Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Erik Kallgren
As the playoffs begin, every team in the league has added a third goaltender to serve as an emergency backup. In Toronto, things are no different, as Erik Kallgren has been brought up from the minor leagues. This recall though, sheds some light on another situation.
Kallgren’s addition means that Matt Murray, who missed the end of the season with a head injury, cannot yet play for the team. Joseph Woll will move into the backup role behind Ilya Samsonov, with no clear timeline on the injured netminder’s return.
This wasn’t the plan when the Maple Leafs acquired Murray, but it is a scenario that shouldn’t surprise anyone. The two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender has been unable to stay healthy for the last few years. That was part of why the Ottawa Senators were willing to eat some of his contract to send him down the road to Toronto.
Murray played in just 26 games this season with the Maple Leafs, posting a .903 save percentage and 3.01 goals-against average. With another year left on his contract, it’s unclear how Toronto will sort out the goaltending for 2023-24. Samsonov is a pending RFA with a great arbitration case, and Woll has shown he is ready for the NHL.
For now, the club is focused on the Tampa Bay Lightning and the first-round series that starts tonight. Samsonov and Woll is the tandem they’ll go with, as they try to finally get over the disappointments of the past.
East Notes: Capitals Coaches, Red Wings, Karmanos
The Washington Capitals had a disappointing season, and it has resulted in some changes behind the bench. Peter Laviolette was already let go by the club and the team announced earlier today that his two assistant coaches would be leaving the organization as well. The Capitals finished the season with 80 points and missed the playoffs for just the second time since 2008, resulting in assistant coaches Kevin McCarthy and Blaine Forsythe losing their positions.
McCarthy was behind the Capitals bench for three seasons and has a lengthy resume on NHL benches. He has worked for the Capitals, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and Hartford Whalers in a coaching career that dates back to 1992. Forsythe has been with the Capitals his entire professional career, which dates back to 2006. He worked as a video coach before moving into a scouting role and then stepping behind the bench as an assistant in 2009. He has served in that role for the past 14 seasons, now the Capitals will look to shuffle the deck on the bench going forward.
- With the Detroit Red Wings season ended, a couple of players have already committed to the upcoming World Championships. Lucas Raymond will suit up for Sweden, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. The 21 year old Raymond scored 17 goals and 45 points in 74 games for the Red Wings, following up his 57-point rookie season. The World Championships are set to take place in Finland and Latvia in May.
- Also heading to the World Championships from the Red Wings is Olli Maatta, Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports reports. Maatta is a veteran defenseman who scored 23 points in 78 games for the Red Wings. The native of Jyvaskyla, Finland has a chance to perform in his home country and compete for a medal.
- Also of note, Darren Dreger of TSN reports Jason Karmanos is a sought after general manager candidate. Karmanos is currently the assistant general manager of the Buffalo Sabres and has a long history of working in NHL front office roles, dating back to 1998 when he held the same position with the Carolina Hurricanes. Dreger mentions Karmanos could be an option to replace recently-fired Ron Hextall who was the GM with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Karmanos held roles as the VP of Hockey Operations as well as assistant general manager in Pittsburgh between 2014 and 2021.
Patrice Bergeron Out For Game 1
The Boston Bruins set several regular season records with their tremendous play this season including the most wins (65) ever in a single season and the most points (135) in the standings in NHL history as well. The Bruins have a deep roster at every position, and are poised for a long playoff run that begins tonight when they host the Florida Panthers. Unfortunately, the Bruins will be without a key member of the team for Game 1.
Patrice Bergeron will miss the opening night of the playoffs, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Bergeron is dealing with an illness that is going around the Bruins locker room, and was unable to suit up for the opening game of the playoffs. It is impossible to overstate Bergeron’s importance to the Bruins success as he is arguably the best defensive center in the league, and also scored 27 goals and 58 points in 78 games this season.
The Bruins are deep down the middle of the ice, and will move Pavel Zacha, who had 21 goals and 57 points this season to center on the top line. David Krejci scored 16 goals and 56 points in 70 games this season, Charlie Coyle and Tomas Nosek give the Bruins impressive depth down the middle even without their top center.
Bergeron left the Bruins final regular season game after playing just five minutes, though it was said to be for precautionary reasons. An illness would signal a shorter-term absence and nothing to worry about as the playoffs progress. But, the 37-year-old missed a little time late in the season with nagging injuries and left their final game quickly just four days ago.
While the Bruins just won more regular season games than anyone, getting Bergeron back at 100% in short order would go a long way toward them reaching their ultimate goal for this season.
PHR Playoff Primer: Vegas Golden Knights vs Winnipeg Jets
With the start of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs upon us, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We continue our look with the matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets.
