Friedman’s Latest: Spooner, Flyers, Canadiens, Trouba, Capitals
As is the case every Tuesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman released his latest 30 Thoughts column. As always, the whole article is worth a read but here are some of the highlights, including Ryan Spooner in Boston, the Flyers looking to free up some cap space, an update on Jacob Trouba, and more:
- Teams are expressing an interest in Boston center Ryan Spooner, particularly since he was a healthy scratch for their home opener. He’s one year removed from a 49 point season with a cap hit of just $950K so he’d fit in on the cap for most teams around the league. He’s still just 24 years of age so it’s certainly conceivable that the Bruins still view him as part of their future. Friedman wonders if prospect Austin Czarnik could play a role in whether or not the team looks at moving Spooner. He may not be ready for full-time duty just yet but he could be in the near future.
- With Michael Del Zotto and Scott Laughton are nearing a return to the lineup, the Flyers are believed to be trying to make a move to free up some cap room. Both players are currently on LTIR so the team will need to get cap compliant before they can activate them. Matt Read is off to a strong start this year with five goals already and Friedman suggests they may not be as willing to move him now as they were earlier.
- The Canadiens are shopping for some defensive help but are in particular looking for a top four player. With Cam Fowler presumably off the market and Jacob Trouba not believed to have interest in playing for any of the Canadian teams, there aren’t really many of those available at the moment.
- Speaking of Trouba, he has shown no interest so far in a short-term bridge deal that would allow him to get back to action while still basically maintaining his trade request. We took a closer look yesterday at where things are with Trouba, who has one month to sign or else he’ll be forced to sit the rest of the NHL season.
- With Evgeny Kuznetsov (pending RFA) and Karl Alzner (pending UFA) needing contracts at the end of the year, Washington GM Brian McLellan acknowledges that this could be the last run for the Capitals with their current core group. He believes the team is as strong as it has been in a long time down the middle with the addition of Lars Eller although he is off to a slow start offensively with just one goal so far this season.
Snapshots: Sergachev, Frk, Bauer
The red-hot Montreal Canadiens have assigned rookie defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. The ninth overall pick of the 2016 draft started the season with the Canadiens, going pointless in 3 games. The Canadiens are 8-0-1 so far this season.
Sergachev is expected to play a big role for the Spitfires, where he scored 57 points in 67 games last season. He was one of the top-ranked defensemen for last summer’s draft, alongside Olli Juolevi and Jakob Chychrun.
As a result of him not reaching nine games played, his contract will slide to next year. There are now 20 slide-eligible rookies in the NHL.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have placed Martin Frk on waivers. Frk went pointless and -3 in 2 games played with the Hurricanes, his first two NHL games. Carolina claimed Frk on waivers earlier this month from the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings will get first waiver priority to claim their 2012 second rounder, then the remaining order is the reverse standings order from the end of the 2015-16 season. The waiver priority will change to this season’s standings on November 1st.
- Some high profile NHLers may be without endorsement deals as soon as today. Players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Alex Ovechkin all make between $300K and $500K per season for using Bauer equipment. However, Bauer’s parent company, Performance Sports Group (PSG), has filed for bankruptcy protection. TSN’s Rick Westhead quoted a source as saying a bankruptcy judge can “cancel those endorsement contracts and list the players as creditors.” PSG is expected to have more than $400MM in debt by the end of the year. There are also shareholders preparing to file a lawsuit for inflated sales figures and growth prospects. PSG bough Bauer from Nike in 2008, and also purchased equipment makers Cascade and Easton in recent years.
Canadiens Set Record With Hot Start
With a 3-1 win against the division rival Tampa Bay Lightning last night, the Montreal Canadiens set the new standard for a team that starts the season off strong. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Montreal Canadiens are the first team in NHL history to win at least seven of their first eight games in three consecutive seasons. This seasons’s Habs squad is off to a 7-0-1 start, while many will remember that last year’s team won nine straight to open the season, and the 2014-15 team got out to a 7-1 record.
A hot start is invaluable, especially in a sport as physical as hockey where injuries become more common and more taxing as the year goes on. Coach Michel Therrien, who seems to end each season on the hot seat despite beginning each season so well, deserves a lot of credit for Montreal’s strong October play. However, seven wins in eight games can only do so much over an 82-game schedule, and how Therrien manages the team later in the season is what has been much-maligned.
In 2014-15, there were only a few lapses in play over the course of the season, and it’s hard to argue that they made a difference. The team won 16 of their first 22 games before dropping six of seven in late November and early December. However, the team bounced back, winning nine of ten, and continued to excel through the winter. In March, the Habs lost six of eight to begin the month and five of six to end the month, heading into April. Because of this collapse, the team finished three points shy of the New York Rangers for the President’s Trophy. 110 points and an Atlantic Division title wasn’t a bad consolation prize though. Where Therrien received criticism was the noticeable drop-off in play between Montreal’s strong regular season stretches and their postseason performance. Montreal beat the Ottawa Senators in the first round, 4-2, but the Sens put up a better fight than many expected. The Canadiens then fell to the eventual Eastern Conference champs, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2 in the second round. Whether or not Montreal had pulled together some late-season wins and taken the top seed in the East, they still would have lost to the Lightning. A strong start in 2014-15 meant nothing without a strong finish.
