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NHL/NHLPA Pause Cross-Border Travel, Issue Updates On Season And Olympics

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The NHL and NHLPA released a joint statement today that the league will postpone any games that require cross-border travel through the holiday break. The 12 postponed games are as follows:

Canadiens @ Islanders (12/20), Ducks @ Oilers (12/20), Blues @ Senators (12/21), Canucks @ Sharks (12/21), Canadiens @ Rangers (12/22), Jets @ Stars (12/22), Oilers @ Kings (12/22), Blues @ Maple Leafs (12/23), Hurricanes @ Senators (12/23), Canadiens @ Devils (12/23), Ducks @ Canucks (12/23), Oilers @ Sharks (12/23)

Adding on these 12 games, there are now 39 games that the league has postponed this year. As instances pop up of players stuck on the wrong side of the border and potentially unable to get home for the holidays, the pause comes now to prevent any future situations like this from occurring.

However, the NHL and NHLPA in today’s statement remained with their stance today against placing a pause on the entire regular-season schedule. The league will continue to monitor COVID outbreaks on teams on a case-by-case basis, stating that they “will be monitoring not only the number and pattern of positive COVID results but also the depth of Club line-ups so as to ensure both the health and safety of the Players and the integrity of League competition.”

The two parties also gave an update on the potential of Olympic participation, stating they’ll reach a final determination within the coming days. They’re “actively discussing the matter” and commit to remaining flexible. The NHL has until January 10, 2022, to opt out of the Olympics without incurring a financial penalty. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman speculates that an “Olympics without NHL players seems to be a reality,” but doesn’t expect a formal announcement for a few days.

Minor Transactions: 12/18/21

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It was another day of a string of unfortunate events in the NHL, with the unofficial number of players on COVID protocol reaching over 100. There were some other items of note from the other side of the pond, however, as two players who recently had their contracts mutually terminated have officially found their new homes overseas.

  • Andreas Borgman, who was with the Dallas Stars on a two-way deal until it was terminated earlier this week, won’t be back in the NHL anytime soon. The former Star, Maple Leaf, and Lightning defender signed a deal with Frolunda HC of the SHL through the 2025-26 campaign. Considering Borgman will be 30 at the end of the deal, an NHL return is unlikely for the undrafted Swedish defender. He had three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 55 career NHL games.
  • After being drafted in 2019 by the Montreal Canadiens, Arsen Khisamutdinov is heading back to the KHL with Dinamo Riga. Khisamutdinov’s deal was terminated last week after notching just one point in 15 AHL games last year and getting assigned to the ECHL this year. Khisamutdinov had three points in 31 games during his last KHL stop with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk.

Canadiens Add Lehkonen To Protocol, Place Armia, Perreault On Injured Reserve

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The Montreal Canadiens made a slew of roster moves today, adding Artturi Lehkonen to the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol and placing Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault on injured reserve, per a team tweet.

Armia is out with an undisclosed injury after being a game-time decision on Thursday. He’s been in and out of the lineup this month with an undisclosed ailment and has just five points in 29 games this year. He signed a four-year extension worth $3.4MM with the team this past offseason.

Perreault was classified as day-to-day with a lower-body injury on Thursday. He has three goals (a hat-trick) and an assist in 14 games this year, battling an eye injury early in the season.

Both Armia and Perreault are ineligible to play until after the holiday break.

Lehkonen is the only Canadien officially on COVID protocol. Through all 31 games this year, he had four goals and seven assists.

Montreal will likely have to make some recalls, as these transactions leave them with just 10 active forwards on the roster.

Canadiens-Bruins Game Postponed

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The NHL has announced another postponement, this time for a game scheduled between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens for tomorrow night. This comes after the Bruins played undermanned yesterday and the Canadiens played in an empty building. There are COVID and hockey-related revenue concerns to be considered by the league, after the Bruins have continued to place more and more players into the protocol.

Just before the Bruins took the ice yesterday, Oskar Steen was placed in the COVID protocol, joining six others from the team including top players like Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. The league has maintained throughout this season that they’ll only start postponing games if the spread seems to be out of control, which it appears to be in Boston.

The Bruins are one of the teams that went west and played the Calgary Flames recently, a team that has had such widespread positive testing that they’ve completely shut down. Like in the case of the Carolina Hurricanes, who placed a good chunk of players in the protocol but then had multiple days with no more positive tests, the hope is that a lengthy postponement won’t be necessary for the Bruins. That obviously remains to be seen.

Bell Centre Won’t Have Fans For Thursday’s Canadiens Game

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As originally reported by RDS’s Patrick Friolet, there won’t be any fans in attendance for tonight’s Montreal Canadiens game at the Bell Centre versus the Philadelphia Flyers at the request of Quebec public health officials.

