Andrew Cogliano Out For The Season
04/30/23: Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters today, including the Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker, that Cogliano would miss the rest of the playoffs due to the fracture of the C5 vertebrae in his neck.
It’s a major loss for the Avalanche penalty kill, and while Colorado is undoubtedly fixated on tonight’s Game Seven, the organization’s greater priority is likely helping Cogliano, a veteran of over 1,200 NHL games, recover from this gruesome injury and return to full health.
04/29/23: Although the play will reportedly not result in any suspension being handed out, due to the hit from behind from forward Jordan Eberle of the Seattle Kraken in Game Six, Andrew Cogliano will be out indefinitely for the Colorado Avalanche with a fractured neck. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Cogliano has fractured his C5 vertebrae, which are towards the top of the spinal cord structure.
It is unknown whether the Department of Player Safety was in the know of the damage done to Cogliano on the hit, but given the context of this series, it will likely raise a host of questions surrounding the supplemental discipline being handed out in this year’s playoffs. Although the context surrounding this hit was different, Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar received a one-game suspension for Game Five due to his hit on Kraken forward Jared McCann, who was also injured on that play.
Becoming a theme that has begun to sound like a broken record to this point, the Avalanche will once again lose team depth due to injury. Already without Gabriel Landeskog, Josh Manson, Darren Helm, and Valeri Nichushkin (personal reasons), the Avalanche will be without some very important players as they look to close out the Kraken in Game Seven.
Colorado Avalanche Recall Brad Hunt
04/30/23: After a short stay on the Eagles’ roster, Hunt has been recalled back to the Avalanche. According to the Athletic’s Peter Baugh, Hunt could be an option to enter head coach Jared Bednar’s lineup tonight for Game Seven against the Seattle Kraken.
04/29/23: Following their victory over Seattle on Friday to extend their first-round series, the Avalanche made a roster move, assigning defenseman Brad Hunt to Colorado of the AHL, per the AHL’s transactions log.
The 34-year-old is no stranger to being sent to the minors this season as this is the seventh time it has happened. In between those assignments, Hunt got into 47 games with the Avs this season, picking up four goals and six assists in limited minutes as he averaged just over 11 minutes a night. He has been quite productive in his first season of AHL action since 2016-17, tallying seven goals and 14 helpers in just 24 contests.
While it may seem odd that a team who was missing a defenseman (Josh Manson) due to injury last night would then turn around and send a blueliner down, this was done at least in part for waiver-related purposes.
Hunt cleared waivers back on April 1st, resetting his clock. Players can’t spend more than 30 days cumulative on an NHL roster without needing to pass through waivers again and days in the playoffs do count as it is part of their playing season. Accordingly, Colorado is sending Hunt down now to keep him eligible to play with the Eagles for their playoffs run, rather than running the risk of losing him if they had to waive him to send him down after the Avalanche get eliminated, an outcome that could come as soon as Sunday if they aren’t able to win in the series-deciding game against the Kraken.
Predators Assign Jack Matier To AHL
After the Milwaukee Admirals, AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators took a convincing Game One victory over the Manitoba Moose on Friday night, it appears they will receive some exciting reinforcements on defense. The Predators have announced they have assigned defenseman Jack Matier to the Admirals, shortly after he closed out his season with Ottawa 67’s on Monday.
Originally drafted by the Predators at 124th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, Matier was officially rostered on the 67’s for four seasons but only ended up playing in three due to the canceled season in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Aside from the OHL, Matier also played internationally, winning a gold medal with Team Canada during the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
In his three seasons in Ottawa, Matier had some serious developmental progression throughout his career. Scoring nine points in 56 games his rookie season, this year, he finished with 13 goals and 36 assists in 58 games for the 67’s, also chipping in six points in 11 playoff games.
In their pursuit of the Calder Cup, the Admirals already sport some above-average players on the back end. It is hard to imagine defenseman Jordan Gross, Kevin Gravel, or Marc Del Gaizo coming out of the lineup in their semifinal matchup, but there is some potential for Matier to gain some important playoff minutes in a limited fashion for the Admirals down the stretch.
