Snapshots: Sergachev, Key NHL Dates, Blackhawks
News and notes from around the NHL this afternoom:
- The Montreal Canadiens are keeping 2016 1st round pick Mikhail Sergachev around for at least nine games, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie. Sergachev was drafted 9th overall this summer and has become a defensive prospect to watch over the course of the pre-season. He spent last year with the OHL Windsor Spitfires and scored 17G and 40A in 67 games—and an additional 2G and 3A in five playoff games. While it is likely that the Canadiens send Sergachev back to Windsor after nine games, an impressive performance could garner a longer look. The Canadiens have also decided to keep F Artturi Lehkonen. Last season Lehkonen scored 16G and 17A in 49 games for Frolunda HC of the SHL.
- Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot outlines some key dates to pay attention to during the NHL season. General Managers will meet in Toronto on November 15th. December 1st is the signing deadline for Group 2 Free Agents (most but not all RFAs). The NHL trade deadline is set for March 1st. Finally, the NHL GMs will meet again in Boca Raton from March 6-8.
- The Chicago Blackhawks have called up both D Viktor Svedberg and D Ville Pokka for its final preseason game tonight. Both did not make the big club out of camp, so this move is to either provide rest to Chicago’s starters, or as a trade showcase. Svedberg is a towering defensemen, measuring 6’8″ and weighing 238lbs. He scored 1G and 14A in 40 games for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs last year. Pokka had more success in Rockford last year, scoring 10G and 35A in 76 games. He played on Finland’s World Cup team this year but failed register a point. Chicago is rumored to be asking about Edmonton Oilers’ Nail Yakupov, and any unexpected call-ups could point to a potential trade situation.
Training Camp Cuts: 10.05.16
We’re now a week away from the beginning of the NHL regular season. Teams are getting closer to their final rosters, and with that comes more cuts.
Here are the cuts made on October 5, 2016:
Carolina Hurricanes (via General Fanager):
G Michael Leighton (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
D Keegan Lowe (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
C Brody Sutter (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
D Matt Tennyson (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
LW Brendan Woods (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Charlotte, AHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (via team release):
D Keith Aulie (released from PTO)
D Marc-Andre Bergeron (released from PTO)
RW Mike Brown (released from PTO)
C Jarret Stoll (released from PTO)
RW Daniel Zaar (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)
Training Camp Cuts: 10.03.16
With just over a week towards the start of the NHL regular season, teams are continuing to pare down their rosters.
Here are Monday’s cuts:
Anaheim Ducks (via team release):
LW David Booth (released from PTO)
RW David Jones (released from PTO)
LW Max Jones (to London, OHL)
LW Antoine Laganiere (released from PTO, will report to San Diego, AHL)
Calgary Flames (via NHL.com):
D Ryan Culkin (to Stockton, AHL)
RW Matt Frattin (to Stockton, AHL)
G Jon Gillies (to Stockton, AHL)
D Mikhail Grigorev (released from PTO)
C Mark Jankowski (to Stockton, AHL)
LW Morgan Klimchuk (to Stockton, AHL)
D Oliver Kylington (to Stockton, AHL)
RW Emile Poirier (to Stockton, AHL)
D Colby Robak (released from PTO)
Training Camp Cuts: 10/2/16
The cuts continue to roll in, with several teams reducing their rosters by massive amounts as the regular season draws closer. Here are today’s cuts thus far:
Arizona Coyotes (Via AHL Team Release)
C Zach Boychuk (released from PTO)
LW Michael Bunting (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
RW Craig Cunningham (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
RW Conor Garland (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
