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Kyle Palmieri Officially Moved To IR, Brian Boyle To Make Debut

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The New Jersey Devils will see Brian Boyle make his debut tonight after they activated him from season-opening injured reserve. The team has moved Kyle Palmieri to injured reserve to make room. Boyle will be playing in his first game since being diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia just prior to the season, a condition that was caught early enough to battle with medication. Boyle was signed in the offseason to a two-year, $5.5MM contract after spending last year with Tampa Bay and Toronto.

In what should be an incredibly emotional night, Boyle will suit up against the Vancouver Canucks and is expected to play left wing on the fourth line beside Miles Wood and Blake Coleman. Amazingly, his debut comes on the first day of Hockey Fights Cancer month, in which the entire league helps to raise awareness and funds for fighting the disease. Boyle will surely be front and center the entire month, along with Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson’s wife Nicholle, who will be one of the spokespeople for the NHL’s movement.

Palmieri’s IR stint is retroactive to October 22nd, when he injured his foot in practice. As Andrew Gross of The Record reports, Palmieri hasn’t skated since the incident. While Boyle certainly doesn’t fill his shoes offensively, he’ll help fill out some of the depth that was missing in Palmieri’s absence.

Nikita Popugaev Leaves WHL For KHL

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It’s been a whirlwind twelve months for Nikita Popugaev and likely not in a good way for the career prospects of the New Jersey Devils prospect. The once-highly regarded young forward saw his stock drop prior to the draft and has struggled again to begin this season, leading to a departure from juniors that could have a major impact on his career.

Popugaev, 18, was hoping for 2017 to be a year to remember. Instead, it has been a year to forget. Heading into last season, the 6’6″, 205-lb. Russian import was considered a surefire first round pick. In 2015-16, he impressed in his first junior season, recording 47 points in 70 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors. The first half of 2016-17 was even better; Popugaev had an incredible 51 points in his first 40 games, including a team-leading 22 goals to that point. Yet, the Warriors decided to trade Popugaev to another WHL contender, the Prince George Cougars, in early January. The Cougars would eventually go on to win the WHL’s B.C. Division, but due in little part to the contributions of Popugaev. The young scorer’s production dropped off entirely in Prince George, as he registered only 18 points in 31 games following the trade.

Suddenly, the draft status of the big winger came under serious fire. The initial thought was that Popugaev had the scoring touch and stick skills to be a bona fide NHLer, but also size and strength that made him more pro-ready than many of his peers. However, his struggles with the Cougars exposed Popugaev as a selfish player who preferred trying to beat defenders one-on-one rather than using his new teammates. With a skating game that was still in development and a nonexistent defensive game, the doubts over Popugaev’s offense sent him quickly sliding down draft boards. Popugev ended up as a fourth-round pick of the Devils this June, the 98th overall selection when this time last year some considered him to be a top-15 possibility.

Yet, Popugaev had the chance to bounce back in a full season with Prince George in 2017-18 and prove wrong his critics. Only, through his first thirteen games, Popugaev has only two goals and seven points, accompanied by a -13 rating. Likely fed up with the downward spiral his career has been on since his trade to the Cougars in January, Popugaev decided today that enough was enough. They young Russian has decided to return home, as the KHL announced (link in Russian) that Popugaev has signed with CSKA Moskva. Not only is jumping ship to the KHL generally not a good move for young players, but Popugaev’s willingness to cross the Atlantic at his earliest opportunity to play Canadian junior had lessened some of the concerns regarding the “Russian factor”. Now, he has done exactly what many team fear and has abandoned one of the top developmental pathways in hockey to  instead join the KHL, where he will have much less exposure and will adjust to a different style of game, even in what will likely be few minutes. In fact, Popugaev’s contract specifically allows him to be demoted not one but two levels below the KHL. Not only that, but it is a two-year deal.

In one year, Popugaev has gone from a top scorer in one of the best feeder leagues in North America and a potential NHL asset in short time to an afterthought returning to Russia out of frustration with his role and his draft slot. It’s certainly not the best look for the New Jersey prospect, but hopefully the move helps to get his career back on track.

Domingue, Reinhart Placed On Waivers

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Monday: Both Domingue and Reinhart have cleared waivers and will be assigned to their respective AHL clubs.

Sunday: Arizona goaltender Louis Domingue and Vegas Golden Knights’ defender Griffin Reinhart were both placed on waivers this morning, according to Elliotte Friedman. Assuming both players clear waivers on Monday, they will be assigned to their respective AHL teams.

