Nick Bonino Suffers A Lacerated Kidney
Nick Bonino’s return to Pittsburgh has hit an abrupt pause. The team announced (Twitter link) today that the center suffered a lacerated kidney in Thursday’s overtime loss to the Islanders after being hit by a puck and is listed as being out week to week. Rob Rossi of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the veteran was released from the hospital today.
The 34-year-old was acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline from San Jose as part of a three-team deal that also involved Montreal. He was brought in to help their center situation with Teddy Blueger being traded to Vegas and Ryan Poehling landing on LTIR but wound up being injured in just his third game with the team. Adding in his time with the Sharks, Bonino has ten goals and nine assists in 62 games this season.
Following what wound up being a fairly busy trade deadline for Pittsburgh, cap space is at a premium for the Penguins as per CapFriendly, their cap space is limited to exclusively Poehling’s $750K LTIR placement. Bonino’s injury gave Pittsburgh just 11 forwards on their active roster, limiting them to recalling someone making the league minimum – Drake Caggiula and Alex Nylander were the only forwards at that price point – with Nylander getting the call yesterday. Pittsburgh could opt to shift Bonino and his $1.05MM cap charge (Montreal retained an additional $1.05MM as part of the swap) onto LTIR in the coming days, freeing up space for one more recall in the process.
Capitals Sign Trevor Van Riemsdyk To Three-Year Extension
It was a bit surprising at first that the Capitals didn’t move defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk as a rental at the deadline. However, GM Brian MacLellan said that he didn’t move him since he hoped to sign the blueliner to a new contract. Mission accomplished on that front as the team announced they’ve signed van Riemsdyk to a three-year extension that carries an AAV of $3MM. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $1MM signing bonus, $2.75MM salary
2024-25: $1MM signing bonus, $2MM salary
2025-26: $1.25MM signing bonus, $1MM salary
The 31-year-old is in his third season with Washington and has worked his way from being a depth defender to one that has become a quality every-game piece. He has played in all 66 games this season – the only Capitals defender to do so – and has set new career highs in goals (seven) and points (19) while logging 19:00 per game, his highest ATOI since his first full NHL campaign back with Chicago in 2015-16. Van Riemsdyk also leads the Caps with 146 blocked shots, good for seventh in that stat league-wide.
For those efforts, van Riemsdyk is landing a sizable raise. The AAV on this new deal actually exceeds the total earnings that he received over his first three seasons combined; he’s wrapping up a two-year agreement that carried a cap hit of just $950K, a considerable bargain relative to his performance thus far.
Washington has been busy when it comes to the back end lately. They moved out long-time veteran Dmitry Orlov at the trade deadline while bringing in Rasmus Sandin in a separate deal that also moved out pending UFA Erik Gustafsson. Sandin joins Alexander Alexeyev and Martin Fehervary (both pending RFAs this summer) as 23-year-olds now playing regular roles in the lineup at the moment while they’ve now handed van Riemsdyk and Nick Jensen three-year extensions as bridge veterans that could see their playing time drop when the youngsters are ready to supplant them on the depth chart. Those players will join John Carlson in what should be a fairly stable defense corps for 2023-24 and beyond as the Capitals look to retool fairly quickly over embarking on a longer-scale rebuild.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Islanders Activate Cal Clutterbuck Off IR
The Islanders enter tonight’s action with a four-point advantage on a Wild Card spot and will welcome back one of their long-time veterans tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Cal Clutterbuck off injured reserve.
He had missed close to two months with an upper-body injury, his third upper-body issue of the season. In between missing those contests, the 35-year-old has put up four goals and four assists along with 130 hits in 34 games while averaging 12:09 per night, primarily on the fourth line.
It appears that Clutterbuck will be taking the place of Otto Koivula in the lineup tonight against Washington as Newsday’s Andrew Gross relays (Twitter link) that Koivula is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old is averaging less than seven minutes per game in his first eight NHL appearances of the season but still has a pair of assists, matching his output from 2021-22.
Meanwhile, New York will still be waiting at least a little longer for two of their key injured forwards to return. Gross adds (Twitter link) that there remains no timetable for center Mathew Barzal to resume skating as he tries to work his way back from a lower-body injury. However, the expectation is that Jean-Gabriel Pageau should accompany the team on their upcoming West Coast road trip; the veteran has missed the last month with an upper-body injury.
Aidan McDonough Expected To Sign With Canucks After NCAA Season
With his college career set to come to an end over the next few weeks, Canucks prospect Aidan McDonough would soon be facing a choice. He could sign with the team that drafted him or wait a few months and hit unrestricted free agency in mid-August. It appears he’ll be choosing the former as CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (audio link) that McDonough will be signing with Vancouver once his college campaign comes to an end. McDonough’s advisor Glen Giovanucci confirmed the report to Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston.
