Metro Division Injury Updates: Faulk, Lundqvist, Raffl, Couturier
With teams resuming their normal practice and game-day routines after the three-day holiday break, news and updates regarding several Metro Division players have been released today. Here’s a quick roundup:
- Justin Faulk, Carolina’s #1 defenseman, is week-to-week with a lower-body injury evidently suffered in the latter half of the team’s recent game against Boston, according to Michael Smith, who covers the team for the Hurricane’s official NHL.com website. Faulk is averaging better than 23 minutes-per-game for Carolina and has tallied seven goals and 16 points in 30 games this season. He currently leads the team’s blue line corps in scoring and is second behind Jaccob Slavin in ice time.
- The New York Rangers have recalled goalie Brandon Halverson from Hartford to backup Antti Raanta tonight as the Rangers host the Ottawa Senators at MSG, according to this tweet from the team’s official Twitter account. New York’s starter, Henrik Lundqvist is battling the flu and has been ruled out for the game. Though unlikely, should Halverson see any action tonight, it would qualify as the 20-year-old netminder’s NHL debut.
- Sam Carchidi of Philly.com has several developments after the Flyers practiced today. With Michael Raffl expected to miss up to two weeks with an upper-body injury suffered against New Jersey last Thursday night, rookie winger Taylor Leier is likely to fill in on the team’s top line. Leier scored his first NHL goal on December 17th and has two points in eight games this season.
- Meanwhile, Flyers GM Ron Hextall is hopeful that center Sean Couturier will be back in the lineup for the first time since November 22nd. Couturier has missed the last 16 games with a knee injury.
- Michal Neuvirth is nearing a return to the team after practicing with the team today, though he is not expected to play during the Flyers upcoming three-game road trip. Neuvirth has not played for Philadelphia since November 12th because of a knee injury. In his absence, Anthony Stolarz has given the Flyers two quality starts, winning both and posting a GAA of 1.84 and a Save % of 0.932.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
Here are the results of our redraft so far:
1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
11th Overall: T.J. Oshie (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Keith Yandle (New York Rangers)
13th Overall: Paul Stastny (Buffalo Sabres)
14th Overall: Marc Staal (Washington Capitals)
15th Overall: Patric Hornqvist (New York Islanders)
16th Overall: Niklas Hjalmarsson (Atlanta Thrashers)
17th Overall: Anton Stralman (Phoenix Coyotes)
18th Overall: Jack Johnson (Nashville Predators)
19th Overall: Matt Niskanen (Detroit Red Wings)
20th Overall: Justin Abdelkader (Florida Panthers)
21st Overall: Martin Hanzal (Toronto Maple Leafs)
22nd Overall: Andrew Cogliano (Boston Bruins)
23rd Overall: Kris Russell (New Jersey Devils)
24th Overall: Darren Helm (St. Louis Blues)
25th Overall: Cody Franson (Edmonton Oilers)
Now we move forward to the 26th pick, which was held by the Calgary Flames.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.
Back in 2005, the Flames took defenseman Matt Pelech from the Sarnia Sting. Since being drafted, Pelech played a total of 13 games in the NHL, tallying four points (1-3). Of those 13 games, Pelech spent five with the Flames and the other eight with San Jose. During the 2013-14 season, Pelech spent time in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies after playing for both San Jose and its AHL affiliate Worcester. A season later, Pelech recorded 39 games with the Rochester Americans. Last season, Pelech appeared in 49 games for the Schwenningen Wild Wings in the DEL (Germany) and has played the current season with Graz EC in the Austrian league.
With the 26th pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft, who should the Flames select? Cast your vote below! Mobile users, you can vote here!
With the 26th overall pick, the Calgary Flames select...
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Benoit Pouliot 28% (144)
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Devin Setoguchi 20% (103)
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Vladimir Sobotka 16% (80)
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Mason Raymond 9% (44)
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Steve Downie 8% (39)
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Sergei Kostitsyn 7% (34)
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Jakub Kindl 6% (30)
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Nathan Gerbe 3% (14)
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Jared Boll 2% (11)
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Jack Skille 2% (9)
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Gilbert Brule 1% (7)
Total votes: 515
Snapshots: DeBrincat, Brown, Anisimov, Chlapik
In a head scratching move, the United States left Alex DeBrincat and Logan Brown off its world juniors roster today. NBC’s Jason Brough writes that Brown’s removal may be due to a lingering wrist injury. Regardless of that injury, Brown has racked up 21 points (8-13) in 15 games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. DeBrincat’s omission is more of a mystery. The 19-year-old second round selection in 2016 has been torching the OHL as a member of the Erie Otters, notching 30 goals and 30 assists in just 28 games. Craig Custance wonders if being a right hand shot hurt his chances, but even that seems an odd reason to leave off the young scorer. DeBrincat leads the OHL in goals and is second in total points–behind teammate Taylor Raddysh–who is expected to be on the Canadian roster.
