The Senators are likely to give Anders Nilsson a lot of action down the stretch as they have yet to decide on whether or not to offer the pending UFA a deal for next season, suggests Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 28-year-old has fared better with Ottawa since being dealt from Vancouver, posting a respectable .910 SV% in 18 appearances compared to the .895 mark he had in a dozen games with the Canucks. Veteran Mike Condon is still under contract for next season but his hip issues continue to be problematic; Garrioch noted that he had a recent setback as he continues to rehab his current injury. With that in mind, the Sens will likely want to have some insurance if Condon can’t play next season which could come by keeping Nilsson around.
Senators Rumors
Snapshots: Hart, Forsberg, Ferland, Debrusk, Hirose
The Philadelphia Flyers got some good news as it looks like rookie goaltender Carter Hart is healthy once again and could find himself in net as early as Monday against the Ottawa Senators, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi.
Hart has been out since Feb. 21 with an ankle injury, but he was also coming off two of his worst performances, having been pulled in back-to-back games in which he allowed three goals on just six shots in both appearances. If the team opts to start him against Ottawa, it would be an opportunity to ease him back into the lineup as the Senators are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games.
The 20-year-old Hart is having a impressive season considering he was not meant to spend it in the NHL. Originally slated to spend his first professional season in the AHL, he appeared in just 18 games before being promoted alongside interim head coach Scott Gordon when he was hired. Since then, Hart was helped the Flyers rebound from a tough start with a 13-8-1 record with a 2.79 GAA. While that number doesn’t stand out, his .917 save percentage does.
- Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean writes that Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg missed Saturday’s game and remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to the team. Forsberg missed practice Thursday and Friday, but was believed to be available for Saturday’s game, but didn’t play in the end. Forsberg missed 19 games with an upper-body injury earlier this season, although there is no word on whether this injury is related to that one. The 24-year-old has 22 goals and 41 points in 52 games this season.
- Michael Smith of NHL.com reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury and did not travel with the team on their three-game roadtrip that started in Nashville today, according to head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Ferland has been having a solid season, putting up 17 goals and 35 points in 52 games. The 26-year-old has played under 14 minutes combined over the last two games.
- The Boston Bruins’ Jake Debrusk is expected to miss a few more games as the forward is still in a walking boot, according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. While he’s expected to miss this weekend’s games, he could be back not long after that as head coach Bruce Cassidy said that Debrusk was the closest, of all their injured players, to return.
- Fox Sports’ Jon Rosen reports that the Los Angeles Kings are interested in undrafted Michigan State forward Taro Hirose, currently the NCAA leading scorer. According to Rosen, Hirose is friends with Kings’ prospect James Anderson-Dolan and could be convinced to sign with L.A. although there is no word on whether the junior forward is ready to leave college. He has 16 goals and 37 points this season for Michigan State.
Oscar Lindberg Undecided About Plans After This Season
- While Senators center Oscar Lindberg has been productive since joining the team from Vegas, he told Postmedia’s Ken Warren that he hasn’t given any thought about potentially re-signing with the team. The pending UFA has 15 points in 41 games between the two teams this season and likely will have difficulty matching or surpassing his current $1.7MM AAV on the open market unless he gets on a big run offensively between now and the end of the season.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Rule Changes, Percy
The NHL has released their three stars for last week, and familiar names occupy each spot. Marc-Andre Fleury is in the top spot after going 3-0 with two shutouts for the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury allowed just one goal on 77 shots and is now carrying a .911 save percentage on the year. While that number is down from last season, Fleury leads the league with 32 wins and eight shutouts while also having played the most minutes of any goaltender. The Golden Knights are leaning heavily on their starter, a strategy that will be tested when the playoffs roll around.
Blake Wheeler and Sidney Crosby were awarded second and third respectively, each scoring eight points in three games. Wheeler’s performance was capped by a four-goal game against the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday, giving him 80 points on the season. Crosby, who has 83 this year is actually on pace to record his best offensive season since 2009-10 and crack the 100-point mark for the sixth time in his career.
- The GM meetings began this week in Florida, and Frank Seravalli of TSN examines ten potential rule changes that the group will be discussing. These include things like changing standings tiebreaker rules, changing how much a player can be fined for certain incidents, and perhaps even forcing players to wear helmets during warm-ups. It doesn’t sound like any huge changes will come out of this week’s discussions, but there might be a few tweaks.
