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Los Angeles Kings Recall Kevin Gravel

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According to Jon Rosen of FOX Sports, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from the AHL to replace Brayden McNabb who was placed on injured reserve this week.

Gravel is a former fifth-round pick who made his NHL debut last season with the Kings, getting into five games. The hulking defenseman has played two successful seasons in the minors since coming out of St. Cloud State, including two long playoff runs. The 24-year old will try to make his mark on the NHL club this time around, and prove that he deserves a longer chance.

For McNabb, it’s rest and rehab as he tries to work back from an upper-body injury suffered Saturday night. The team will try to replace his outstanding possession numbers somehow; Tom Gilbert, first in line to try, will have a disciplinary hearing today over his hit of Nick Ritchie on Tuesday.

Teenage Superstars On A Historic Pace

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The NHL has always been good to its young stars, allowing the top-tier talents to succeed at the earliest of ages. Teenage superstars are not something new, we’ve seen them with every generation. Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Eric Lindros, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky. All have had huge seasons before they were able to drink (in the US at least).

This year, there is a new crop trying to put their name in the history books. Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski, Travis Konecny are all off to blistering starts and look like all-stars already in the league.

There have only ever been 22 seasons in which a teenage player scored at a point-per-game pace (minimum 40 games), but that is what each of these players is close to. Obviously, to keep it up for an entire year is incredibly difficult but it isn’t so long since we’ve seen it happen.

McDavid fought through injury last season to put up 48 points in 45 games, though the second ranked teenage Jack Eichel only had  0.69 PPG. Both teenagers are leaders of their teams already, and expected to lead their franchises to the promised land.

We saw Crosby do it twice, in both 2005-06 and 2006-07. He recorded seasons of 102 and 120 points, actually setting the high mark for his career so far. He was alone though in the teenage group, as Alex Ovechkin lost out on his age-19 season due to a lockout (he’d go on to score 106 points as a 20-year old).

Perhaps the best example of a group this talented, this young, is way back in the early 80’s, when we saw the debuts of Larry Murphy, Denis Savard, Ron Francis, Dale Hawerchuk, Phil Housley and Steve Yzerman, among others. It was an unprecedented youth movement, that defined the game as we know it. While obviously this isn’t quite the same as those all-time greats (especially when speaking after just 10 games), this group should at least compete to have their names put in the all-time teenager lists.

Senators Recall Fredrik Claesson, Max McCormick From AHL

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The Senators have made another couple of tweaks to their NHL roster, bringing up Fredrik Claesson and Max McCormick from Binghamton of the AHL. No word on the corresponding moves yet.

Heading into their matchup with the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, the team has brought up some youth to inject into the lineup. Claesson, a 23-year old defenceman played 16 games with the club last season, and is a solid stay-at-home defender often called Binghamton’s best blueliner. While he doesn’t provide a ton of upside, he excels at winning puck battles and providing a first pass out of the zone.

McCormick, on the other hand is a bottom-six forward with a ton of grit and energy. He’s always in hard on a forecheck, and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves if he has to. While he’s not big by any means, he does provide a physical nature to his line, and can catch unsuspecting defenders napping with a hard shot. McCormick got into 20 games with the Senators last season, scoring two goals and notching two assists.

Atlantic Division Snapshots: Spooner, Carlo, Detroit

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Until either Jacob Trouba signs a new deal with Winnipeg or is finally traded away to a club willing to meet the Jets high asking price, you can expect to see countless rumors linking the young blue liner to anyone in need of a right-shot defender. One of the latest comes courtesy of Nick Kypreos, who during an appearance on Hockey Night In Canada indicated the Jets had reportedly asked the Boston Bruins for a package highlighted by Ryan Spooner and Brandon Carlo in exchange for Trouba. However, from Boston’s perspective, any hypothetical trade package for Trouba should not include Carlo, opines Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.