- The Blackhawks have placed Artem Anisimov on the injured reserve writes Mark Lazerus and have called up Tanner Kero in his place. The move enables Anisimov to gain more rest as he was already out for the Blackhawks 4-3 loss to Ottawa Tuesday night. Anisimov has 27 points (14-13) in as many games this season with the Hawks. Kero, meanwhile, is Rockford’s leading scorer and should see ice time with both Anisimov and Marian Hossa likely out for tomorrow’s tilt against Colorado.
- The Senators have inked center Filip Chlapik to an entry level deal. Chlapik currently plays on the Charlottetown Islanders, where he is the leading scorer with 44 points (20-24). Chlapik also set an Islanders record by recording a point in his first 21 games. A second round selection in the 2015 draft, he will also be representing the Czech Republic in the World Junior Championships starting December 26.
Maple Leafs, Senators Recall Goalies
It’s a good thing that the Maple Leafs’ AHL affiliate is also based in Toronto.
The team has demoted Jhonas Enroth and recalled Antoine Bibeau, according to TSN’s Kristen Shilton. This is the second time the team has swapped the two goaltenders in four days, and the third time this month. Because he has not spent 30 days on an NHL roster since clearing waivers, Enroth does not need to go through waivers to be sent down.
Shilton believes Bibeau will get the start in one of the Maple Leafs’ upcoming back-to-back against Colorado and Arizona. Bibeau has appeared in just one NHL game earlier this month against Colorado. The Maple Leafs lost 3-1 as Bibeau made 26 saves on 28 shots. He appeared in two AHL games in his most recent stint there, going 1-1-0.
Moving northeast, the Senators have recalled goaltender Matt O’Connor on an emergency basis, as Andrew Hammond is unable to backup for Mike Condon for tonight’s game versus the Chicago Blackhawks. O’Connor was a highly sought-after prospect goaltender following his time at Boston University, but he’s struggled to find his form since turning pro. He’s appeared in just one NHL game; O’Connor started for the Senators opposite his new crease-mate in Condon, when the latter was with the Canadiens last season.
Hammond injured his ankle on Sunday night, and has appeared in just three games so far this season as he battles different injuries. The Senators’ regular number one Craig Anderson is with his wife while she undergoes cancer treatment and is not expected to re-join the team before Christmas.
Snapshots: Three Stars, World Junior Captains, Iginla
The NHL has named Artemi Panarin, Henrik Lundqvist, and Eric Staal as its Three Stars of the Week.
Panarin had three goals and seven assists for 10 points in four games. He bookended two thee-point performances with a pair of two-point nights as the Blackhawks continued their five-game winning streak. Panarin now has 34 points in 34 games this season
This week marks the second consecutive week with a New York Rangers goaltender as the second star. Last week, Antti Raanta was the second star as he temporarily took over the starting role from Lundqvist, but now the man they call The King has taken back over. Lundqvist went 3-0-0 and allowed just three goals to go with his 0.967 SV%. He and Raanta combined for a shutout when Lundqvist was forced to leave a game after being run over by Cody Eakin (for which he was suspended).
Staal had four goals and five points in three games as part of a 3-0-0 week. The Wild have now won seven straight and Staal is leading the team in goals, assists, and points; he has 24 points in 30 games in his first year in Minnesota.
- Hockey Canada has named its leadership core for the upcoming World Junior Championships. Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Strome will wear the C for Canada, while Mathew Barzal and Thomas Chabot will serve as alternate captains. All three players played for Canada at last year’s tournament and appeared in the NHL at the start of the season. While they combined for just 10 games and one assist in the NHL, all three are 2015 first-round picks and dominant CHL players. Strome has 295 points in 191 games with the Erie Otters; Islanders sixteenth-overall pick Barzal has 281 points in 174 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds; Chabot, a defenseman picked eighteenth overall by Ottawa, has 128 points in 182 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs.
