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The Jacob Trouba Trade Isn't Yet Working As Well As The Rangers Would Have Hoped

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Back in the summer, it looked as if the Rangers had done rather well for themselves with the acquisition of Jacob Trouba with the centerpiece of the return being the first-round pick they had received from Winnipeg months earlier for rental center Kevin Hayes.  However, Larry Brooks of the New York Post opines that in hindsight, they may have been better off keeping Hayes and signing him at the price he was looking for in the 2018 offseason over acquiring Trouba via trade.

Trouba has done well for New York this season but hasn’t quite lived up to the billing relative to his $8MM price tag.  Meanwhile, Neal Pionk, the player that Winnipeg acquired in the swap, has actually outproduced Trouba offensively by five points so far this season.  There’s still plenty of time for things to change but as of right now, the two Winnipeg trades haven’t quite worked out as well as the Rangers would have hoped, especially with young center Lias Andersson not panning out like they were expecting.

Minor Transactions: 12/22/19

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It’s a quiet day in the NHL with just four games on the schedule, the most interesting being the matchup with the Calgary Flames visiting the Dallas Stars. It should get more interesting on Monday with a full slate of games before the NHL darkens for the holiday break and players will get three full days off to relax with their families before restarting again on Friday. Despite a roster freeze, teams can still call up players to fill out their rosters, so keep an eye here for all transactions for the day:

  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have recalled forward Daniel Sprong from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Sprong, who played 47 games with the Ducks last season (plus 16 with Pittsburgh), finally gets a chance to return to the NHL this season. He’s played 24 games with San Diego, scoring seven goals and 18 points. He’ll fill in immediately for a banged up Anaheim squad.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks announced they have recalled forward John Quenneville from the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. With Brandon Saad on injured reserve, the team had an open roster spot. The 23-year-old has not played a game yet for Chicago since being acquired over the summer from New Jersey. Quenneville has scored eight goals and 13 points in 19 AHL games this season.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins assigned several players to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as the team announced that forwards Joseph Blandisi and Thomas Di Pauli as well as defenseman Kevin Czuczman have all been sent to the AHL. Blandisi, who has played in 14 games for Pittsburgh this year, did play in all three Western Conference games, even scoring a goal on Friday. Neither Di Pauli or Czuczman got into a Penguins game.
  • The Minnesota Wild announced they have activated center Joel Eriksson Ek off of injured reserve and have assigned forward Luke Johnson to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Eriksson Ek has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. The 22-year-old has scored two goals and 12 points in 30 games this season.
  • The New York Rangers announced they have recalled forward Phillip Di Giuseppe from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL to help fill in the roster for the team’s final game on Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers before the winter break hits. The 26-year-old forward has nine goals and 17 points in 17 games with Hartford.

Lias Andersson Requests Trade

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Sunday: As expected, the New York Rangers have suspended Andersson for leaving the Hartford Wolf Pack following his trade request, according to New York Post’s Larry Brooks.

Saturday: Rangers prospect Lias Andersson has had a limited role with the team this season and it appears he has had enough.  TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the youngster has asked for a trade and is no longer with the team.

Andersson, the seventh overall pick in 2017, has split this season between New York and their AHL affiliate in Hartford.  With the Rangers, he has spent time at both center and the wing but has almost played exclusively on the fourth line.  Overall, he has just a single assist in 17 games with the big club while logging just 9:33 per night.  He hasn’t been overly productive with the Wolf Pack either since joining them in mid-November, notching just four goals and one helper in 13 contests.  That hasn’t helped his chances for a recall which likely helped fuel this request.

The 21-year-old hasn’t had much stability since being drafted.  He split his post-draft season between the SHL and the AHL (with a seven-game stint with the Rangers) and then had 36 AHL games with 42 NHL contests a year ago with this season following a similar pattern.  That type of frequent change can certainly slow down development for many players and that has likely been the case here.

Considering he was the centerpiece of a deal that saw New York also land defenseman Anthony DeAngelo (with Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta going the other way) back at the 2017 draft, this isn’t a situation where the Rangers are going to be willing to just take whatever they can get for him even with Andersson leaving Hartford.  Despite his struggles, there is still some upside which should result in considerable trade interest.  While the roster freeze is in effect for another week, that should give GM Jeff Gorton an opportunity to call around the league to get a sense of what type of market there’s going to be and how quickly a trade can be done.  Even if they do find a deal to their liking though, Andersson’s tenure with New York can only be classified as disappointing.

Snapshots: Peca, Fox, Ferland

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The Montreal Canadiens have lost a depth forward for more than a month, announcing that Matthew Peca will be out six weeks with a knee injury. Peca was injured when he got tied up with Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin earlier this week.