C Tyler Gaudet (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
D Justin Hache (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
G Adin Hill (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
C Ryan MacInnis (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
G Marek Langhamer (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
D Dysin Mayo (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
C Chris Mueller (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
LW Brendan Perlini (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
LW Garret Ross (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
RW Henrik Samuelsson (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
LW Eric Selleck (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
D Kyle Wood (assigned to Tuscon, AHL)
Boston Bruins (Via Team Release)
D Linus Arnesson (assigned to Providence, AHL)
D Josh Atkinson (released to Providence, AHL)
LW Anton Blidh (assigned to Providence, AHL)
D Chris Breen (released to Providence, AHL)
D Chris Casto (waivers -> Providence, AHL)
C Colby Cave (assigned to Providence, AHL)
RW Peter Cehlarik (assigned to Providence, AHL)
D Tommy Cross (waivers -> Providence, AHL)
LW Jesse Gabrielle (returned to Prince George, WHL)
G Matt Ginn (released to Providence, AHL)
D Alex Grant (waivers -> Providence, AHL)
D Matt Grzelcyk (assigned to Providence, AHL)
LW Colton Hargrove (assigned to Providence, AHL)
RW Justin Hickman (assigned to Providence, AHL)
D Jeremy Lauzon (returned to Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL)
G Zane McIntyre (assigned to Providence, AHL)
RW Peter Mueller (released from PTO)
F Mark Naclerio (released to Providence, AHL)
D Alex Roach (released to Providence, AHL)
RW Zach Senyshyn (returned to Sault Ste. Marie, OHL)
G Dan Vladar (assigned to Providence, AHL)
F A.J. White (released to Providence, AHL)
D Jakub Zboril (returned to Saint John, QMJHL)
Calgary Flames (Via Wes Gilbertson)
C Luke Adam (released from PTO)
D Rasmus Andersson (assigned to Stockton, AHL)
F Austin Carroll (assigned to Stockton, AHL)
D Roman Dyukov (assigned to Stockton, AHL)
LW Ryan Lomberg (assigned to Stockton, AHL)
LW Andrew Mangiapane (assigned to Stockton, AHL)
G Tyler Parsons (returned to London, OHL)
RW Hunter Smith (assigned to Stockton, AHL)
Montreal Canadiens
[reported earlier]
Tampa Bay Lightning
[reported earlier]
Canadiens Training Camp Cuts 10/02/16
The Montreal Canadiens continued paring down their roster this morning, cutting more players before tonight’s preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The following were either cut or waived, according to Renaud LaVoie of TVA Sports:
Cut
Tim Bozon
Zach Fucale
Joel Hanley
Ryan Johnson
Brett Lernout
Thomas Parisi
Dalton Thrower
Noah Juulsen
Michael McNiven
Waived
Bobby Farnham
Max Friberg
Philip Samuelsson
Yuri Alexandrov (released from PTO)
Atlantic Division Notes: Sergachev, Redmond, McKenna, Condra
With Shea Weber, Alexei Emelin and Andrei Markov all absent due to their participation in the World Cup, the Montreal Canadiens have had a chance to get long looks at other blue liners during training camp. As the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey writes, several players have taken full advantage of the opportunity and impressed the team’s coaching staff.
Hickey specifically identified Nathan Beaulieu and Greg Pateryn as having “stood out” so far, while 2016 first-round pick Mikhail Sergachev and free agent signing Zach Redmond were both impressive in the team’s recent game against Ottawa.
Redmond has scored a goal in each of his preseason appearances and has shown a physical element. He was added in the offseason to provide depth and a solid camp might earn him a spot on the regular season roster.
Sergachev would have to really impress in order to stick. Montreal likely wishes to see the young Russian defender, who just turned 18 in June, get lots of quality ice time and the best chance for that would be if he was returned to junior.
