Snapshots: Wheeler, Khudobin, De Haan
The Winnipeg Jets could get quite the emotional boost tonight, as captain Blake Wheeler is expected to play in his 1,000th career NHL game Sunday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Winnipeg is just 4-5-1 in their last ten games and has fallen out of playoff position in the Western Conference, but they’re carrying some momentum after a chaotic 8-4 win against the New Jersey Devils on Friday. The Leafs, however, enter the game without the services of Mitch Marner for a second straight game and are on the second half of a back-to-back. Saturday night saw them erase a 3-0 second-period deficit against the Minnesota Wild but only took home one point with a 4-3 shootout loss. It’s an important game for the Jets and Wheeler, who’s yet to score a goal this season and has just 10 assists in 18 games. It’s a slow start for the normally consistent Wheeler, who’s had at least 15 goals in every season of his 14-year career. He enters his 1,000th game with 279 goals and 538 assists for 817 points.
Some more snapshots from around the NHL on this Sunday morning:
- Coming in at No. 5 on The Fourth Period’s Trade Watch List 2021-22 is Dallas Stars goalie Anton Khudobin. Over the weekend, multiple reports appeared suggesting the Stars were actively trying to find a trade partner for the 35-year-old Khudobin. With just a 3-3-1 record and .873 save percentage on the year, he’s quickly becoming the odd man out in a crowded goalie situation in the Lone Star state. Offseason addition Braden Holtby is having somewhat of a renaissance season with a .927 save percentage in 10 starts, while up-and-comer Jake Oettinger has yet to lose this season and has a .951 save percentage in five starts. Oettinger began the season in the AHL but it’s becoming apparent that after a promising rookie campaign last year, he’s simply too good for a third-string role. Khudobin has two seasons left on his contract with a $3.33MM cap hit and has a four-team no-trade list in effect this season, per CapFriendly.
- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Calvin de Haan also finds himself on that same Trade Watch List. Listed at No. 7, de Haan has no points in 21 games this season but has been solid defensively on a Blackhawks team that sits in the bottom-ten in the league in goals against. The 30-year-old has oft appeared in trade rumors, and as he’s in the final year of his contract with a $4.55MM cap hit, those won’t be quieting down anytime soon.
Nic Dowd Placed In COVID Protocol
Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd has entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol ahead of the team’s game Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, per a team tweet. He did not practice today, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
It continues what’s been a rough season health-wise for Dowd, who’s already spent time on injured reserve and has been limited to 16 out of Washington’s 24 games. It’s not been all bad news for the Alabama native, though, as he inked a three-year extension with the team last month.
In those 16 games, Dowd’s played extremely well, scoring three goals and four assists for seven points. He’s averaging 14:03 per game, an elevated role due to the onslaught of injuries the Capitals have faced early on in 2021-22.
Michael Sgarbossa, who has a goal in four games this season, will likely draw into the lineup. He’s Washington’s only remaining extra healthy skater.
In terms of players with NHL experience in the minors, Axel Jonsson Fjallby or Garrett Pilon could be called up, but they would both require waivers to be sent back down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Los Angeles Kings Place Kale Clague On Waivers
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Los Angeles Kings placed defenseman Kale Clague on waivers today.
This is Clague’s second time on waivers this season. The Kings waived him on October 2, prior to the start of the season, and he passed through unclaimed.
With Drew Doughty returning from injured reserve earlier this week and the re-acquisition of Christian Wolanin on waivers, the Kings had nine defensemen on the active roster. It’s telling that the team opted to expose Clague to the rest of the league rather than send down Michael Anderson, Tobias Bjornfot, or Sean Durzi, all of whom do not require waivers.
Clague’s performed well at the minor-league level in recent seasons, including four assists in five games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign this year, but hasn’t been able to play his way into a full-time NHL role just yet. There’s likely still a bright future ahead for the 23-year-old, who was drafted 51st overall by the Kings in 2016.
In 11 games with the big club this season, Clague has five points in 11 games while registering a -2 rating and averaging 17:49 per game.
