Atlantic Notes: Quinn, Dahlin, Bussi
Buffalo Hockey Beat’s Bill Hoppe reports that injured Sabres forward Jack Quinn was at Sabres practice today as a full participant, shedding his non-contact jersey for a full-contact one. This is extremely encouraging news for the Sabres, as Quinn has yet to play this season due to recovery from offseason surgery to repair a torn Achilles. Last month, Quinn returned to practice in full pads and now he’s back as a full participant, indicating that he’s on schedule (if not ahead of schedule) to return to the Sabres’ lineup sometime around January 1st.
The Sabres could surely use the services of Quinn, a 22-year-old 2020 top-ten draft pick. After a breakout season in his first year as a pro with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, Quinn had an impressive NHL rookie season in 2022-23. He scored 14 goals and 37 points in 75 games, a performance that earned him a spot on Team Canada at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships. He scored seven points in 10 games at the tournament, including with two crucial goals in the quarterfinals and semifinals, to help Canada take home a gold medal. Now he appears to be nearing a return with his club team, potentially providing a spark to a Sabres squad that has disappointed so far this season.
Some other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Hoppe relays word from Sabres coach Don Granato who revealed that superstar defenseman Rasmus Dahlin could possibly play tomorrow when the Sabres host the Montreal Canadiens. Dahlin is currently day-to-day with an injury, and if he can return he’d instantly give the Sabres a massive boost. The 23-year-old 2018 first-overall pick has scored 21 points in 26 games this season and is widely considered to be one of the best defensemen in the NHL.
- The Boston Bruins have reassigned netminder Brandon Bussi to their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Bussi, 25, is the Bruins’ AHL starter but had been recalled to the NHL to back up Linus Ullmark for yesterday’s game against the Sabres, as expected backup Jeremy Swayman was sick. With Swayman expected to be ready to return to the lineup for the Bruins’ next game, Bussi’s services are no longer needed at the NHL level. He’ll resume his role as the number-one guy in Providence, which is a role he’s thus far excelled in as he made the AHL All-Rookie team last season with a .924 save percentage.
André Burakovsky Out Week-To-Week
Seattle Kraken forward André Burakovsky will be out on a week-to-week basis, head coach Dave Hakstol said today. (via the Seattle Times’ Kate Shefte) Hakstol added that Burakovsky’s current injury is entirely unrelated to the one that kept him out of the Kraken lineup from late October to early December.
Burakovsky appears to have suffered the injury in last night’s game, or at least aggravated it, as he only played a little over nine minutes of ice time, including just two shifts in the game’s third period.
Missing even more time would be unwelcome news for both Burakovsky and the Kraken, as their $5.5MM scoring forward has already missed multiple weeks due to an upper-body injury.
When healthy, Burakovsky is among the Kraken’s most deadly offensive threats.
But he has struggled with injuries throughout his NHL career and especially since signing in Seattle. He produced at a 65-point 82-game pace last season, his debut year with the Kraken, but only ended up playing in 49 games. He also missed the entirety of the Kraken’s playoff run, a trip to the postseason that yielded an upset victory over the Colorado Avalanche, Burakovsky’s former team.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion had returned to the lineup to play second-line minutes alongside Jared McCann and Alexander Wennberg, but now with this new injury that line will have to find a new player to fill Burakovsky’s role.
It’s especially poor news given the state of Seattle’s offense. They currently rank fourth-to-last in the NHL in goals scored per game with 2.59. Key producers from last season such as Calder Trophy winner Matty Beniers and eight-time 20-goal scorer Jordan Eberle have seen their offensive numbers take a steep decline.
The Kraken are already desperate to dig out of the early hole they’ve dug into this season, and this new stroke of extremely poor injury luck will undoubtedly damage those efforts.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
New York Islanders Acquire Robert Bortuzzo
The New York Islanders have acquired defenseman Robert Bortuzzo from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round draft pick.