Elliotte Friedman recently reported there was significant interest in Spooner and any team in the league would love to add a 19-year-old, right-shot defenseman like Carlo. While that type of package might be appealing to Winnipeg, it’s not something Boston should even consider, writes Haggerty. The scribe notes that already through nine NHL games, Carlo is already one of Boston’s best blue liners and at just 19 there is still plenty of room for growth in his game. Essentially, Haggerty is arguing that Carlo has the same kind of potential as Trouba and at least at this point in their respective careers is a lot cheaper than the Jets defenseman.

Now it should be apparent that if Winnipeg had actually proposed this deal to Boston that the Bruins rebuffed the Jets offer otherwise Trouba would be in Beantown today.

The other curious factor to this rumor is that Carlo is also a right-handed shot. All previous indications have had the Jets insisting on a left-shooting defender of comparable age and ability to Trouba. Of course it’s possible Winnipeg was simply willing to overlook that detail in order to land an overall package of talent they were comfortable with.

  • Detroit iced Stanley Cup contending teams throughout the late 1990’s and well into the 2000’s built around speed and skill. However, in 2016 the Red Wings are behind the rest of the league and need an infusion of speed and quickness, as Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News writes. He points out how the mid-season acquisition of Carl Hagelin appeared to represent a course change last season for the Penguins and helped turn that team into the speedy club that would eventually win the Stanley Cup. Of course skating speed is just part of the equation. Wings bench boss Jeff Blashill believes playing with pace and speed is as much a mentality as anything else: “But playing fast has way more to do with than just your team speed. It has to do with the mentality that every time you can, you want to beat people up the ice, the mentality that every time there’s a transition opportunity you’ve got to beat them up the ice.” Blashill also notes that this mentality was a big reason the team inked Darren Helm to a pricey extension in advance of the free agent signing period: “I think it’s both: It’s about our speed, but it’s also about our mentality of playing fast.We looked at it over the summer, and that is part of the reason that we wanted to make sure to get Darren Helm re-signed.” While the Wings realize their roster deficiencies and are doing what they can to overcome, the team does need to add quicker players to the organization.

Snapshots: Desjardins, Fisher, Gilbert, Chychrun

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Darren Dreger’s been making the radio rounds of late and today, while appearing on Ottawa’s TSN 1200, among many notes the NHL insider discussed was the suggestion that Vancouver bench boss Willie Desjardins could soon find himself on the hot seat if the Canucks can’t right the ship in short order. Dreger was clear that he didn’t believe that was the case as of this moment but the organization believes it has a roster capable of making the playoffs and if the team falls further out of the race, they could decide to make a change behind the bench.

“I’m not suggesting he’s on the hot seat today as we have this conversation. But Jim Benning, the general manager, had a much higher view of where he thought this team was coming out of training camp. He told many that he believed that the Vancouver Canucks are a playoff team and would definitely contend for a playoff spot. And they’re not playing that way right now.”

The Canucks got off to a surprisingly strong start winning their first four games but have since lost five straight to even their record at 4 – 4 – 1. Offense. or rather a lack of, is the biggest issue in Vancouver as the team is last in the league in goal scoring, averaging just 1.78 per contest. Their power play is also among the worst in the NHL converting just 10.7% of their opportunities, which ranks 26th overall.

The team invested heavily in skilled Swedish winger Loui Eriksson, to the tune of a six-year, $36MM contract this offseason but the former Bruin has failed to find the back of the net in nine games with Vancouver. Bo Horvat leads the club in goals with four but only five players have tallied more than once this season. At the other end of the scoring spectrum, the New York Rangers lead the league averaging four goals per contest with 10 players who have at least two markers on the campaign.

Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot relays a quote from Pierre LeBrun indicating the Canucks would like to pull the trigger on a deal for a proven 20-goal scorer, assuming they can find a trade partner. They’ve been rumored to be in that market since the summer but aside from inking Eriksson the Canucks have done little in the way of adding impact offensive talent.