This is the first game this season for which attendance will be limited. The news comes just a day after the government of Ontario announced they’ll impose a 50% capacity limit at major events, affecting the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators.

It’s unclear as to how long the moratorium on fans attending Canadiens games will last. At this time, it only applies to Thursday night’s game. A release from the team states that they’ll provide an update on the status of their Saturday game against Boston tomorrow.

The announcement came just two hours before puck drop, with the Canadiens sending out an email to ticket holders.

The release states that the team has secured an assurance that beginning in January, they’ll be permitted to have at least partial attendance back at the Bell Centre. Tonight’s and Saturday’s games are their last home games of 2021.

Mattias Norlinder Returned To SHL

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The Montreal Canadiens are focused on development now, which means Mattias Norlinder’s time in North America has come to an end for now. The young defenseman has been returned to Frolunda HC for the remainder of the SHL season.

Norlinder, 21, actually already played one game with them this season, but has also suited up six times for the Laval Rocket and six times for the Canadiens. A third-round pick in 2019, his future looks bright, but not close enough to warrant him staying with Montreal for the rest of this season. The AHL was technically an option, given he does not have a European Assignment Clause, but all parties have agreed the best thing for his development is a return to Sweden.

It will allow him to play a larger role in a comfortable setting, given his history with the club, and come back to Canadiens training camp next year hopefully ready to step directly into the NHL. In 37 games last season, Norlinder recorded ten points with Frolunda, but was a real difference-maker in a short playoff run. He had one point in his six games with Montreal.

In a lost season for the Canadiens, new front office boss Jeff Gorton has to look forward. A move like this could signal that more changes are coming for the team, who have lost seven in a row and sit second-last in the entire league.

Christian Dvorak Out Indefinitely With Lower-Body Injury

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The Montreal Canadiens continue to plod their way through a disastrous season and now will have to do it without the help of a prized offseason acquisition. Christian Dvorak is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury and will be evaluated daily. Dvorak has already missed three games since exiting last week’s match against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The team has also announced that Brendan Gallagher and Sami Niku have exited the COVID protocol, but will not practice with the main group yet as they build their conditioning back up. They are expected to rejoin the team later in the week.

Dvorak, acquired from the Arizona Coyotes after the Carolina Hurricanes signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet, had 12 points in 27 games before going down to injury. The 25-year-old center was playing more than 18 minutes a night, but still scoring at a pace right around his career average. That could be considered a disappointment, given the fact that he told Montreal media he had “more to prove offensively” after leaving the desert. Should this injury force him out for a good chunk of the season, it seems unlikely that he’ll break his career-high of 18 goals or 38 points, both set in the 2019-20 season.

Perhaps more importantly though is that Dvorak was brought in to solidify the center ice position after Phillip Danault’s departure, a position that will once again be in question with him out. That could probably be said about every spot on the ice with the long list of absences Montreal is dealing with, which also includes key players like Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson, Joel Edmundson, and Carey Price.

It’s a lost season for the Canadiens, who are now 6-21-3 on the season and ahead of only the Coyotes league-wide. A silver lining? The Carolina Hurricanes are in a solid playoff position, meaning the first-round pick Montreal owes Arizona for Dvorak won’t be their own.

