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Snapshots: Rust, Byron, Sharks

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Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust practiced with the team today after missing their last four games while in COVID protocol, per team reporter Michelle Crechiolo. The Penguins face off against Vegas tomorrow night, but head coach Mike Sullivan said today that he’s unsure whether or not he’ll insert Rust into the lineup. Rust’s yet again been lethal when in the lineup, although he’s been limited to just 15 games this season. He has nine goals and 11 points, on pace for his second career season above a point-per-game pace.

More from around the league:

  • Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme issued a further update today on injured winger Paul Byron, stating that he’s probable to join the team at some point during the upcoming week. Byron’s been absent the entire 2021-22 season after having offseason hip injury, and he was expected to miss about five months. He’s now missed about five-and-a-half, so it’s a good sign that he won’t be out much longer. The 32-year-old winger has 26 points in 75 games over the past two seasons and will provide valuable leadership presence to a struggling Canadiens team.
  • The San Jose Sharks could be getting a pair of players back into the fold. Head coach Bob Boughner said today that goalie James Reimer — who’d been out with a lower-body injury for over a week — and forward Alexander Barabanov, who was on COVID protocol, could be back in the team’s lineup for their Monday night game against Los Angeles. Both Reimer and Barabanov have been valuable parts of an impressive Sharks team this season. Reimer’s posted strong numbers in a tandem with Adin Hill, and Barabanov has 20 points through 32 games.

Rangers Have Shown Interest In Artturi Lehkonen

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The Rangers have been looking to add to their bottom six group for several weeks now following the season-ending injury to Sammy Blais.  It appears that one of the players that they’re interested in is Canadiens winger Artturi Lehkonen as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that GM Chris Drury has reached out to Canadiens Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton to discuss Lehkonen’s availability with those discussions being termed as preliminary.

The 26-year-old hasn’t been able to repeat the 18-goal performance he had in his rookie season but has become a reliable defensive forward for Montreal over his six-year NHL career.  Like many Canadiens this season, he has struggled offensively, notching just four goals and eight assists in 33 games but also leads all Montreal forwards in penalty killing time.

He would likely have a similar role if he was to be acquired by the Rangers, one that would see him primarily in their bottom six while playing a significant role on their penalty kill, giving them another above-average forward on that front along with newcomer Barclay Goodrow.

While Lehkonen is on an expiring contract, he still has one year left of arbitration eligibility with a qualifying offer of $2.3MM, matching his current cap hit and salary.  To that end, this isn’t a situation where it’s a guarantee that he’ll be moved by the March 21st trade deadline.  Accordingly, the asking price may be higher than it would be for someone in a similar role that’s set to hit the open market in July.

With ample salary cap space (nearly $10MM per CapFriendly), the Rangers have the opportunity to try to add multiple players over the next couple of months but with pricey extensions already in place for Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad for next season, their cap flexibility will be short-lived.  As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Drury also on the lookout for some pending unrestricted free agents in the weeks to come.

Jake Allen Returns To Montreal For Evaluation

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  • The Canadiens announced that goaltender Jake Allen has returned to Montreal to undergo further evaluation on an upper-body injury sustained on Wednesday in Boston. Allen was placed on injured reserve yesterday and will miss at least a week while the team won’t return back home until January 27th when their 10-game road trip (due to scheduling changes) comes to an end.

Canadiens Down To Three Candidates For GM Role

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The Montreal Canadiens are getting closer to naming a new general manager, as Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports they’ve narrowed their search to just three candidates. Engels believes that Daniel Briere and Mathieu Darche are two of those three, and notes that some of the other candidates interviewed could still land different positions with the organization.

Calvin De Haan Avoids Suspension, Earns Fine

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Not only does the Department of Player Safety have a hearing with Ross Johnston of the New York Islanders today, but some more supplementary discipline was on their plate. Calvin de Haan of the Chicago Blackhawks has earned a $2,500 fine for a dangerous trip on Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield.

The incident in question happened partway through the third period as Caufield tried to skate around the Blackhawks’ net. The trip, which appeared to be a clear slew-foot, went unpenalized by the on-ice officials. The league has been seeing a huge increase in these kinds of incidents this season, with Brad Marchand and Kevin Labanc both earning slew-footing suspensions and P.K. Subban earning multiple fines.

There are some who credit the crackdown on cross-checking as the reason why these trips have seemingly increased, though obviously, the league believes something like this is not worthy of a suspension. Caufield did not suffer a serious injury on the play. While it isn’t a suspension, the incident will still be considered in any future disciplinary decisions involving de Haan.

Snapshots: Hertl, Allen, Byron

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The San Jose Sharks’ unexpected rise back to relevancy this season has answered a lot of questions, but the Tomas Hertl situation still hangs over the team’s heads. On TSN’s Insider Trading program today, Pierre LeBrun says he expects the Sharks to “circle back” with Hertl and give him an extension offer. The pending unrestricted free agent has 31 points in 37 games this season. The team’s lone 20-goal scorer so far is in the final year of a four-year, $22.5MM contract. In the case that Hertl doesn’t agree to an extension prior to the trade deadline, though, LeBrun notes the trade front is still an option. Hertl has a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of three teams to which he’ll accept a trade. LeBrun believes the New York Rangers would be an option, a team that would obviously be heavily interested in some added forward depth.

