NHL Announces 2023 King Clancy Memorial Trophy Nominees
In an announcement made Tuesday afternoon, the NHL unveiled the list of nominees for the 2023 King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award is presented annually to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities both on and off the ice, as well as making a noteworthy humanitarian contribution to their community.
The list of nominees for this year’s award is an impressive one, featuring some of the league’s most well-respected captains, such as Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and Florida’s Aleksander Barkov.
One notable nominee is one of the youngest captains in the league – Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk, in a few short years as a Senator, has already implanted himself in the community, especially in recent seasons. Working with the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, Tkachuk hosts the ‘Tkachuk’s Captains’ program, which works with kids at club locations across Ottawa to help develop leadership skills.
That’s not to diminish the off-ice efforts of anyone else named on the full list of nominees, found below. While an often-overlooked award, it’s a great way to highlight some players who focus on making positive contributions to their communities.
Anaheim: Kevin Shattenkirk
Arizona: Travis Boyd
Boston: Patrice Bergeron
Buffalo: Alex Tuch
Calgary: Mikael Backlund
Carolina: Jordan Staal
Chicago: Connor Murphy
Colorado: Devon Toews
Columbus: Zach Werenski
Dallas: Jason Robertson
Detroit: Dylan Larkin
Edmonton: Darnell Nurse
Florida: Aleksander Barkov
Los Angeles: Mikey Anderson
Minnesota: Matt Dumba
Montreal: Jordan Harris
Nashville: Juuse Saros
New Jersey: Jack Hughes
NY Islanders: Anders Lee
NY Rangers: Jacob Trouba
Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk
Philadelphia: Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin
San Jose: Luke Kunin
Seattle: Chris Driedger
St. Louis: Brayden Schenn
Tampa Bay: Victor Hedman
Toronto: Morgan Rielly
Vancouver: Elias Pettersson
Vegas: Reilly Smith
Washington: Tom Wilson
Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler
New York Islanders Sign Matthew Maggio
The New York Islanders have inked an intriguing prospect, signing forward Matthew Maggio to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Monday. Per CapFriendly, the contract carries a cap hit of $870,000, with a base salary of $775,000, a signing bonus of $95,000, and potential performance bonuses of $80,000 in all three seasons.
The Islanders selected Maggio, 20, in the fifth round, 142nd overall, of the 2022 NHL Draft as an over-age player. The Windsor, Ontario, product spent the 2022-23 season with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, where he led the league in goals (54) and points (111) in 66 games.
Standing at 5-foot-11 and 183 pounds, Maggio is an extremely tenacious winger who’s somewhat unexpectedly developed elite point-production ability during his latter years in junior hockey. While the delayed increase in offense in his junior career raises questions about his ultimate ceiling in the NHL, he’s shown the tools to become a good depth scoring option.
He’ll need another few seasons in the minors before getting some extended NHL looks, and he’s expected to play next season with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders. Maggio had two assists in three games with Bridgeport to close out the 2022-23 season after signing an amateur tryout contract.
With the Islanders not having much to boast about in their current prospect pool, Maggio could be a potential highlight of their current crop of young players.
New York Islanders Sign Hudson Fasching To Extension
The New York Islanders have signed forward Hudson Fasching to a two-year contract extension. The Islanders announced the extension that will keep the Apple Valley native in New York through the 2024-25 season. The 27-year-old appears to have finally found a home for the foreseeable future after bouncing around the past few years. Fasching is a former fourth round pick of the Los Angeles Kings and signed a two-way contract with the Islanders last summer.
Fasching set career highs in almost every offensive category this season with 10 goals and nine assists in 49 games while finishing +10. He also dressed in 18 games for Bridgeport in the AHL putting up 11 points. He had just three points in 38 NHL games coming into last season and decimated those numbers as he finally found a role in New York.
Fasching was once a highly touted prospect when he played at the University of Minnesota, and now after his career year he will get a bit of security with the first one-way contract of his career. He is set to count $775K against the salary cap according to CapFriendly and will likely continue his role in the Islanders bottom six. Although he has demonstrated an ability to slide up and down the lineup having taken some shifts with Mathew Barzal last season.
