Mark Borowiecki Suspended Two Games
Ottawa Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki has been suspended for two games for boarding Kings winger Tyler Toffoli on Saturday. He received a major penalty for the hit, which incited a scrum. Toffoli left the game, but later returned.
Borowiecki will miss Sunday’s game in Anaheim and Wednesday’s home game against San Jose. Borowiecki is eligible to return to the lineup on Saturday when New Jersey visits the Senators.
As Director of Player Safety Patrick Burke explains in the suspension video, “Toffoli comes back into his defensive zone to retrieve the puck. Toffoli sees Borowiecki coming, and turns his back to protect the puck. With sufficient time to avoid or minimize the hit, Borowiecki instead forcefully hits through Toffoli’s numbers, driving him dangerously into the glass.”
Borowiecki has one assist and is -1 in 28 games this season, while averaging 13:42 per game.
Josh Jooris Claimed By Arizona
Just two days after trading for Peter Holland, the Arizona Coyotes have made another cheap addition at center, claiming Josh Jooris on waivers from the New York Rangers, according to Chris Johnston.
The 26-year-old center has just two points (1-1-2) in 12 games with the Rangers this season. He signed a one-year contract worth $600K back in July after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Calgary Flames. Jooris was an undrafted free agent signing by the Flames back in 2013. He played two seasons at the NHL level, scoring 37 points in 119 games. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Jooris has been unable to find success in New York. He’s averaging less than 10 minutes per game in his last five appearances.
With the Coyotes missing Brad Richardson for the foreseeable future, and Martin Hanzal on the trade block, GM John Chayka will need Holland and Jooris to be solid NHLers as Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak develop into dependable contributors.
Coyotes Place Max Domi On IR
The Arizona Coyotes have placed sophomore forward Max Domi on Injured Reserved, reported first by AZSports Craig Morgan. The move is retroactive to last Thursday when Domi exited the Coyotes game against the Flames after fighting Flames forward Garnet Hathaway.
The Coyotes called Domi week-to-week, and the earliest he can return is next Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. Domi will be missed—he’s second in team scoring with 5G and 11A. Domi is on pace to match last year’s surprising rookie production of 18G and 34A in 81 games. The team is 28th in scoring right now, and Domi’s absence will not help matters.
Domi’s injury gives struggling forward—and fellow sophomore prospect—Anthony Duclair an opportunity to turn his fate around. Duclair has struggled mightily this season with only 1G and 3A in 25 games. A midseason improvement could spark interest in the forward after rumors circulated that the Coyotes would entertain offers for the young forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Leafs Trade Peter Holland To Arizona
3:10pm: Sarah McLellan of AZ Central Sports reports via Twitter that the Coyotes will send a sixth-round choice to Toronto should the team re-sign Holland or trade the six-year veteran pivot. Essentially this serves as a four month tryout with Holland given the chance to prove to Coyotes management he can be a useful contributor at the NHL level. Should the team decide to go in a different direction and assuming they are unable to move trade him, the Coyotes apparently will be out nothing but a minimal prorated payroll commitment, an amount around $800K.
1:27pm: The Maple Leafs have cleared up their situation with Peter Holland as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they are dealing him to Arizona in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Craig Morgan of AZ Sports confirmed (Twitter link) the trade with Coyotes GM John Chayka although the draft pick details are still unknown.
Holland has been away from the team since being told to stay home from Toronto’s road trip in late November. He has played in just eight games so far this season, recording one assist while averaging 10:43 per game.
The 25 year old has been on the outs with the Leafs dating back to the offseason, where they placed him on waivers in advance of his salary arbitration hearing. He wound up clearing and settled shortly thereafter on a one year, $1.3MM contract. He will be a restricted free agent once again this offseason.
Holland was a first round pick of the Ducks (15th overall) back in 2009 but never really made a mark in Anaheim, playing in just 29 games over two seasons with the team before being dealt to Toronto. In his career, he has played in 203 NHL games between Anaheim and the Maple Leafs, scoring 30 goals while adding 40 assists.
Holland should fill a bottom six role with the Coyotes and will likely take the place of Brad Richardson, who is out long-term with a broken tibia and fibula in his leg.
[Related: Coyotes Depth Chart]
Ryan Garbutt Clears Waivers
December 9: Garbutt has cleared waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).
December 8: According to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, the Anaheim Ducks have decided to put forward Ryan Garbutt on waivers Thursday morning. This likely means the return of Rickard Rakell to the Ducks lineup is imminent, after missing the last few games with an upper-body injury. The team had brought up Stefan Noesen recently to fill in, but since the 23-year old is also waivers-eligible, the team doesn’t want to expose him by sending him back down.
Garbutt, signed to a three-year, $5.4MM deal in 2014 and is owed $2MM of actual salary this season (though, as Ducks8 points out down below, the Dallas Stars retained half of that hit) due to the back-loaded nature of the deal. Though the price tag is reduced, it still seems unlikely that he’ll be claimed as the 31-year old has not been able to repeat the 32 point season that earned him the deal. With just three points in 27 games this season, he is ticketed for the AHL’s San Diego Gulls for at least the immediate future.