Beaulieu and Pateryn are both already penciled into the club’s top-six and Montreal has to be pleased at their play so far. The Habs were recently said to be taking calls on the 23-year-old Beaulieu but if he’s been as impressive in camp as Hickey suggests it seems unlikely Montreal would be too keen on moving him. With a healthy Carey Price set to return from injury and an improved defense, it wouldn’t be hard to project a return to the playoffs for Montreal.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:
- When Florida went out and acquired Reto Berra and James Reimer – via trade and free agency respectively – this summer, Mike McKenna‘s prospects of winning the Panthers backup goalie job dried up. But as George Richards of the Miami Herald writes, McKenna has been down this road before and knows all it takes is an injury to give the 33-year-old another opportunity between the pipes in South Florida. McKenna: “No matter what the situation looks like with contracts, you always want to put your best foot forward. You never know what will happen through the course of a season. I’m just trying to go in the right direction.” Last season, McKenna was called up from the AHL when Al Montoya went down with an injury, though he didn’t see any NHL action. As it stands, Roberto Luongo will be the starter with Reimer serving as his understudy. That would seem to put Berra in position to be the starter for the Panther’s AHL affiliate in Springfield but the 29-year-old veteran would have to clear waivers before being sent down and could conceivably be claimed by a team in need of an experienced backup. That would again elevate McKenna to third overall on the organization’s goaltending depth chart and would put him in line for promotion should Luongo or Reimer suffer an injury.
- Tampa Bay is looking for depth scoring and one player who could help address that need is Erik Condra, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Condra had a disappointing first season with the Lightning, scoring just six goals and 11 points in 54 games after signing a three-year, $3.75MM deal with Tampa. Condra twice hit the 20-point plateau as a member of the Senators and the Lightning would likely be content with that level of production. Smith also lists Cedric Paquette and Cory Conacher as two more players who could also offer some scoring punch in the bottom-six. Conacher had by far his best NHL season during the 2012-13 campaign which he began with the Lightning. That season, Conacher tallied 29 points in 47 games – 24 in 35 with the Lightning. Conacher was dealt in-season to Ottawa in a deal that brought Ben Bishop to Tampa Bay in what has turned out to be quite the steal for the Bolts. Paquette saw his goal output decrease from 12 in 2014-15 to just six last season. Tampa would surely benefit from a return to double-figures in goals scored from the grinding Paquette.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Eighth 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)
Now we move forward to the eighth pick, which was held by the San Jose Sharks.
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.
The Sharks selected Devin Setoguchi with the eighth overall pick and at the time, it looked like a solid pick. In 2008-09, Setoguchi had his best season with 65 points (31-34) and it looked like he would only go up from there. Unfortunately, he never came close. Instead, Setoguchi bounced around the league and recently signed a professional tryout with the Kings. In eight NHL seasons, Setoguchi has 249 points (127-122).
With the eighth pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the San Jose Sharks select? Cast your vote below!
With the 8th overall pick, the San Jose Sharks select.....
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Marc-Edouard Vlasic 27% (97)
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Ben Bishop 18% (63)
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T.J. Oshie 16% (57)
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James Neal 14% (50)
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Keith Yandle 9% (31)
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Paul Stastny 4% (16)
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Marc Staal 3% (11)
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Jack Johnson 2% (6)
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Niklas Hjalmarsson 2% (6)
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Anton Stralman 1% (4)
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Justin Abdelkader 1% (3)
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Kris Russell 1% (3)
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Patric Hornqvist 1% (3)
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Benoit Pouliot 0% (1)
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Gilbert Brule 0% (1)
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Martin Hanzal 0% (1)
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Andrew Cogliano 0% (1)
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Matt Niskanen 0% (1)
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Ondrej Pavelec 0% (1)
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Mason Raymond 0% (1)
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Vladimir Sobotka 0% (1)
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Jack Skille 0% (0)
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Devin Setoguchi 0% (0)
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Jakub Kindl 0% (0)
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Steve Downie 0% (0)
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Cody Franson 0% (0)
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Jared Boll 0% (0)
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Darren Helm 0% (0)
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Nathan Gerbe 0% (0)
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Sergei Kostitsyn 0% (0)
Total votes: 358
Mobile Users click here to vote!
2016-17 Season Preview: Montreal Canadiens
As the NHL season is now just a few weeks away, we continue our look at each team’s offseason and preview the upcoming year. Today, we focus on the Montreal Canadiens.
Last Season: 38-38-6 record (82 points), 6th in the Atlantic Division.