David Krejci Injury Update
Some of the most unfortunate injury news in this year’s playoffs up to this point, has been the absence of Boston Bruins’ top two veteran centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci for a majority of their series against the Florida Panthers. For Krejci specifically, he missed Games Three, Four, and Five, but did manage to play in Game Six, accruing almost 18 minutes of ice time in the loss.
Amalie Benjamin of the NHL reports that Krejci is on the ice for morning practice, which gives some optimism that he will be back in the lineup for Game Seven. Although the Bruins acquired significant depth at both offense and defense at the trade deadline this year, which has made the absence of Krejci and Bergeron more palatable for the team, it is hard to imagine any player replicating what those veterans are able to bring to the table.
If the Bruins do secure the win in Game Seven, this will still be something to monitor for Boston. In what is expected to be one of, if not the last, Stanley Cup run for both Bergeron and Krejci, their lack of games played up to this point has been unfortunate. For context, it should be remembered that Krejci was shut down the final two games of the regular season due to a lower-body injury, which may be what has still been ailing him up to this point.
Minor Transactions: 04/29/23
It’s potentially the final stand tonight for three NHL teams, with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and Tampa Bay Lightning each fighting to extend their season one more game. The postseason is also fully underway in several other North American leagues, with several AHL playoff battles already fought earlier today. As these major games get completed, teams in Europe and minor leagues are making roster moves. We’ll keep track of those transactions here.
- 204-game NHL veteran Brian Gibbons was among the players announced today to be departing the DEL’s ERC Ingolstadt. While Ingolstadt themselves had a memorable campaign (they fell in the finals to Red Bull Munich) Gibbons himself last played in October. He scored a total of four points in just 11 games for Ingolstadt this season, and as a 35-year-old free agent his playing future seems cloudy. Also among those released by Ingolstadt is Tye McGinn, the brother of NHLers Jamie McGinn and Brock McGinn.
- Former Dallas Stars forward Remi Elie signed a two-year contract with the SHL’s Linkoping HC. The 28-year-old 2013 second-round pick finished his first season across the Atlantic this year, notching 18 points in 32 games for rival SHL side Farjestad BK. Elie is an experienced veteran who flashed some goal-scoring tough with the Syracuse Crunch in the AHL in 2021-22, potting 17 goals in 48 games. Linkoping will hope that version of Elie can appear next season to help them rise from the basement of the SHL standings, where they finished this past year.
- Liiga’s Tappara Tampere have gotten to work locking up key members of their second-straight championship team, inking starting netminder Christian Heljango to a contract extension. While Heljango’s regular-season save percentage dropped from a .920 last year to a .891 this season, his brilliance in the team’s title run likely erased any worry about a decline. The 26-year-old posted a 12-2 record in the postseason with a .935 save percentage. Now, he’s set to return to Tampere to try to run it back next season.
- Two former Montreal Canadiens prospects, Martin Reway and Hayden Verbeek, are among the players announced today to not be returning to HK Spisska Nova Ves of the Czech Extraliga. Reway, 28, was a 2013 fourth-round pick who joined the team later in the season, and scored 13 points in 13 regular-season games and 12 points in 13 playoff contests. Verbeek, 25, is an undrafted player who was part of the Canadiens’ 2021 trade for defenseman Jon Merrill and notched 33 points in 44 games in his European professional debut season.
- Fresh off of a solid performance in his return to European professional hockey, former Boston Bruins prospect Victor Berglund signed a two-year deal with Karpat in Liiga. The 23-year-old 2017 second-rounder earned an entry-level contract (something that is not a given for late-round picks) but couldn’t quite catch on in the AHL. He returned to Europe to play for HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish capital, and scored 20 points in 29 regular-season games.
- Taylor Leier, a former Philadelphia Flyer, will not return to the DEL’s Straubing Tigers for next season, according to a team announcement. The former WHL champion and AHL All-Star had a strong two-season run with the Tigers, totaling 39 goals and 101 points in 109 games there. At 29 years old, Leier has a lot of his career ahead of him and will now look for a new opportunity in Germany or even in other leagues.