In 2015-16, things went very differently. The league-leading Canadiens lost superstar goalie Carey Price to injury early in the season, and the 19 wins in their first 25 games were quickly erased. Price was expected to return from injury in one to two months. His last game of the season ended up being November 25th. Without Price, Montreal became a completely different team, and Therrien took the brunt of the hit. The Habs won just five of their next 27 games and were outside the playoff picture faster than they had climbed to the top of it. Montreal settled into .500 hockey for the remainder of the season, finishing with 82 points and sixth place in the Atlantic Division. Their hot start simply went could without Price in net, and the team was unable to ever get the fire going again.
As excited as Canadiens fans are right now, the message in all this is that a record-setting team over the last two seasons have turned their early-season success into a disappointing playoff exit and a complete collapse. While Therrien is very much off the hot seat right at this time, his job now is to find a way to keep this strong play going. If the Habs can become a more consistent team in 2016-17, one that is ready to deal with injuries (Price has already missed time) and capable of playing in April and May like they play in October, then Montreal is a real contender this season. Until that is proven, this hot start is just a statistical anomaly that has played out over the past few seasons, but holds no real weight.
Snapshots: Trouba, Ducks, Goaltending
In the latest edition of Insider Trading on TSN, the panel of Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun discussed a number of subjects. One of them was Jacob Trouba, and the potential of a trade in his future. While Trouba has insisted all along that it isn’t about money in his contract dispute, the Jets are rumored to be willing to go to six-years, $33MM to get the defenceman under contract.
Even though it seems like most teams would want Trouba, Dreger reports that it doesn’t look like there is a fit anywhere in Canada. The Maple Leafs, Oilers and Canadiens have all been rumored to be interested in the 22-year old in the past.
- On Hampus Lindholm and a possible deal of Cam Fowler, LeBrun reports that it might not be as guaranteed as one would think. While it still seems likely that one of the Ducks young defenceman will have to be shipped out, the fact that Simon Despres has hit the LTIR and has no timetable on his return the team has a little more wiggle room under the salary cap.
- In Carolina, Dreger suggests that Ryan Murphy may be on the block, since he’ll likely be exposed at next year’s expansion draft. The 23-year old former first round pick split last season between the NHL and AHL levels.
- On the goaltending front, Los Angeles sounds like they’re putting all their eggs in the Peter Budaj basket for now. They’re waiting for Mike Condon to hit waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but that may not happen for a while as Pittsburgh wants to try and keep or get an asset for the young goaltender.
Zach Fucale Demoted To ECHL
The St. Johns IceCaps—Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate—announced that they’ve reassigned goalie Zach Fucale to the ECHL’s Brampton Beast. Fucale is only 3 years removed from being the top goalie drafted (36th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
The demotion is a huge blow for the goaltending prospect and the Canadiens organization. In two games this season, Fucale posted a 3.56GAA and a .887 SV%. Last season he fared a little better, posting a 3.13 GAA and a .903 SV% in the AHL and was even called up to warm the bench while Carey Price recovered from injury.
It wasn’t long ago that Fucale was highly touted by scouts. In 2014-15 he led Team Canada to a gold medal in the World Junior Championships with an unreal 1.20 GAA and .949 SV%. Fucale suffered since then, and could not perform at the same high level he showcased in Junior. The Canadian goalie will be replaced by Yann Danis and Charlie Lindgren, but neither provide much security if Carey Price goes down with another injury.
Flyers Recall Leier; Simmonds Avoids Hearing
Update (3:25pm): Panaccio, via Twitter, confirms that the team has placed Raffl on IR creating the need for the recall of Leier.
The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled LW Taylor Leier according to a tweet from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The reason for the recall is currently unclear though it appears it won’t be to take the place of Wayne Simmonds, who seems to have avoided a hearing with the Department of Player Safety after cross-checking Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov into the boards during last night’s game. Simmonds defended the hit, arguing he “barely touched” Markov, suggesting the Habs blue liner was trying to sell the penalty call, as Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly adds.
The Flyers currently have the maximum 23 players on their roster and will have to make a corresponding move to make room for Leier. Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post suggests that move may be placing Michael Raffl on IR retroactive to last Wednesday. Raffl was injured in last Tuesday’s game against Chicago.
Leier appeared in six games for the Flyers last season, failing to register a point while averaging just 7:43 of ice time. He was originally selected by the Flyers in the fourth round of the 2012 entry draft. Leier tallied 20 goals and 49 points last season for Lehigh Valley and has netted 81 points overall in 147 AHL games.
More to follow.
Jacques Demers Hospitalized
Update (10/23 8:06pm): Demers suffered an infection rather than a stroke, reports the CBC. Previous reports cited a second stroke but updated interviews revealed otherwise.
Former Montreal Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers has been hospitalized today after suffering his second stroke. He had originally experienced one on April 6th, which was followed by three months of intensive physical therapy, according to the CBC.
