Central Division Snapshots: Predators, Desjardins, Bulmer
One of the projected favorites in the Central Division and a squad thought by some capable of competing for a Stanley Cup, the Nashville Predators are off to a rough start to the 2016-17 campaign. After eight games, the Predators have just five points and are already eight points out of first place in the division. As Adam Vingan of The Tennessean writes, the team has been plagued by inconsistency throughout their lineup.
Vingan points out the Predators even-strength play as a primary factor in the team’s slow start. They’ve tallied just eight goals on the season in even-strength situations and currently rank 19th in the NHL in Corsi For % at five-on-five. Over the last three seasons, Nashville ranks in the top-half of the league in Corsi For %, about three percentage points better than they are this season.
First year team captain Mike Fisher knows the Predators are better than they have shown so far.
“We feel like we’re just not playing up to our potential right now. Individually, as a group, you know you’re a better team. When you’re not getting the results, it’s frustrating.”
Usually a strength, Nashville’s goaltending has also been below par this season. Pekka Rinne has stopped just 90.6% of the shots he has faced overall and is allowing better than three goals a game. Worse yet, he’s not bailing out his defense when they give up a high-quality scoring chance. According to Corsica Hockey, of the 18 goalies who have played at least 240 five-on-five minutes, Rinne is dead last stopping just 71% of high-danger shots against.
Nashville is an experienced team with too much talent to linger near the bottom of the standings for much longer. It’s likely just a matter of time before they iron out their inconsistencies and return to their winning ways.
Elsewhere in the Central Division:
- Checking line forward Andrew Desjardins, who has yet to make his 2016-17 season debut due to a left foot injury suffered in training camp, practiced for the first time since hurting the foot on October 8th, according to Chris Hine writing for the Chicago Tribune. Desjardins is also one of the team’s top penalty-killers, averaging the second-highest shorthanded ice time per game among Blackhawks forwards last season. The Hawks, who have been historically bad killing penalties this year, have allowed 15 power play goals in 30 opportunities against and would surely welcome Desjardins back with open arms. The 30-year-old winger previously did not wear shot-blocking guards on his skates but after this injury Desjardins will be in the future.
- Brett Bulmer, who was drafted in the second-round of the 2010 draft by Minnesota, has signed with Tampereen Ilves of the Finnish League, the team announced on its Twitter account – tweet in Finnish. Bulmer has appeared in 17 NHL contests over parts of three different seasons recording just three points. In 203 AHL games in the Minnesota system, Bulmer has tallied 23 goals and 55 points along with 245 minutes in penalties.
Western Conference Snapshots: Ducks, Preds, Duchene
The Ducks have been busy making moves the last couple of days, according to Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register, though none included the highly anticipated re-signing of top defenseman Hampus Lindholm. Off to just a 1 – 3 – 1 start out of the gates, Anaheim demoted Mason Raymond – who recently cleared waivers – forward Nick Sorensen and blue liner Jacob Larsson. All three will report to San Diego of the AHL.
Meanwhile, the Ducks have recalled forwards Joseph Cramarossa and Michael Sgarbossa, along with defenseman Shea Theodore. Theodore was partnered with veteran defender Kevin Bieksa in practice and appears poised to make his 2016-17 debut for Anaheim.
The Ducks will also insert one of Cramarossa or Sgarbossa into the lineup for the first time this season. For the soon-to-be-24-year-old Cramarossa, an appearance would also represent his NHL debut. Cramarossa has played in 164 AHL games in the Anaheim organization since being drafted in the third-round of the 2011 draft, and has netted 17 goals and 31 points.
Additionally, the team also placed defenseman Simon Despres on LTIR as we noted earlier.
Whether these moves will spark the team and help shake the Ducks out of their early season doldrums or not remains to be seen. If not, and given the team just brought back head coach Randy Carlyle, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team make a trade or two to help try to right the ship.
More from around the Western Conference:
- Nashville is another team that has had a busy weekend with regards to making transactions. With the team ravaged by food poisoning, the Predators were forced to recall five players from the AHL just to field a full lineup for Staurday night’s showdown against Pittsburgh. Team captain Mike Fisher, wing Craig Smith and goaltender Pekka Rinne all missed the game, which Nashville somehow managed to win despite the depleted lineup. Today the club announced that they’ve sent three of the call-ups back to Milwaukee of the AHL. Juuse Saros, who made his NHL debut in goal and earned the win, joins forwards Frederick Gaudreau and Trevor Smith in returning to the minors.
