Snapshots: Hart, Forsberg, Ferland, Debrusk, Hirose
The Philadelphia Flyers got some good news as it looks like rookie goaltender Carter Hart is healthy once again and could find himself in net as early as Monday against the Ottawa Senators, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi.
Hart has been out since Feb. 21 with an ankle injury, but he was also coming off two of his worst performances, having been pulled in back-to-back games in which he allowed three goals on just six shots in both appearances. If the team opts to start him against Ottawa, it would be an opportunity to ease him back into the lineup as the Senators are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games.
The 20-year-old Hart is having a impressive season considering he was not meant to spend it in the NHL. Originally slated to spend his first professional season in the AHL, he appeared in just 18 games before being promoted alongside interim head coach Scott Gordon when he was hired. Since then, Hart was helped the Flyers rebound from a tough start with a 13-8-1 record with a 2.79 GAA. While that number doesn’t stand out, his .917 save percentage does.
- Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean writes that Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg missed Saturday’s game and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to the team. Forsberg missed practice Thursday and Friday, but was believed to be available for Saturday’s game, but didn’t play in the end. Forsberg missed 19 games with an upper-body injury earlier this season, although there is no word on whether this injury is related to that one. The 24-year-old has 22 goals and 41 points in 52 games this season.
- Michael Smith of NHL.com reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury and did not travel with the team on their three-game roadtrip that started in Nashville today, according to head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Ferland has been having a solid season, putting up 17 goals and 35 points in 52 games. The 26-year-old has played under 14 minutes combined over the last two games.
- The Boston Bruins’ Jake Debrusk is expected to miss a few more games as the forward is still in a walking boot, according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. While he’s expected to miss this weekend’s games, he could be back not long after that as head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Debrusk was the closest, of all their injured players, to return.
- Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen reports that the Los Angeles Kings are interested in undrafted Michigan State forward Taro Hirose, currently the NCAA leading scorer. According to Rosen, Hirose is friends with Kings’ prospect James Anderson-Dolan and could be convinced to sign with L.A. although there is no word on whether the junior forward is ready to leave college. He has 16 goals and 37 points this season for Michigan State.
New York Rangers Sign Goaltender Adam Huska
The New York Rangers sure work quickly. The collegiate season of prospect goalie Adam Huska came to an end last night with an impressive (albeit meaningless) win for the University of Connecticut over the No. 2-ranked University of Massachusetts. Less than 12 hours since the final horn, Huska is now a pro. The Rangers have announced that they have signed the young keeper to a an entry-level contract. CapFriendly reports it is a two-year deal beginning next season, but financial terms are not yet available.
Huska, 21, has forfeited the final year of his NCAA eligibility to go pro, as the junior goaltender leaves UConn after three years and 69 games with the Huskies. The move comes as somewhat of a surprise considering the drop off in Huska’s play this season. After posting a .912 save percentage and 2.59 GAA in 27 games last year, Huska’s save percentage fell to .896 this season while his goals against average ballooned to 3.34, resulting in just 21 games played as he lost starts to impressive freshman and Nashville Predators draft pick Tomas Vomacka. In fact, it was Vomacka in net last night for the big win. Most likely, the Rangers’ brass saw Huska losing the starting job to Vomacka next season and agreed to sign him to his first pro contract and thus control his usage at the ECHL level next season. If instead he does push for AHL time right away next season, he will ironically be right back in the same arena he played at with UConn, also shared by the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Despite some struggles, there is still reason to believe that Huska is an encouraging prospect for New York. A seventh-round draft pick out of Slovakia in 2015, Huska went on to be one of best goalies in the USHL the following season, being named Goaltender of the Year. He has also represented Slovakia several times at the World Junior Championships, gaining that invaluable experience against some of the best young players in the world. At 6’4″, 227 lbs., Huska has great size and athleticism. The fundamentals of his game need improvement and he will almost certainly spend several years in the minors before becoming an option in the NHL, but under the tutelage of the Rangers’ staff, Huska could see immediate improvement. He will have to work hard to earn recognition among a mountain of young goalies in the pipeline, including current backup Alexandar Georgiev, KHL star Igor Shestyorkin, UMass-Lowell standout Tyler Wall, and recent second-round pick Olof Lindbom, but it says a lot that the Rangers were willing to rush Huska out of the NCAA and into the pros.
