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Boston Bruins Lose Noel Acciari For Four Weeks

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The Boston Bruins will be shorthanded for a while, as they announced today that forward Noel Acciari will miss four weeks with a lower-body injury. The rookie suffered the injury Monday night against the Buffalo Sabres.

Signed out of Providence College last summer, Acciari split time between the NHL and AHL Bruins lineups last season, scoring 20 total points in 64 games. The 24-year old centerman currently ranks third on the team in hits and provides an up-tempo game for the team’s bottom-six. Skating with Dominic Moore and Tim Schaller, he’s contributed two assists this season.

While losing Acciari doesn’t cripple the Bruins lineup, it does take out an effective checking forward who had been used often on the penalty kill. Jimmy Hayes made his way back into the lineup in his absence, and will try to show that he can still be an effective member of this team, after putting up 29 points last year. The 26-year old has started the season pointless in his first eleven contests.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Fined $2000 For Diving

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According to multiple sources, including Stephen Whyno of AP, Arizona Coyotes star defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been fined $2000 by the league for embellishment. The incidents occurred October 25th against the New Jersey Devils, for which he was issued a warning, and November 3rd against the Nashville Predators.

Under rule 64 of the NHL Rule Book:

Any player who blatantly dives, embellishes a fall or a reaction, or who feigns an injury shall be penalized. 

The accompanying memorandum that dealt with fines for diving gives a graduated scale for the fines, capping it at at $5000 fee for both player and coach. Many other players have already been dinged by these fines, including Nazem Kadri, Nail Yakupov and Martin Hanzal. Kadri is the only player so far that has received more than two citations.

While this isn’t groundbreaking news, it does mean that the league will be watching Ekman-Larsson more carefully, and perhaps he’ll be less likely to draw penalties. After his next citation, the coach will also start to get fined – something Dave Tippett will probably not react too favorably to.

Blues Notes: Fabbri, Hutton, Gunnarsson

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After scratching former first-overall pick Nail Yakupov for three straight games, St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock will now sit down another highly regarded forward according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. Yakupov will dress tonight in place of Robby Fabbri, the Blues’ first-round pick from 2014. Hitchcock explained his decision (via Korac):

You have to make a decision whether you want to be in the group of 14, or you want to stay in that top 9 or 10.

It’s all connected to tenacity…goals and assists I don’t look at.

This will be the first time in his (albeit short) career that Fabbri will be a healthy scratch, after having a successful rookie campaign last season. The 20-year old scored 18 goals and 37 points playing most of the year as a teenager and looked like a future star in the league. Though this obviously doesn’t mean much for Fabbri’s future, sitting him in the press box is a strong message that they need more from him; he’s currently sitting on just four points in 14 games.

  • The team announced that Carter Hutton will be in net tonight when they take on the Nashville Predators, his old team. Hutton spent the past three seasons with the club, recording a 33-23-12 record and strong .910 save percentage. After the Blues dealt Brian Elliott to the Flames this summer, they were in need of a backup to Jake Allen and Hutton fit the bill perfectly. The 30-year old took a little longer to develop, but is now showing his worth; he’s carrying a .926 through four games.
  • The Blues have recalled Chris Butler for tonight’s game due to some lingering injuries on the back end. As Korac reports, it’s just precautionary should anyone not be able to go after the warmups. Hitchcock singled out Carl Gunnarsson as the most noticable injury. Butler has played eleven games for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL this season, recording two points and eight penalty minutes.

Vancouver Canucks Send Jake Virtanen To AHL

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2:57pm: GM Jim Benning told reporters, including Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province, that Virtanen will play on Friday and Saturday with Utica, Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, and will then be recalled back to the NHL.

1:49pm: In a somewhat-shocking decision, the Vancouver Canucks have sent Jake Virtanen to the AHL. The 20-year old forward has just one assist in ten games with the Canucks this season.

While Virtanen has been mostly ineffective this season (as has most of the Canucks roster), it’s surprising that the team would send their young prospect down just ten games into the season, after seeing him play 55 games with the club a season ago.  The team has given him barely any ice time this season, leading Virtanen to question Willie Desjardins’ decision to keep him on the fourth line.

