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Metro Division Snapshots: Islanders, Hall, Stolarz

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The use of advanced statistics and analytics is becoming more prevalent in the NHL with each passing year. Along with that, advances in technology have improved both the quantity and the quality the information available to teams. Companies who develop analytics platforms utilizing new technology continue to pop up and one, a startup based in Russia and called Iceberg, is now being employed by the NHL’s New York Islanders, according to this article on Bloomberg.com.

As Bloomberg goes on to report, Iceberg is already working with professional teams in the KHL, Sweden and Austria and now has its first NHL client. The platform includes several cameras small enough to fit into a suit case and easy enough to set up at any venue within minutes. The software is able to identify and track any player on the ice surface and its algorithms gauge up to 500 metrics while also suggesting which players to put on the ice in any situation.

It remains to be seen how effective the new platform will be for the teams employing it. As Henrik Evertsson, GM of the Vaxjo Lakers of the Swedish League, indicates, the system is just one of many tools decision-makers will use:

“We hadn’t jumped on this wagon if we didn’t believe in the system. It will be one tool of many in our toolbox.”

While advanced analytics will never fully replace traditional scouting, it can greatly augment the “eyeball test,” and serve as an important element of evaluation and decision-making in the game.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

  • Taylor Hall underwent knee surgery to repair meniscus damage nine days ago. The injury was expected to keep the goal-scoring winger out of action for three-to-four weeks but Devils head coach John Hynes tells NJ.com’s Chris Ryan that Hall is “a little bit ahead of schedule,” in his rehab. Hall has already missed six games – tonight makes it seven – during which the Devils have gone 2 – 4 – 0 while scoring 14 goals. Hall, who is tied for the team lead in goals with three others, is the Devils most potent offensive weapon. His return, particularly if it comes earlier than expected, will provide the Devils a much-needed spark as they attempt to remain in the playoff hunt as long as possible.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have struggled in the goal-prevention department, ranking dead last in goals allowed this season. Much of the blame can be placed on the team’s goaltending duo, Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth, who have combined for a Save % of 0.879. With Neuvirth out of the lineup for up to a month, the Flyers recalled goaltending prospect Anthony Stolarz, and the 22-year-old net minder will make history tomorrow night by becoming the first New Jersey-born goalie to play in the NHL, as Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly reports.

 

Injury Update: Palmieri, Eichel, Oshie, Dzingel

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Injury updates from around the NHL this morning:

  • Kyle Palmieri will return to the New Jersey Devils tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, notes Andrew Gross of the New Jersey Record. Devils Coach John Hynes has not yet decided who will sit to make room for Palmieri. The speedy forward has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, and his return should boost New Jersey’s anemic offense. The team currently sits 26th in scoring, and while Palmieri only has 3G and 4A in 17 games, he scored 30 goals last season.
  • The Buffalo Sabres may get forward Jack Eichel back soon. The former 2nd overall pick participated in contact drills for the second straight practice. Eichel, however, did not join the team in Washington to face the Capitals tonight. Coach Dan Bylsma said that Eichel would get a harder skate staying home in Buffalo, reports the Buffalo News’ John Vogl.
  • T.J. Oshie skated with the Washington Capitals this morning, but is still week-to-week with an upper body injury, reports Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. Oshie missed the last three games after being hit by the Detroit Red Wings’ Riley Sheahan. The Capitals miss Oshie and his scoring touch. Oshie had 8G and 4A in 17 games before the injury, and the Capitals need all the scoring they can get in the tight Metropolitan Division.
  • The Ottawa Senators forward Ryan Dzingel received over thirty stitches last night after taking a puck to the side of the head, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Dzingel required ear reconstruction but managed to return to the game in the third period. Given his return, he is in no danger of missing any time. Scoring-wise, however, Dzingel has cooled off significantly since his hot start. He only has 1G and 2A in the past ten games.

Snapshots: Buchnevich, Palmieri, Guentzel

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • The New York Rangers announced that forward Pavel Buchnevich will be out for two to three weeks with back spasms. The Russian prospect missed the past three games with back issues and underwent an MRI today to discern the problem. The MRI showed no structural damage, reports the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, but Buchnevich will need at least two weeks to strengthen his core. This injury—coupled with Mika Zibanejad’s broken fibula last night—continues to deplete the Rangers’ roster. The team claimed Matt Puempel today in an effort to staunch the bleeding.
  • The New Jersey Devils may be without forward Kyle Palmieri tonight against the San Jose Sharks, reports Andrew Gross of the North Jersey Record. Palmieri suffers from upper-body soreness and only briefly took part in today’s morning skate. The American winger has 3G and 4A in 17 games for the Devils, and the team hopes that Palmieri can eventually find the magic he harnessed last year.
  • Jake Guentzel, the Pittsburgh Penguins 2013-third round pick, scored on his first shift in his first NHL game tonight against the New York Rangers. Guentzel was called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after potting 7G and 10A in 16 games. Guentzel then went on to score a second goal in the first period. The last Penguin to do that was Luca Caputi back in 2009. Part-owner Mario Lemieux also scored his first goal on his first NHL shift.