- It might be hard for some to believe but 25-year-old Matt Duchene appeared in the 500th NHL game of his career in last night’s loss to Florida, as Terry Frei of The Denver Post writes. Afterwards, Duchene said, “it’s the first real milestone game that made me feel a bit old.” Duchene is the third player from the 2009 draft class to reach the 500-game mark, joining the top overall pick, John Tavares, and former Colorado teammate Ryan O’Reilly. For his career, Duchene has scored 159 goals and 382 points in his eight seasons with the Avalanche.
Off-Season Stories Providing Immediate Results
In the world of professional sports, the off-season has turned into a period of perpetual risk. When even the slightest move is scrutinized and analyzed with such severity, teams are trying harder and harder to minimize those gambles.
This summer saw a few key story lines for some of the leagues biggest franchises, and many of them are providing early dividends. Let’s take a look at some of the most talked about players of the summer, and where they sit just a few games into the seasons.
Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs:
The first big name to drop, Matthews was selected first overall by the Maple Leafs after they held on to their #1 spot in the draft. Seen as a franchise-type talent who could make an impact right away, Matthews proved he could play at this level at both the World Championships and the World Cup, before setting an NHL record in his first game with four goals.
With six points in his first four games (and two more assists tonight), the 19-year old Arizona-born centerman has already made an impact. He was made the second star in the first week of the season, and saw his jersey sales skyrocket to the top of the league. While it’s extremely unlikely he’ll continue at this pace for his entire rookie season, the Maple Leafs have to be please with his play thus far.
Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning
Expected to hit the open market and garner the most interest of any free agent in the history of the NHL, Stamkos instead decided to sign back with the Lightning at the beginning of the summer. GM Steve Yzerman committed long-term to the 26-year old, handing him an eight year, $68MM deal just before free agency started.
Stamkos hasn’t taken the money and sat back, with four points in his first four games (and another goal tonight). The former 60-goal man is off to a blistering start and will again battle for the Rocket Richard trophy. Fans everywhere will wonder what he could have done for their team had he decided to head somewhere else.
Jimmy Vesey – New York Rangers
The biggest (deserved or not) story of the entire center was the saga of Jimmy Vesey, a college standout who refused to sign with first the Nashville Predators, and then the Buffalo Sabres. After months of speculation and build up, the winger decided to go to New York, where he would play with former teammate Kevin Hayes.
Though he had just one goal through his first four, Vesey has two more tonight, making people wonder just how effective he truly will be this season. The pendulum of “top-six winger”-“third line ceiling” that we heard all summer isn’t determined yet, but his three goals are already more than most Rangers fans expected through five games.
Injury Notes: Zatkoff, van Riemsdyk, Little
After news broke earlier today that Jeff Zatkoff had injured himself in practice, and would be unable to continue, rumors swirled about how long the netminder would be out. While an exactly length hasn’t been given, Zatkoff has been placed on injured reserve and been replaced by emergency call-up Jack Campbell from the Ontario Reign.
To fill in for Campbell on an emergency basis, the Reign will dress Dusty Imoo tonight to back up his son Jonah Imoo. The elder Imoo is a goaltending coach for the Reign and was one the Olympic starter for Japan at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. He hasn’t played in a professional hockey game in almost a decade, when he skated for the Oji Eagles of the Asian League. The 46-year old will be cheering on his 22-year old son, who will be making his AHL debut.
- According to Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks, Trevor van Riemsdyk will not need surgery following his shoulder injury suffered Friday night. Instead, the defender will be out about a month rehabbing. Van Riemsdyk played all 82 games for the Blackhawks last season, notching three goals and fourteen points. The 25-year old was expected to be a big part of their blueline this season.
- Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun spoke to Jets head coach Paul Maurice today, who said he still doesn’t have a definitive timetable on the return of Bryan Little, but should know more next week. Little was injured after a collision with the Hurricanes’ Bryan Bickell, and is out indefinitely.
- The Nashville Predators have come down with food poisoning, according to Adam Vingan of the Tennessean, causing them to call up five players on an emergency basis. Austin Watson, Frederick Gaudreau, Harry Zolnierczyk, Trevor Smith and Juuse Saros have all been brought up from the Milwaukee Admirals to play if some of the regulars can’t go. As James Neal said “We were going down pretty hard last night, I’ve never seen that many guys get sick.
Snapshots: Boucher, Islanders, Kalinin, Predators
Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher will face his former team in Tampa Bay for the first time since they fired him back in 2013 but Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun notes that Boucher doesn’t bear any ill will towards his former organization.
