Tyler Bertuzzi To Return For Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are on a three-game losing skid and now find themselves sliding further and further down the Atlantic Division standings. Tied with the Ottawa Senators, they’re just four points ahead of the bottom-dwelling Montreal Canadiens. Perhaps the return of a key forward will spark a turnaround.
Tyler Bertuzzi will make his return to the lineup tomorrow night according to head coach Derek Lalonde, who spoke with reporters including Ansar Khan of MLive. The 27-year-old hasn’t played since November, undergoing surgery on December 2 that ruled him out for six weeks. Now ready to return, he’ll try to build on the outstanding season he had in 2021-22.
Bertuzzi scored 30 goals for the first time last year, while nearly recording a point-per-game for the rebuilding Red Wings. It set him up for a huge platform year this season with unrestricted free agency right around the corner, something that was disrupted by that early injury.
Now, with just a few months left before he potentially hits the open market, he’ll have to make up for the lost time. A quick turnaround for the Red Wings would certainly be welcomed before the club falls completely out of the playoff race.
In the case of Filip Zadina, who was on a similar timeline, the team will have to wait a bit longer. Khan reports that the young forward had a slight setback and is hoping to return next week.
Snapshots: Provorov, Pelech, Hagelin
There’s always something going on in Philadelphia. Last night, Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo found himself stapled to the bench for the second half of the game after a brutal giveaway, finishing with just seven minutes of ice time. Today, things have shifted to Ivan Provorov, who was the subject of a long discussion between Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
This kind of came to my attention early Sunday morning. I was kind of working on it and it’s a difficult thing to pin down. But to say that there is something going on here. I think you’re going to hear Provorov’s name out there [in the trade market].
It just “hasn’t worked” for Provorov in Philadelphia since his early-career breakout, when he scored 17 goals and 41 points as a sophomore. That early success led to a six-year, $40.5MM second contract, one that will keep the 25-year-old defenseman signed through the 2024-25 season at a $6.75MM cap hit. One thing to note when discussing any Provorov trade speculation is that the back-loaded deal will pay him $8.5MM in 2023-24 and $8.625MM in 2024-25, meaning any acquiring team would be investing quite a bit of money in the defenseman. Through 40 games this year, Provorov has two goals and 14 points.
- While one Metropolitan Division team struggles to find consistency on the back end, another might be getting an important defender back in the near future. Adam Pelech has resumed skating and has been on the ice the last three days, according to New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert who spoke with reporters including Kevin Kurz of The Athletic. The 28-year-old Pelech has been out for more than a month, last appearing on December 6 against the St. Louis Blues. He was off to another strong start this year with 11 points in 27 games and despite his absence, still sits second on the team with a +12 rating.
- Carl Hagelin was on the ice again this morning ahead of practice for the Washington Capitals, though he didn’t stay on when the main group arrived, according to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. Washington recently got Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson back and now might have another veteran forward to add to the group in the coming weeks. The question now will be where exactly Hagelin fits into the lineup, given how long he’s been out. He last appeared in an NHL game in February of last year, scored just three goals last season, and is now 34.
Minnesota Wild Return Zane McIntyre To AHL
Jan 9: McIntyre has now been returned to the minor leagues, suggesting Gustavsson and Fleury (who left the team for personal reasons over the weekend) are ready to go.
Jan 6: Yesterday, we covered how Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson was dealing with an unspecified illness. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported yesterday that there was “no recall anticipated” despite Gustavsson’s status, but now it seems the team has changed course.
Today the Wild announced that goalie Zane McIntyre has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, on an emergency basis.
It’s possible that this recall could be in order for McIntyre to back up Marc-Andre Fleury for tomorrow’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, paving the way for a Gustavsson return on Sunday, which is the plan Russo suggested yesterday.
Gustavsson has been stellar so far for the Wild, posting a .924 save percentage in 15 games so far this season. With Gustavsson playing so well, the Wild will want to give him the time and space he needs to fully recover from his illness and get back to 100%.
For McIntyre, this recall affords him an (admittedly slight) chance to get into some NHL action for the first time in a half-decade. The 30-year-old goalie is in his second season with the Wild organization, serving as their AHL number-one last year and now helping top prospect Jesper Wallstedt as part of a tandem.
Iowa has struggled so far this season, and McIntyre hasn’t escaped those struggles, as he has an .888 save percentage this season. He was better last year, though, posting a .920 in 37 games.
Latest On Max Domi
When the Chicago Blackhawks went out and signed Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou to one-year deals when free agency opened last summer, their goals seemed rather transparent. The club would give them regular minutes in offensive situations to pump up their statistics, and then flip them at the trade deadline for whatever they could get. The Blackhawks aren’t expected to compete this season or next, so it didn’t really matter how well they fit in – only that they secured a future asset in a midseason trade.