Taylor Hall To Miss 3-4 Weeks With Knee Injury

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3:17pm: The Devils have placed Hall on injured reserve and recalled Blake Pietila from Albany. He’ll meet the team in Anaheim, though there has been no word on if he’ll make his season debut on Thursday.  Pietila has 11 points in 12 AHL contests this season.

2:31pm: Another superstar forward is out for a while, as the New Jersey Devils have announced that Taylor Hall will be out for three to four weeks following surgery to his left knee today.  The forward went under the knife to repair a torn meniscus.

As reported earlier today, the coaching and training staff for New Jersey are unsure of when the injury took place, just that Hall came to the rink Tuesday morning in pain. After being traded to the Devils in the offseason, Hall has established himself as the powerful offensive presence he can be with 12 points in his first 14 games.

Though obviously losing a player of Hall’s stature isn’t good news, the Devils have collected a larger group of offensive players than usual over the past few seasons. With a 9-3-3 record, the team will now look to skaters like Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique and Pavel Zacha to step up their offensive production and keep the team on track.

For Tampa Bay Lightning fans, this may be a good indication of the timeline of injured forward Steven Stamkos, who also underwent an MRI today and likely has a meniscus injury. If surgery is required, he too could be out for almost a month.

Snapshots: Harding, Expansion Rules, Saad

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Josh Harding knows exactly what Bryan Bickell is going through.

The retired 32-year-old goaltender was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) back in 2012 during the last lockout. Harding told ESPN’s Scott Burnside that he considered keeping his diagnosis private, but didn’t because he have to take time away from the game for treatment, and he felt that going public would do some good. Harding says having MS is nothing to be ashamed of.

Harding returned to the NHL that season, playing five regular season games and five playoff games. He won the Masterton Trophy for dedication to hockey. He played 29 games the next season, posting a remarkable 0.933 SV% and a 1.65 GAA. Unfortunately, that was the end of his hockey career. As Harding told Burnside, “when the doctors say enough’s enough, you kind of have to listen to them.”

Now that Bickell has been diagnosed with MS, he and Harding have been in contact about their awful common illness. Harding has told Bickell what treatments worked for him and shared strategies for dealing with the incurable disease. However, Harding can’t tell him for sure that he’ll play in the NHL again. He told Burnside that “if there was a blueprint for what you have to do, I really think I’d still be in the league.”

While Harding was only able to play for 39 more games after his diagnosis, he says he’s rooting for Bickell and hopes that his experience with the disease will be different than Harding’s. Harding says he’s at peace with his career path, and enjoys spending time with his two children as well as helping coach a local high school team.

Another former goalie with MS, Jordan Sigalet plans to be in touch with Bickell to offer their support.

  • There has been much talk about expansion at the NHL GM meetings. The rules for which players need to be protected have been finalized, and the GMs are receiving guidelines about all possible ways of circumventing the rules and why they’re not allowed. Some GMs are concerned about the exclusive free agency window, where Las Vegas GM George McPhee will be able to meet with pending free agents. Could the something Knights make a handshake deal with a free agent to sign on July 1, but not sign them then in order to select another player from that team? No. Can other teams make “wink, nudge” deals with McPhee to not select a certain player? No. All trades will have to be done through a trade call to the NHL and documented. The penalties for trying to circumvent the rules are going to be stiff, possibly a first round pick. As Devils GM Ray Shero pointed out to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, all deals will have “pass the smell test with the league.”
  • In his weekly “30 Thoughts“, Elliotte Friedman wondered if the Blue Jackets would be interested in parting ways with Brandon Saad. Columbus acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks in June of 2015 and promptly signed him to a six-year, $36MM contract. Saad has been a solid performer for the Blue Jackets, but the cap-strapped team may want to move his $6MM salary. There appears to be some disconnect between Saad and the club, as he’s fifth in both team scoring and ice-time, but was almost a healthy scratch last week. Friedman reported the Blackhawks looked into re-acquiring Saad last season, but couldn’t make it work. The Blackhawks could certainly use Saad back, with his chemistry with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa on the downswing. It’s not clear how they could make it work salary-wise, though. There’s always a market for a 30-goal scorer, especially one who is just 24.

Injury Notes: Gaudreau, Stamkos, Hall

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Three superstars could be poised to miss some time due to injury.