Drafted sixth overall in 2014, Virtanen hasn’t become the top player that Vancouver had hoped. While other top picks from that draft are finding success across the league – namely William Nylander and Nikolaj Ehlers, drafted 8th and 9th respectively – Virtanen has yet to find his stride in the NHL.

It’s way too early to make a claim of “bust” for Virtanen, who only turned 20 on August 17th of this year, but for a team like Vancouver who are stuck somewhere between trying to compete and trying to rebuild, it would be a huge boost if he could find his offensive game.  Now, he’ll have to look in the minors, a place that is totally unfamiliar to him. Virtanen has only played two games in the AHL in his career.

Cole Schneider Recalled By Buffalo Sabres

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According to John Vogl of the Buffalo News, the Sabres will recall forward Cole Schneider prior to tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators. No word on a corresponding move, though as reported earlier Ryan O’Reilly is questionable and Tyler Ennis is out.

Schneider is an established AHL scorer off to a blistering start this season with the Rochester Americans. Fifteen points in ten games leads the club and ties him for the league lead. A three time 20-goal scorer, he’s proven his offensive ability at the lower level and now much try to prove that he can contribute in the NHL.

The Sabres currently find themselves at the bottom of the Atlantic Division and looking for a way to score more goals; they currently rank 29th in goals for with just 25 in 12 games.

Atlantic Notes: Leafs Skate, Soshnikov, Blunden

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In a scene from a mid-90’s sports movie, the power went out at Maple Leafs practice today as the team was put through a hard practice by head coach Mike Babcock. The Leafs lost 7-0 to the Los Angeles Kings last night and, as Morgan Rielly put it (via Pierre LeBrun)“I think we all understood if we didnt skate last night we were going to skate today.” The young Leafs were on a three game winning streak before getting dismantled by the experienced Kings.

  • Also from practice today, Nikita Soshnikov was absent according to David Alter of NHL.com. With a groin injury, the coaching staff didn’t want to put him through the high-tempo practice. Soshnikov only just returned from injury a few games ago, but has contributed two points already and saw time with Auston Matthews during the loss.
  • Despite saying that Craig Anderson would be the starter whenever he was with the team, Mike Condon will start for the Sens tonight, according to head coach Guy Boucher. Condon recorded a shutout in his first game for the Sens last week.
  • Mike Blunden will be recalled from Binghamton to play tonight for the Senators, though no word has been given on who he’ll be replacing. The 29-year old has four points in nine AHL games thus far.
  • According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Jonathan Drouin is working out on his own, and still has no timetable to return to the Lightning. Drouin was injured a week ago on a hit from Calvin de Haan. Coach Jon Cooper says he’s “gradually coming along” in his recovery.

Early Returns: The Best Deals Of The Offseason

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When teams go into free agent frenzy each season, their boards are filled with superstar names and dream scenarios. “If we could only get..” say the fans, filling out possible lineups and trying out the squads in their favorite hockey simulator.  Millions and millions of dollars are spent bringing in players who are expected to lead the team.

It’s the ones who don’t earn millions that we’ll take a look at here though; the players who barely got an NHL contract but are still providing solid results early on.  Here are some of the best deals of the offseason, a dozen games in.

Jon Marchessault (FLA): 13GP-7G-6A-13P, $750,000

With 13 points in 13 games, Marchessault is the biggest story out of Florida these days. Skating alongside Jaromir Jagr and Alexander Barkov will help anyone, but he’s been effective nonetheless. The diminutive forward scored just 18 points for the Lightning in 2015-16 but is sure to blow by that this season. More upside for Florida, as they have the 25-year old for another year.

Matt Cullen (PIT): 12GP-3G-6A-9P, $1,000,000

Cullen hasn’t seemed to slow down any after another long season with the cup champions. Suiting up for 106 games between the regular season and playoffs, he keeps showing that even at 40 he can be a positive contributor in the NHL. Off to a great start, Cullen has a shot of surpassing the 32 points he put up last season, which seemed impossible coming into the year. Even if he doesn’t get 16 goals once again, he’s obviously a big part of the Penguins this season.

Michael Grabner (NYR): 13GP-7G-3A-10P, $1,650,000

How does a 29-year old, former 34 goal scorer only get a deal which pays $1.65MM per season? Score only 31 points in two seasons and establish yourself as a penalty kill-only type player. While Grabner isn’t expected to be that 34-goal man anymore, he’s off to a blistering start in New York and will almost surely post his first double-digit goal year since 2013-14. The Rangers have him for another year at the low price.