Yannick Weber Has An Upper-Body Injury
- Predators defenseman Yannick Weber is dealing with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link) which resulted in him being a late scratch on Tuesday night. There’s no word on when the injury occurred as he suited up in their previous game against Minnesota while playing close to his season average in ice time.
Central Notes: Byfuglien, Smith, Perron, Read
The Winipeg Jets got some good news about a pair of their defensemen as head coach Paul Maurice said today that the team expects defensive star Dustin Byfuglien begin skating again later this week, according to Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe. The 33-year-old has struggled all season with multiple injuries and hasn’t played since Feb. 14 after injuring his ankle. Byfuglien has appeared in just 37 games, but has shown his value in those games as he has four goals and 30 points in that span.
Wiebe also added that defenseman Joseph Morrow skated for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury. He has missed six straight games and is expected to be out Sunday, but could be back later this week. Morrow has six points in 39 games this season.
- The Nashville Predators may be getting back one of their top forwards for today’s matchup against Minnesota as The Athletic’s Adam Vingan reports that Craig Smith has been activated off of injured reserve and is expected to join Kyle Turris and Mikael Granlund on the Predators’ second line. Smith has been out with a lower-body injury since Feb. 16 and has 16 goals this season in 61 games. The team might need him as the Wild have won five in a row.
- After scoring no more than two goals per game over their last six, the St. Louis Blues are in desperate need for offense and the team, which has gone 2-3-1 after winning 11 straight. The team truly seems to miss injured forwards Brayden Schenn and David Perron, the latter of which could be ready to return to the lineup soon, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann. With the team not playing again for three days, that could be the time they need, especially with Perron, who has looked good in practice lately. More information will come Monday after the team’s practice.
- The Minnesota Wild got an impressive performance from emergency callup Matt Read, who scored a goal and played an all-around great game Saturday night in Minnesota’s win over the Calgary Flames, according to The Athletic’s Mike Russo (subscription required). Unfortunately, with veteran Zach Parise expected to play Sunday, that could spell the end for Read unless they use one of their official recalls on him.
Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry Suspended Two Games
Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry was suspended by the Department of Player Safety for two games for his high stick against Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg on Friday.
The incident happened during 14:35 of the third period after a struggle between the two players on the boards. Forsberg registered a hit against Lowry, who then swung his stick and hit him in the face (video here). Lowry had a hearing earlier today and contended that he did not intend to hit him in the face, the Department of Player Safety made it clear that Lowry’s intent was still to hit him with his stick. He received a two-minute minor for high sticking on the play.
Lowry will have to sit out two important games for the Jets as he’s slated to miss Sunday’s game at Columbus and Tuesday’s game at Tampa Bay. The 25-year-old forward has 185 hits this season as well as eight goals and 17 points. The loss of two games will cost Lowry $31,362 for the two game suspension as he is not considered to be a repeat offender.
Jaden Schwartz Receives Max Fine For Cross-Checking
Cross-checking is apparently the flavor of the week for the NHL Department of Player Safety. After handing Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot a maximum fine for cross-checking on Monday, they have assigned the same punishment to St. Louis Blues forward Jaden Schwartz, per an announcement. Schwartz will be out $5,000 as a result of his actions, the most he could be fined under the CBA.
The hit in question was on Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton in last night’s game between the two teams, a convincing 5-2 Hurricanes win. Late in the first period, Hamilton delivered a hard, but legal check on Schwartz along the boards and Schwartz decided to retaliate with a cross-check up high on Hamilton. The decision cost Schwartz a two-minute minor right away, but has cost him even more in retrospect. It’s another knock against Schwartz in a disappointing season for the 26-year-old winger. Schwartz has just 28 points through 58 games and it could be that his offensive frustration is beginning to boil over into his checking game.
Player Safety might not be done dolling out discipline today. They have also announced that New Jersey Devils forward Kurtis Gabriel will have a hearing this afternoon in regards to a boarding penalty against the Philadelphia Flyers’ Nolan Patrick last night. So too will Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry for what’s being called “high-sticking/slashing” on Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg. With the Devils set to face the Boston Bruins tonight, the department will likely act swiftly in their punishment of Gabriel following his hearing, while they can take more time with the Lowry decision as the Jets are off today.
Nashville Predators Sign Troy Grosenick
The Nashville Predators have locked up their minor league goaltending depth, inking Troy Grosenick to a one-year two-way contract extension. Grosenick will earn $700K at the NHL level.