Calgary Flames superstar Johnny Gaudreau broke his finger in Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild, in which he scored the only goal in the game. The Wild played Gaudreau very hard, with several big hits and, according to one observer from the Canadian Press, 21 slashes over the course of the game.

John Shannon of Sportsnet tweeted that Gaudreau will require surgery on the broken finger, and the Flames have now confirmed. Though the team will give an update on recovery time later this week, Elliotte Friedman has heard that it may be 4-6 weeks.

It’s been a disappointing season for Gaudreau, who missed all of training camp while holding out for a new contract. He ended up signing a six-year, $40.5MM contract two days before the start of the regular season. Gaudreau has 11 points in 17 games, which is far off from his career average of 0.9 points per game. The Flames have struggled under a new coach, sitting fifth in the Pacific Division with just six wins in 17 games. They’ll have to put some consecutive wins up soon if they hope to remain in the playoff race, and now they’ll be doing it without their leading scorer.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos left his team’s win in Detroit last night with a right knee injury. The team announced on Wednesday morning that Stamkos has returned to Tampa Bay for “further evaluation” on his injured leg, which will include an MRI, according to Bob McKenzie. The Lightning are two games into a five game road trip, with Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Nashville still to come. Unless he rejoins them on the road, he’ll be out of the lineup until at least November 23 when the Flyers visit Tampa Bay.

With free agency no longer hanging over his head, Stamkos has been off to a hot start; before leaving the game he scored his 20th point in 17 games. The Lightning are off to a good start, sitting tied for second in the Atlantic Division with 21 points.

Stamkos won’t be the only star getting an MRI on Wednesday: New Jersey Devils leading scorer Taylor Hall will also be getting his knee checked out. Hall missed Tuesday night’s game with a “lower-body injury” that McKenzie now labels as a knee injury.

According to Andrew Gross of Fire and Ice, Devils coach John Hynes said yesterday that Hall “came to the rink [Tuesday] morning and something was bothering him a little bit so the trainers took a look at him.”

Hynes did not say when the injury occurred, and when asked if Hall’s injury was serious, replied “we don’t know.”

Hall has played very well for the Devils after being acquired in a summer blockbuster as part of the busiest day of the summer, which also included Stamkos re-signing in Tampa Bay.

Luke Gazdic Clears Waivers, Assigned To Albany (AHL)

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New Jersey Devils left Luke Gazdic has cleared waivers, the team announced (via Twitter).  He has been assigned to their AHL affiliate in Albany.

Gazdic joined New Jersey back in the summer, signing a one year, two-way deal worth $700K in the NHL and $200K in the minors.  However, he broke his foot during the preseason and has been on injured reserve ever since.  Teams cannot waive injured players so it would appear that he is ready to return to action.

Injured players are eligible to have a two week conditioning stint in the minors without having to go through waivers.  However, in those cases, the player is on the active roster and continues to count in full against the salary cap.  By waiving him, the Devils get Gazdic off the roster and salary cap and will now be able to keep him in the minors as long as they deem necessary instead of being restricted to just two weeks.

The 27 year old enforcer has 136 career NHL games under his belt, recording just eight points (5-3-8) but also has 194 penalty minutes and 214 hits despite averaging just 6:21 of ice time per game.

[Related: Devils Depth Chart]

Devils Acquire Petr Straka From Flyers

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The New Jersey Devils have announced that they have made a trade to acquire forward prospect Petr Straka from the Philadelphia Flyers. In return, the Flyers will receive a conditional seventh-round pick in either 2017 or 2018. Straka played in three NHL games in 2014-15, recording two assists and four hits.

A second-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010, Straka has failed to live up to expectations thus far in his young career. The Czech winger put up strong numbers in his junior career in the QMJHL, beginning with a better than point-per-game first season with Rimouski Oceanic in his draft year and ending with 82 points in 55 games in his fourth and final season in 2012-13 after a trade to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Having outlasted his entry-level contract and earned free agent status, Straka chose to sign in Philadelphia. However, the transition to the pro game has not gone smoothly. In his first AHL season, with the now-defunct Adirondack Phantoms, Straka had just 27 points in 60 games. Although his next season was even worse – 24 points and a -20 in 68 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms – Straka earned a call-up to Philadelphia in 2014-15 and showed off his both his speed and grit in an impressive three-game tryout. It wasn’t enough to earn him a full-time role with the Flyers though, as Straka did not see any NHL action in 2015-16. He did see an improvement in his game last season, scoring 37 points and finishing on the right side of +/- for the first time in his AHL career.

Whether due to an undisclosed injury or if he had simply fallen out of favor in the Flyers organization, Straka has yet to suit up for a game this season, a scratch for every single game. Following the trade, Straka has been assigned to the AHL’s Albany Devils where he will hopefully be able to get back out on the ice. While Straka’s skill has not yet fully shown up on the ice at the pro level, he does possess a lot of raw talent, a smooth game, and an invaluable intensity. A change of pace may be exactly what the former top prospect needs to finally get his career back on track. At the cost of a seventh-round pick, the Devils have made a low risk/high reward deal for a player that still has potential.