This news isn’t entirely surprising given the recent announcement that Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock has been placed on injured reserve. Pulock’s injury left the Islanders thin on the right side of their blueline, a significant problem for a team facing Stanley Cup contenders in its next two games. With Pulock out, the Islanders were likely to have to slot Grant Hutton into a regular role on their blueline.
While the six-foot-three Hutton has been a nice find for the Islanders as an undrafted free agent signing from a few years ago, he has just 18 games of NHL experience. While Hutton is deserving of admiration for how he has worked his way up from the college ranks to the NHL, he is not the kind of reliable veteran a coach would likely prefer to see filling in for Pulock.
Pulock plays a minutes-eating role with the Islanders, enduring tough matchups against opposing teams’ top forwards. He also plays a critical role on the team’s penalty kill, a unit that has struggled so far this season but ranked inside the league’s top 10 last year. Although Bortuzzo is far from the defenseman Pulock is, he is a clear upgrade over Hutton in a seventh-defenseman role.
Bortuzzo, an Octagon Hockey client, is a Stanley Cup champion and a veteran of over 500 NHL games. He’s played for the Blues for a decade and has generally occupied the seventh-defenseman role for the team.
He won’t offer much in the way of offensive value or puck-moving ability, but he brings above-average size standing six-foot-four, 216 pounds. Additionally, he’s an imposing physical presence and has racked up 491 career penalty minutes and over 1,000 career hits.
With this trade, the Islanders acquire a highly experienced defenseman at an affordable price, grabbing someone who can more reliably handle some of the minutes vacated by Pulock than Hutton likely could. This trade also gives the Islanders a better seventh defenseman for when Pulock does return, assuming the 29-year-old can re-enter the lineup after his mandated three-game absence.
The Islanders currently sit third in the Metropolitan Division with an 11-7-7 record. The Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, and New Jersey Devils are all teams likely to make a serious push for playoff position as the season moves forward. For the Islanders to remain in a playoff spot in such a cutthroat division, the club could not afford to roll the dice on Hutton when a player with the experience of Bortuzzo was available.
General manager Lou Lamoriello has provided that necessary defensive reinforcement with this trade, and only expended a seventh-round pick to do so. While some fans may have preferred the team target a younger blueliner who plays a style more in line with the expectations of a modern NHL defenseman, (meaning someone who has some skating ability and the capability to contribute to the transition game) it’s hard to argue with the addition of such an experienced defenseman like Bortuzzo at such a cheap price. And that’s made especially true since Bortuzzo carries just a $950k cap hit in a league where cap space is often a team’s most valuable asset.
For St. Louis, this deal accomplishes a few things. Firstly, it provides an opportunity for Bortuzzo to get into games on a more regular basis than he’d done so far this season. He hasn’t played since November 18th and has dressed for just four games this year. As a pending unrestricted free agent, the more games Bortuzzo is a healthy scratch for the harder it will be for him to secure a suitable contract on the open market.
As a ten-year veteran who helped deliver the Blues their first Stanley Cup championship, it’s understandable that the franchise would want to first and foremost do right by Bortuzzo, especially if he wasn’t in head coach Craig Berube’s long-term plans.
Prior to this trade, the Blues had been carrying eight defensemen, and 23-year-old Tyler Tucker was more likely than Bortuzzo to draw into the lineup in case of injuries. Now, they’re left with a more conventional unit of seven defensemen on their active roster, a number that offers the team an additional spot for which an extra forward can now be called up to fill. Being able to do a favor to a well-liked veteran while also adding a draft pick in the process is a tidy bit of business for Blues GM Doug Armstrong.
While this trade was completed in less-than-ideal circumstances for the Islanders, it’s a deal that works on multiple levels for both involved clubs while also providing a significant opportunity to a respected veteran who is playing in a contract year.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
New York Islanders Place Ryan Pulock On Injured Reserve
The New York Islanders have placed defenseman Ryan Pulock on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, according to a team announcement.
The nature of Pulock’s injury, beyond the fact that it is a lower-body ailment, is not immediately clear. The 29-year-old blueliner played in yesterday’s 7-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, although his 16:28 time-on-ice was quite a bit lower than normal. Pulock typically plays 23 minutes per night and can play as many as 28, as he did during a November contest against the Ottawa Senators.
