Kevin Hayes Out 2-3 Weeks
The New York Rangers will be without forward Kevin Hayes for the next 2-3 weeks.
Hayes had been on a hot streak as of late, with seven points in his previous six games before leaving Sunday’s matinée against the Red Wings in the third period. The Rangers announced that Hayes underwent an MRI on Monday morning and will be out of the lineup with a lower-body injury.
The big forward is on pace to set career-highs in goals, assists, and points. Despite the prognosis, that’s still achievable thanks to the All-Star break. A two week absence would mean five games in the press box; three weeks would see him miss nine games. Hayes has 35 points in 47 games this season, good for third on the Rangers. He’s previously scored 45 and 36 points in his first two seasons.
It’s a tough break for the Rangers, who were just beginning to get healthy. Dan Rosen, of NHL.com, tweets that Hayes’ injury means Matt Puempel will be around longer, despite Rick Nash, Mika Zibanejad, and Pavel Buchnevich all returning to the lineup.
Blackhawks Trade Schilling To Kings For Latta
A pair of Western Conference contenders have swung a deal to help each other out with their depth. The Chicago Blackhawks are reporting that they have acquired forward Michael Latta from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenseman Cameron Schilling. The Blackhawks have confirmed that Latta will remain in the AHL for now and will report to the Rockford Ice Hogs, while there has been no word yet from the Kings on Schilling, as they struck the deal just prior to their game against the New York Islanders tonight.
While the trade is somewhat of a minor one, it is interesting in a couple different ways. The first, is that it is an exchange of former teammates. Both Latta and Schilling made their NHL debuts with the Washington Capitals and played for the team for three years, including playing together in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Schilling signed with Washington as a college free agent out of Miami University in 2012, while Latta was acquired by the Caps alongside Martin Erat in a trade with the Nashville Predators for Filip Forsberg (a trade they would rather forget). The second interesting detail is that both players left Washington via free agency, only to land with teams who had yet to give them a shot at NHL play time. Schilling had only played in six games with the Capitals over three seasons and had zero points to show for it, but halfway through his second year with the Chicago Blackhawks, the blue liner had yet to even be promoted to, nevertheless actually play for, the team. Latta, on the other hand, skated in 113 games for Washington in his three seasons, mostly playing an energy line role and contributing just 17 points, but was a starter nonetheless and a fan favorite. In his first season with the L.A. Kings, Latta too had yet to earn a call-up despite having a regular NHL role in his previous location.
Both players are now heading to new teams with new possibilities for NHL ice time. While Latta is not quite what the Blackhawks are looking for in their search for an impact top-six forward, he is a reliable bottom-six player and the team can bring out the best in just about every forward who plays there. Already, Chicago fans have expressed their delight with the deal, excited to see how an experienced center with some physicality and grit can help out a lineup that is littered with young, streaky players. Latta has just six points with the AHL’s Ontario Reign so far this year, but has continued to play a smart, two-way game in the minor leagues. While he’ll remain in the AHL for now, expect Latta to step in and play well for the Blackhawks when he gets the chance. Meanwhile, Schilling is likely itching to get into a game with the Kings as soon as possible. The 28-year-old has just six NHL contests on his resume, despite an ability to move the puck and contribute in all three zones at the AHL level. Schilling has scored at least 16 points in each of his five AHL seasons, but has 17 points already in 2016-17, on pace for his best AHL season to date. However, he hopes to instead contribute at the top level, and Los Angeles may need him too. Though the Kings have a strong defensive core of Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez, and breakout blue liner Derek Forbort, there are questions behind them. Brayden McNabb has been limited to just 17 games this season due to injury, while veterans Matt Greene and Tom Gilbert have played little and contributed even less. Rookie Kevin Gravel has played 30 games, but is very limited in his offensive ability. If the Kings need another puck-mover in the lineup, Schilling appears to be the next man up. While the trade is a win-win for Chicago and Los Angeles, it appears to be so for Latta and Schilling as well.