Part of the reason for that is the amount of time that has passed since he was let go but a main reason is that very few players remain from Boucher’s tenure – just center Steven Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman. In other words, GM Steve Yzerman has practically turned over the entire team over in the last three and a half years which Boucher believes makes this basically just another game for him:
“It’s been awhile. We’re talking almost four years and just so much has changed. It would be a lot harder (if) it was all the guys I coached and those guys are coming in. Then I guess there would be emotion there.”
Despite all of the turnover, it’s hard to say that the changes haven’t worked as under Jon Cooper, the team has made three straight postseason appearances and has reached the third round of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
Other notes from around the league:
- Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock made his season debut last night but will have to wait a while to play his second game. He left the game yesterday after just four shifts after suffering a lower body injury and Newsday’s Arthur Staple reports (via Twitter) that he will be out for the next four to six weeks. Pulock was taking the place of Nick Leddy who missed last night’s game with an upper body issue but Staple adds that Leddy is taking part in practice today.
- The Devils are expected to activate center Sergei Kalinin (illness) off of injured reserve prior to tonight’s game against Minnesota, notes Fire and Ice’s Andrew Gross. To make room for him on the active roster, the team announced that they have sent left winger Miles Wood, their lone waiver exempt forward among their depth players, to their AHL affiliate in Albany.
- Over the years, there haven’t been many Swiss-born NHL players but as Adam Vingan of The Tennessean writes, the Predators have had success finding players from there recently. There are currently eight Swiss players in the league and Nashville has three of them – defensemen Roman Josi and Yannick Weber as well as left winger Kevin Fiala. They’re only the second team in NHL history to have three Swiss players on their roster.
Injury Updates: Penguins, Predators, Blues, Oilers
As he approaches the midpoint of his recovery window, Penguins goaltender Matt Murray is close to rejoining the team for practice, writes Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune. Murray is coming back from a broken hand sustained at the World Cup of Hockey. Head coach Mike Sullivan provided an update on Murray’s situation:
“Matt’s getting real close to joining the team for practice. Obviously that’s progress from his standpoint, and that’s the next step for him. He’s been skating a lot. He’s been working with our goalie coach, Mike Bales. He’s been skating with some of the guys that have been trying to recover from their injuries.”
Still with the Penguins, right winger Bryan Rust is nearing a return to full health. He has been skating with the team for the last week and Sullivan noted that he’s close to being a coach’s decision as to when he returns to the lineup.
As for Sidney Crosby, he continues to skate as he recovers from his concussion. While Sullivan won’t put an estimate on his return to action, he noted that their “hope is that he can make a big step this week”.
Other injury news:
- Nashville defenseman Anthony Bitetto will miss the next four to six weeks with an upper body injury, reports The Tennessean’s Adam Vingan. He suffered the injury against Chicago in a fight with Jordin Tootoo. Bitetto played in 28 games last season as a reserve defender and, when healthy, should be in a similar role this year.
- Vingan also noted that right winger Miikka Salomaki will be out six to eight weeks with an upper body injury that is believed to be his hand. Salomaki slid to block a Brian Campbell shot but instead the puck caught him in the hand. Salomaki is likely to be replaced by Cody Bass on their fourth line while he is out of the lineup.
- The Blues are hopeful that center Jaden Schwartz will be able to return to the lineup sometime in the next few game, notes Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He suffered an elbow injury late in training camp and was originally supposed to be out until early November, suggesting that his return appears to be ahead of schedule. Jori Lehtera, Carl Gunnarsson, and Kyle Brodziak, who were all injured over the weekend, are all listed as day-to-day though Lehtera is likely to miss some games.
- The Edmonton Oilers provided an injury update on several of their injured players on their Twitter account. Forwards Iiro Pakarinen, Matt Hendricks, and Drake Caggiula as well as defenseman Brandon Davidson are all week-to-week while goalie Jonas Gustavsson should return fairly soon.
Training Camp Cuts: 10/9/16
With the opening roster deadline now barely 48 hours away, teams will be making their final cuts in the near future. Here are today’s cuts:
Arizona Coyotes (via Bob McKenzie):
RW Stefan Fournier (on waivers for purposes of AHL assignment)
G Justin Peters (on waivers for purposes of AHL assignment)
Calgary Flames (via team Twitter):
LW Lauri Korpikoski (released from PTO)
(Per The Fan960’s Pat Steinberg, head coach Glen Gulutzan noted that Korpikoski was released to pursue an opportunity with another team.)