Due to this IR placement, Pulock will now need to miss at least the team’s next three games. That leaves the Islanders without one of their most important defensemen for games against some potential Stanley Cup contenders. The Islanders play the Los Angeles Kings tomorrow and then face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 11th. The Islanders are already missing stalwart defensive defenseman Adam Pelech, so this loss of Pulock costs the team another reliable, minutes-eating blueliner.
Paired with young Samuel Bolduc last night, Pulock occupied a crucial role inside the team’s top four at even strength and on the penalty kill.
Now, barring any external addition, it’s likely that team seventh defenseman Grant Hutton will draw into the lineup in place of Pulock. It’s extremely unlikely he plays the kind of role the team entrusts to Pulock, though. Instead, look for the team’s third pairing of recent waiver claim Mike Reilly and veteran Scott Mayfield to be leaned on more heavily by head coach Lane Lambert.
As one of the league’s lower-scoring teams, the Islanders rely on well-drilled defensive hockey and exceptional goaltending to grind out victories. That’s the formula that took the club to the playoffs last season and placed them in the Eastern Conference Finals for two consecutive years under former coach Barry Trotz.
Employing that defense-first strategy becomes quite a bit more challenging when both Pelech and Pulock are out of the lineup. It will be interesting to see what adjustments Lambert makes in order to give his squad the best chance to keep pace in what is a fiercely competitive Metropolitan division.
Trade Rumors: DeAngelo, Walker, Canadiens Goalies
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Tony DeAngelo “has been on the trade market for more than a month already,” according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. (subscription link) But according to LeBrun, “the market has been soft for DeAngelo,” and the Hurricanes’ efforts to find a trade partner for the defenseman are potentially impacted by the presence of Tyson Barrie, another right-shot power play specialist, on the trade market alongside DeAngelo.
DeAngelo’s second stint in Raleigh hasn’t quite gone as well as his first. In 2021-22, the now-28-year-old 2014 first-round pick averaged 19:49 time on ice per game and scored 10 goals and 51 points in 64 games, which is a 13-goal, 65-point 82-game pace. This season, though, he’s only averaged 16:11 time on ice, has just seven points in 16 games, and has not played since mid-November. Although he has two 50-plus point seasons on record and once appeared on some Norris Trophy ballots, DeAngelo may not be in the Hurricanes’ plans for much longer.
Some other trade notes from across the NHL:
- TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on the Insider Trading segment yesterday that “it’s expected [the Flyers] could command as much as a first-round draft pick” in any trade involving blueliner Sean Walker. While there isn’t any indication that the Flyers are shopping Walker, the 29-year-old’s standout all-around play this season, his affordable $2.65MM cap hit, and his pending UFA status all place him among the most attractive defensemen that might be available on the trade market. If a team would like to acquire him, though, it appears the price is going to be in line with other recent blueline rentals, such as Ben Chiarot and Dmitry Orlov, who each returned first-round picks of their own.
- LeBrun also reported in his piece today that “the Montreal Canadiens are still hoping to move a goalie,” and that they don’t want to keep three goalies on their active roster for the full season. LeBrun reports that the team is “listening to offers” on Cayden Primeau and Jake Allen, two names that make sense to deal since Samuel Montembeault recently signed a three-year extension. That being said, the team has yet to receive a trade offer for either player and trading Allen could be challenging due to his $3.85MM cap hit and the fact that he has the right to submit a seven-team no-trade list.
Brendan Smith And Austin Watson Fined By DOPS
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety had a busy day today levying two fines to two different players. New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Austin Watson will be both lighter in the wallet after the official announcements this afternoon.
Smith was fined for a dangerous trip in last night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. The incident occurred midway through the third period when Smith tripped Kraken center Devin Shore, which led to a minor penalty. Smith’s fine is the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement and will cost him $2,864.58. Smith’s fine comes just a week after he was suspended two games for slashing Philadelphia forward Travis Konecny.