Subban Activated Off IR, Expected Back Tonight
In a surprising move, the Nashville Predators announced that superstar defenseman P.K. Subban has been activated from the injured reserve and is expected to make his return to the lineup tonight on the road against the Edmonton Oilers. Subban has missed the Predators’ last 16 games after suffering a herniated disk in his back in mid-Decmeber. Opting to go the non-surgical route, Nashville placed Subban on IR on January 1st and it was anticipated that he would remain inactive until such a time that he had been able to rest and let his body heal itself. Subban had only resumed light skating last week and was expected to only be re-evaluated at this point in time, with an immediate return unlikely. Instead Subban appears to be ready to lace ’em up for tonight’s contest.
Subban’s return to the lineup is much-needed for the Predators. With fellow star blue liner Roman Josi also on IR and depth defenders Petter Granberg and Anthony Bitetto sidelined as well, Nashville has been struggling to put together an NHL lineup on defense every night. Matt Irwin, who spent nearly the entire season in the AHL in 2015-16, has been playing major minutes. Rookie Alexandre Carrier was recently recalled despite being a fourth-round pick in just his first pro season. Just last night, the Predators acquired AHL defenseman Andrew O’Brien due to their need for bodies on the blue line. With the return of Subban, most of these defensive worries will be lessened, as he, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm can hold down the fort until Josi returns and the defense is at full strength. Carrier has already been returned to the AHL and Irwin can return to his bottom-pair role shortly. The Predators have had a disappointing season relative to the lofty expectations many had for them, but have fought their way into a playoff spot as of now. The return of Subban and a fully healthy defense will go a long way in holding on to that spot.
After being traded to Nashville this summer in the blockbuster deal that sent Shea Weber back to the Montreal Canadiens, Subban has looked pretty good as he adjusts to his new surroundings. Subban has 17 points in 29 games so far, which is off his typical pace, but his play has also been affected by his health. When healthy, Subban has played well and will continue to carve out a role for himself on his new team, which relies heavily on puck movement by defensemen. Despite missing so much time in his first season, Subban is already a fan favorite in Nashville and around the NHL. Selected as the captain of the Central Division team (and sole Predators representative) for the upcoming All-Star weekend, a return to health should allow Subban to participate in an event that he very much enjoys. Then it will be back to work for the Norris Trophy-winner, as he will be looked upon to score a lot of points down the stretch and lead the Predators into the playoffs.
Maple Leafs Re-Claim Seth Griffith On Waivers
For the third time this season, Seth Griffith has been claimed on waivers.
The Bruins lost him to the Maple Leafs in the pre-season, who lost him to the Panthers after just three games, and now the Maple Leafs have taken him back.
Griffith had five assists in 21 games with the Panthers, but was a healthy scratch in seven of Florida’s past eight games.
Though Griffith is small by NHL standards at 5’9, teams are clearly fascinated by his potential. Griffith has played in 58 NHL games with those three teams, recording six goals and 16 points. His production at the AHL level has been much better; he had 77 points in just 57 games with the Providence Bruins in 2015-16.
Clarke MacArthur Done For The Season
Ottawa Senators winger Clarke MacArthur will not play this season after suffering a concussion back in training camp.
Senators GM Pierre Dorion said the decision was made after discussions with “numerous doctors,” who all indicated that MacArthur shouldn’t play hockey this year.
MacArthur missed all but four games of the 2015-16 season with a concussion, but his return ended before it started when he took a high hit from defenseman Patrick Sieloff during a scrimmage. MacArthur had to be helped off the ice as his teammates rushed Sieloff to confront his about the hit. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported that MacArthur hoped to return by the All-Star break, but a recent baseline test and examination nixed that. Two concussion experts deemed a return this season to be too risky, so while MacArthur has said he doesn’t want to retire, it may not be up to him. Dorion said MacArthur is “devastated” by the news, but he’s going to stay with the team and continue to work out with hopes of an eventual return.