While that still may be the case, at least one of them is hoping the Blackhawks change their minds. Domi spoke at length with Scott Powers of The Athletic, explaining that he wants to stay in Chicago and help the club through this rebuild, instead of just being a half-season footnote in it.
Perhaps that is because of how well things have gone so far for Domi, at least in terms of production. The 27-year-old forward is playing center again, regularly lining up beside Patrick Kane, and averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time. He has 12 goals and 28 points in 39 games, a pace he hasn’t experienced since he put up 72 in 82 games for the Montreal Canadiens in 2018-19. If the club could win, even a little bit more, things might seem pretty perfect for the pending free agent.
The question is, whether Chicago believes Domi can be a key contributor even once they have gone through the rebuilding process and have a lot more talent on the roster. Will he still be so effective if separated from Kane? He gave them a quick look at that future last night when Kane was held out of the lineup. Domi recorded two points including the overtime winner on a beautiful finish, set up by one of the future roster pillars Lukas Reichel.
Perhaps that glimpse is enough to convince general manager Kyle Davidson and the rest of the Blackhawks front office that Domi is a piece to keep around, instead of flip. But there will likely be some tempting offers. Remember, this is basically going exactly according to plan if you consider Chicago’s position. Lose most of your games, but show just enough fight to keep fans interested for the future, while pumping certain players enough to get even more draft capital for them at the deadline. Slowly transition to the young talent – Reichel scored his first NHL goal earlier in the game – with an eye still firmly planted on Connor Bedard and the top of the 2023 draft class.
Davidson has made it clear in the past that he’ll stick to his plan, and move players no matter how well they might fit into the picture right now. So even if Domi wants to stay, the Blackhawks might have other ideas.
Five Key Stories: 1/2/23 – 1/8/23
The first full week of 2023 is in the books. It featured a successful Winter Classic (plus an announcement on who gets the next one) plus some notable news on the injury front – both good and bad. Those injuries are among the news highlighted in our key stories.
Back To Junior: With the World Juniors ending, a pair of Canadian-born players won’t be returning to their NHL teams. Seattle assigned center Shane Wright to Kingston of the OHL while Los Angeles did the same with defenseman Brandt Clarke. Wright, the fourth-overall pick last summer, played in just eight NHL games and will have a chance to play a big role in the second half of the season although it won’t be with the Frontenacs who are expected to move him shortly. As for Clarke, the 2021 first-rounder played in nine NHL contests this season, the last of which came more than two months ago so he’ll now have an opportunity to play consistent heavy minutes for a while with the Colts. Neither player played enough to burn the first season of their entry-level contracts.
Key Returns: A pair of Metropolitan Division teams welcomed back some key veterans. First, Carolina finally got to use one of their key acquisitions as they activated winger Max Pacioretty from LTIR. Acquired in a salary cap dump from Vegas last summer, the 34-year-old is a consistent scoring threat and already has a pair of goals for the Hurricanes in two games. Meanwhile, Washington was able to bring back two key veterans in center Nicklas Backstrom and winger Tom Wilson. Backstrom underwent hip resurfacing surgery and is now only the second NHL player to play after that procedure while Wilson is back from knee surgery. Both players have been top-six fixtures for the Capitals so their offense will get a big boost once they’re up to full speed.
Ekholm Available? Nashville currently is out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference with the team struggling to score. Accordingly, some are wondering if they might become sellers. To that end, they are believed to be considering moving defenseman Mattias Ekholm. The 32-year-old has been a key cog on the back end for the Predators for the better part of a decade and is in the first season of a four-year contract that carries a $6.25MM AAV. That’s a high price tag for a lot of contenders to afford so it wouldn’t be the typical trade we see in-season that often involves a player for a draft pick but rather a swap that would see a player or two going the other way to help match money. Such a swap might be better for Nashville to make in the summer but it appears they’ll at least look into the possibility of doing something sooner than that.
Key Injuries: It wasn’t all good news on the injury front. St. Louis’ quest to make the playoffs just got a lot harder with Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko landing on injured reserve for extended stints. O’Reilly has a broken foot that will keep him out for at least six weeks while Tarasenko is dealing with a hand injury that will keep him out for a minimum of a month. Both players are pending unrestricted free agents and if the Blues can’t hang around the postseason race in their absence, they’ll become strong trade candidates upon their return. Meanwhile, Jake DeBrusk’s strong performance in the Winter Classic which saw him score both goals in the third to get Boston the win will be his last for a while as the Bruins have placed him on LTIR with hand and lower-body injuries. The good news is that he shouldn’t miss much more than the minimum 10 games/24 days but missing a key secondary piece for a month will hurt.