Alexander Romanov Returns For Game Three
As the series shifts to New York for game three, both the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes will be receiving reinforcements. Returning for the Islanders will be defenseman Alexander Romanov, and Jesse Puljujarvi returns for the Hurricanes (link). Romanov has been out of New York’s lineup since their April 1st game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Puljujarvi has been out of the lineup since their last game of the regular season.
Although the Islanders have played a relatively sound defensive series up to this point, getting Romanov back will allow New York to make things much more difficult on their opposition. Romanov doesn’t score at a rapid pace, but his ability to block shots and deliver serious hits has made him a staple of the Islanders’ back end. In his first season since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens at last season’s draft, Romanov has played 76 regular season games for the Islanders this season, blocking 129 shots, and making 198 hits.
To this point in the series, Carolina has a 2-0 lead, winning both games by one goal, including an overtime win in game two. This season, the Hurricanes were a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of goal scoring, and with the Islanders’ style of play being one of the more frustrating to matchup against, this Metropolitan battle could tighten up in the next couple of days.
Alexander Romanov Back Skating With New York Islanders
New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov is apparently back skating with the team ahead of their game 3 matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News wrote that Romanov rotated in and out of line rushes and the penalty kill, but little is being said about whether the 23-year-old will return for game 3. Romanov suffered an upper body injury on April 1 and missed the final five games of the regular season as well as games one and two of the Islanders opening round series.
Romanov had a successful first season with the Islanders after being acquired from Montreal via trade last summer. He set a career high in points with 22 in 76 games and fit in nicely on the team’s penalty kill. His 22 points were the highest point total he has posted in any level and could be jumping off point for the Russian rearguard in upcoming seasons.
The Islanders didn’t acquire the 215-pound defenseman for his offense though, they acquired him to play hard hockey this time of year and so far, he has been unable to get back into game action. The Islanders could certainly use Romanov in the lineup as rookie Samuel Bolduc has struggled as his replacement and was benched in game two. Should Romanov miss game three, it appears as though Parker Wotherspoon would draw in to replace him instead of Bolduc.
The 25-year-old Wotherspoon dressed in 12 games in his first NHL season, notching just a single assist. He could offer the Islanders a different look on the backend as they return home and try to climb back into their first round series with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders trail 2-0 after losing both games by one goal.
Alexander Romanov Remains Sidelined For Game 2
- New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov remains out of the lineup tonight, says The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz. Romanov has been out of the lineup since April 2 with an undisclosed injury and is still listed as day-to-day, although a return doesn’t seem imminent. Samuel Bolduc, who’s drawn in for Romanov down the stretch and did so again in Game 1 Monday, recorded a +1 rating in just 8:51 of ice time against the Hurricanes.
PHR Playoff Primer: Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders
With the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs just a few days away, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We continue our look with the Metropolitan Division matchup between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders.
The opening game of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs will feature two teams on very different paths heading into the postseason. In this rematch of a 2019 Eastern Conference Second Round series, the Hurricanes and Islanders both have something to prove.
And, like that 2019 matchup which had just four total goals through its first two games, most would expect this series to be the most defensively inclined of the first round. With the Hurricanes struggling to put pucks in the net without their two best goal-scorers, though, will they be able to break through Ilya Sorokin, the Islanders’ ace in the hole, and avoid what could be one of the biggest upsets of the postseason?
Regular Season Performance
Carolina: 52-21-9, 113 points, +53 goal differential
NY Islanders: 42-31-9, 93 points, +21 goal differential
Head-To-Head
October 28, 2022: NY Islanders 6, Carolina 2
December 10, 2022: Carolina 3, NY Islanders 0
January 21, 2023: Carolina 5, NY Islanders 2
April 2, 2023: NY Islanders 1, Carolina 2
Carolina takes the season series 3-1
Team Storylines
The question surrounding the Hurricanes is clear-cut: they’ll likely dominate the possession game in this series, but can they finish enough chances to win four out of seven games?
