waive him.
Alex Galchenyuk’s Struggles Continue In Montreal
It’s been clear for some time now that the coaching staff in Montreal—whether it be led by Michel Therrien or Claude Julien—are not fond of Alex Galchenyuk‘s all-around game. Galchenyuk has repeatedly been moved away from the center position he once was expected to hold, moved up and down the lineup seemingly at random. After the Candiens went out this summer and acquired Jonathan Drouin, trade speculation spiked around Galchenyuk as the team seemed to have moved on.
Still, they did reach a three-year deal that will pay Galchenyuk $4.9MM per season, and all seemed to settle for a while during training camp. Now though, Galchenyuk has been dropped to the fourth line as part of a shakeup by Julien following the team’s early season struggles. The young forward doesn’t seem thrown off by it, telling Matt Cudzinowski of NHL.com that he just wants to help the team.
We’re just trying to get a win. You don’t take things personally. You try to go out there and improve your game individually and as a team. My job is to go out there and make myself better and try and help the team win. That’s what I’m focused on.
Whether he’s complaining or not, it has still been a disappointing fall from grace to see Galchenyuk go from a burgeoning superstar in 2015-16, scoring 30 goals and 56 points to skating with Torrey Mitchell and Ales Hemsky as an afterthought in practice. While it’s clear that Galchenyuk has the support of his teammates, his ice-time has dropped to under 15 minutes the past two games.
There will be much criticism in Montreal and across the NHL landscape for how Julien is handling his 23-year old sniper, but it doesn’t come without fault from Galchenyuk himself. There are times he is caught drifting on back checks, and he can float to the perimeter at times in the offensive zone. Still, for a team that is struggling to score goals, reducing the playing time of one of your most dynamic forwards seems counter-productive. If Montreal is going to find success this season, a lot of it will have to come from an improved offensive game. A lot of that comes down to having a weapon other than Drouin and captain Max Pacioretty to roll out against teams. Galchenyuk is that weapon, if he—or the coaching staff—can find his trigger.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
2017-18 NCAA Players To Watch
Just like their professional and junior counterparts, the college hockey season is underway. With each passing year, the NCAA’s influence on the world of hockey grows, and in 2017-18 the college ranks contain an impressive amount of talent:
The Recent Draft Picks
D Cale Makar, UMass (COL) – The fourth overall pick this past June, Makar arguably has the highest upside of any player in his draft class. He’s even drawn comparisons to Erik Karlsson. He would be a big deal at any school, but for a Minutemen team that has struggled greatly in recent years, Makar stands to revolutionize coach Greg Carvel’s program. Fans in Amherst hope that Makar won’t be “one and done”, but the Colorado Avalanche need him just as much as UMass does. This exceptional skater could be an offensive force in the NHL sooner rather than later.
C Casey Mittelstadt, Minnesota (BUF) – Mittelstadt may have slipped in the 2017 draft, but the eighth overall pick is a dynamic offensive talent with speed and creativity. Perhaps more than anything, Mittelstadt thinks the game at an advanced level. The Gophers have a special talent on their hands and he could make waves in the NCAA this season. The only concern is whether the high school star yet has the physical tools to play at a high level.
C Ryan Poehling, St. Cloud State (MTL) – The college ranks have already seen a year’s worth of Poehling, but as the two-way threat enters his sophomore season, he’s primed to show more of his offensive ability. The 25th overall pick is as solid a center as can be found at his age and simply needs to bring the same knack for scoring as he brings to defense. He’s developing into the type of player that Canadiens head coach Claude Julien loves. If Montreal struggles to acclimate to their new coach’s defense-first system, Poehling could even be a late-season addition.
The Soon-To-Be Draft Picks
RW Brady Tkachuk, Boston University – The trend of NCAA freshman going early in the draft may reach a new high in 2017, with Tkachuk leading the charge. The son of Keith Tkachuk and brother of Matthew Tkachuk, Brady brings the same physicality and knack for scoring to his power forward role. Already 6’3”, 200-lbs. and still growing, Tkachuk will one day be a force in the NHL like his family members, but first he’s going give the college game a run for its money. Tkachuk will be fun to watch this season, especially for fans of teams looking like lottery candidates.
D Quinn Hughes, Michigan – Hughes will push Tkachuk to be the first college player selected next June, but in reality both players could easily be top ten, even top five picks. An undersized, but unbelievably skilled blue liner, Hughes could be one of the top scoring defenseman in the NCAA. The Wolverines have become the recruiting capital for top American defenseman and Hughes is their poster boy. Expect a big season from the 17-year-old.
LW Michael Pastujov, Michigan – Joining Hughes in Ann Arbor is the Florida-native Pastujov, a raw, but high-ceiling forward. An underrated member of last year’s U.S. National Development team behind the likes of Tkachuk and recent draft picks/current college players Josh Norris, Grant Mismash, and Evan Barratt in the forward corps, Pastujov’s successes were often lost in the mix. However, Michigan may be strong on defense, but ranked only 42nd in scoring last year. Alongside Norris, the San Jose Sharks’ first-round pick whom he should have some leftover chemistry with, Pastujov could be one of the top offensive threats for the Wolverines. He’s primed for a breakout campaign that could vault him into first-round consideration.