- The Vancouver Canucks most recent first-round pick, Olli Juolevi has been named captain of Team Finland. Juolevi had nine assists in seven games in last year’s tournament, as Finland won gold. So far, Juolevi has 21 points in 26 games with the London Knights.
- Today marks 21 years since the Calgary Flames acquired Jarome Iginla from the Dallas Stars for Joe Nieuwendyk. The trade worked out pretty well for both teams: the Stars won the Stanley Cup four years later with Nieuwendyk playing a key role, and Iginla became the face of the Flames franchise. Nieuwendyk was in the prime of his career, while Iginla was an eleventh-overall pick playing for the Kamloops Blazers. Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com tweeted that Iginla initially thought he had been traded to the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. After turning pro, Iginla scored 1095 points in 16 years with the Flames, leading them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. He’s bounced around between Pittsburgh, Boston, and Colorado in the four years since he was traded. Iginla could be on the move again this year, as the Avalanche are one of the worst teams in the NHL and he could want to go to a contender for the end of his career.
Monday Morning Recalls And Demotions
10:23am: TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Mike Babcock announced that Tyler Bozak and Ben Smith are both considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury and an upper-body injury respectively.
In Nashville, the Predators have recalled defenseman Adam Pardy from the AHL, as P.K. Subban will be out of the lineup. Subban did not accompany the Predators on their current two-game road trip.
9:53am: A couple Ontario-based NHL teams have made roster moves on Monday morning.
The Ottawa Senators have assigned Casey Bailey and Ben Harpur to the Binghamton Senators of the AHL, according to Bruce Garrioch. The right-winger Bailey was held pointless in two games with the Senators, but has 14 points in 25 games with the AHL’s Senators. Harper appeared in one game and was also held pointless. The defenseman has three assists in 20 AHL games this season. Garrioch reports that the demotions were made because Fredrik Claesson is ready to return after suffering a lower-body injury earlier this month.
The Senators are not skating on Monday, so it’s not yet known how severe Andrew Hammond‘s injury is. Hammond left Sunday night’s game just 16 minutes in with an apparent ankle injury. Should the Hamburglar be unable to go, Garrioch suggests that Matt O’Connor would get the call. Starting goaltender Craig Anderson is away from the team to be with his wife Nicholle, and is not expected back before Christmas.
Over to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs have announced the recall of center Frederik Gauthier. In a related move, injured defenseman Martin Marincin has been placed on injured reserve. Marincin is expected to be out for four-to-six weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury last week. Gauthier has four points in 16 games with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. The Athletic’s David Alter reports Gauthier is centering the fourth line at practice on Monday morning.
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JVR-Nylander-Marner
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The Maple Leafs are without three regulars at practice this morning; defenseman Jake Gardiner, Tyler Bozak and Ben Smith were all missing, so Alter wonders if that explains Gauthier’s recall. Much-scratched defenseman Frankie Corrado was bounced between pairings throughout practice but will be in the lineup when the Maple Leafs host former coach Randy Carlyle and the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
Senators Dealing With Declining Attendance
Despite owning the second best record in the Atlantic Division at 16 – 11 – 3, the Ottawa Senators are struggling to draw fans to their home games and as Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes, team owner Eugene Melnyk is not happy about it. According to Garrioch, the Senators are averaging 15,357 fans through 17 home games this season. In 2015-16, the Senators drew just more than 18,000 per home contest.
The steep decline in attendance is obviously disappointing but Melnyk is mindful that Ottawa’s recent postseason absence plays a role.
“I’m hoping now that we’re doing very well on the ice (attendance will increase) and I hope we continue to do well and remembering we’ve been out of the playoffs two of the last three years and that one year we lasted a round. We have to turn that around and become a playoff team every year and then you’ll see (fans) come back.”
Melnyk bristles when asked whether ticket prices might help explain the decrease in paid attendance:
“The prices are not too high. We are one of the lowest prices in the league. It’s a fair price.”
Obviously a drop in attendance will have a direct affect on team revenues and subsequently could lead to a decrease in player payroll as early as next season. According to Cap Friendly, the Senators currently have around $68.7MM in salary commitments to 25 players in 2016-17. In 2017-18, the club already has $59.15MM devoted to player salaries with 10 players coming off the books. If the organization decides they need to trim payroll it might make it difficult to replace or re-sign players with expiring contracts this summer.