Dennis Seidenberg (NYI): 13GP-4G-4A-8P, $1,000,000

After being bought out from the remainder of his deal, Seidenberg had to look for a deal in a good situation to try and rebuild his value. At 35, he’s showing that he’s not done yet. The German defender has been logging almost 20 minutes a night for the Islanders and has been an effective even-strength player, something that couldn’t always be said about him. Four goals is already the most he’s scored since 2012-13, and he’s on track to contribute at least 20 points for the first time since 2011-12.

 

Nashville Returns Harry Zolnierczyk To Milwaukee

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The Nashville Predators have assigned Harry Zolnierczyk to the AHL today, after playing just one game for the big club this season. The forward was originally called up when the team came down with food poisoning, but was a scratch for most of the season.

The 29-year old has been in limbo between the AHL and NHL for the last few years, able to jump onto a fourth line at any time but hardly getting any chances. Once a pretty strong scoring threat in the AHL, Zolnierczyk has only played 29 games since the end of the 2014-15 season.

The demotion might mean that captain Mike Fisher is close to a return; he’s been out with an upper-body injury since last Tuesday. Listed as day-to-day, getting Fisher back into the lineup would be an important move for a struggling Predators team.

LeBrun’s Latest: Budaj, Trouba, Hanzal

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When the Los Angeles Kings lost not just Jonathan Quick but Jeff Zatkoff as well in the span of a few days, panic immediately set in for a franchise known for its excellent goaltending over the years. Even with Peter Budaj, an experienced NHL netminder coming in to start, the team was looking everywhere to find some help in net.  That might have come to an end, says Pierre LeBrun in his latest column, as Budaj has performed extremely well and Zatkoff is back from injury. The team has stopped looking for help and is at least somewhat comfortable with the Budaj/Zatkoff tandem for now.

Budaj, the AHL goalie of the year in 2015-16, has posted a .912 save percentage and 2.06 GAA in ten games, including a shutout of the Calgary Flames on Saturday. The former Colorado and Montreal netminder has a ton of NHL experience over the years, and at 34 is still playing well enough to help the Kings. Zatkoff will likely figure in a bit more as the season stretches on, though he does have much less experience.

  • Even though Jacob Trouba has signed on for two years and said that he’s ’committed’ to the Winnipeg Jets, doesn’t sway LeBrun from thinking he’ll eventually be dealt. Though head coach Paul Maurice has said he’ll use Trouba in a variety of situations in order to keep him involved, the conviction that led to his holdout can’t possibly have all dissipated at this point. Trouba still wants to be a top pairing blueliner on the right side, something that simply won’t happen in Winnipeg, at least not right now.
  • It’s an open competition in Colorado now, as the net will be shared between Semyon Varlamov and Calvin Pickard. Though Varlamov came into the season as the clear No. 1, the younger Pickard has played extremely well and forced himself into the conversation. A .946 save percentage even if it is just a few games. With the Avalanche going after a playoff spot this year, they can’t afford to wait for Varlamov’s game to come around.
  • When you turn your calendar over to February in a few months, make sure you make a note to watch for Martin Hanzal rumors. LeBrun feels as though the Coyotes center – who’s injured at the moment – is an easy pick for a deadline deal. An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, he’s always had the talent to change a game. Health has always been a factor for Hanzal though, who just can’t seem to stick in a lineup for a full year. LeBrun believes that the Coyotes would need a young player, and not just picks, in return.

David Warsofsky Sent Back To AHL

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned defenseman David Warsofsky to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. The 26-year old had played just four games with the NHL club this season, recording zero points.

Originally a fourth-round pick by the St. Louis Blues, Warsofsky is carving out a journeyman-like existence in the NHL, and has now been a part of four different organizations. Last season, he was claimed off waivers from the Penguins by the New Jersey Devils, before eventually re-signing with Pittsburgh in the offseason.

With the Penguins on a three game home stand that begins tomorrow against the Edmonton Oilers, they can easily recall a defenseman should an injury occur. Warsofsky meanwhile can head to the AHL and stay sharp until his next recall.

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