- The AHL trade deadline passed today with very little fanfare, but not for Stuart Percy. The former top prospect was traded from the Belleville Senators to the Providence Bruins in exchange for Austin Fyten. Percy, originally selected in the first round eight years ago, has just 12 NHL games under his belt and is currently on a minor league contract.
Atlantic Notes: Senators, Kadri, Howard, Rosen
With Guy Boucher out as head coach in Ottawa Friday, and 18 games left in the season, the young Ottawa Senators must make a quick decision on their head coaching job this summer. The team gave the interim tag to Marc Crawford, but unless he can turn around the franchise in those 18 games, the Sporting News’ Murray Pam writes that general manager Pierre Dorion may opt to look for a new voice to coach the franchise.
Among the top potential candidates that could take over this summer, Pam suggests that 66-year-old Jacques Martin could be an interesting candidate that can give the team a fresh voice. The veteran coach, who was raised in Saint-Pascal, Ont., not far from Ottawa, has been an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last six years, 31 years of NHL experience and has two Stanley Cup rings.
One obvious candidate could also come from within as the Belleville Senators’ head coach, Troy Mann, who has done an impressive job in his first year as head coach of the AHL franchise and already knows many of the players on the team’s roster. His recent track record is the most interesting as he has led the team to a 16-game unbeaten streak as the team has gone 11-0-5 and is on the cusp of the AHL playoffs. He’s in his fifth year as an AHL head coach. The scribe throws in several other candidates, including Montreal Canadiens’ assistant Luke Richardson and Columbus Blue Jackets’ assistant Brad Shaw.
- Despite missing his sixth straight game Saturday, Toronto Maple Leafs Nazem Kadri, who has been out with a concussion, seems to be improving. According to The Star’s Kevin McGran, Kadri skated this morning, which is a good sign for his recovery. “Obviously, our medical staff has to do a good job with those guys and keep them out as long as they’re supposed to be out,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “I think it’s obviously good for him to be out there, just morale-wise. It looks like he’s going in the right direction. I didn’t talk to the coaches since he’s been out, just to see what kind of skate they were able to give him and what he was able to handle. (We’ll) still monitor that and see, and then we’ll see how hard we can push him. I don’t know when he’s ready.”
- Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard has struggled immensely in the month of February, posting a 3.97 GAA and a .866 save percentage in nine games. On top of that, he has been pulled from his last three games, not exactly what you’d expect from a goaltender who represented the Atlantic Division at the All-Star Game. However, don’t expect the veteran to give up. Howard has spent countless hours studying video of his play, trying to figure out what’s gone wrong, according to Dana Gauruder of the Detroit Free Press. “To be honest, going through the video, it’s just being off by a fraction,” he said. “Not having the correct angle. When you don’t have that as a goalie, guys can put the puck in tight areas and that’s what’s happened.”
- With recent injuries to Toronto Maple Leafs’ defensemen Travis Dermott and Jake Gardiner, many fans have wondered why Toronto hasn’t turned to promising young defenseman Calle Rosen. The 25-year-old has been tearing up the AHL with the Toronto Marlies this year and signed a two-year extension with the team back in December. However, Rosen can’t be recalled yet, according to the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby, because he took a puck off his foot a few days ago and isn’t ready to return to the ice just yet. Regardless, Rosen, who has seven goals and 44 points in 52 games with the Marlies, could be called up soon.
Minor Transactions: 03/01/19
Eight games on the schedule for a relatively busy Friday night in the NHL, with the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets providing some must-see television. The winner of the game will assume first place in the Central Division with less than a quarter of the season to go, and stay ahead of the hard charging St. Louis Blues. The Predators are only five points ahead of the Blues with three more games played, meaning matchups like this with Winnipeg are incredibly important. As always, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves around the league.
- The Ottawa Senators made a change to their coaching staff today, and also sent Drake Batherson back down to the Belleville Senators for the time being. The team had Batherson up on an emergency recall, but he’ll return to the AHL where he can take on the Manitoba Moose tonight.
- Interestingly, the Moose will not have Eric Comrie in net for that game as the goaltender has been recalled by the Winnipeg Jets. Comrie is up under emergency conditions meaning the Jets must have an injury or illness somewhere in their goaltending group.
- The Minnesota Wild have used an emergency recall on Matt Read, bringing him up in time for their game tomorrow against the Calgary Flames. The Wild are right back in the thick of the playoff race after winning their last four games even despite trading away several key forwards over the last few weeks.