The 23-year-old was a seventh-round pick by the Canucks back in 2019 (195th overall) but has certainly outperformed his draft stock, quickly becoming a key producer at Northeastern. McDonough reached the 20-goal mark and surpassed the point-per-game plateau for the second year in a row with his 20 goals and 18 assists in 33 games leading the Huskies in scoring. Over his four-year college career, he’s averaging just over a point per game with 124 in 123 appearances.
At his age, McDonough is only eligible for a two-year, entry-level contract. Dhaliwal notes that if McDonough’s season ends early enough, the first of those campaigns will be burned in 2022-23, allowing him to join Vancouver for the final few games this season to begin his pro career while setting him up to hit restricted free agency in 2024.
Poll: Who Will Be The Wild Card Teams In The Eastern Conference?
Now that the NHL and AHL trade deadlines have passed, the league is full speed ahead toward the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With between 15-18 games left in the regular season, there are only nine points separating the seventh-place and 13th-place teams in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
If the season ended today, the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins would cross the finish line as the wild-card winners in the East. In their last ten games, respectively, the Islanders are 7-2-1, while the Penguins are 5-4-1. Whether or not they have the rosters to get it done, both teams made moves at the deadline in hopes of making the playoffs this year.
Following behind them, the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators are making the strongest case to move past the Islanders and Penguins. In their last ten, the Panthers are 6-4-0, while the Senators are 7-3-0. The Panthers are not the same dominant team that they were last year, but they still have an extremely talented roster led by Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.
The Senators are following a much different course. After a few seasons of rebuilding, the Senators are finally a fun hockey team to watch again. After signing Claude Giroux and making a trade for Alex DeBrincat, the Senators had hope for meaningful games in April at the beginning of the season. Starting slow out of the gate, it seems this team has put it all together as the season has progressed. By acquiring top trade candidate Jakob Chychrun at the deadline, the Senators have the team to bring the Eastern wild-card race down to the wire.
Rounding out the last of the group that could theoretically reach the playoffs, the Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, and Detroit Red Wings are still within striking distance. The Capitals and Red Wings both chose to sell at the deadline, while the Sabres’ biggest move was acquiring Jordan Greenway from the Minnesota Wild. The Sabres have a similar aura around them as the Senators, after they too have an exciting team after years of rebuilding. However, all three of these teams have a losing record in their last ten games, with the Sabres’ last game being a 10-4 blowout loss to the Dallas Stars.
So who will it be PHR readers? Cast your vote and let us know which two teams will win the wild-card race in the East.
Maple Leafs Recall Alex Steeves And Wayne Simmonds
The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves today as they’ve recalled wingers Alex Steeves and Wayne Simmonds, per the AHL’s Transactions log. CapFriendly clarifies (Twitter links) that both moves have been registered as emergency recalls and thus do not count against the post-deadline four-recall limit.
Steeves is back just one day after being sent down. The 23-year-old suited up in Tuesday’s game against New Jersey, marking his third NHL appearance of the campaign where he has been off the scoresheet. Steeves also got into three games at the top level last season but has spent the bulk of the campaign with the Marlies where he has 17 goals and 28 assists in 54 games, good for second on the team in scoring.
Simmonds, meanwhile, was sent down last month following the Ryan O’Reilly trade but hasn’t seen any action in the minors this season. The 34-year-old has suited up in 13 games for the Maple Leafs this season, recording just a single assist while averaging a career-low 7:25 per night. He’s in the final season of a two-year contract in what could be the swan song of a 15-year NHL career.
Prior to the recalls, Toronto had just 11 forwards on their roster. That permitted one of the moves to be an emergency recall while the other is likely hedging their bets in case center John Tavares isn’t able to return on Saturday against Edmonton although the captain was a full participant in practice today.
Snapshots: Nylander, Bear, Gogolev, Wanner
Alex Nylander’s stint in the minors was short-lived as the Penguins announced that they’ve recalled the winger from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis. The 25-year-old had an assist in his debut with Pittsburgh on Tuesday but was sent back to the minors soon after. In order to qualify to use an emergency recall, the Penguins appear to have a forward that won’t be available to play on Saturday against Philadelphia but with no practice today, it’s not known which player could be missing. Nylander has spent the bulk of the year in the minors, notching 25 goals and 25 assists in 54 games.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While the Canucks have had extension talks with defenseman Ethan Bear, his agent Jason Davidson indicated in an appearance on CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali (audio link) that there haven’t been any recent discussions since the All-Star break. The 25-year-old has rebounded relatively well this season, picking up 14 points in 46 games while averaging 18:16 per game since being acquired from Carolina in late October. Bear is two years away from UFA eligibility and it’s worth noting that Davidson indicated that the contract will either be a one-year or a three-year agreement to avoid walking him right to the open market.