Domingue became expendable yesterday after the Coyotes traded for New Jersey Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood. Domingue has received the lions’ share of minutes in goal for Arizona this year with the injury woes that starter Antti Raanta has sustained. The Coyotes’ backup for the past two years has struggled this year with a 4.33 GAA and a miserable .856 save percentage in seven games, prompting the team to look for a replacement in Wedgewood. The transaction also likely indicates that Raanta might be ready to return to action after having sit out for all, but three games so far this year with multiple injuries.

Reinhart has been one of the Vegas Golden Knights multitude of defensemen who general manager George McPhee has been protecting on their roster, forcing other players such as Shea Theodore to have to sit in the AHL, waiting for an opening. The former fourth-overall pick in the 2012 draft has never been able to break through at the NHL level and along with his size (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) and draft status has been considered to be a guy that could develop into a legitimate NHL player and has been given numerous chances to succeed. However, Reinhart was a healthy scratch for the Golden Knights’ first seven games before they sent him to the Chicago Wolves on a conditioning stint. He has struggled there in two games, prompting the decision to put him on waivers.

Metropolitan Notes: Vigneault, Atkinson, Johansson, Reinhart

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New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault might not have much time left to repair the sinking ship. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that he believes that Vigneault has one more game left to prove he can turn the Rangers disastrous start of 3-7-2 around. He will get that game Tuesday against the 8-1 Vegas Golden Knights.

While Brooks admits that it is his belief and he’s heard nothing to suggest that will happen, he points out that the team’s struggles to start the season, especially falling behind 3-0 in the first period to the equally struggling Montreal Canadiens shows that Vigneault may not be the answer. A coaching change may be the only way to breathe some life into the franchise who were heavily criticized for their efforts in thejr 5-4 loss.

Brooks also points out that the team’s poor start in first periods has been a key issue for New York. The team has been outscored 3-0 in the first two minutes of 12 games this season; 5-1 in the first three minutes of games; 6-2 in the first four minutes; 8-3 in the first six minutes; 10-4 in the first 10 minutes and 12-4 in the first 12 minutes of games. He writes this is inexcusable and is bad enough to physically allow so many early goals, but the team is also unengaged mentally the moment the puck is dropped.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets may have to do without winger Cam Atkinson for a little while as he suffered a lower-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). The team’s leading scorer for the past two years had a rough game, suffering a lower-body injury in the first period, a puck to his helmet during the second period and then sustained another hit to his lower body that knocked him out of the game in the third period. Portzline said an announcement won’t be made until Monday as the team didn’t practice today. Atkinson has four goals and an assist in 11 games this year. Rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois moved up to replace Atkinson for the remainder of the game.
  • Andrew Gross of Northjersey.com writes that winger Marcus Johansson is day-to-day after tweaking his lower body in pre-game warm-ups before Saturday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. The scribe wrote that it was not a pre-existing injury, but the team choose to hold him out as a precaution. Johansson, who the Devils picked up in an offseason trade with the Washington Capitals, has been a solid contributor for New Jersey this year, having put up three goals and two assists in nine games this year.
  • NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti wonders whether the Washington Capitals might not consider claiming defenseman Griffin Reinhart, who was put on waivers this morning by the Vegas Golden Knights. At $800K and at just 23 years of age, Reinhart might be a good investment for a team that has little cap room and little blue line depth. Reinhart, the fourth overall pick in the 2012 draft, could be claimed by several teams in need of depth on defense. Unfortunately, the Capitals cannot take solace that they will get a high waiver claim even though the team presently sits at 5-5. CapFriendly reported today that current waiver priority is still based on last year’s record. Priority will switch to present standings starting on Nov. 1.

 

Snapshots: Vanek, Gostisbehere, Palmieri

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Thomas Vanek has been used to playing big minutes his entire career. He was used to playing between 16-18 minutes. Then he came to the Vancouver Canucks, where suddenly his minutes have dropped dramatically in head coach Travis Green’s rewards-based system. Now he’s averaging 13:33 worth of time with some days getting quite a bit more and others, quite a bit less, but Vanek just finds himself working harder to make sure he gets his minutes, according to Ben Kuzma of The Province.

The scribe writes that Green’s system in which he rewards players who are playing well and penalizes them when they make mistakes is working in Vancouver as Green’s style is being compared to that of legendary New York Islanders’ coach Al Arbour. And it’s that style of coaching that has Green’s Canucks boasting a 6-3-1 start.

As for Vanek, his numbers have fluctuated a lot, which has a lot to do with his success or lack thereof. Kuzma wrote that Vanek has always been that player where you get a mixed bag from and that shows. The 33-year-old wing, however, did score his fourth goal of the season for Vancouver Thursday in their 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals, but still only got 11:48 of ice time.