Desjardins is in his third season as coach of the Canucks and owns a career mark of 83 – 71 -19. He guided the team to a 101-point season and a second place finish in the Pacific Division in 2014-15, his first as bench boss. Last season, Vancouver dropped 26 points in the standings and placed sixth in their division. Prior to being hired in Vancouver, Desjardins served as head coach of the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate and guided them to the Calder Cup championship in 2014.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Mike Fisher, who was injured in Tuesday’s 5 – 1 win over Colorado, is being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body-injury, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Fisher, who replaced Shea Weber as Nashville’s captain, is tied for second on the club in scoring with five points in eight games. Now in his 17th season in the NHL, Fisher has scored 261 goals with 287 assists in 1,024 contests.
  • According to the NHL Department of Player Safety (Twitter link) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Gilbert will face a hearing for his hit on Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night. No penalty was assessed on the play but the league indicated the hearing is for boarding/charging. Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register provides an update on Ritchie and says the big winger won’t be in Anaheim’s lineup tonight as the Ducks host Pittsburgh. Gilbert has appeared in eight of L.A.’s 10 games this season and has recorded three points. Ritchie, meanwhile, has scored two goals and three points in 10 contests with Anaheim.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have elected to keep rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun on the roster instead of returning the 18-year-old blue liner to his junior team, according to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. As a result, Chychrun will burn the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. The Coyotes made a trade with Detroit during the 2016 entry draft to move up four spots to select Chychrun and so far has rewarded management’s faith. Chychurn has averaged 17:15 of ice time and has three points in eight games so far.

NHL Investigating Islanders’ Ice

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According to New York Islanders beat writer Chris Botta, the league has reached its limit with tolerating the problems with the ice at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The NHL is sending experts to the building to inspect the ice conditions and facility. There have been complaints about the ice conditions for over a year now, since the team first began play, from both Isles’ players and visitors and something must be done.

In a series of tweets two weeks ago, Botta detailed the main issue with the Barclays ice. Essentially, the piping system in the arena does not meet NHL standards, yet arena leadership has not done anything about it. Around the same time as Botta’s analysis, a New York Post article detailed some honest comments from Cal Clutterbuck, who did not hesitate to call it “the worst ice I’ve ever seen”. When the Islanders were winning last season in spite of the poor conditions, the team was not as heavy-handed with their commentary. However, with New York off to a rocky 4-6 start, the last thing the Islanders need is an added disadvantage as they try to right the ship.

It’s no secret that the Barclays Center was not designed for hockey. The Brooklyn Nets were meant to be the sole inhabitants, but an interest in a move from the Nassau Coliseum by the Islanders late in the game led to New York heading to Brooklyn last season. However, the Islanders have an out clause in their contract allowing them to leave after next season. With many design flaws in the stadium already apparent and attendance down for the second straight year, if the ice issues persist, it will be foregone conclusion by the end of the 2017-18 season that the Islanders will be on the move. Whether they return to a renovated Nassau Coliseum, begin building a new arena, or decide to depart New York altogether, the ice is just another factor leading towards an almost-inevitable Barclays departure.

Vancouver Canucks Assign Stetcher, Nilsson To AHL

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The Vancouver Canucks continue to shuffle the deck looking for a winning formula. Today, the team has sent Troy Stecher and Tom Nilsson to the AHL Utica Comets. Chris Tanev will figure back into the lineup in their absence.

Stecher had played admirably for the Canucks since his call up, averaging over twenty minutes a night and providing a calm presence on the back end. The 22-year old was only just signed out of the University of North Dakota this summer, but has already established himself as a potential NHL blueliner. He’ll have to wait his turn though, as being waivers-exempt often means you’re on the bubble of the NHL roster.

Nilsson on the other hand didn’t get into a game with the Canucks after suffering an injury in the preseason. The former Maple Leafs’ prospect will look to make an impression at Utica this season and reestablish himself in the North American game. After playing well for the Toronto Marlies two seasons ago, Nilsson returned to Sweden to play for Frolunda last year.