MacArthur is in the second year of a five-year pact which pays him $4.65MM per season. He’s been on LTIR for all of this season and much of last one. Dorion was asked about his efforts to replace MacArthur via the trade market; he told Garrioch that “the prices are ridiculous, almost.”
There is some good news for Senators fans, however. Goaltender Craig Anderson will permanently return to the team sometime in late January or early February. Anderson has been away from the Senators on-and-off since late October when his wife, Nicholle, was diagnosed with cancer. Her cancer has responded well to treatment so Craig should be good to stay with the team.
Patrik Laine Returns To Ice, Still No Timetable For Return
Some good news for Winnipeg Jets fans this morning: Patrik Laine skated this morning.
It was the first time Laine has skated since suffering a concussion earlier this month. Despite the good news, head coach Paul Maurice re-iterated that “there is no time-frame” for his star rookie’s return. When asked about how the young left winger looked, Maurice said Laine looked fantastic, but jokingly complained that “his shot is off.”
Laine was concussed in a head-on-head collision with Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe back on January 7. McCabe also took some damage in the hit. TSN analyst and former NHLer Shane Hnidy reported that Laine will be monitored daily to “determine progress going forward.”
Laine had been having a tremendous offensive season before being hurt; he had 21 goals and 37 points in 42 games. At the time of the concussion, Laine was tied for third in league goal scoring with Auston Matthews. While Matthews has passed Laine by one goal and one point, Laine’s offensive numbers have been very impressive. Laine and Matthews appear to be two of the frontrunners for the Calder Trophy, provided Laine is able to return soon and continue scoring at the same pace.
Islanders Fire Head Coach Jack Capuano
The New York Islanders have relieved head coach Jack Capuano of his coaching duties, effective immediately, the team announced. Assistant coach Doug Weight will take over on an interim basis.
The Isles have struggled considerably this season, sitting dead last in the Eastern Conference with a 17-17-8 record but are just eight points out of a playoff position. Their struggles are a vast departure from last season where they qualified for the playoffs and made it to the second round.
There was quite a bit of roster turnover during the offseason as the team let long-term mainstays Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, and Matt Martin go. Their replacements, Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera, have not yet panned out.
GM Garth Snow released the following statement:
“The New York Islanders would like to thank Jack for his tireless work throughout his seven seasons with the organization as Head Coach. His leadership guided the team to the playoffs in three of the past four years, which included two straight 100-point seasons. He is a great coach and an even better person. We wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
Capuano was the fourth longest-tenured coach in the NHL before his departure as he was behind the bench for 482 games, taking over in November of 2010. He had been with the organization in other coaching capacities since 2005. He sits second in franchise history in games coached as well as wins with 227, only behind Hall Of Fame coach Al Arbour.
As part of the press release, Capuano had the following statement regarding his ouster:
“It’s an honor to have served this historic franchise and its passionate fans. I’d like to thank Garth and our ownership group for the opportunity to be the Head Coach of the Islanders. I’d also like to recognize our coaching staff, training staff and players for all of their hard work.”
As for Weight, this will be his first NHL head coaching opportunity. He has been an assistant with the team since his retirement in May of 2011. The team will not be bringing in anyone from outside the organization to join the staff, Newsday’s Arthur Staple reports (Twitter link).