Islanders Sign Cal Clutterbuck To Five Year Extension
The New York Islanders announced that they have signed right winger Cal Clutterbuck to a five year extension that runs through the 2021-22 season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the deal will carry a cap hit of $3.5MM. That represents a $750K raise on his current $2.75MM cap hit but matches the salary he’s earning this season.
Clutterbuck is in his fourth season with New York after being acquired from Minnesota for Nino Niederreiter back in June of 2013. He was named an alternate captain for the team at the beginning of the season.
This year, the 29 year old has played in 25 games, scoring twice while adding seven assists. He has also seen his role increase; after spending most of his time as a fourth liner in previous years, he has spent more time in the middle six this season.
[Related: Islanders Depth Chart]
In his career, Clutterbuck has played in 597 games between the Wild and Islanders, picking up 98 goals, 79 assists, and 469 penalty minutes.
With the deal, the Islanders have committed over $66MM in payroll to the 2017-18 season, per CapFriendly. Remaining among their free agents next offseason are defenseman Calvin de Haan (RFA), defenseman Dennis Seidenberg (UFA), and goaltender Thomas Greiss (UFA).
The breakdown of the contract is as follows per CapFriendly:
2017-18: $5MM
2018-19: $4MM
2019-20: $3.5MM
2020-21: $2.5MM
2021-22: $2.5MM
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Alex Galchenyuk And David Desharnais Both Expected Out 6 To 8 Weeks
Bad news for the Montreal Canadiens as not one but two of their top forwards will be out long-term. Going into last night’s game, a loss to the St. Louis Blues, Montreal had made it known that Alex Galchenyuk would be out “indefinitely” with an undisclosed lower-body injury. However, David Desharnais was injured late in the game as well and did not return. In a short press release tonight, the Canadiens announced that, after inspection by team doctors, both players have been diagnosed with knee injuries expected to keep them out of action for up to two months. No more information has yet been released as to the type or extent of either injury.
Just like that, the Canadiens are reeling. After a historically strong start yet again this season, injuries are slowing Montreal down for the second year in a row. Last season, the loss of all-world goalie Carey Price knocked the Habs out the playoff picture much quicker than anyone thought. Now, they’ll have to deal with their top two centers both out during the middle months of the season With a 4-4-2 record in their last ten games, Montreal’s play had already regressed and that was with Galchenyuk and Desharnais healthy. Can they survive this blow or will it be 2015-16 all over again?
Galchenyuk was on pace for a career year, after the Canadiens handed him the reins as the top line center this season. After a strong campaign last year with 56 points, his first 30-goal season, and a clean bill of health with 82 games played, Galchenyuk was ready to better those marks in 2016-17. The 22-year-old was on nearly a point-per-game pace, with 23 points in 25 games. Desharnais, on the other hand, has gotten off to a much slower start to the new season with just nine points in 25 games. However, since fighting his way up from the ECHL and establishing himself as a star with his 60 point season in 2011-12, Desharnais has been a consistent and productive force for the Canadiens.
The loss of two starting centers at once would cripple any team, but Montreal’s situation is made worse by the apparent cliff dive that long-time center Tomas Plekanec‘s career has taken this season. A perennial leader for the Habs, Plekanac has been relied on as a top scorer in Montreal every year since 2005-06. Now 34 years old, that production has dried up for the Czech pivot. Plekanac has just two goals and seven assists in 26 games and has been relegated to third line duty with his least amount of ice time per game in over a decade. Many have speculated that Montreal may even consider leaving Plekanac exposed in the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft, in hopes that the Vegas Golden Knights would take the final $6MM year of his contract off of their hands. Instead, this is now the player that the Canadiens will have to lean on for the next six to eight weeks to keep them afloat. Other options down the middle include veteran Torrey Mitchell, youngsters Phillip Danault and Michael McCarron, or a shift off of the wing for a player like Andrew Shaw, Paul Byron, or Brian Flynn. For now, the Canadiens have recalled forward Sven Andrighetto from St. John’s of the AHL to fill a hole up front. Expect more moves in the coming days, including a possible trade for a player like Martin Hanzal or Patrik Berglund.
Montreal’s rivals in the Atlantic Division are celebrating tonight, as it will be a difficult task for this team to keep up their championship-caliber appearance without Galchenyuk and Desharnais. Galchenyuk is likely second only to Max Pacioretty as far the team’s most valuable forward, and while several others are better than Desharnais, shorthanding any one position like this makes his loss sting more than most others. Without their two top centers until possibly February, the Canadiens are in a tough spot. The prognosis on either injury could have been worse, but this is still somewhat of a nightmare scenario in Montreal.
[Related: Montreal Canadiens Depth Chart]
Toronto Wins Jared Cowen Arbitration Case
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won their arbitration case with defenseman Jared Cowen, according to multiple hockey insiders including Elliotte Friedman and Bob McKenzie.