Demers, 72, became a head coach for the first time in 1975 in the WHA with the Indianapolis Racers, before spending time behind the bench of five different NHL clubs. He’s most likely remembered best for leading the 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup, their last in franchise history to this point.
With over 1000 games coached in the NHL, Demers is a beloved member of the Montreal Canadiens family and has caused an outpouring of support following this latest attack. We here at PHR would also like to extend our thoughts to his family – many of us grew up watching (and hating) Demers-led clubs.
Franchise Faceoff: Calgary Flames vs Montreal Canadiens
There is a common theme among teams that miss the playoffs: weak goaltending. That’s what is credited as the biggest contributor to the demise of the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens last season. The Habs lost all-world goaltender Carey Price early enough to torpedo their chances at the post season, while the Flames have been looking for a reliable netminder since the heyday of Miikka Kiprusoff.
This summer saw a fix for both clubs as the Canadiens got their Vezina winner back from injury, and the Flames brought in two established NHL goalies in Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson. While obviously these are different paths, they’ve provided the same hope to both fan bases. A return to the playoffs is certainly possible for both, though they’re off to much different starts.
Montreal is undefeated in regulation through four games and leads the Atlantic Division with seven points, while the Flames have struggled out of the gate to a 1-3-1 record. The season is very young however, and both teams have more success planned for their immediate future.
The Flames locked up their top two players this summer, inking Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau to long-term deals, while the Habs have youngsters Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk looking like stars in their own right. Both franchises have questions on their blueline past their big #1’s (Mark Giordano and Shea Weber), but have intriguing young players filling the holes.
[Calgary Flames Depth Chart vs Montreal Canadiens Depth Chart]
On Monday we asked who would you rather have, the Oilers or Maple Leafs roster and it was remarkably close after almost 500 votes were cast. This week we’ll ask the same of two other teams north of the border.
If you were buying a roster (not all the franchise perks that go with it) to build a championship team, which would you take?
Which team would you rather have?
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Montreal Canadiens 61% (99)
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Calgary Flames 39% (63)
Total votes: 162
Injury Notes: Scandella, Marincin, Redmond
Tonight’s injury update in the NHL:
- The Minnesota Wild report that defenseman Marco Scandella is out of tonight’s Wild game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs because of an undisclosed illness. Michael Russo of the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports that Matthew Dumba will take his place. Scandella is logging 2nd-pairing minutes with the Wild—averaging just under 20 minutes a night—but remains pointless so far. Dumba has had more luck, scoring 1G in his first three games while logging just over 18 minutes a night. Minnesota drafted Dumba 7th overall in 2012 and has seen the defenseman progress in each of first three years in the NHL.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs announce that defenseman Martin Marincin is also out of tonight’s game with the Minnesota Wild. Marincin is replaced by Roman Polak. Marincin has been a nice surprise for the Maple Leafs since they acquired him last year, and he is currently played over 21 minutes a night. He has 1A in the team’s first three games. Polak makes his second Toronto debut tonight—he re-signed with the team in the offseason after being traded to the San Jose Sharks near the 2015-16 NHL Trade Deadline.
- The Montreal Canadiens reported that defenseman Zach Redmond will be out for six weeks after suffering a broken foot in practice. The Canadiens signed Redmond to a two-year deal this summer but he has yet to play for the big club. Redmond was expected to get playing time if the Canadiens sent rookie Mikhail Sergachev back to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. Last Season Redmond spent time between the Colorado Avalanche and its AHL affiliate San Antonio Rampage. The blueliner put up 2G and 4A in 37 NHL games.
Goalie Notes: Price, Dell, McCollum
Carey Price will be out again tonight as the Montreal Canadiens take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice. Price is battling a flu to start the year, and hasn’t been able to play for the team yet. While Price’s absence really caused problems for the Habs last season, perhaps bringing in Al Montoya was a better decision than anyone even expected.
Through two games, Montoya and the Habs have picked up three of a possible four points and the netminder carries a 1.92 GAA and .942 sv%. While Montoya has never had to carry the load of a full NHL schedule, his presence means that the Canadiens can likely give Price a little more rest this season and still be very competitive.
Montoya will be backed up by Charlie Lindgren tonight, who made one start for the club last season.
- Steve Zipay of Newsday is reporting that the San Jose Sharks will give rookie Aaron Dell his first NHL start in net tomorrow night against the Islanders. Dell has worked his way through the minor-league system and deserves a chance to show what he can do at the highest level. The undrafted 27-year old has spent time in the ECHL during his career, but posted solid numbers at every level.
- Newest Calgary Flames netminder Tom McCollum joined Sportsnet 960 today, and had a clear answer for why he signed with the Flames. “Calgary was far and away the best opportunity for myself.” McCollum mentions that after being cut from a PTO with Los Angeles, there wasn’t all that much interest from anyone else, until Calgary offered him a deal. A former first-round pick by the Red Wings, McCollum has had a ton of success with Grand Rapids, but never got a foothold in the NHL.