The #1 vs #8 seed in the Western Conference is not going to be a walk in the park for the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights. They were able to hold off the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche for the top spot in the Western Conference, and while that gives them home-ice advantage throughout the first three rounds, it does not give them an easy matchup in any of those potential series.
The Winnipeg Jets were able to hold off the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators for the final playoff spot in the west. A 7-3-0 run just before their final game of the season was enough to clinch that spot. Vegas was even hotter down the stretch, finishing 9-1-3 in their final 13 games.
Who can keep the hot streak alive for two more weeks and emerge victorious in a much tighter #1 vs #8 series than we are used to seeing in the opening round?
Regular Season Performance
Vegas: 51-22-9, 111 points, +43 goal differential
Winnipeg: 46-33-3, 95 points, +22 goal differential
Head-To-Head
October 20, 2022: Vegas 5, Winnipeg 2
October 30, 2022: Vegas 2, Winnipeg 1 (OT)
December 13, 2022: Vegas 6, Winnipeg 5
Vegas takes the season series 3-0
Team Storylines
Which Winnipeg Jets team shows up? We have seen a few different versions of the Winnipeg Jets this season. The first version was terrific, as the Jets were the best team in the Western Conference for the first half of the season. They started the year with a 29-14-1 record which put them fourth in the NHL on January 16 but leading the west. A couple of tough road trips to the east followed and a bit of a free-fall began in Winnipeg.
Between January 16 and March 20 the Jets went 10-15-2 to fall to the edges of the playoff race. Instead of talking about the top seed or even home-ice advantage, they were just scrambling to try and get in at all. Then they got hot again and finished the season 7-4-0 to get into the playoffs as the final wildcard seed.
So which Jets team do we see in the next two weeks? The best team in the west like we saw for more than three months to begin the season? The struggling team that showed up for about two months late in the year or the back-against-the-wall squad that was able to grind out wins in the final couple weeks?
Will Mark Stone return to make a difference? While the Jets were the top team in the west at some points, the Golden Knights were right behind them. The difference was the Golden Knights were able to remain consistent throughout the season, even while dealing with some huge injuries. One of the biggest injuries they suffered was to Mark Stone, a fantastic two-way winger who is capable of scoring at a point-per-game pace and is better defensively than offensively. He has been out of the Vegas lineup for the second half of the season and the team began the year 28-13-2 with Stone in the lineup. He was cleared for contact recently and could be back as soon as Game 1. If so, the team that finished the season at the top of the Western Conference just got a whole lot better.
Can Connor Hellebuyck continue late-season heroics? Hellebuyck’s season kind of mirrored the Jets season. He was fantastic for the first three months of the season, but then slipped a bit and did not have great numbers in January, February or March. However, he was able to recapture his magic late in the season and helped the Jets clinch a playoff spot with some spectacular play in their final handful of games. In his last ten games he had a 1.80 GAA and a .936 SV% to propel the Jets into the playoffs. If he can keep up that terrific play, the Jets will be in great shape.
Can the Knights find a reliable starting goalie? While the Jets have one of the NHL’s most reliable, and busiest goaltenders, the Knights had a hard time finding a consistent goaltender most of the season. Adin Hill and Logan Thompson played the most games for the Golden Knights this season in goal, and were steady as they each posted a .915 SV%. However, Hill was hurt over a month ago and has not played a game since March 7. Thompson has also dealt with injuries and has only played one game since February 9.
The Kings acquired veteran Jonathan Quick at the trade deadline but he doesn’t appear to have the same Stanley Cup winning magic he had a decade ago. Quick played ten games with the Golden Knights, posting a 3.13 GAA and a .901 SV% in that time.
It appears their starter could be Laurent Brossoit, who recently served as Hellebuyck’s rarely used backup for three seasons. Brossoit played most of this season in the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights before being called up due to Hill and Thompson being injured. He played great down the stretch, winning his five April starts while posting a 1.59 GAA and a .946 SV%. Can he continue that hot streak into the postseason? Can he stare down his former teammate in the opposite goal and match him save for save? If so, the Golden Knights have a terrific chance of advancing.
How does Jack Eichel perform in first ever playoff series? Golden Knights leading scorer Jack Eichel is 26 years old and has had a great career so far, but he will suit up for his first ever playoff game when this series begins. He has scored 446 points in 476 career regular season games, but the playoffs are a different entity.
Whose depth proves to be greater? While Eichel was the team’s leading scorer, he only had 66 points. He did also only play 67 games so it was a great season for him, but there are no Art Ross Trophy candidates on this roster. That doesn’t mean they can’t score, as they have plenty of depth with Chandler Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, Alex Pietrangelo and William Karlsson all scoring more than 50 points and Mark Stone certainly would have if healthy.