Metro Division Notes: Vesey, Smith-Pelly, Kennedy

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The New York Rangers are off to a strong 10 – 4 – 0 start and lead the NHL in scoring, averaging 4.14 goals per contest. Their +24 goal differential is also tops in the league. They recently had a five-game winning streak snapped by Vancouver and during that stretch the team tallied five or more goals in each contest. While the Rangers are getting strong performances throughout their lineup, the contributions they are receiving from several rookies and first-year Blueshirts is a primary reason for their early-season success.

One of those rookies, Jimmy Vesey, has been everything the Rangers could have hoped for, with six goals and 10 points through 14 games. But as Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post writes, it appears as if the talented winger is beginning to experience the type of ups-and-downs most first-year pros go through.

For the second time in a week, Vesey found himself benched for an extended period of a game when Rangers bench boss Alain Vigneault sat Vesey for much of the third period in Tuesday’s 5 – 3 loss to the Canucks. Vigneault didn’t single out Vesey, or any other Ranger for that matter, but it was clear he was unhappy with the team’s play Tuesday. The benching of the 23-year-old left wing – along with veteran forward Chris Kreider – clearly suggested the coach found something lacking in the performance of Vesey.

Of course, as Cyrgalis points out, Vesey has never had to navigate through a schedule as condensed as this year’s and it’s only natural for an inexperienced player to see his game tail off at times as they learn to adapt to the rigors of the long NHL season. While at Harvard, Vesey never appeared in more than 37 games in a single session and generally, most games were played on the weekends. He’s no stranger to playing back-to-back games but three contests in four is new for the rookie. Despite his occasional struggles, the Blueshirts will still be more than happy if Vesey can maintain his scoring pace through the season.

Elsewhere in the Metro:

  • It was hoped Devante Smith-Pelly would be able to supply some secondary scoring to the Devils lineup this season but instead the 24-year-old winger has been a healthy scratch for each of the last two games and according to Chris Ryan of NJ.com, it’s beginning to get frustrating for Smith-Pelly. The former second round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks has just one goal and three points on the season. Even worse, Smith-Pelly has been a liability at even strength with a Corsi For % of just 41.6%. He felt he was beginning to get on track following a three-game points streak but after New Jersey dropped their next two in Florida, the team decided to sit Smith-Pelly in back-to-back wins over Carolina. For his part, Smith-Pelly is trying to stay positive: “Not sure I agree with it, but like I said, it’s a coach’s decision, and I’m not going to cause any trouble or anything like that. I’m going to keep working hard and wait for my chance.” According to Andrew Gross of NorthJersey.com, Smith-Pelly is likely to again be a healthy scratch tonight as the team held only an informal skate this morning and based off the lines from yesterday’s full practice he was skating as an extra forward.
  • Nine-year NHL veteran Tyler Kennedy, who spent six seasons in Pittsburgh, has resigned himself to the likelihood of retirement, telling Adam Bittner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “you always as a hockey player want to keep playing as far as you can, but it feels like I’m going to retire, and that’s the thing that’s going to happen, I’m pretty sure. You never know, but I’m almost positive last year was my last year, so I’m kind of settling in. It’s a tough transition to do one thing your whole life and then have to change it. But it’s a good transition and we’ll see what happens.” Kennedy, who also has suited up for San Jose, New Jersey and the Islanders during his career, would finish up his career with 89 goals and 215 points in 527 contests should he decide to call it quits. He appeared in 50 games last season with the Devils but has so far been unable to latch onto an NHL team this season.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Fined $2000 For Diving

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According to multiple sources, including Stephen Whyno of AP, Arizona Coyotes star defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been fined $2000 by the league for embellishment. The incidents occurred October 25th against the New Jersey Devils, for which he was issued a warning, and November 3rd against the Nashville Predators.

Under rule 64 of the NHL Rule Book:

Any player who blatantly dives, embellishes a fall or a reaction, or who feigns an injury shall be penalized. 

The accompanying memorandum that dealt with fines for diving gives a graduated scale for the fines, capping it at at $5000 fee for both player and coach. Many other players have already been dinged by these fines, including Nazem Kadri, Nail Yakupov and Martin Hanzal. Kadri is the only player so far that has received more than two citations.

While this isn’t groundbreaking news, it does mean that the league will be watching Ekman-Larsson more carefully, and perhaps he’ll be less likely to draw penalties. After his next citation, the coach will also start to get fined – something Dave Tippett will probably not react too favorably to.

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