Vrana Clears Waivers: There was a bit of a surprise when Detroit opted to place winger Jakub Vrana on waivers. His contract, one that carries a $5.25MM AAV, made it likely that he’d clear which he did but it’s still an unexpected situation. Vrana has missed most of the season while being in the Player Assistance Program but was expected to be an important part of Detroit’s core this season. Now, he’ll stick around with AHL Grand Rapids for the time being where he has an assist in six games. The Red Wings will eat a $4.125MM cap charge while he’s with the Griffins.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Evening Notes: Bortuzzo, Wild, Oilers, Ostapchuk
It has been a rough stretch for St. Louis defensemen lately with Torey Krug and Nick Leddy both being injured recently. Those two join Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich (both haven’t played this season) on injured reserve. Last night, another defender went down in veteran Robert Bortuzzo who sustained a lower-body injury. Speaking to reporters today, Blues head coach Craig Berube told reporters including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the veteran is currently listed as day-to-day although he’s still being evaluated. Bortuzzo has played in 30 games this season on the third pairing and now their defensive depth will be tested a little more for the time being.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Prior to tonight’s game, the Wild announced (Twitter link) that winger Jordan Greenway wouldn’t play. No, it’s not another recurrence of the upper-body injury that has plagued him all season. Instead, he’s out with a non-COVID illness. Meanwhile, Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune relays (Twitter link) that winger Mats Zuccarello will accompany the team on their upcoming road trip after missing both Saturday’s game and tonight’s. Between his injury and Greenway’s illness, Minnesota only has 11 healthy forwards on their roster and as a result, had to dress seven blueliners against St. Louis.
- There are teams that will need to move first-round picks over the next couple of months to add a missing piece or two. While the Oilers typically haven’t been one of those lately, Allan Mitchell of The Athletic argues (subscription link) that they should be much more willing to do so this time around. Whoever they get with that selection if they were to keep it likely wouldn’t be ready to play in Edmonton before the contracts of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl expire. Accordingly, with the team in win-now mode, acquiring someone with that pick that can help the current core might be the better way for them to go.
- The big trades in the CHL continue as Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (Twitter link) that Senators prospect Zack Ostapchuk is being traded to WHL Winnipeg. The 2021 second-rounder played for Canada at the World Juniors and has 10 goals and 19 assists in 21 games this season. The full trade package is unknown but it’s believed to involve three first-round picks.
Oilers Notes: Kane, Broberg, Defense Options
The Oilers suffered a big loss back in early November when Evander Kane had his wrist cut by a skate, resulting in emergency surgery that carried an expected recovery timeline of up to four months. Instead, as Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal notes, the veteran appears to be well ahead of schedule, speculating that he could be back by the end of this month. Kane is in his first full season with Edmonton and had gotten off to a strong start prior to the injury, picking up 13 points in 14 games while chipping in with 51 hits. His eventual return will certainly add another gear to their attack and while it would force some cap-shedding moves to activate him from LTIR, it would also allow GM Ken Holland to have a bit more time to evaluate his top six group before the trade deadline to help determine if any moves need to be made on that front.
More from Edmonton:
- While many expect Edmonton to make a move to add a left-shot defenseman before the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest 32 Thoughts segment (video link) that they plan to give prospect Philip Broberg an extended look first. The 21-year-old has spent a good chunk of the season with the Oilers with his only AHL time being a six-week stretch early in the year (which he was injured for part of). Broberg, the eighth-overall pick in 2019, has two assists in 15 games with Edmonton this season but is averaging just over 12 minutes a game. Ideally, he’s able to step up and lessen their need for help from outside the organization so it makes sense that they’ll try to give him a stretch of games first before pondering a move.
- If and when Edmonton does look elsewhere for a left defender, Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun has been a speculative candidate for a while. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector and Adam Vingan examine how the 24-year-old might fit with the team, noting that while, on paper, adding the top blueliner available makes plenty of sense in theory, he might not be the best fit for Edmonton. Instead, one scout posits that a more physical stay-at-home defender such as Montreal’s Joel Edmundson or Vancouver’s Luke Schenn might be the better type of player to try to acquire.
Snapshots: Hintz, Comrie, CHL Trades
The Dallas Stars and new head coach Peter DeBoer have picked up right where they left off after the departure of former coach Rick Bowness, with the team sitting comfortably in playoff position atop the Central Division standings. A major reason for the Stars’ success this season, beyond the obvious storylines of Jason Robertson and Jake Oettinger, has been the play of number-one center Roope Hintz. Hintz, 26, has scored 19 goals and 44 points in just 39 games this season, and is on pace to have his third straight season scoring around the point-per-game mark.