Minor Transactions: 12/2/21
It’s been a busy day for news at the NHL level, with unfortunately a high number of COVID protocol placements over the past few days. It’s caused a ripple effect across leagues, with teams making rapid roster transactions in order to keep up. Here’s a list of today’s minor transactions across the hockey world:
- Netminder Evan Fitzpatrick has been sent back down to the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Fitzpatrick was a high draft pick (59th overall) of the St. Louis Blues in 2016 but was left unqualified this offseason after some rough stints in the ECHL. He joined the Panthers on a PTO for training camp, didn’t earn a deal, but stayed in the organization on a minor-league deal. He’s having a much better start to this season – despite a 1-3-0 record, he’s posted a .927 save percentage.
Justin Faulk Enters COVID Protocol
The St. Louis Blues announced Thursday, just minutes ahead of their game against Tampa Bay, that defenseman Justin Faulk has been placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
Faulk, who’s in the second year of a seven-year, $45.5MM contract, is having his best season in a Blues uniform. He leads the team in +/- (+9) and is tied for the team lead in points among defensemen (10), all while averaging more than 23 minutes per game.
He joins forward Tyler Bozak and goalie Jordan Binnington as the Blues on the protocol list. James Neal, Klim Kostin, and David Perron are all injured, adding to their list of absences.
Jake Walman will dress against Tampa Bay in place of Faulk. He’s played in 14 games this season, notching two assists.
Brendan Lemieux Suspended Five Games For Biting
The NHL Department of Player Safety today suspended Los Angeles Kings forward Brendan Lemieux for five games for biting Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk.
The incident occurred in a game Saturday, a 4-2 Los Angeles victory. Lemieux was originally assessed a match penalty and two roughing penalties on the play, which occurred with 6:09 left in regulation.
The Department of Player Safety’s argument for the suspension revolves mainly around the clear and evident biting motion of Lemieux, as demonstrated by video evidence. Their video explanation of the ruling states as follows:
Tkachuk spins and drops his gloves to immediately engage with the player who has grabbed him. Lemieux drops his gloves and the two grab a hold of each other, wrestling briefly before Tkachuk takes Lemieux down to the ice. While on the ice, Lemieux, feeling Tkachuk’s hands on his face as they wrestle, bites Tkachuk on his bare left hand and does so with a substantial amount of force.
While circumstantial evidence supports the argument that Lemieux may have bitten Tkachuk multiple times during this fight, we are limiting our review of this incident to the bite that occurs almost immediately after the players fall to the ice… due to a lack of evidence, this decision does not include an analysis of how Tkachuk ended up bleeding from his right hand. We have heard Lemieux’s argument that the puncture may have been caused in this moment by Tkachuk punching him on the tooth with force sufficient to cause a puncture wound. The video evidence does not support this version of events. This is not a hockey play.
Lemieux has already been fined once and suspended twice, adding to the gravity of the suspension.
Snapshots: Doughty, Brind’Amour, Clarke
Ahead of Tuesday night’s rivalry game against the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings activated defenseman Drew Doughty from injured reserve today, per a team tweet. Doughty is expected to draw back into his usual top-pairing role alongside Michael Anderson. He’s missed the last 16 games after a knee-on-knee collision with Dallas’ Jani Hakanpaa that the NHL Department of Player Safety deemed accidental. Prior to his injury, Doughty was off to a raucous start with seven points in just four games. Despite having three points in his first two NHL games, it appears as though Sean Durzi will come back out of the lineup to make room for Doughty. With Doughty back in the fold, the Kings will look to improve on their 9-8-3 record and make noise in what could be a very tight Wild Card battle in the Western Conference.
Some other news and notes from around the hockey world today:
- According to a press release, the NHL fined Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour $25,000 today for inappropriate conduct during the team’s Sunday game against Washington. With 4:30 remaining in the third period, Brind’Amour could be seen pacing back and forth around the bench and yelling at the officials, although nothing’s known about what Brind’Amour actually said. He’s racking up a penchant for these fines, as a $25,000 punishment is becoming seemingly a yearly occurrence. The money from the fine will be donated to the NHL Foundation.