The Jets roster is built similarly. Kyle Connor had nearly a point-per-game season with 80 points in 82 games and Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Nino Niederreiter and Cole Perfetti can all contribute plenty of offense.
It will be a difficult task for both teams defensive pairs to shut down all three of the opposing team’s top lines and should lead to some depth players stepping up to play big roles in this series since neither team is leaning on just a couple of players to provide scoring. Both teams are set up for balanced scoring and it will be interesting to see if anyone can step up and score over a point per game in the series to give their team the edge.
Prediction
The prediction: On paper, the Jets look just as good as the Golden Knights, and they were at times, but they found ways to be inconsistent throughout the season. The Knights on the other hand were able to continue their winning ways even with key players out of the lineup for long stretches. The Golden Knights will outlast the Jets in a long, hard-fought series and win in seven games.
Skyler Brind’Amour Signs PTO With Charlotte Checkers
PHR reported earlier this week that Skyler Brind’Amour would not be putting pen to paper with the Edmonton Oilers and now the 23-year-old has signed a professional tryout with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. Skyler, the son of Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, just wrapped up his fourth college season at Quinnipiac where he posted 14 goals and 32 points in 41 games.
The Oilers 2017 sixth round pick will join Charlotte for their first-round playoff battle with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and begins his professional hockey career at the age of 23. Brind’Amour has ties to the area through his father, and was also born in nearby Raleigh. Now he will get to jump straight into the playoffs after finishing his college career.
Brind’Amour’s draft rights to the Oilers will expire in August at which time Brind’Amour will be a free agent and can sign with anyone he pleases. He will get an opportunity to showcase his skills in the coming weeks. Brind’Amour hasn’t been much of a scorer at any level and topped out at 14 goals this season, the highest total of any of his college seasons. He figures to get an opportunity to insert some energy into Charlotte’s bottom six as he auditions for a job next season. Charlotte figures to be the favorite in their series against the Phantoms as they finished third in the Atlantic Division and Lehigh Valley finished sixth.
Vancouver Canucks Optimistic They Can Extend Elias Pettersson
Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrick Allvin spoke with Patrick Johnston of The Province today and said he is very optimist that the team can get a long-term deal done with Elias Pettersson. The Swedish center has one more year left on his bridge contract at a cap hit of $7.35MM and will be in line for a big raise when he becomes a restricted free agent in 2024.
Much like Alex DeBrincat, Pettersson’s contract is back loaded, meaning that Vancouver will need to qualify him at a number just shy of $9MM. Pettersson could take the one-year deal and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025 at the age of 26. Should the former fifth overall pick elect to do that, he would have no shortage of suitors.
Pettersson was a horse this season as he averaged of 20 minutes of ice time per game. He is coming off a career year that saw him post 39 goals and 63 assists in 80 games. His powerplay goals dropped dramatically this season as he scored just six times with the extra man, but what is truly impressive was that he put up 68 points at even strength, which tied him for sixth in the entire NHL behind the likes of Nathan McKinnon and Connor McDavid. These numbers put Pettersson in elite company and will have him looking for a long-term deal with an eight-figure average annual value.
The Canucks may be optimistic about signing their superstar center, but their short-term cap situation would give anyone pause. The club has struggled to commit to a specific direction over the last year and appear to be spinning their wheels. They have a lot of long-term contracts with players that are producing well below their cap hits, which could make it difficult to improve the on-ice product and entice Pettersson to stay. Jim Rutherford, Allvin and company seemed committed to a rebuild when they were first hired over a year ago, but appeared to change course when they narrowly missed the playoffs in 2022. They have been unable to shed any of the bloated contracts handed out by the previous management group and have further added to them with the extension to J.T. Miller. Their direction over the next 12 months will be interesting to observe as they appear set to retool rather than teardown and rebuild.
Ottawa Senators Want To Sign Alex DeBrincat To Extension
Postmedia hockey columnist Bruce Garrioch tweeted today that the Ottawa Senators would like to sign Alex DeBrincat to a long-term deal, but they aren’t sure if he wants to stay. For his part, DeBrincat has been non-committal but did tell Garrioch today that he’d let the Senators know his intentions before the draft. Garrioch added that it is believed that DeBrincat would like to see where the Senators ownership situation goes before signing any long-term contract extension.
It makes sense from DeBrincat’s perspective to take a wait and see approach. He has put himself in a position to take a $9MM qualifying offer from Ottawa and then cash in next summer with any team of his choosing. For him to sign right now would mean he would be committing himself for the near future without knowing who will be signing his cheques.
DeBrincat had a steady, but unspectacular first year in Ottawa. He had 27 goals and 39 assists in 82 games, but nearly half of his production came on the power play. DeBrincat managed only 36 even strength points, a sharp drop from the 50 even strength points he produced in his last season in Chicago. DeBrincat also didn’t have great possession numbers at five on five and seemed to struggle without the benefits of the man advantage.