Chicago Blackhawks (via team release):
D Dillon Fournier (assigned to Rockford, AHL)
D Ville Pokka (assigned to Rockford, AHL)
D Viktor Svedberg (assigned to Rockford, AHL)
Dallas Stars (via team Twitter):
RW Justin Fontaine (released from PTO)
D Julius Honka (assigned to Texas, AHL)
C Gemel Smith (assigned to Texas, AHL)
Training Camp Cuts: 10.07.16
It’s the final week of training camp, and teams are close to naming their opening night rosters. In order to do that, there are still a handful of cuts to be made.
Here are the cuts made on Friday, October 7, 2016:
Anaheim Ducks (via team release):
C Kalle Kossila (assigned to San Diego, AHL)
D Brandon Montour (assigned to San Diego, AHL)
D Shea Theodore (assigned to San Diego, AHL)
Boston Bruins (via Chris Johnston):
C Zac Rinaldo (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Providence, AHL)
Buffalo Sabres (via Bill Hoppe):
D Tyson Strachan (to Rochester, AHL)
C Cal O’Reilly (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Rochester, AHL)
D Taylor Fedun (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Rochester, AHL)
Calgary Flames (via Chris Johnston):
C Linden Vey (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Stockton, AHL)
D Tyler Wotherspoon (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Stockton, AHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (via Mike Morreale):
G Anton Forsberg (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)
LW Markus Hännikäinen (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)
LW Sonny Milano (assigned to Cleveland, AHL)
Edmonton Oilers (via Frank Seravalli):
D Griffin Reinhart (assigned to Bakersfield, AHL)
Nashville Predators (via Chris Johnston):
LW Austin Watson (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Milwaukee, AHL)
New York Rangers (via Steve Zipay):
C Gabriel Fontaine (assigned to Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL)
LW Nathan Gerbe (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Hartford, AHL)
LW Tanner Glass (on waivers for purpose of assignment to Hartford, AHL)
C Cristoval “Boo” Nieves (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
G Magnus Hellberg (assigned to Hartford, AHL)
Pittsburgh Penguins (via team Twitter):
C Jake Guentzel (assigned to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
RW Carter Rowney (assigned to Wilkes-Barre, AHL)
St. Louis Blues (via team release):
F Kenny Agostino (to Chicago, AHL)
F Ivan Barbashev (to Chicago, AHL)
F Samuel Blais (to Chicago, AHL)
D Jordan Schmaltz (to Chicago, AHL)
G Jordan Binnington (to Chicago, AHL)
D Mike Weber (released)
More to come…
Chris Mason Signs PTO With ECHL Team
After spending the last two seasons in Europe with various professional clubs, veteran NHL goaltender Chris Mason is headed back to North America. According to Mike Ashmore of the Trentonian and My Central Jersey Sports, the Colorado Eagles of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) have signed Mason to a PTO, expecting the goaltender only to suit up in emergency situations.
According to the goaltender himself, it’s not about coming in to win a job:
…they brought up a scenario where I could come in and maybe be an emergency goaltender. I know that the Eagles have had a lot of issues the last couple of years with guys getting hurt and bringing guys in, so this is a chance to maybe have a little more stability in that position. I’m not looking to come in and win a job or anything…
Mason is a veteran of 317 NHL games, most notably with the Nashville Predators where he even received Vezina votes on occasion. The 40-year old netminder once was a star in the league, and holds a 137-113 career record with a .909 save percentage and 2.66 goals against average.
Perhaps the netminder will find himself more active than he thinks however, as the Eagles had six different goaltenders suit up for them last season, four of them for at least 10 games.
Barret Jackman To Retire After 14 Years In NHL
Tuesday, 1:50pm: According to Lou Kourac of NHL.com, the team will sign Jackman to a one-day contract so he can officially retire as a member of the St. Louis Blues.
Monday: Longtime St. Louis Blues defenseman Barret Jackman is set to retire after 14 seasons in the NHL.
The Blues have scheduled a press conference to announce Jackman’s departure from the game. Jackman played the first 803 games of his career with the Blues before playing 73 games with the Nashville Predators last season. The Predators bought out the final year of Jackman’s two-year, $4MM contract back on June 30. He’ll receive $666K per season for the next two years as a result of that buyout.
Jackman was a dependable stay-at-home defenseman for much of his career. He won the Calder Trophy for rookie-of-the-year in 2002-03, beating out Henrik Zetterberg and Rick Nash.
He finished with 29 goals, 186 points, 1102 PIM, and a +54 rating in 876 career regular season games. In 53 playoff games, Jackman scored twice and had 7 points, but finished with a -18 rating. His deepest playoff run was this past post-season with the Predators, when Nashville lost Game 7 of the second round to San Jose.
Tuesday’s press conference will be posted to the Blues website following the event.