Anaheim Calls Up Sgarbossa, Kase; Assigns Tokarski To AHL

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After a 4-0 drubbing of the Los Angeles Kings last night, the 4-4-0 Anaheim Ducks have decided to make some changes today. According to Helene Elliott of the LA Times, the team has called up Michael Sgarbossa and Ondrej Kase while sending down Dustin Tokarski down to the AHL.

Sgarbossa has played four games for the Ducks this year after spending all year with their AHL team last season. The former Colorado prospect has shown an ability to score at the minor league level but has never found any consistent playing time in the NHL. Only 24, he may yet develop into a useful piece for the Ducks.

Kase is a much different story, as still little has been seen of the Czech forward in North America. While only getting into 25 games last season with the San Diego Gulls, Kase put up 14 points and was a contributor in their short playoff run. The 20-year old was the Ducks’ seventh-round selection in 2014 and is off to a good start with the Gulls this season.

Tokarski had a short-lived stint with the Ducks this year, getting into one game in garbage time in relief of John Gibson last week. The former Montreal Canadiens netminder was dealt to the Ducks last season in exchange for Max Friberg. Tokarski made his first impression on the NHL when he replaced Carey Price in the 2014 playoffs after the Canadiens’ MVP went down with a knee injury.

Ottawa Acquires Mike Condon From Pittsburgh

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According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, the Ottawa Senators have acquired Mike Condon from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fifth-round draft pick. Since Craig Anderson was forced to take a short leave of absence from the team (he has since returned) and Andrew Hammond was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury, the Senators have been looking high and wide for some help in net.  It’ll come in the form of Condon, who was selected off waivers by the Penguins just before the start of the season.

For Pittsburgh, this is a nice return for a player who only spent a few weeks in your system. Condon was an emergency claim by the Penguins once Matt Murray wasn’t able to start the season due to his broken hand. Now, as Murray returns, the team had to make a decision on Condon as he would obviously require waivers once again to go to the AHL.

For the Senators, Condon will provide some assurance that they’ll have an NHL caliber goaltender in net each night even if Anderson has to take any more time off. While the team will likely come into the same situation once Hammond returns, they won’t have to make a decision for at least some time.

Condon broke into the league last season when Carey Price went down, playing 55 games for the Canadiens to mixed results. With a .903 save percentage and 2.71 goals against average, the 26-year old rookie at least showed he’s capable of helping an NHL squad, though perhaps not for the majority of a season.

It must sting the Canadiens the worst, as they were unable to get anything in return for Condon before the season. While a fifth-rounder isn’t a huge return, it is at least something tangible.

 

Red Wings Notes: Leadership Questions

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George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press writes that while Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill appreciates Henrik Zetterberg taking one for the team, the Wings’ poor play against both Florida and Boston rests with him. From Blashill:

Ultimately, it’s on me. That’s my job … to make sure they’re ready. I appreciate Henrik saying that. I would say this — without question, you have to look yourself in the mirror and make sure you’re ready to go. We had too many guys not ready to go.

Zetterberg commented that it was on him to prepare the team better, and that Detroit needs to be play better at home. Blashill seemingly stamped out the question of leadership issues in the locker room. Blashill continued with MLive’s Ansar Khan:

“I have 100 percent belief in the group in this locker room, so I’m not concerned long-term at all,” Blashill said. “All I’m concerned about is tonight, which wasn’t good enough. I don’t have any worries about the level of leadership or the level of character that we have to a man in this locker room.”

Khan expanded further, speaking to several of the same players that Sipple did. Danny DeKeyser doesn’t believe there are leadership issues in Detroit, saying that:

“Leadership is important, but at the end of the day everyone is here in the NHL and they need to do whatever they need to do to get going and ready to play. I wouldn’t put much up on the captaincy or leadership, just guys doing what they need to do to be ready to go.”

If the Red Wings rip off another six game winning streak, the questions will fade. But should Detroit look listless through another pair of games,  the questions will likely multiply.

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