West Injury Notes: Theodore, McNabb, Manson, Helm, Janmark
Missing what ended up being the series-clinching Game Five victory for the Vegas Golden Knights, it was reported that defenseman Shea Theodore was feeling under the weather significantly. Still, head coach Bruce Cassidy confirms he should be back for Game One of their second-round matchup (Tweet Link).
Only playing in 55 games for the top team in the Western Conference, Theodore scored eight goals and tallied 33 assists for the Golden Knights this season. During this year’s playoffs, Theodore played in the entire series before missing Game Five, putting up three assists in four games, and helping his team move past the Winnipeg Jets.
In more unfortunate news for the Golden Knights, it is still unconfirmed whether or not defenseman Brayden McNabb will be back for Game One in the division semifinals. Much like Theodore, McNabb also missed Game Five against the Jets, but McNabb is still listed as day-to-day, and will likely be a game-time decision before Game One.
Other Western Conference injury notes:
- Bennett Durando of the Denver Post reports that Josh Manson and Darren Helm will miss Game Seven for the Colorado Avalanche. So far in their series against the Seattle Kraken, Manson has played in five games, unable to score a goal or help with one, but still finding himself on the scoresheet in the form of PIMs, as he has accrued eight already to this point. In much of the same as how his regular season went, Helm has only played in one game this series and was also unable to find the scoresheet for the Avalanche.
- As the Edmonton Oilers look to eliminate the Los Angeles Kings during Game Six, they may be receiving an offensive reinforcement. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic reports that Mattias Janmark may be back to help the Oilers clinch the series. This morning at practice, Janmark was seen skating on a line with teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He has already played in one game this series, picking up one assist.
Jets Notes: Hellebuyck, Dubois, Ehlers, Bowness
The future of Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg is one of the things many will be keeping an eye on this offseason. The 29-year-old had a standout showing this season, posting a 2.49 GAA with a .920 SV% while leading the NHL in games played. He’s eligible to sign a contract extension this summer but indicated in his end-of-season media availability (video link) that he hasn’t yet given any thought to signing another deal with the Jets and discussions with the team on that front have not started. Hellebuyck indicated that his primary goal remains to go after a Stanley Cup so if Winnipeg opts for a rebuild this summer after their disappointing playoff exit, it would be surprising if Hellebuyck chose to sign an extension. Regardless of what team he signs that next contract with, he’ll be getting a sizable raise from his current $6.166MM AAV.
More from Winnipeg:
- In his availability (video link), Pierre-Luc Dubois remained non-committal about his future with the team, instead stating that he hasn’t given much thought to his future just yet. The 24-year-old, who acknowledged that he dealt with hip trouble this season, has been in trade speculation going back to last summer amid reports that he thought he could be moved to Montreal at the draft. Dubois accepted his $6MM qualifying offer last summer and will be in his final year of restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility in July.
- Winger Nikolaj Ehlers indicated in his session (video link) that it’s possible that he’ll be able to suit up at the World Championships next month despite missing all but one game in their series against Vegas. He declined to disclose the nature of the injury that kept him out for more than two weeks. Ehlers would certainly be a key addition to a Denmark squad that will be missing a few of its NHL players at least with those teams having already moved onto the second round.
- After a short and blunt presser following their elimination game, some wondered if head coach Rick Bowness would stay on for next season. He told the media today (video link) that his intention is to remain behind the bench in Winnipeg but declined to comment on what changes to the team might be needed, instead deferring to GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. The 68-year-old has one more season plus a team option remaining on his contract after joining the Jets last summer.
Offseason Checklist: Chicago Blackhawks
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those that were eliminated quickly. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Chicago.
The fact that the Blackhawks struggled this season should have come as no surprise. They unloaded several key players last summer and continued that at the trade deadline before announcing they won’t be trying to re-sign Jonathan Toews for next year and beyond. GM Kyle Davidson has largely a blank canvas to work with but with the team still firmly committed to the rebuild, the to-do list isn’t the biggest beyond adding more future assets. Even so, there are some decisions that will need to be made in the coming months.