- It didn’t take long for winger Pavel Gogolev to find his new team. In fact, he’s going back to his old team as ECHL Newfoundland announced that the 23-year-old has signed an AHL contract with Toronto and then was loaned back to the Growlers. Gogolev has 48 points in 33 games with Newfoundland this season and was included for contract-matching purposes in the trade that saw the Maple Leafs pick up Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty late last month. He cleared unconditional waivers earlier this week to terminate his contract.
- Last month, the WHL suspended four Moose Jaw players indefinitely pending further investigation, including Oilers prospect Maximus Wanner. Today, the league announced that all four players have been suspended for the remainder of the season. As part of their release, the league indicated that the players will be required to complete further personal conduct and respect training before becoming eligible to return next season. No specifics for what resulted in this were revealed but Edmonton police confirmed that it is not a criminal matter.
Central Notes: Stalock, Johnson, Dubois
The Blackhawks were without goaltender Alex Stalock tonight against the Panthers as the team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran is out due to illness. The 35-year-old has been a bright spot for Chicago this season, posting an impressive .920 SV% in 17 games, a mark that would put him in a tie for fourth in the league if he had enough qualifying appearances. With the decision being announced so late, the Blackhawks didn’t have time to recall someone from AHL Rockford so instead, they’ve signed Zach Andrews, Florida’s emergency goaltender, to an ATO agreement. The 31-year-old had a 45-12-4 record in four seasons with UMass-Boston from 2012 through 2016 with a .906 SV% and a 2.66 GAA.
More from the Central:
- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now that defenseman Erik Johnson appears to be ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken ankle. The veteran has been out for a month with an expected recovery timeline of eight weeks. He’s already skating so it’s quite possible that he’s able to return before another four weeks elapse. Johnson has seven assists in 51 games this season and is not currently on LTIR so Colorado won’t have to make any roster moves to activate him when he’s ready to come back.
- While the Jets were without Pierre-Luc Dubois last night against Minnesota with an upper-body injury, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be out much longer. Postmedia’s Paul Friesen relays that Winnipeg expects the center to be back at some point on their road trip. That trip begins Saturday in Florida and ends Tuesday in Carolina so it’s safe to say that Dubois should be back soon. The 24-year-old has 24 goals and 31 assists in 61 games so far this season.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Daniil Tarasov On Emergency Basis
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that goaltender Daniil Tarasov has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.
Per the team release, starting netminder Elvis Merzlikins is temporarily away from the team as he has returned to Latvia to be with his grandmother, who according to the announcement is seriously ill.
Tarasov’s return to the NHL roster will give Blue Jackets fans a preview of next season, when Tarasov will in all likelihood spend the season at the NHL level. The 23-year-old Russian netminder, who has struggled with significant injury issues over the past two years, loses his waiver eligibility next season, meaning he likely won’t be spending the year with AHL Cleveland as was the plan for this season.
In nine AHL games this season Tarasov has a .871 save percentage, although it is important to note that the Monsters’ lineup has been significantly impacted by the injury issues their parent-club has faced, meaning their talent on defense is more depleted than usual with so many players called-up.
At the NHL level, Tarasov has posted better numbers, with a .908 save percentage in 13 games. He has 17 career NHL games under his belt, and a career .914 save percentage, providing some optimism that he’ll be ready to back up Merzlikins next season. For as long as Merzlikins is away, Tarasov will share Columbus’ crease with veteran Michael Hutchinson.
Nashville Predators Reassign John Leonard
The Nashville Predators have reassigned forward John Leonard to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.
The brother of top 2023 NHL Draft prospect Ryan Leonard, John has been playing in Nashville since February 2nd, when he made his season debut in a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. Leonard scored his first goal of the year in that game, and finishes with just that goal and no assists in his four-game run at the NHL level.
A 2018 sixth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks, Leonard was sent to Nashville in the Luke Kunin trade over the summer. He made a name for himself playing college hockey at UMass Amherst, scoring around a point-per-game rate each year. He potted 27 goals in his final season of college, and scored 13 points in 44 NHL games with the Sharks the following year.
This season, he’s spent most of the year in Milwaukee, where he’s been a solid contributor. He has 32 points in 52 games at the AHL level, and heads back giving the Admirals a boost as they battle for position in the AHL’s Central Division.