Ottawa Senators Fire Guy Boucher
The Ottawa Senators have made another major move in their continuing rebuild, this time firing head coach Guy Boucher. Assistant coach Marc Crawford will take over in the interim as the team begins its search for a new head coach. GM Pierre Dorion had this to say in a press release:
I want to thank Guy for his three years of service. He is a good person and has been an excellent representative of the Senators. At this point, however, we need a different set of coaching and leadership skills to guide our team through this rebuild. In the interim, Marc will bring a different perspective along with a wealth of head coaching experience.
This move comes almost immediately after Dorion told Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia that the team would wait until the end of the season to evaluate Boucher’s future. Apparently Senators management changed their mind and made the move now to ensure different habits would be instilled over the last few weeks of the season. To that end, former Senators player Chris Kelly has been added to the coaching staff.
Boucher’s tenure in Ottawa comes to an end a few weeks before his three-year contract expired, and he’ll finish with a 94-108-26 record. His time in Ottawa went similar to his previous job in Tampa Bay, where he led the Lightning to an outstanding first season before struggling in years two and three. The Senators went 44-28-10 in 2016-17 before almost making it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but fell apart last season and have been a disaster this year.
The team announced their coaching search and explained what they are looking for in their next bench boss, with development and growth listed at the very top. Dorion did admit that Crawford would be considered for the full-time job, though it sounds more like the team is looking outside of the organization for their new head coach. Crawford of course has plenty of experience in the role, previously coaching the Quebec Nordiques, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars while also taking the Colorado Avalanche all the way to a Stanley Cup championship in 1996.
It’s not surprising that Boucher was not retained, but the timing of this move is certainly curious. The team has not performed well all season but Dorion spoke about their recent play as something that sparked this decision. Part of that play is obviously because of the lack of skill after jettisoning Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel, but Dorion must have seen something else that he did not want creeping into the dressing room.
Cody Ceci, Senators To Meet At End Of Season To Discuss His Future With The Team
- Senators defenseman Cody Ceci acknowledged to Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun that he thought he was going to be dealt, especially after being sat at the request of a team that was trying to add him. Instead, the deal didn’t happen but between this and his $4.3MM required qualifying offer this summer, it’s fair to say that his future with Ottawa remains in question. Ceci indicated that he plans to sit down with GM Pierre Dorion at the end of the season to determine whether or not there’s still going to be a role for him on this team moving forward.
Minor Transactions: 02/28/19
Seven games grace the NHL schedule tonight, including John Tavares’ return to New York. The former Islanders captain spurned the team by choosing the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency and is expected to get a less than welcome reception upon his return tonight. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins do battle in a matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. As the league prepares, we’ll be right here to keep track of all the minor moves.
- Sammy Blais is on his way back down again, a usual occurrence recently for the young St. Louis Blues forward. Blais has been moved up or down eleven times this season, including a recall just two days ago. The 22-year old has three points in 27 games for the Blues this season.
- Sam Steel and Jacob Larsson were both returned to the San Diego Gulls last night, their stay as insurance policies for the Anaheim Ducks apparently over for now. The pair will continue their development at the AHL level and wait for another opportunity.
- Drake Batherson has been recalled today for the Ottawa Senators as Rudolfs Balcers deals with the flu. The Senators are giving all of their young prospects a chance to show what they can do at the end of the year, and Batherson is one of the most exciting. The 20-year old fourth-round pick has developed into quite the professional already, recording 49 points in 41 games for the Belleville Senators while also contributing eight points in 19 games for Ottawa.
- Matt Luff has been recalled by the Los Angeles Kings for their game against the Dallas Stars, another young player set to get a chance down the stretch. Luff has played 30 games for the Kings this season and has ten points including seven goals.
- The Boston Bruins have sent Karson Kuhlman back to the minor leagues according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. Kuhlman played four games earlier this month for Boston, recording two points in the process. Later in the day, the Bruins also announced that they returned Peter Cehlarik to to the AHL. Cehlarik fared well in 14 games with Boston where he collected six points but his ice time had dropped in recent games so he’ll return to the minors and play a prominent role with Providence.
Senators Wouldn't Offer Mark Stone A No-Move Clause
- Mark Stone’s expected new deal with Vegas (which can be made official as early as Friday) is expected to carry a full no-movement clause. Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun notes that this was something that the Senators were unwilling to put as part of their offer to keep the 26-year-old in the fold.