It’s also possible if attendance doesn’t improve this season that it could alter the Senators trade deadline strategy. If the Senators are still in the playoff hunt in February, the front office could be prevented from adding another scorer to a roster that ranks 26th in the NHL averaging just 2.33 goals-per-game.
Melnyk still appears to be positive about the team’s situation, both in the near and the long term. Garrioch mentions the progress made in the RendezVous LaBreton bid to build a new arena for the Senators.
“This is something that will be (good for) the next 30 to 40 years and it’s OK to take that extra time to make it perfect.”
Snapshots: Capitals, Senators, Bruins
News and notes from around the NHL this morning:
- The Washington Capitals have recalled Zach Sanford from the AHL Hershey Bears with no corresponding reassignment. Sanford struggled in his first stint with the Capitals, earning just one assist in 19 games. He then turned it around in the AHL, however, and scored 4G and 3A in six games for Hershey. The Capitals hope to take advantage of Sanford’s newfound production as they play the Montreal Canadiens tonight. The move leaves Washington with just $237 (yes, two hundred and thirty-seven dollars) in cap space today.
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled Casey Bailey from the Binghamton Senators to replace suspended forward Mike Hoffman, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Hoffman is serving a two-game suspension for crosschecking San Jose Sharks’ Logan Couture on Wednesday night. Bailey, his replacement, is having a decent year in Binghamton, scoring 9G and 5A in 25 games. This will be Bailey’s first taste of NHL action since playing six games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014-15.
- The Boston Bruins announced that forward David Pastrnak underwent the successful removal of his olecranon bursa from his right elbow yesterday. Pastrnak will miss both Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings and Tuesday’s game against the New York Islanders. The Bruins are no stranger to “popeye elbow” as David Backes also missed time with the same ailment. If Backes’s recovery period is any indication, Pastrnak will be out of commission for approximately two weeks. The young forward is having a breakout season this year, scoring 19G and 7A in 27 games for the Bruins and is 2nd in team scoring.
Mike Hoffman Has Disciplinary Hearing Friday
According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman has a telephone hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety Friday. The hearing concerns Hoffman’s crosscheck to the head of San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture during the third period Wednesday night.
Hoffman crosschecked Couture midway through the third period in a 2-2 game last night (link to video). Couture initially crosschecked Hoffman earlier in the play, then Hoffman responded after losing the puck by going after Couture. It is unclear whether Hoffman targeted Couture’s head—rather than his back—as Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon had his stick in Hoffman’s arms and Couture himself was crouched down slightly.
NBC’s Pierre McGuire told TSN 1200 that while he thinks Hoffman should get five games (audio link), the league will probably hand out a lesser suspension. Hoffman currently ranks 3rd in team scoring with 9G and 21A in 28 games, and an already sluggish offence—22nd overall—could become even more stagnant. It’s difficult to assess what the NHL decides in this case. A significant suspension would signal that the league is tough on hits to the head, something becoming more and more relevant as concussion-related litigation infiltrates the four major sports.
San Jose Sharks Call Up Timo Meier
Finally, the savior is coming up in San Jose – or, so the fans would have you believe. Timo Meier is on his way up to San Jose after just 17 games in the AHL. The injury to Logan Couture last night against the Ottawa Senators forced the Sharks hand, as they’re also without Tomas Hertl for the immediate future.
Meier was the 9th overall pick in the 2015 draft after dominating the QMJHL with 90 points in 61 games. His next year, he scored 87 in just 52 despite having to deal with being traded mid season. This year, the 20-year old is scoring at almost a point-per-game pace in the AHL, and showing that he can use his physical style in the professional game. A power-forward through and through, Meier can get in penalty trouble with his aggressive game, but can already dominate at times against much older players.
Since the Sharks are missing Couture and Hertl, Meier may well find his way into the top-six immediately, with Joe Pavelski sliding back to the middle to solidify the second line. While nothing is set in stone, it’ll be interesting to see the line rushes tomorrow morning when the Sharks prepare for their game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Amazingly, the player sent down to make room for Meier is Mirco Mueller, who has been involved in more transactions than one can count in the last few days. Also a former first-round pick, Mueller has spent many days with the Sharks this season without getting into a single contest. He was just called up on Monday, his third time in seven days.