Grosenick, 29, hasn’t played an NHL game since the 2014-15 season but is an excellent minor league netminder. His numbers once again have been outstanding with the Milwaukee Admirals, posting a .918 save percentage through 31 games, good enough for fifth among AHL starters. That kind of history makes a minimum contract like this one worthwhile even if the Predators have their NHL goaltending duo locked up.
The Predators organization is obviously appealing to Grosenick too, as the pending unrestricted free agent would have likely had offers from any number of teams. The $225K minor league guarantee is nice, but having the stability of the first class Predators organization is always an extra selling point. Grosenick may share the AHL crease with prospect Niclas Westerholm next season if the Predators decide to bring him over to North America.
Adam Helewka, Laurent Dauphin Sign With Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators have signed minor league forward Adam Helewka to a one-year, two-way contract that will cover the 2019-20 season. Helewka is currently playing for the Milwaukee Admirals after being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes organization earlier this month. The team has also announced a one-year, two-way extension for Laurent Dauphin, who also came over from the Coyotes in that trade. Both Helewka and Dauphin will make $700K at the NHL level in 2019-20.
Helewka, 23, was originally selected in the fourth round by the San Jose Sharks in 2015 and has developed into an effective minor league scoring threat. The 6’2″ winger has 38 points in 48 games this season including seven in seven since joining the Admirals. Helewka was scheduled to become a restricted free agent after this season when his entry-level deal expired, but will not have to deal with a long negotiation. He has yet to make his NHL debut.
Dauphin meanwhile has already has 35 NHL games under his belt after making his debut back in the 2015-16 season. The 23-year old center was a second-round pick nearly six years ago, but has spent nearly the entire season in the minor leagues where he has 24 points in 41 games.
Both players are not expected to play large roles on the Predators moving forward, but will provide inexpensive depth options for their minor league club.
Deadline Notes: Ferland, Vaakanainen, Draft Picks
The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline came and went yesterday and Micheal Ferland remained with the Carolina Hurricanes. Ferland seems destined to test the free agent market this summer, but the ‘Canes opted to hold on to the power forward in the midst of a career years as an “own rental”, writes Pierre LeBrun for The Athletic. However, he adds that it wasn’t an easy decision for GM Don Waddell and company. Early on this season, Ferland’s play was exceeding that of his team and the trade market began to develop for the likely deadline casualty. However, Carolina has been one of the league’s hottest teams since the calendar turned to 2019 and they are now in the thick of the Eastern Conference wild card race. That improvement all but took them out of “seller” status, but LeBrun states that the team continued to field calls on Ferland write up until the deadline. Specifically, LeBrun says the Nashville Predators made a hard push and he speculates that Ryan Hartman, who was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Wayne Simmonds, was the likely offer. Yet, Waddell stuck with Ferland, who has fit in so well in Raleigh, and hopes that the decision will help the team end their nine-year playoff drought. LeBrun also adds that Carolina, who largely stood pat at the deadline, had interest in Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker. Given the early results of the trade those two teams made earlier this season, it’s no surprise that the Wild weren’t eager to make another deal with the Hurricanes.
- To no surprise, The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver reports that Urho Vaakanainen, Jack Studnicka, and Trent Frederic were hot names in the trade talks that the Boston Bruins had with sellers at the deadline. The trio are arguably Boston’s top three prospects, each one an early draft pick over the past few years. Both Vaakanainen and Frederic have made their NHL debuts this season while mostly playing in the AHL, while Studnicka has been tearing up the OHL. In particular, Divver hears that Vaakanainen was a “non-starter” for the Bruins; the team was unwilling to give him up regardless of the return. The 20-year-old defenseman was the No. 18 overall pick in 2017 and his poise and vision as a two-way, puck-moving defenseman have been apparent both in Providence and with the gold medal-winning Team Finland World Junior Championship entry. With 42-year-old Zdeno Chara potentially retiring at the end of the season and Torey Krug‘s contract expiring at the end of next season, the Bruins likely see Vaakanainen as having a regular role on the Boston blue line sooner rather than later. Not only did Boston avoid trading any of these three, but they landed Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson without surrendering any of their young prospects. The pair came at the cost of second-, fourth-, and fifth-round picks and Ryan Donato, who will be 23 next month.