While it is not unusual for a player to struggle in his first season with a new club, it must give the Ottawa Senators some reservations about committing to another $8MM player. The Senators already have Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Joshua Norris signed to contracts around that mark, with Jake Sanderson due an extension next summer. Adding a long term DeBrincat contract to the ledger could leave the Senators with precious little cap space to shore up their goaltending, or fix their bottom six, something general manager Pierre Dorion has talked about improving.
Mark Stone Activated From Long-Term Injured Reserve
The Vegas Golden Knights will have their captain in the lineup for game one. Mark Stone has been officially activated from long-term injured reserve and will play against the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night. Stone told the media that he “feels really good and really confident” and is excited to return after such a long period away.
The 30-year-old winger last played on January 12, leaving the game after just four shifts as his back injury flared up. He underwent surgery a few weeks later, his second procedure in less than a year. Limited to just 43 games this season, he scored 17 goals and 38 points while still providing excellent defensive production. The Golden Knights were 28-13-2 with Stone in the lineup, and will now move into the postseason with their two-way leader back on the ice.
While there is no doubt that Stone has dealt with serious back issues the last few seasons, some will still point to the timing of his return as a problem with the league’s cap structure. The Golden Knights could not have activated him in the regular season, even if he was healthy enough to return, after using a large chunk of his LTIR relief. He can return without issue in the playoffs, with no cap ceiling, to try and help Vegas advance.
Now the question is whether he can be effective right away. Even though Winnipeg is a significant underdog, plenty of talented players could swing the series (Connor Hellebuyck, most notably). Vegas will need their best effort from puck drop, and it remains to be seen whether Stone can return to his usual level after such a long absence.
Mitch Love Wins AHL Coach Of The Year
For the second year in a row, Mitch Love has won the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding coach. The Calgary Wranglers bench boss led his team to a 51-17-4 record, blending a dynamic offensive attack with a smothering defensive structure. He is just the third coach to win the award in consecutive seasons (Bill Dineen and Robbie Ftorek are the others).
Overall, Love has a 96-33-11 record through his first two years behind an AHL bench. His meteoric rise through the ranks included just three years as head coach of the Saskatoon Blades before jumping to the AHL level, and now puts him on a trajectory toward NHL duties in the near future. With uncertainty surrounding the future of the Flames, though, it’s unclear if that will eventually come in Calgary. When the NHL squad parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving recently, reports indicated that head coach Darryl Sutter‘s job was safe.
As teams around the league search for new candidates in the coming years, you can bet that Love’s name will start to surface. Two incredible years in the AHL may not be a very long track record, but it is an impressive one. He is the first coach in league history to win the award in his first two seasons.
During his playing career, Love was a prototypical “tough guy,” racking up penalty minutes without any real offensive impact. In 278 regular season AHL games, he scored just six goals but registered 808 penalty minutes. Before that, he was one of the most feared competitors in the WHL, once recording more than 300 PIM in a single season.
While the performance of Dustin Wolf as the AHL’s most outstanding goaltender has certainly helped through his first two years, the relationship is symbiotic. Love’s system has taken a lot of stress off his netminders, as there is almost always someone in the face of an attacking player as soon as they get the puck. With the top seed secured, the Wranglers will wait to see who they play in the Pacific Division semifinals.
East Injury Notes: Jeannot, McLeod, Foligno
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said today that forward Tanner Jeannot is progressing quicker than expected in his recovery from a leg injury and could suit up sometime during their First Round series. He listed Jeannot’s status as day-to-day and confirmed he will not play in Game 1 against Toronto tomorrow, although he did practice this morning.
Jeannot missed the last three games of the regular season after sustaining the injury in an April 6 game against the New York Islanders. The 25-year-old has struggled offensively with Tampa since he was acquired for a massive haul ahead of the trade deadline, recording a goal and three assists in 20 games. The Lightning are hoping Jeannot’s aggressive style of play can make more of an impact in the postseason when he returns to playing health.
- New Jersey Devils forward Michael McLeod is available for Game 1 against the New York Rangers tomorrow, head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed. McLeod missed the Devils’ 81st game of the season with an undisclosed injury and was scratched for their final game. The 25-year-old, who had 26 points in 80 games this season, is expected to make his playoff debut Tuesday.
- While the availability of some other Boston Bruins players is uncertain, head coach Jim Montgomery said there’s a “strong possibility” Nick Foligno returns to the lineup tonight after a months-long absence. Foligno missed the last 22 regular-season games with a lower-body injury, but his return from long-term injured reserve gives the Bruins an additional 62 games of playoff experience to inject into their lineup. He notched one assist in seven playoff games with Boston last year.