Peca, 26, has played in just four games with the Canadiens this season, instead spending the majority of his season in the minor leagues. The 5’9″ forward was signed to a two-year, $2.6MM deal in July of 2018 but played just 39 games for Montreal last season.

  • Adam Fox is still having an impact on the Carolina Hurricanes, despite not signing with them. CapFriendly points out that after Fox played in his 30th game of the season on Tuesday night, the third round pick that New York sent Carolina in the trade has been upgraded to a second round pick. It always seemed likely that the pick would be upgraded given his talent, but Fox has made it more than worthwhile for the Rangers by proving he can be an effective puck-moving option in the NHL.
  • Though Micheal Ferland isn’t in the concussion protocol, he is seeing specialists for some symptoms that have popped up, according to head coach Travis Green who spoke with reporters including Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet. Ferland didn’t even make it through two games after returning from more than a month off, leaving Tuesday’s match against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Vitali Kravtsov Expected To Return From KHL

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After a recent demotion to the minor leagues in Russia, it appears as though Vitali Kravtsov will instead make his return to North America. Several reports out of Russia along with Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post have the top prospect returning to the New York Rangers organization after being loaned overseas earlier this season. Kravtsov made headlines when he decided to go to the KHL instead of continue in the AHL, but just a few days ago Rangers GM Jeff Gorton told Cyrgalis that he had reached out to the young forward’s agent in hopes of getting him back to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The 19-year old Kravtsov was the ninth overall selection in 2018 and had a strong season in 2018-19 with Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. After signing his entry-level contract with the Rangers he came close to cracking the opening night roster this year, but instead was sent to Hartford to continue his development. After just five AHL games the team and Kravtsov worked out an agreement to have him return to the KHL, where he scored three points in 11 games for Traktor before the demotion.

An important part of the Rangers future, Kravtsov’s playing time and development is obviously something the team wants to control. When he was in the KHL that wasn’t the case, but returning to North America also doesn’t guarantee him huge minutes in the minor leagues. There is still a long way to go for the 6’3″ winger if he wants to be a full-time, impact player at the NHL level.

Ville Meskanen Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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Thursday: Meskanen has cleared waivers and will see his contract terminated.

Wednesday: The New York Rangers have placed Ville Meskanen on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, according to CapFriendly. Meskanen is in the second year of the entry-level contract he signed with New York in 2018 after going undrafted. He would become an unrestricted free agent should the termination go through.

Meskanen, 24, earned himself the NHL deal with an impressive 44-point season in Finland during the 2017-18 campaign, one that was highlighted by a third-place finish in the goal scoring race. That kind of success in Liiga obviously isn’t a guarantee of it in North America, but Meskanen seemed like he was on a strong development path when he put up 34 points with the Hartford Wolf Pack last season.

Unfortunately, through 20 games this year the young forward has yet to score a goal and has just four assists. Hartford is a deep, talented team that has other top prospects to develop, meaning Meskanen may not have felt like he had the best opportunity. If the termination is completed, it seems likely that he will return to Europe.

Snapshots: Kravtsov, Hartley, Sanford, Pelletier

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New York Rangers prospect Vitaly Kravtsov has been demoted to the VHL by the KHL’s Chelyabinsk Traktor, their minor league affiliate, the team announced (Twitter link, translation required). Kravtsov has struggled significantly this season as he started the season with the Rangers with many expecting him to win a roster spot out of training camp.

Instead, he was sent to the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL where he had just one assist in five games and struggled to gain playing time. He opted to enact his European Assignment Clause and returned to Chelyabinsk Traktor team in the KHL with which he played 50 games last season as a 18-year-old. However, Kravtsov has struggled there as well, scoring just two goals in 11 games.

Sport-Express’ Igor Eronko reports that Traktor isn’t actively trying to trade Kravtsov’s rights, but they are willing to listen to offers for the 19-year-old.

  • Eronko also reports that former NHL head coach Bob Hartley is closing in on signing a two-year extension with Omsk Avangard in the KHL. Hartley has his team currently in second place in the Eastern division with 18 wins and 50 points in 37 games. Avangard hired Hartley, a head coach with the Colorado Avalanche, Atlanta Thrashers and the Calgary Flames, back in May of 2018.
  • The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports that the injuries in St. Louis continue to mount as St. Louis Blues forward Zach Sanford didn’t skate Sunday and is doubtful to play on Tuesday. Alex Steen and Oskar Sundqvist are both expected to join the Blues for their trip to Buffalo, but neither is expected to play, which means the team will be forced to recall a player from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL before then.
  • Ryan Pike of FlamesNation reports that Calgary Flames prospect and 2019 first-round pick Jakob Pelletier is expected to miss the World Junior Championships after the 18-year-old suffered a lower-body injury Thursday in his QMJHL game. Pelletier, who is having a dominant season with the Moncton Wildcats, was invited to Canada’s World Junior selection camp, and while the injury isn’t considered to be serious, it will be enough to keep him out of next week’s camp, which means he cannot make the team.