- The Bruins were an outlier in that regard at the deadline, as the trend this season ended up with teams favoring moving players and prospects rather than picks. On deadline day, 35 players were moved compared to just 16 draft picks. In recent years, those numbers have been much closer as teams have been more conservative with their current assets and more willing to move out the unknowns of a draft selection instead. The change of course could be a reflection of the strength of this draft class; after all, of the picks moved yesterday only six were 2019 selections. The upcoming draft class is considered one of the deepest in recent years with high-end talent likely available even into the middle rounds. As such, even deadline buyers weren’t willing to gamble many of their 2019 picks. Except for the Columbus Blue Jackets, of course, who have just two draft picks remaining this June – a third- and seventh-rounder – after their all-out deadline.
NCAA Notes: Free Agent Market, Fabbro, Briere
With the trade deadline over, the next event for NHL front offices to be focused on is the college free agent market and this year in particular they won’t have to wait very long. Some of the top names on the market belong to teams well outside the top 20-ranked teams in the NCAA and are long-shots for postseason play. With the regular season coming to an end on March 9th and conference tournaments knocking several more teams out thereafter, prominent college free agent signings could be less than two weeks away. Among the early names to watch is NCAA leading scorer Taro Hirose, whose efforts have somehow done little to keep Michigan State out of the basement of the Big Ten Conference. Hirose, 22, is a small, speedy winger with high-end play-making abilities that have helped him accumulate 50 points through 32 games this season. The junior forward could technically return for another college season, but with his stock as high as it may ever be, Hirose is likely to leave. Spartans teammate Patrick Khodorenko, also a junior, is enjoying a strong year as well and could follow Hirose to the pros. The second-highest scoring skater in college hockey is none other than a defenseman out of Mercyhurst University. Joseph Duszak is having a phenomenal year for a little-known program, recording 43 points through 33 games thus far and routinely showcasing elite puck-moving ability that is turning heads. Diszak is a junior as well, but is very likely to move on. Another top top defenseman is the University of Miami’s Grant Hutton, who spurned NHL offers as a junior last year to return for his senior campaign, but now nothing is stopping him from turning pro. The season hasn’t gone as Hutton may have hoped, both for he and his team, but the well-rounded two-way defender can at least look forward to an NHL contract soon. One final name to watch is Boston University forward Bobo Carpenter. BU hopes that they can overcome a disappointing regular season with a Hockey East Conference tournament win, as they did last year, but otherwise the Terriers could be done early this season. Carpenter, the son of former NHLer Bobby Carpenter, is the senior captain of the team and has been a dependable scorer for four years who is almost certainly in line for an NHL chance. These five players are only some of the undrafted NCAA stars who could sign pro deals, but they have the distinction of being among the best available and likely to have wrapped up their seasons in a matter of weeks. Look out for signing sooner rather than later.
- Carpenter’s teammate at Boston University, defenseman Dante Fabbro, is an interesting player to watch in the coming weeks, whether he signs or not. The Nashville Predators’ first-round pick in 2016, Fabbro is one of the top defensemen in college hockey is more than ready to move on to the pro game. With the Terriers’ season potentially over in short order, he could sign with the Predators and make his NHL debut before the end of March. The question is whether that’s what he wants to do. Fabbro was a player who some considered a likely trade piece for Nashville at the deadline, but the team opted not to move him. With arguably the best top-four in the NHL and seven veteran defensemen already signed through the 2019-20 season, Nashville is not exactly the land of opportunity for Fabbro. Rather than wait around in the minors, the junior defender could instead opt to return to school for his fourth and final year, after which he could sign with the Predators if the blue line situation is more preferable or instead hold out until August and become a highly sought-after free agent. If Fabbro doesn’t sign with Nashville in the next few weeks, the odds of him signing at all take a significant hit.
- One of the newest teams to the college hockey ranks has received perhaps its most high-profile commitment to date. Carson Briere, son of long-time NHLer and former Phoenix Coyote Daniel Briere, has announced that he is set to join Arizona State University, beginning in 2020-21. Briere, 19, is currently third in scoring in the NAHL with 75 points in 39 games with the Johnstown Tomahawks. A small, but skilled forward, just like his dad, Carson will be a major addition for a Sun Devils program that is already well ahead of expectations and challenging for an NCAA Tournament berth this season. Speaking with The Athletic’s Craig Morgan, Daniel stated that Carson sees the move as “coming home” since he was born in Arizona during Daniel’s early days with the Coyotes after he was drafted in the first round by the team in 1996. Daniel also spoke glowingly of the program’s progress, saying “We believe in what they are building and where they’re heading with their program and Carson wants to be part of it. We have been impressed with their coaching staff and can’t wait to meet everyone that makes it a top destination already after such a short amount of time at NCAA Division I level.”