Decide Athanasiou’s Fate
When Chicago signed Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou to one-year, $3MM deals mere minutes into free agency back in July, they both seemed like strong candidates to be moved elsewhere at the deadline. While that was the case with Domi, that didn’t happen with Athanasiou. Instead, he stayed with them and did well down the stretch while sometimes playing alongside one of their top prospects in Lukas Reichel.
Accordingly, would it be worth it for the Blackhawks to look into extending the 28-year-old on a short-term deal? They’re not going to be able to ice a lineup of strictly youngsters as there is a cap floor to be met (more on that later) and if Athanasiou is comfortable with the situation in Chicago, perhaps he’s someone worth keeping around.
However, with 20 goals and 20 assists, Athanasiou has likely built up enough value to command at least a two-year deal somewhere this time around. With that in mind, giving Athanasiou another contract might take him off the table for being traded, at least in the short term, especially if they have to give him a bit above market value to convince him to avoid going to a team that is more interested in short-term success.
Assess Murphy’s Market
The list of proven veterans that the Blackhawks have moved out over the last year is quite impressive to the point where it’s fair to wonder if they have anyone left that could realistically be traded. Seth Jones and his $9.5MM contract likely won’t be in play due to his contract. However, another veteran blueliner could realistically find himself in trade talks, Connor Murphy.
The 30-year-old signed his current contract just over a year and a half ago with the hopes that Chicago would be looking to push for short-term success. Clearly, that’s not the plan now. Murphy has three years left on that deal with a $4.4MM cap hit, a reasonable price for someone that typically logs around 20 minutes a game, kills penalties, and plays a steady, defensive role. Frankly, there’s a role for him on the Blackhawks to work with some of their younger blueliners but in a defensive market that isn’t the deepest in terms of free agent or trade options, Chicago should be looking into what they can get for him, especially with right-shot players being in high demand.
Back at the trade deadline, Chicago picked up a first-round pick for Jake McCabe, a blueliner who carries a similar cap hit as Murphy with term left on his deal. It took them eating half the contract but considering they don’t have many tradable assets with high price tags at the moment, it could be defensible for them to consider doing so here as well, especially if it helps them land another quality draft pick. One option available to Chicago now that might not be during the season is the ability to take back a pricey contract which could also help defray the cost of Murphy’s deal if the Blackhawks don’t want to retain any money.
It’s not a foregone conclusion that they have to move Murphy this summer, assuming they can overcome his 10-team no-trade protection. Perhaps the smarter play is to wait until the trade deadline and try to do a McCabe-like deal again. At a minimum, Davidson needs to see what trade options are out there for the veteran defender over the next couple of months.
Goaltending Decisions
On the surface, it seems like Chicago’s goaltending situation is sorted out. Petr Mrazek, by virtue of his contract, will be one of the netminders with one of Arvid Soderblom or Jaxson Stauber serving as the backup. But with how much Mrazek struggled this season, not to mention how things went for him in Toronto, should he really be guaranteed a roster spot for 2023-24?
Alex Stalock was one of the feel-good stories around the NHL this season, recovering from myocarditis that limited him severely the last two seasons to post a .908 SV%, an above-average rate on a team that wasn’t exactly a model of defensive play. He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer and with the need to get at least one of their youngsters some NHL action, it’s understandable to think he won’t be back. But if Mrazek isn’t in the picture anymore, would that change things?
Chicago knows they can easily bury Mrazek’s deal in the minors as his struggles will deter any team from picking him up off waivers. But with the other of Soderblom and Stauber in the picture plus prospect Drew Commesso, would they want Mrazek with Rockford taking away playing time? Accordingly, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them consider buying him out, a move that would free up about $3MM in cap space next season while adding just under $1.5MM in 2024-25, a price tag that should be of no concern to them given their cap situation.
Are they better off parting ways with Mrazek this summer to try to keep Stalock around or to sign a different veteran netminder that can handle some starts altogether? It’s a choice they’ll want to make by the late-June buyout deadline.
Spend, Spend, Spend
At the moment, the Blackhawks have over $40MM in cap space for next season, per CapFriendly, assuming that the cap goes up by $1MM as planned. And that space would only go up with a Mrazek buyout. Now, you might be thinking to yourself that Chicago won’t be a cap team and you’re probably right. But there is a Lower Limit to the cap that everyone has to get to. They are presently around $20MM below what that mark is likely to be next season.