Meanwhile, Watson was fined for an incident that occurred at the end of regulation in a game against the Nashville Predators. Watson fired a puck at Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and was quickly assessed a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute misconduct. The penalties had little consequence for Watson as the game was over at that point, however, they did initiate a brawl on the ice. Watson will face a fine of $2,022.57 which is the maximum allowed under the CBA. Lauzon appeared injured on the play and struggled to get off the ice as he slammed his stick in frustration, no word yet on his status.
The money from both players’ fines will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Charlie McAvoy Out Day-To-Day
Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic is reporting that Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. While very little information is available with regards to the injury, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery did tell the media that McAvoy does not have a head injury.
McAvoy was unable to finish the Bruins’ game last night against the Buffalo Sabres after he suffered an injury just over a minute into the third period of their 3-1 loss. Very few details were available after the game other than that he had an upper-body injury, and the club didn’t know the extent of it.
McAvoy is the Bruins defensive leader in many statistical categories and would create a massive hole if he is sidelined for any length of time. The Bruins are already without the services of defenseman Derek Forbort, who was placed on LTIR yesterday, and would likely have to rely on someone like Ian Mitchell to enter the lineup in McAvoy’s absence.
McAvoy has been nearly a point-a-game player this season with three goals and 14 assists in 21 games thus far while averaging over 24 minutes a night of ice time. His average ice time is almost a minute higher than his career average and it appears that it may be wearing on the 25-year-old. McAvoy has been a minus player in nine of his last 10 games and is a combined -11 during that time.
Now plus/minus doesn’t tell the whole story, but it is certainly an alarming indicator that McAvoy is slumping. In those ten games, McAvoy does have six assists, but after starting the season with 11 points in 11 games, he has certainly slowed down in recent weeks.
Penguins Recall Three Players, Place Noel Acciari On IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ bottom two lines will have a very different look tonight when they take on the Florida Panthers. The Penguins are desperate to turn things around after a very poor showing against the Tampa Bay Lightning two nights ago and are hoping a shakeup in their bottom six can fix some of their issues. Today the Penguins announced that they’ve recalled forwards Marc Johnstone, Jonathan Gruden, and Valtteri Puustinen from their AHL affiliate.
Johnstone is in his first year with the Penguins organization after signing a two-year, two-way contract on July 2nd. At 27 years old he has never dressed in an NHL game before, meaning he could see his first NHL action in a Penguins jersey. Thus far this season the native of Cranford, New Jersey has two goals and three assists at the AHL level in 21 games.
Gruden was acquired by the Penguins from the Ottawa Senators in the Matt Murray trade back in October 2020 after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL entry draft. He dressed in three NHL games in Pittsburgh last season tallying zero points while averaging just over five minutes of ice time per game. In the AHL this season, Gruden has registered five goals and five assists in 21 games.
Puustinen is probably the most intriguing of the three call-ups as he has the longest track record of offensive success at the AHL level. He has started slowly this year with just five goals and five assists in 18 games but does have one NHL game under his belt back in 2022. In his only NHL action Puustinen recorded an assist in just over ten minutes of action.
The recalls demonstrate just how desperate the Penguins are to find a fix to their bottom six woes. Pittsburgh hasn’t been able to find much success outside of their top two lines, and with injuries to Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, their lack of NHL quality depth is beginning to become apparent.
In a corresponding move, the Penguins also assigned forwards Alex Nylander and Joona Koppanen to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Many thought that Nylander turned a corner at the end of last season, but his play this year has been uninspired. He had no points in five games during this recall and looked overwhelmed on most of his shifts. Koppanen didn’t fare any better, going pointless in three games. He struggled on the Penguins’ fourth line with Pittsburgh unable to generate much of anything offensively with the 25-year-old on the ice.