Some other notes, this time out of Montreal:

  • After leaving last night’s loss against Boston, Canadiens goalie Jake Allen will be out of the lineup for at least a week, per coach Dominique Ducharme. It’s been a really tough season for Allen, who’s faced injuries and COVID that have limited him to 24 games. He’s Montreal’s undisputed starter, still posting a save percentage above .900 on the worst team in the league. The team has a compressed schedule in the near future, meaning Allen could miss three or four games before he’s ready to dress again.
  • Montreal could be getting a name back from injury soon, though, as forward Paul Byron, who hasn’t played all year due to offseason hip surgery, could be cleared from COVID protocol by the weekend and could join the team on the road. Byron had six points in 22 games last year during Montreal’s playoff run. He’s one of the bigger voices in the room for the Habs, and his leadership presence will be greatly appreciated during this tough season.

Chris Wideman Suspended One Game

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The Department of Player Safety has issued the second suspension of 2022, banning Montreal Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman for one game. The head-butting incident that earned Wideman a suspension came in the third period of last night’s game against Erik Haula of the Boston Bruins. As the accompanying video explains:

It is important to note that Wideman’s helmet makes clear, intentional, and direct contact with Haula’s face and head. This is not an occasion where two players accidentally or inadvertently collide in a scrum. Rather, this is an unacceptable and intentional head-butt delivered to an opponent’s face with some force. 

Notably, Wideman has not been fined or suspended previously, leading to a bit of leniency on behalf of the DoPS. Haula also did not suffer a serious injury like some other suspendable plays, meaning a one-game ban was always the likely outcome for the Canadiens defenseman.

This incident will be included on Wideman’s record moving forward, however, meaning any further supplementary discipline could come with a higher penalty. For now, he’ll forfeit $3,750 and have to miss Montreal’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks this evening.

Chris Wideman To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Montreal Canadiens are already down more than half their roster due to injuries and illnesses but are about to lose someone else. Chris Wideman will have a hearing today with the Department of Player Safety regarding the incident with Boston Bruins forward Erik Haula last night.

In a scrum during the third period of a 5-1 blowout, while both players were being restrained by officials, Wideman appeared to deliver a head-butt to Haula’s face. He ended up with two penalties on the play, though both were listed for actions against Brandon Carlo, not Haula.

Recently, the 32-year-old Wideman was actually listed as a potential All-Star candidate by writers from NHL.com, after his relatively strong start to the season. The veteran defenseman returned after a year in the KHL to record nine points in 23 games for the Canadiens so far, but still only plays under 15 minutes a night for the struggling club. If he receives a suspension, he’ll be taken out of a lineup that is already missing wide swaths of talent, including seven players that are in the COVID protocol.

Goaltender Jake Allen also suffered an injury last night, leading to several Canadiens transactions. Cayden Primeau has been recalled from the taxi squad under emergency conditions, while Michael McNiven is up from Laval to take his spot on the taxi. Brandon Baddock and Louis Belpedio have been loaned back to Laval, while Kale Clague has exited the protocol and will rejoin the team.

Montreal Canadiens Claim Rem Pitlick

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The Montreal Canadiens have added a little bit of forward depth, claiming Rem Pitlick off waivers from the Minnesota Wild. It’s the second time that Pitlick has been claimed this season, after the Wild took him from the Nashville Predators at the beginning of the year.

It’s certainly an interesting claim for the Canadiens, who have been ravaged by injuries this season and don’t have a lot to play for down the stretch. Pitlick, 24,  is a capable offensive player with 11 points in 20 games for the Wild this season but wasn’t being used very much in the more competitive matchups. In fact, in three of his last four games for Minnesota, Pitlick had seen less than seven minutes of ice time.

That likely won’t be the case in Montreal, where he’ll suddenly be among many other forwards that have as little NHL experience as him.

It’s also a familiar name for the Canadiens organization, given they selected his brother Rhett Pitlick in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. That Pitlick, still just 20 years old, is in his freshman season for the University of Minnesota.

Adding relatively young talent through whatever means is necessary for the Canadiens as they look to turn around a franchise that hit rock bottom this season. Even if Pitlick doesn’t turn out to be more than he has shown to this point, he is still an asset that they grabbed for nothing more than the low cost of a waiver claim.

Unfortunately, despite him being 24, Pitlick is likely headed for unrestricted free agency in the summer. With just 31 games played to this point in his career, he’ll qualify for Group VI UFA status should he fail to play in 49 more this season (the Canadiens have 48 remaining).

Price To See Specialist Soon, Four Players Listed As Day-To-Day

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Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is expected to soon meet with the surgeon who performed his knee surgery over the summer to determine the next step in his rehab, notes Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.  The veteran has yet to play this season after spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and had resumed on-ice drills until about three weeks ago.  There remains no timetable for his return for now but that should change soon following that meeting.

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