“The best coaches I’ve had, it goes two ways,” Vanek said. “You need the trust from him and he needs the trust from you. The biggest thing is honesty. Greener has done a real good job of that and we’re winning, so the message is sent well. But talk to any player. You want to be around that 15- or 16-minute mark. Right now, that’s not happening so you just try to make the most of what you get.”

  • Philadelphia Flyers’ general manager Ron Hextall announced that defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is out for the game with an upper-body injury after sustaining a big hit against the boards from Toronto’s Leo Komarov in the second period. While the hit received no attention from the referees, the general belief is that it will be reviewed by the NHL tomorrow. If Gostisbehere can’t play on Monday, Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi tweets that Samuel Morin will likely be brought in to help the team.
  • Andrew Gross of The Record tweets that New Jersey Devils winger Kyle Palmieri is day-to-day with an injured left foot. He will be re-evaluated on Monday. The 26-year-old hasn’t skated since Oct. 22 and may not be able to go on the team’s upcoming road trip. However, Gross tweets that the team will not necessarily call anyone up, because Brian Boyle might be ready soon.

Travis Zajac Resumes Skating, Timeframe For Return Still Uncertain

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While he is still a long way from returning to the lineup, Devils center Travis Zajac took a step forward in his recovery on Friday in the morning skate for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle back in mid-August.  However, head coach John Hynes was quick to caution to Andrew Gross of The Record that he still has a long way to go and that there’s no updated timeframe yet for his return.  At the time of the surgery, Zajac was expected to miss four-to-six months but if he doesn’t experience any setbacks as he begins to skate, he could potentially push to be back for the shorter end of that timeline.

Coyotes Acquire Scott Wedgewood

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The Coyotes have brought in some goaltending depth, acquiring Scott Wedgewood from the Devils in exchange for Calgary’s fifth-round pick in 2018.

Arizona has had all sorts of problems between the pipes this season with Antti Raanta missing of the year thus far due to injury while backup Louis Domingue has struggled considerably in an expanded role.  Adin Hill has had some good and bad moments in his first NHL stint but he isn’t the solution either.  The duo rank 46th and 43rd respectively in save percentage among 50 qualifying goaltenders league-wide.  Following the trade, the Coyotes announced that they’ve returned Hill to AHL Tucson.

Mar 25, 2016; Newark, NJ, USA; New Jersey Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood (31) watches the puck sail over his head during the third period at Prudential Center. The Capitals defeated the Devils 1-0 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY SportsWedgewood missed most of 2016-17 due to labrum surgery but has been one of the more reliable goaltenders at the AHL level over the past few seasons.  However, with MacKenzie Blackwood, New Jersey’s top goaltending prospect, needing as much ice time as possible, playing time has been hard to come by for Wedgewood this year as he has made just one appearance at the minor league level.  Taking his place on the roster for New Jersey is Cory Schneider, who has been activated off injured reserve.

The 25-year-old could battle Domingue for the backup role behind Raanta when he’s ready to return to the lineup (which is expected to happen in the near future) or serve as an upgrade in the minors.  Having cleared waivers back in training camp, he still has some exemption time remaining.  If Wedgewood does go to the minors, it will be interesting to see if Marek Langhamer, currently in Tuscon, exercizes an opt-out in his contract next month (per Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan) that would see him go to the Czech Extraliga (Arizona would still retain his rights).

Wedgewood is making the league minimum of $650K at the NHL level and just $110K in the minors making this a wise pickup for Arizona.  However, although he is too young to become a standard unrestricted free agent, he’ll still likely hit the open market in July as a Group VI free agent unless he gets in 24 NHL games (playing at least 30 minutes in each) this season.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link) was first to report the two sides were closing in on a deal while Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro was first with the details.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

5 Key Stories: 10/16/17 – 10/22/17

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It wasn’t as busy during the beginning of the week, but the end certainly had its fair share of big news. Injuries to key players dominated the week’s notes.

  1. Red Wings finally come to terms with Andreas Athanasiou, trade Riley Sheahan and Ryan Sproul –  The Andreas Athanasiou-Red Wings stalemate came to an end after a phone conference with Wings brass thawed the tension. In order to make room, general manager Ken Holland dealt Riley Sheahan to Pittsburgh and flipped defenseman Ryan Sproul to the Rangers.

2.  Bobby Ryan shelved for one month with a broken finger – As one commenter wrote, the snake bitten Ryan broke his right index finger during the Senators’ 6-3 win over rival Toronto.  This yet another finger injury for the forward, who fought through a number of injuries last season.