Finally, the Penguins also announced that they’ve placed center Noel Acciari on the injured reserve. Acciari struggled to start the season but was starting to settle in on the fourth line when he was hurt. He also found a role on the Penguins penalty kill which has been one of the few bright spots for the Penguins this season. Acciari has been unable to dress in the Penguins past three games and won’t be eligible to get back in the lineup until next Tuesday. In 22 games this season, the 32-year-old has two goals and one assist while averaging over 12 minutes of ice time per game.
Senators Recall Jiří Smejkal
The Senators recalled forward Jiří Smejkal from AHL Belleville on Friday, a team release states. This is Smejkal’s first call-up after signing his first NHL contract with the Senators in May.
Smejkal, 27, had spent his entire professional career in Europe until this season. The hulking 6-foot-4 Czech winger does have some experience playing on North American ice, though, playing his final two seasons of junior hockey in the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors and Kamloops Blazers.
He’s played for a variety of European clubs after going unselected in multiple NHL drafts but didn’t really break out as an elite talent until the last two seasons. He produced over a point per game with Pelicans in the Finnish Liiga in 2021-22 and followed that up with 43 points in 49 games with the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn last season. Alongside three straight World Championship appearances with Czechia, he drew enough NHL interest to earn a one-year, two-way pact from Ottawa.
Although the GM who brought him to Canada, Pierre Dorion, is no longer with the team, new management has obviously liked what they’ve seen from Smejkal thus far in Belleville. He’s posted three goals and nine points in 17 AHL games after rumors swirled he would return to Europe after not cracking the Senators roster out of camp.
The Senators had the cap space to make this recall after placing defenseman Thomas Chabot on long-term injured reserve yesterday. He will miss at least four weeks with a leg injury.
Smejkal is now one of 13 healthy forwards on the Senators roster and could challenge to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Red Wings. The natural winger could slot in for 27-year-old Zack MacEwen on the team’s fourth line. MacEwen has played ten games, registering one assist and averaging a paltry 4:45 per contest after signing a three-year, $2.325MM contract with Ottawa in free agency last summer.
Devils Activate, Reassign Nico Daws
The Devils activated goaltender Nico Daws off-season-opening injured reserve Friday, per a team release, promptly assigning him to the AHL’s Utica Comets.
Daws, 22, did not participate in training camp and was placed on SOIR before the start of the regular season after undergoing offseason hip surgery. The 2020 third-round pick hasn’t suited up in a game since the Comets were eliminated in the second round of last season’s Calder Cup Playoffs by the Toronto Marlies.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Canadian national impressed mightily during his draft year, racking up a 23-8-6 record and .924 SV% in 38 games with the OHL’s Guelph Storm in 2019-20. It earned him a placement on Canada’s roster for that year’s World Junior Championship, where he backed up St. Louis Blues prospect Joel Hofer en route to a gold medal.
After spending the COVID-affected 2020-21 campaign in Germany with the DEL’s ERC Ingolstadt, the Munich-born netminder stepped into significant NHL action the following season with injuries decimating the Devils crease. Daws split the 2021-22 campaign equally between the Devils and Utica, notching a .893 SV% and 10-11-1 record in his first 25 NHL appearances.
With the free agent signing of Vítek Vaněček and the emergence of Akira Schmid as a slightly more NHL-ready netminder in the Devils system, Daws did not see any NHL ice last season, although he was recalled for injury insurance on a handful of occasions. However, Daws still put together a strong campaign with the Comets, posting a .904 SV% and two shutouts in 33 games. He capped off his campaign with a .920 SV% in the postseason while starting all six of Utica’s Calder Cup Playoff games.
Now healthy, Daws will assume the starter’s role in Utica ahead of Isaac Poulter, a 22-year-old undrafted free agent who spent most of last season in the ECHL. Poulter’s taken the reins with the Comets for the time being because Devils offseason free agent signing Erik Källgren, who’s seen a fair amount of NHL action over the past few seasons with the Maple Leafs, has struggled heavily with a .851 SV% and 4.27 GAA in nine appearances.
Should injuries strike either Vaněček or Schmid, Daws will likely be the first callup. Now in the final season of his entry-level contract, he remains waiver-exempt.