Goal-scoring has been the disease that’s plagued Carolina in playoffs past. In last year’s second-round elimination at the hands of the New York Rangers, Carolina only scored more than two goals in a game once, a 3-1 win in Game 5.
General manager Don Waddell made a pointed acquisition last summer to address the recurring concern by plucking Max Pacioretty away from the Vegas Golden Knights in a cap-dump move. Needless to say, it didn’t work out as planned, with back-to-back Achilles tears ending Pacioretty’s season and limiting him to just five games in a Carolina uniform.
With Andrei Svechnikov now out of the lineup, Carolina’s finishing touch has evaporated. Sebastian Aho‘s pulled his weight with 36 goals this year, and Martin Necas‘ career year has been a life-saving measure for the division champs. More will be needed out of support players like Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis, though, if Carolina wants to avoid an upset.
It’s an upset that more and more are surmising about publically, and for good reason. Sorokin has a legitimate claim to this year’s Vezina Trophy, and since the date of Svechnikov’s injury (March 11), Carolina is the only playoff team with a negative goal differential.
Despite Carolina’s weaknesses, the Islanders still have to execute well enough to win the series. Their 243 goals ranked just 23rd in the league and are the least among all playoff teams.
One key difference? The Islanders are getting healthy. Mathew Barzal is making his return to the lineup tomorrow night, settling on the wing alongside Anders Lee and Bo Horvat. The team’s top playmaking talent had been sidelined for almost two months with a lower-body injury.
With he and leading scorer Brock Nelson on two different lines, a fully healthy top six could be enough to crack an inconsistent Frederik Andersen in the crease for Carolina.
Prediction
With injuries playing a major factor in this series, this isn’t the David vs. Goliath matchup these two teams’ regular-season records suggest. The series will rely on opportunistic scoring to beat a stingy Hurricanes defense or an elite Islanders goalie, and could very easily see multiple momentum swings.
But despite Carolina’s suffocating pressure, the Islanders have a pointed history of eking things out in the postseason. With the momentum (and goaltending) on their side, expect some more playoff magic from a team that’s dealt with pressure all season long.
The prediction: Islanders win in seven games.
Islanders Don't Intend To Have Full Playoff Black Ace Group
- Although their farm team has been eliminated from playoff contention, the Islanders don’t intend to have a full taxi squad for the playoffs, head coach Lane Lambert told Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). Teams often carry extra skaters that can be slotted in if need be in either games or practices while it’s typically beneficial for them to continue to work under the eye of team trainers. For the time being at least, New York will opt to go without a full group of reserves although it wouldn’t be surprising to see a handful of players be brought up as insurance.
Mathew Barzal To Return For Game One
The New York Islanders have a tall task ahead of them in their first-round playoff matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, as they’re looking to eliminate a club many view as a Stanley Cup contender. They will get some crucial help, though, as one of the team’s top offensive players, Mathew Barzal, is set to return from injury for Game One. (via The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz) Barzal hasn’t played since a February contest against the Boston Bruins, and was on a hot streak with six points in four games before going down with his injury.
- Although the Islanders will get Barzal back in time for the playoffs, the same can’t be said for another one of the team’s young talents. Head coach Lane Lambert told the media today, including Kurz, that defenseman Alexander Romanov will not be available for the first game of their series against Carolina. Romanov has been skating by himself and is inching closer to a return, but remains unavailable. Acquired by the Islanders at the 2022 draft, Romanov last played on April 1st and has scored 22 points this season playing nearly 20 minutes a night.
Romanov Begins Skating Again
- In the first year of a 3-year, $7.5MM contract signed with the New York Islanders this past summer, Alexander Romanov has been out of the lineup since the team’s game on April 1st. The Islanders are still battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and they may be getting Romanov sooner rather than later. Andrew Gross of Newsday is reporting that Romanov has recently begun skating on his own again. Being one of the better low-key defensemen in the NHL, Romanov has 129 blocked shots and 198 hits for the Islanders this season.
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