Remaining Cap Space: $855K as per Cap Friendly (Roster Size of 25)
Key Newcomers: RW Bobby Farnham (free agency, New Jersey), G Al Montoya (free agency, Florida), RW Alexander Radulov (free agency, CSKA Moscow, KHL), D Zach Redmond (free agency, Colorado), RW Andrew Shaw (trade, Chicago), D Shea Weber (trade, Nashville)
Key Departures: RW Mike Brown (PTO, Columbus), C Lars Eller (trade, Washington), D Tom Gilbert (free agency, Los Angeles), G Ben Scrivens (Dynamo Minsk, KHL), D P.K. Subban (trade, Nashville)
[Related: Canadiens Depth Chart from Roster Resource]
Players to Watch: D Shea Weber – Given the magnitude of their June trade with the Predators, the focus will squarely be on Weber as many will compare his performance to Subban’s on a regular basis throughout the season (and likely beyond).
Another intriguing thing to watch will be how he fits in with a lineup that plays a much more conservative style than Nashville did. How will that affect Weber’s performance and how will the team adapt to working with a different set of strengths and weaknesses after having Subban anchor their blueline for the last several years? In particular, after having Subban routinely be the one to lead the breakout, how will it change with Weber, a player who often deferred to Roman Josi in that regard over the last few seasons?
RW Alexander Radulov – The off-ice questions about his commitment to playing in North America have been front and center and for good reason having left the NHL twice already. However, after being a top scorer in the KHL, there’s no denying he has the potential to be the top six forward the team has sought for several years. Montreal has tried several different players in recent years to fill that void (Daniel Briere, P.A. Parenteau, Thomas Vanek, and Alexander Semin, to name a few) but have had limited success. Will Radulov be the one to buck that trend?
Key Storyline: After getting off to the best start in franchise history last year, the Canadiens completely fell apart as the season progressed. Despite that, the coaching staff remains largely intact (aside from the hiring of Kirk Muller as Associate Coach and the departure of Craig Ramsay who was a consultant last season). Losing the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price between the pipes for most of the season with injury problems was widely considered to be the root cause of their collapse but with him being back to full health this year, that crutch won’t be there for management if they get off to a slow start this season.
How much of a leash will Michel Therrien have if the team struggles out of the gate? While it’s certainly early to speculate on how much rope he’ll be given, he has to be considered to be on the hot seat heading into the season.
Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Bitten, Brown
After turning heads at the World Cup as the youngest player in the tournament, Auston Matthews is already making an impact at Leafs camp. At the end of his first practice with the blue and white, Matthews fired a one-timer from Mitch Marner into the glass, shattering it. While it’s probably not the last pane that will fall victim to Matthews’ hard shot, it’s just nice for the team to finally have him in their own building with their own jersey.
While Mike Babcock has repeatedly said that Matthews will start on the third line this year for the team, when he hit the ice for the first time he was skating between James van Riemsdyk and Leo Komarov on the first group. The 19-year old centerman will likely be sheltered to start his career, but many believe it won’t last long, just as it hasn’t at both the World Championships and World Cup.
At both tournaments, Matthews opened as one of the final few forwards, but finished among the top two lines. Every coaching staff that has worked with him speaks about his learning curve, and how hard he works. We’ll see if the curve isn’t a bit steeper once the real NHL season begins, and teams bear down on the youngster.
- Montreal prospect Will Bitten has been dealt to the Hamilton Bulldogs, according to Ryan Yessie of HockeyProspect.com. Bitten was selected in the third round of the latest draft, but has flashed enough skill to have gone higher. The undersized center put up 65 points in 67 games last season on an awful Flint Firebirds team (20-42-6) and is expected to make another big development step this season. He’ll now be a little closer to home, playing for a familiar name to Canadiens fans – their former AHL affiliate was also the Hamilton Bulldogs, where players like Carey Price spent time seasoning before making the NHL.