Roster Notes: Lehkonen, Korpisalo, Maple Leafs

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As the Montreal Canadiens continue to falter in 2021-22, now last in the Eastern Conference and leading the league in goals allowed, a fire sale seems imminent for the franchise. As pundits across North America discuss who could be moving on from the Habs, a story has emerged from TVA’s Renaud Lavoie about one potential candidate who was nearly moved last season. Lavoie reported on their air on Saturday that the Canadiens and St. Louis Blues had a deal in place for forward Artturi Lehkonen at the deadline, which would have seen Sammy Blais go the other way. However, a condition of the deal was an extension for Lehkonen, then an impending restricted free agent, and the restricted free agent refused to agree to a new contract with the Blues, nixing the trade. The 26-year-old ended up re-signing for just one year with Montreal this summer and will be an RFA once more this off-season. However, it seems more and more unlikely that he will be negotiating with the Habs once again, as Lehkonen’s scoring is up from last season, making him an attractive trade piece for the Canadiens. Although Blais is now a member of the New York Rangers, the Blues could still be a suitor for Lehkonen with a different offer if they can make the cap implications work. The forward could be seen as a rental or as a long-term investment which should provide a deep pool of potential trade partners for the new front office administration in Montreal.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets could be forced to make a significant roster move later this season, but hopefully it does not come to that. The Finnish government released a list of names this week that included professional athletes who had not completed their required military service. All male citizens of Finland are conscripted to serve a certain number of days – 165, 255 or 347 days depending on the assignment – of military service and must meet this requirement between the ages of 18 and 28. Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo turns 28 this spring and has yet to complete any of his required service. Korpisalo tells The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline that he regrets putting it off, but he has had his in-season obligations every year since he was 18 and never wanted to disrupt his off-season training schedule in the summers. The Finnish government stated that those athletes who had not yet met this civic duty would be enlisted to begin service on April 11, 2022. Well, Columbus’ regular season does not end until April 29 and the team currently sits just one spot outside of playoff position as well. Korpisalo’s response to the possibility of missing time because of conscription: “If they want to come get me, come get me. I’m not leaving during my season.” Hopefully it doesn’t reach that point for Korpisalo and the Jackets, but it does seem like the goaltender at least plans to serve his time this summer. He has little choice as the Finnish government will not renew his passport if he does not complete his required service before turning 29, making it impossible for him to travel to North America let alone play in the NHL. This is especially concerning for Korpisalo this summer, when he will be an unrestricted free agent. While the veteran keeper expects that a “special arrangement” will be made that allows him to complete his current season, serve his time in the off-season, and be ready for next season, wherever that may be, the last-minute nature of the situation could still prove problematic. This likely isn’t the last we have heard about Korpisalo’s military requirements and its impact on his playing career.
  • Ilya Mikheyev appears to be getting closer to a return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. The Hockey News’ David Alter reports that both Mikheyev and defenseman Travis Dermott will be evaluated on Tuesday for a potential return against the Edmonton Oilers. Getting the skilled forward back from Long-Term Injured Reserve will be a nice boost for the Leafs, but it of course raises questions as well. Toronto is currently $4.9MM over the salary cap, but this is permissible given the LTIR usage afforded by Mikheyev and Mitch Marner. However, once Marner is healthy as well, a roster crunch will set in for the Leafs if no more extended injuries have arisen. Even if no one is on injured reserve at the time and the likes of Alex Steeves and Kyle Clifford have likely been bumped from the roster to accommodate the additions up front of Mikheyev and Marner, the team will still be over the salary cap. If the Leafs want to carry the full 23 skaters, they will need to save room for at least a minimum $750K contract too. This could result in a notable player being traded or waived in order to become cap compliant. For a number of bottom-six forwards, the return of Mikheyev is a warning and they have until Marner returns to prove that they belong on the team or else could be the one forced out of town.

Tyler Toffoli Undergoes Hand Surgery

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Montreal’s injury woes have been an issue all season for them and they’ll now be without one of their top wingers for a while.  The team announced following their morning skate today that Tyler Toffoli has undergone successful hand surgery and will be out of the lineup for eight weeks.

Toffoli is in his second season with the Canadiens and this one hasn’t gone anywhere near as well as his first one did.  Last season, he was one of the higher-scoring wingers in the league, collecting 28 goals in 52 games while chipping in with 14 points in 22 playoff contests.  But as has been the case with many Montreal players, this season has seen him struggle as he has scored just five times in 26 games with his shooting percentage down nearly 10% from a year ago.

The 29-year-old is likely to be out longer than the timeline that the team listed as that basically takes them to the All-Star Break which is immediately followed by the Olympics.  Accordingly, the earliest that he’s likely to return is February 26 versus Ottawa, a little more than three weeks before the trade deadline.  Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek recently listed Toffoli as a trade candidate to watch for with a $4.25MM AAV for two more years after this one, a bit below market value for a top-six winger but he won’t have a lot of time to show he’s back to full strength before teams need to decide whether or not he’s worth acquiring this season.

Montreal will get a bit of help on the injury front tonight as Joel Armia returns from an undisclosed injury that has caused him to miss the last two games.  However, they’re also losing another regular as Arpon Basu of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that forward Jake Evans is now listed as day-to-day and won’t suit up versus St. Louis.

Montreal Canadiens To Terminate Arsen Khisamutdinov’s Contract

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Dec 10: Khisamutdinov has cleared waivers and will have his contract terminated.

Dec 9: The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have mutually agreed to terminate the contract of Arsen Khisamutdinov, presumably placing him on unconditional waivers today to do so. Khisamutdinov is in the second season of a two-year, entry-level contract signed in 2020. A termination would make him a free agent and clear the way for a return to the KHL.

It’s easy to see why the 23-year-old forward would want out, given he’s been playing at the ECHL level so far this season. After 15 unspectacular appearances for the Laval Rocket last season, Khisamutdinov has five points in 10 games for the Trois-Rivieres Lions in 2021-22. That’s not going to keep many KHL talents in North America, though the young forward hasn’t really even proved himself at that level either. Selected in the sixth round of the 2019 draft (after going undrafted previously) he has 41 games of KHL experience under his belt, with eight points.

For Montreal, this is actually a positive, as it gives them an extra contract slot to work with moving forward. The team is currently at 48 of their 50 allotted contracts, with one more to be opened once Khisamutdinov clears and the termination is executed tomorrow.

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