- In a shocking move, Los Angeles Kings defense prospect Brandt Clarke, whom they drafted eighth overall in 2021, won’t be invited to Team Canada’s selection camp for the upcoming World Junior Championship as originally reported by Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek. Clarke, who was named captain of the OHL’s Barrie Colts prior to the start of this season, is off to a torrid start with 23 points in just 17 games. Widely regarded as a top-five pick and one of the best defenders available, there was some surprise in the scouting community when Clarke fell to the Kings at eighth overall. The omittance of Clarke from the selection roster is even more shocking when considering his performance at other international tournaments for Canada, including a point-per-game effort last season at the under-18 World Juniors.
Logan Shaw Clears Waivers
Nov 29: Shaw has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the AHL.
Nov 28: In addition to the Sharks’ Evander Kane hitting waivers today, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Ottawa Senators are waiving forward Logan Shaw as well.
With forward Drake Batherson becoming the last Senator to be activated from COVID-19 protocol, Ottawa needed an additional roster spot with waiver claim Adam Gaudette joining the team.
Shaw’s gotten into 16 games with the Sens this season, scoring a goal and two assists while averaging just 9:26 of ice time per game. He spent the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign with the AHL’s Belleville Senators, which is where he’ll be going if he clears waivers on Monday.
Shaw, a veteran of 231 NHL games with Ottawa, Winnipeg, Montreal, Anaheim, and Florida, is in the second year of a $1.45MM two-way contract.
Minor Transactions: 11/28/21
It was a busy day for waiver and front office news, but the litany of transactions doesn’t stop at the NHL level. There have been a variety of transactions today at lower levels of North American hockey. We’ll keep track of those here:
- The AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins have brought in forward Matt Berry on a professional tryout contract from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, per a team release. The 29-year-old ECHL veteran and Michigan State alumnus didn’t play in 2020-21 due to COVID, but has absolutely lit up the ECHL with nine goals and 15 assists through just 15 games with Toledo this season. Undrafted, the Canton, Michigan, native now gets a chance to impress in the Red Wings organization.
- According to the ECHL’s transactions page, the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack recalled defenseman Jeff Taylor from the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen on Sunday. Taylor, originally a seventh-round draft choice by the Penguins in 2014, has failed to replicate the success he had in his first full professional season in 2017-18 after graduating from Union College. However, he’s had a hot start with eight points in 10 games for Jacksonville this season and will now look to try his luck again at the AHL level.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Scott Mellanby Resigns As Canadiens Assistant GM
8:09 pm: The Canadiens have released a statement, confirming that Mellanby has resigned. The team thanks Mellanby for his work but says they have no further comment at this time.
6:49 pm: As originally reported by The Athletic’s Michael Russo, it appears Scott Mellanby will be resigning from his role as an assistant general manager for the Montreal Canadiens.
It’s one of the multiple reports surrounding the state of Montreal’s front office on Saturday night. Minutes before Russo’s report, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canadiens are requesting permission from the New York Rangers to speak with former general manager Jeff Gorton about a role within the organization. While nothing is confirmed, it’s rather logical to believe that they view him as a potential replacement for Mellanby.
Friedman says in his report that the team isn’t inquiring about Gorton with the intention of hiring him as general manager. Current boss Marc Bergevin is in the final season of his contract, and now TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that the “widely held expectation inside the industry” is that the Habs will be hiring a French-speaking general manager to replace Bergevin. While Bergevin’s future with the team is still technically undecided, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that he won’t be back with the team after this season.
Mellanby likely won’t have any issue finding work elsewhere. He’s long been desired by other teams for roles, but Mellanby has opted to stay with the Canadiens when faced with the choice. A veteran of nearly 1,500 NHL games, the 55-year-old Mellanby has been with Montreal since the beginning of Bergevin’s tenure in 2012-13. He’s been the assistant general manager for the past eight of his ten seasons in Montreal.
The Canadiens are just 5-15-2, and their .273 points percentage is third-last in the league.