Cowen will remain an unrestricted free agent, as Toronto’s buyout of his contract was deemed legal. Back in January, Frank Seravalli of TSN reported that a buyout of Cowen’s contract would give a team a $650K cap credit for 2016-17, and count for $750K against the cap in 2017-18.
Shortly thereafter, the Maple Leafs acquired Cowen in the Dion Phaneuf trade. Cowen did not play a single game for Toronto as GM Lou Lamorellio sent him home to home await a buyout in March; Cowen’s agent was given permission to speak with other teams about signing as a UFA. Cowen was sent home because the CBA stipulates that an injured player cannot be bought out, so the Maple Leafs did not want to risk him re-injuring his hip and being unable to be bought out. However, Cowen and his agent grieved the eventual buyout for that exact reason: they believed he was hurt and therefore ineligible to be bought out.
The two sides met with the arbitrator on October 19, and ultimately the arbitrator ruled that there was no evidence that Cowen was unfit to play when the Maple Leafs bought him out in July.
Prior to this decision, Cowen was a free agent in the eyes of the NHL. He remains free to sign with any team, and the Maple Leafs remain at 48 contracts with the cap credit for this season.
Friedman’s Latest: Cap, Islanders, Purcell, Cowen
In the latest edition of his wonderful 30 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman touched on a wide variety of topics of interest to hockey fans, including where the salary cap is expected to land for the 2017-18 season.
- At this month’s GM meetings, managers are expecting to receive a preliminary number for the salary cap. Friedman reported that a couple GMs are “hoping for $75MM.”
That would be an increase of $2MM over the current $73MM ceiling. Last summer, the cap went up by just $1.6MM, which was a smaller increase than what most teams were expecting, and also one of the smaller increases in cap history. The cap has risen by more than $3MM six times since it was implemented in 2005-06. - After discussing the New York Islanders management situation, Friedman joked that “one day I’m going to ply GM Garth Snow with enough truth serum to find out how hard he planned to go after Steven Stamkos, what he was going to offer, and how that affected his July 1, 2016 decisions.”
The off-season did not go as planned for the Islanders, who lost Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen to free agency and replaced them with Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera. Ladd has just three goals and six points this season, and is signed for seven years. He’s a prominent member of Pro Hockey Rumors’ 2016 UFA All-Bust Team. - As we speculated when he was placed on waivers, the Los Angeles Kings had tried to trade Teddy Purcell before placing him on waivers. However, they were not willing to take a contract back, as we suggested most teams would offer. Friedman suggested Ottawa could have interest, as Purcell previously played for Senators head coach Guy Boucher when the pair were in Tampa Bay, but it doesn’t work at the moment for budget reasons. Friedman says he “wouldn’t be surprised if someone takes a chance” later in the season
- Finally, with Jared Cowen‘s arbitration result due to come later today, Friedman pointed out that a Cowen win would “wreak havoc” on next year’s cap for the Maple Leafs because of rookie bonus overages. Currently Cowen’s buyout is a $650K cap credit for Toronto, but that could change to a $3.1MM cap hit depending on whether or not the arbitrator deems Cowen was healthy enough to buy-out in the summer (numbers via Cap Friendly).
Jhonas Enroth Clears Waivers, Toronto Signs Karri Ramo To AHL Tryout
December 6: Enroth has cleared waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link). He will be sent down to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies; Antoine Bibeau has been recalled to take his place.
Unrestricted free agent goalie Karri Ramo, who has been skating with the Leafs over the last month as he recovers from ACL surgery, has inked a tryout deal with the Marlies, TSN’s Kristen Shilton adds (via Twitter). This will only further fuel the speculation that Ramo’s eventual destination will be with the Maple Leafs as the new backup to Frederik Andersen once he’s back in playing shape.
December 5: The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Jhonas Enroth on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman.
Enroth has not won this year, with an 0-3-1 record in four starts and two relief appearances. He was expected to be a dependable backup who could play 20 games with good numbers. He’s signed for this season at $750K.
Enroth’s career numbers before this season were respectable for a backup, with a 0.911 SV% and a 2.80 GAA in seven years in the NHL. In his six appearances this season, he has a 0.872 SV% and goals-against average of just under four.
Coach Mike Babcock said Enroth “wasn’t playing well enough,” according to Mark Masters.
James Mirtle, Editor-in-chief of The Athletic Toronto, tweeted that the Maple Leafs only gave Enroth four starts, which Mirtle called “rough.” He expects the Leafs to go after Karri Ramo, who practiced with the team last month. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported Ramo is nearing medical clearance from his knee injury. Ramo’s career numbers in his current NHL stint are extremely similar to Enroth’s: they have the same SV% and a nearly identical GAAs.
In our ranking of the Top 50 UFAs last summer, Pro Hockey Rumors ranked Enroth 50th. We called him one of the best backup goalies in the NHL. Enroth signed with the Maple Leafs in late August.