Libor Hajek To Miss Three-To-Four Weeks

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  • Rangers defenseman Libor Hajek will miss the next three to four weeks due to a knee sprain, the team announced (Twitter link). The injury occurred early in Thursday’s game against Columbus.  The second-year pro has held down a regular spot on New York’s back end this season, playing in 27 games while averaging just over 16 minutes a night in playing time.  The injury means that Marc Staal, who came off IR for Friday’s game, should have a regular spot in the lineup for at least the next few weeks.

Minor Transactions: 12/06/19

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The NHL has just five games on the schedule for this evening, including Phil Kessel’s return to Pittsburgh and a matchup of two last place teams in New Jersey. As teams prepare for a big weekend, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • The Florida Panthers have recalled Aleksi Saarela for the first time since acquiring him from the Chicago Blackhawks in late-October. Saarela has now amazingly been traded three times in his short career but is still waiting for his first NHL opportunity. The 22-year old was picked in the third round by the New York Rangers and was originally part of the deal for Eric Staal in 2016.
  • Jonathan Davidsson, another one of the Ottawa Senators’ top prospects, has been recalled to the NHL once again. The 22-year old forward was part of the return for Matt Duchene last season and made his debut for the club earlier this year.
  • Because the Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t playing today, they’ve sent Cory Conacher back to the minor leagues. Conacher has served as injury insurance the last while for the Lightning, but Alex Killorn was healthy enough to suit up last night.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Filip Zadina as expected, after giving him the week with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Red Wings had several days off between games, during which Zadina played another AHL game to stay fresh.
  • Boo Nieves is on his way back to the AHL, assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers today. Nieves has played four games in the NHL this season but is still more of a minor league depth option at this point.
  • Cameron Schilling has been returned to the Manitoba Moose without playing in a single game for the Winnipeg Jets. The 31-year old defenseman has just ten NHL games over his career, four of which came last season with the Jets.
  • Otto Koivula has been returned to the AHL after playing fewer than five minutes in his last game for the New York Islanders. The young forward is an interesting prospect, but was seeing so little ice time in his first NHL season that the minor leagues may still be best for his development.
  • Nikolay Goldobin has been returned to the AHL after playing just a single game for the Vancouver Canucks since his recall two weeks ago. The 24-year old has been great at the minor league level once again, but can’t seem to get himself a chance at the NHL.

Toronto Marlies Hire Greg Moore As Head Coach

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Since the promotion of former head coach Sheldon Keefe to the same position with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies have been searching for his replacement. The team has decided to go outside of the organization to tab their next bench boss, a rare move in-season, and have announced that Greg Moore has been named head coach. Moore was hired away from the USHL’s Chicago Steel midway through his second season with the team.

Moore, 35, is very familiar with developmental hockey. A young head coach, Moore was himself an NHL prospect not long ago. The Maine native played for the U.S. National Team Development Program in the early 2000’s and then played his college hockey at home at the University of Maine. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames after his freshman year, but his rights were traded to the New York Rangers before he turned pro. Moore made his NHL debut with the Rangers in 2007-08 overall made ten NHL appearances with the Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets over five pro season in North America. He also played a leadership role with nearly every AHL club he played for. Moore moved to Germany in 2011 and extended his playing career another four years before calling it quits in 2015. He immediately jumped into the coaching ranks, becoming an intern assistant coach with the USNTDP. After two seasons as an intern, he became full-time in 2017-18 only to be named head coach for USHL rival Chicago a year later.

Moore is well-regarded among young NHL coaching prospects. His Steel team went all the way to the Clark Cup in his first season and recorded a 52-25-5 record overall in 82 games with Moore behind the bench. His name had already been in the mix for possible NCAA openings this off-season, but he gets an even better deal with an AHL promotion mid-season. The Leafs organization has seemingly had an eye on Moore for some time, as they invited him to be a guest coach at development camp this summer and worked quickly to hire him just ten days after the firing of Mike Babcock and promotion of Keefe. Moore will be in the spotlight with the Marlies, but has a bright future ahead of him following this major career move.

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