3. Brian Boyle is cleared for full practice: Expected to be a critical piece for the Devils this season, Boyle was out due to a form of bone cancer, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.  Though there is no timetable for his return, this is another large step for Boyle in his battle back to the ice.

4. A number of goalies suffer injuries: Tuukka Rask, Roberto Luongo, and Malcolm Subban were some of the netminders hit by injury this week. Both Subban and Marc-Andre Fleury sit on Vegas’ LTIR after it was reported that Subban would miss four weeks. Rask was diagnosed with a concussion and because of the nature of concussions, it’s unclear just how long Rask will be out. Luongo injured his right hand during the Panthers’ 4-3 loss last night.

5. Jeff Carter Out Indefinitely: The Kings lost one of their best players to a cut on his left leg, speculated to be a six-to-eight week recovery time.

Devils’ Boyle Cleared For Full Practice

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The New Jersey Devils announced that veteran center Brian Boyle, who has been out after being diagnosed with a form of bone cancer, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, has been cleared for full practice with the team today.

Signed at the start of the offseason, Boyle was expected to play a large role at the center position for the team. The 32-year-old veteran scored 13 goals and nine assists in 54 games with Tampa Bay last year before he was traded to Toronto at the trade deadline. He struggled adjusting in Toronto in 21 games, putting up no goals and just three assists. He had two assists in the Maple Leafs’ six playoff games. However, his role had expected to be larger in New Jersey this year after he signed a two-year, $5.5MM deal.

He has not had a chance to play with his new team, however, after being diagnosed. However, the diagnosis was found early enough that he was expected to be able to treat it with medication and had hoped to be back by the start of the season. Delayed a bit, it looks like he is ready to return soon. Dan Rosen of NHL.com tweets that there is no timetable for his return, while Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tweets that the main obstacle is the team is not sure where Boyle’s conditioning and energy levels are.

The team have had quite a few ups and downs at the center position this year as Travis Zajac suffered a torn pectoral muscle and is likely out until February, but the team’s top overall pick, Nico Hischier has made a successful adjustment to the NHL game so far and seems to be thriving at the center position. Despite their ups and downs, the Devils have been one of the bright spots of the NHL so far. The team is 6-2 so far this year, tied for second in the Eastern Conference.

Boyle has played for four different teams (not including New Jersey) and tallied 93 goals and 76 assists in his 624-game career.

Snapshots: Wiercioch, Avalanche, Svechnikov, Schneider

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The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Patrick Wiercioch from the AHL, likely to help replace Erik Gudbranson who is now serving a one-game suspension. While there is no guarantee Wiercioch gets into the lineup—Alex Biega was already up as the team’s extra defenseman—he’ll provide some more depth as the team continues their east coast road trip. Vancouver is in Buffalo today and Wiercioch is already with the team, thanks to the team affiliate Utica’s close proximity.

Wiercioch signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Canucks this summer after playing last year with the Colorado Avalanche, but was cut at the end of training camp. In two games with Utica, the 27-year old has one goal and no assists. An NHL veteran, Wiercioch has 268 games under his belt at the highest level and actually hadn’t seen the minor leagues in some time. Should he show that he’s ready to continue in the NHL, the Canucks could potentially keep him around even after Gudbranson returns.

  • The Colorado Avalanche got some bad news, as both J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost will be out for a while following injuries on Thursday night. Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports that Jost will miss two to three weeks while Compher is out indefinitely with a broken thumb. It’s a tough blow for a team that was experiencing a good start to the season, and injury to insult after the league admitted they were wrong on the offside challenge last night.
  • Potential first-overall draft pick Andrei Svechnikov was lighting it up in the OHL this year, but will have to put his exploits on hold for the next two months. As Bob McKenzie of TSN reports, the young forward broke his hand while playing for Barrie and will need surgery. He’s expected to be out eight weeks. While the injury certainly puts a damper on his draft year, there is little chance of him dropping out of the first few spots unless the hand injury proves to limit his play after recovery. Svechnikov had ten goals and 14 points in his first ten games, and was already proving to be one of the most dynamic players in junior hockey at the age of 17. His size, speed and skill give him franchise-altering potential, and he’ll likely still be on display at the World Junior Championships at the end of December and early January.
  • The New Jersey Devils have placed Cory Schneider on injured reserve retroactive to October 19th, and recalled Scott Wedgewood. While normally this would be devastating for the Devils, after tonight they don’t play again until next Friday. Schneider is expected to be activated in time for that game. For now, Wedgewood will back up Keith Kinkaid in the Devils’ matchup tonight against the San Jose Sharks.

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