In a conference call with reporters, Snow noted that the team had decided they wouldn’t be brining Capuano back so they decided to make the move now. He added that they will begin their search for a new full-time head coach immediately and wouldn’t rule out naming that replacement before the end of the season, via NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Predators Claim Brad Hunt
It’s a new team, but the same division for veteran defenseman Brad Hunt. After being placed on waivers by the St. Louis Blues yesterday, TSN’s Bob McKenzie now reports that Hunt is headed to the Central rival Nashville Predators. The small, puck-moving defenseman has scored five points in nine games with the Blues this season, his first with the team, and has 29 points in 23 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
The St. Louis Blues continue to have bad luck with waivers, as just last week they lost Ty Rattie to the Carolina Hurricanes when they tried to move the young forward to the minors. This time they’ve lost some valuable blue line depth, as the 28-year-old Hunt had finally showed signs of breaking through at the NHL level this season. Prior to 2016-17, Hunt had toiled in the AHL for years, unable to make much of a difference when called up to the NHL by the Edmonton Oilers. His numbers in the minors have been impeccable, a total of 204 points over the past four-plus seasons, and as a defenseman no less, but he had just three points in 21 games over three seasons with the Oilers. However, Hunt signed on with the Blues this summer and in nine games with the team has already surpassed his previous NHL career total.
He’ll now get a chance to replicate that production on a Nashville team that runs its offense through its defense. With stars Roman Josi and P.K. Subban injured and Anthony Bitetto banged up for much of the season, the Preds were in need of some depth with the likes of Matt Irwin and Petter Granberg (who is also headed to IR) currently playing major minutes. They get a similar size and skill set to Ryan Ellis in Hunt, who is likely to fit in well in Nashville. It appears to be another shrewd pick-up by Predators GM David Poile, one of the NHL’s best. This is the Predators’ third waiver claim this season, having already gained and lost Reid Boucher and recently added Derek Grant.
Penguins Place Kris Letang On IR
Five days ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins were riding high with a five-game winning streak. Now, they’ve lost three games in a row and will be without their best defenseman for the foreseeable future.
The team placed Kris Letang on Injured Reserve (IR) on Monday morning; Letang left Saturday night’s loss in Detroit after just two minutes of ice-time, in which he scored a goal. The injury came exactly one month after his last injury, which was also a lower-body injury.
In a following move, the Penguins recalled winger Jake Guentzel and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins. Guentzel has 42 points in 31 AHL games, with three goals and an assist in five games at the NHL level. Ruhwedel has 16 points in 28 games in the AHL, and has a goal and assist in five NHL games.
According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, these were the lines when the Penguins skated on Monday morning:
Sheary-Crosby-Rust
Guentzel-Malkin-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel
Kunitz-Cullen-WilsonMaatta-Daley
Cole-Schultz
Warsofsky-Ruhwedel-Oleksy
Cap Friendly reports that the Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) savings from Pascal Dupuis and Brian Dumoulin are enough for the Penguins to make the recalls, meaning Letang won’t be out long enough to warrant being placed on LTIR.
Letang has only played a full season once, back in 2010-11. Since then, he’s played just 293 of a possible 452 regular season games. Despite his injury history, Letang has 246 points in those 293 games.
Replacing Letang’s offense will fall to the rest of the Penguins’ defense core; most notably Justin Schultz will need to continue his renaissance season. Schultz has 26 points in 42 games this season, which represents the best offensive pace of his NHL career after several poor years which got him traded out of Edmonton.
Ryan Callahan Out Four Weeks
Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Ryan Callahan has had nothing but bad luck when it comes to hip issues this year and that trend will continue as he will miss the next four weeks as the problems linger, the team announced (Twitter link). He has already missed the last three games because of the soreness.
This isn’t the first time this season that Callahan has missed time due to hip problems as he underwent surgery in the offseason which caused him to miss the first few weeks of the year. Callahan noted he played with hip pain during the second half of the 2015-16 season. He also missed 15 games this year while resting the hip from late November into early January.
Callahan has played in just 18 games for the Lightning this season, scoring twice while adding a pair of assists. He’s signed for three more seasons beyond this one with a cap hit of $5.75MM and while Tampa Bay will be looking to shed some salary this summer, Callahan’s contract and injury problems will make him extremely difficult to move.
The 31 year old is one of four Tampa forwards out of the lineup although Brayden Point is nearing a return to action from his upper body injury. Steven Stamkos remains out long-term as he recovers from knee surgery while J.T. Brown is hoping to return by the end of the month from an upper body issue.