Yes, they have a few roster spots to fill with that money and if they re-sign Athanasiou, that will take up a chunk of it. But even with that, they have a long way to go and filling those spots with low-cost prospects isn’t going to get them close to the minimum spending. While they’re clearly a team that isn’t gearing up for a playoff run anytime soon, they’re effectively going to be buyers to an extent.
Davidson has two possible avenues to work with here. He can do like he did with Domi and Athanasiou last summer, signing them to ‘sign and flip’ deals that will see them moved at or around the trade deadline for futures. Alternatively, with so many teams expected to be tight to the Upper Limit, Chicago is well-positioned to take on an unwanted contract or two (or more) while adding draft picks and prospects for doing so. While we know they’ll be sellers next February, expect the Blackhawks to be adding some veterans to their roster in the coming months to help get them cap-compliant while setting themselves up to add future assets as well.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Atlantic Notes: Copp, Subban, Bruins
Rosters for the upcoming World Championships are likely to be revealed in the coming days but Red Wings center Andrew Copp won’t on the one for Team USA, notes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Copp decided to decline the offer to let his body heal up, allowing him to be fully healthy heading into training camp. Although the 28-year-old played in every game this season, he missed training camp due to his recovery from offseason surgery which resulted in a slow start and a quieter-than-expected campaign that saw him score just nine goals. Clearly, Copp is hoping that a more traditional offseason and a full camp will result in him being more productive in 2023-24.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- If the Sabres intend to go with a young goalie tandem next season in Devon Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, veteran Eric Comrie would likely be the odd one out. With that in mind, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News suggests that Buffalo would be wise to re-sign Malcolm Subban this offseason to hedge as insurance in case Comrie is either traded or cleared off waivers. While there is definitely an upside to carrying two promising youngsters in goal, it stands to reason that they should have at least one veteran in the fold. Subban had a 2.94 GAA with a .903 SV% in 39 regular season games with Rochester.
- After a tough showing last night against Florida, some have wondered if Boston might opt to make a goalie change heading into Sunday’s series-deciding game. Speaking with reporters today including Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (Twitter link), head coach Jim Montgomery declined to say who will get the nod. Linus Ullmark, the expected Vezina Trophy winner, has allowed 10 goals on 57 shots over the last two games but while they have a more than capable backup in Jeremy Swayman, the 24-year-old has just three minutes of game action since the regular season ended two-and-a-half weeks ago.
Central Notes: Fleury, Girard, Namestnikov
After serving as the backup for most of the playoffs, Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury indicated to reporters including Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link) after Friday’s series-ending loss to Dallas that he intends to fulfill the final year of his contract and not retire this summer. Russo notes (subscription link) that the veteran had indicated that he’d be open to hanging up his skates if he showed this season that he couldn’t play up to his standards. While Fleury didn’t have his best campaign, he still posted an above-average .908 SV% along with a 2.85 GAA in 46 games, clearly showing he can still compete at the top level. He’ll enter next season seven wins away from tying Patrick Roy for the second-most regular season victories in NHL history.
More from the Central:
- While Colorado is still alive in their first-round series, some are already looking ahead to what their offseason might look like. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli is one of those, suggesting that defenseman Samuel Girard could be the odd one out on the back end for the Avalanche with the team needing to fill as many as nine roster spots with not a ton of cap space to work with. The 24-year-old should be highly sought after if that happens as he’ll have four years left on his deal after this one at a $5MM AAV which is good value for someone consistently logging more than 21 minutes a night on the back end while chipping in offensively; he had a career-high 37 points this season.
- Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov has certainly bounced around lately, playing for seven different teams since 2019. With that in mind, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe wonders if Winnipeg offering the 30-year-old a multi-year extension would be enough to get the pending UFA to become a longer-term piece for the team instead of just being another rental. Namestnikov had 10 points in 20 games during the regular season after being acquired at the trade deadline while chipping in with a pair of assists in their five-game loss to Vegas.