- The Ottawa Senators have sent first round pick Logan Brown back to junior as expected today. Brown, an absolute monster on the ice standing 6’6″, 222 lbs already, is actually incredibly skilled for a player his size. He notched 53 assists last season for the Windsor Spitfires, and showed off his offensive flair more than once. The Senators will hope he can start using that size a bit more as he gets stronger and matures as a player, letting him become a preeminent power forward in the NHL within a few years. For now, he’ll return to junior for his third year, expected somewhere close to 100 points and lead the Spitfires back to another strong season.
Snapshots: Canes, Hertl, Fleischmann, Gagne
The Carolina Hurricanes have not qualified for the playoffs since the 2008-09 season but hope to change that this year. As Chip Alexander of The News & Observer reports, the team’s chances of breaking their seven year playoff drought will rely heavily on a talented, albeit young, group of players. Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce, Noah Hanifin and Ryan Murphy are set to see a lot of ice for the Canes and none are over the age of 24.
One of the squad’s few experienced players, Lee Stempniak, a veteran of 11 NHL seasons, says he has never been part of a team with so many youngsters expected to fill important roles:
“Not really, not with young guys playing this prominent of a role, especially the defensemen. It’s young. I think it’s a team with a lot of potential. I think a lot of the success for our team is going to be harnessing our potential. Guys need to take the next step individually and the new guys coming in need to fit in and complement the players who are here and find a role.”
If anyone would know, it would be Stempniak, who has suited up for 10 different clubs during his career, including four over the last two campaigns. He hopes his stay in Carolina is a bit longer after singing a two-year deal worth $5MM this summer.
Of course young teams are inherently inexperienced and some might feel that factor could derail Carolina’s chances of a successful campaign. Not so, says another of the team’s elders, defenseman Ron Hainsey, who at 35 will is 11 years the senior of the second oldest regular blue liner, Justin Faulk:
“This is a young man’s league. I don’t think it’s a danger. Speed, skill is the name of the game.”
Despite the talent and skill, Carolina’s path to a playoff berth will not be an easy one. The Metro Division fielded five postseason qualifiers in 2015-16 while the Hurricanes finished 10 points behind the eighth-seeded Philadelphia Flyers.
Another factor which may work against the Canes is their goaltending. Carolina ranked 29th among 30 teams in save percentage but did nothing this offseason to upgrade the position. In fact, the team elected to re-sign longtime netminder Cam Ward to a new, two-year contract; a deal many pundits thought was curious.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- Positive news in San Jose where Tomas Hertl skated today at the Sharks first training camp workout and showed no lingering ill effects from the MCL injury he suffered during the Stanley Cup Finals, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Hertl finished fifth on the club in scoring with 46 points during the regular season and contributed another 11 in the postseason. According to Pashelka, Hertl is preparing to play either center or wing though today he skated as the pivot between Joel Ward and Nikolay Goldobin. Hertl skipped the World Cup, electing not to represent the Czech Republic in the tournament in order to further rehab his knee injury. It appears the extra rest may have helped as Hertl looks to be on track to open the season at 100%.
- Tomas Fleischmann, who was set to appear at camp with the Minnesota Wild, has apparently failed his physical, according to Mike Russo via Twitter. Russo is unsure if that would be the end of Fleischmann’s brief time with Minnesota or not. Fleischmann was again attempting to catch on with a club after being forced to accept a PTO offer rather than a guaranteed contract. Last year he earned a one-year deal with Montreal in training camp and would record 10 goals and 20 points in 57 games with the Canadiens. He was dealt to Chicago at the trade deadline with Dale Weise and would tally another four goals and five points for the Blackhawks.
- The Ottawa Senators announced via their team Twitter account that they have signed forward Gabriel Gagne to an ELC. Gagne was the Sens second-round pick in 2015, going 36th overall. He split last season between Victoria and Shawinigan of the QMJHL and combined to register 36 points in 42 regular season contests. Gagne was even better in the postseason, tallying 22 points in 21 games.