Hintz is a player of such significant importance to the Stars’ success that were the team forced to play without him, they would be at a major disadvantage. That makes this news from today’s stars game notable. As reported by The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf, Hintz suffered an upper-body injury and is questionable to return to today’s game. While it’s possible that this is only a precautionary measure and Hintz’s injury is inconsequential, this overall situation will be one to monitor for Stars fans and hockey fans alike who have come to enjoy watching Hintz play on a regular basis.
Some other notes from across the hockey world:
- Buffalo Sabres goaltender Eric Comrie‘s conditioning stint with the AHL’s Rochester Americans has ended, per Noted Hockey’s Joe Yerdon. Comrie had been in Rochester as part of his recovery process for the lower-body injury he suffered in November. Comrie signed a two-year, $1.8MM AAV deal with the Sabres in the offseason, and has had an up-and-down season, with a hot start and some games he’d like to have back. Overall, his numbers aren’t great (.887 save percentage through 11 games) but the Sabres as a whole seem to have turned a corner from their slow start to the season, so perhaps a healthy Comrie can benefit from the team’s overall improvement.
- Two top prospects in the Canadian Hockey League could be on the move. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Olen Zellweger, a top defensive prospect of the Anaheim Ducks, is being traded to the Kamloops Blazers as part of a massive deal involving as many as four first-round picks in the WHL Bantam Draft headed back to Zellweger’s current team, the Everett Silvertips. Additionally, Hockey Unfiltered’s Ken Campbell reports rumblings that 2022 fourth-overall pick Shane Wright could be headed to the London Knights as part of a major trade. Neither deal has been officially announced, so it’s still possible that things shift, but at the moment it seems the destinations of two of the CHL’s biggest-name players have been settled.
Minor Transactions: 01/08/23
It’s another busy day on the NHL calendar, with half of the league set to do battle. Tonight’s highlights include a matchup of two bitter Central Division rivals when the St. Louis Blues take on the Minnesota Wild, and a Western Canadian showdown as the Vancouver Canucks test their mettle against the Winnipeg Jets. As hockey fans across the world enjoy these contests, teams from minor leagues, overseas leagues, and junior leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- After spending two seasons in North America and playing in over 100 NHL games, former Detroit Red Wings forward Christoffer Ehn made the choice to head back to Europe to continue his career. The 26-year-old has spent the past two seasons playing for Linkoping in the SHL, and has been solid. Today, Linkoping announced that Ehn has signed a three-year extension to remain with the team. Linkoping currently stands ninth in the SHL standings, and with this extension in hand Ehn will now be able to be a core player helping the team climb the Swedish hockey ranks.
- Vladimir Roth, a veteran of the European pro hockey circuit, has returned to his old stomping grounds at HC Ocelari Trinec. The 32-year-old blueliner last played with the Czech side in 2019-20, and has in total played parts of eight seasons there. So far this season Roth has played mostly in Prague at the second-division level, and he’ll now get another chance in Czechia’s top division with this move.
- The departures from Lillehammer, a team in the top Norwegian professional league, continue. Yesterday, Lillehammer lost a top scorer, Martin Gran, and today they lose another key forward, Henrik Eriksson. Eriksson, 26, has scored 30 points in 29 games for Lillehammer, and will now join the Belfast Giants of the EIHL, the top professional hockey league in the United Kingdom.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Marc-Andre Fleury Away From Minnesota Wild For Personal Reasons
The Minnesota Wild are certainly thankful Filip Gustavsson is feeling healthy enough to play once again, as they’ll be down a separate netminder. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to be away from the team at least for one game due to personal reasons. Zane McIntyre, who was recalled due to Gustavsson’s illness, is still with the team to backup Gustavsson.
It’s unclear what the issue is for Fleury, however as Russo details, it appears to stem back as far as New Year’s Eve. Of course, Fleury and his family are entitled to their privacy in what are likely difficult times. Russo adds that as of right now, the expectation is Fleury would leave the Wild this morning and return home to Montreal before rejoining the team on Tuesday in New York City. After playing at home tonight, the Wild head to New York to play the Rangers on Tuesday and the Islanders Thursday, heading home for one game Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes, then heading back out east for four games.
Fleury, 38, has already established himself as a likely Hall-of-Famer, but hasn’t been his usual self this season, recording a 2.94 goals against and .901 save-percentage. Fortunately for the Wild, they’ve received superb goaltending from Gustavsson, the usual backup, who has turned in a 2.24 goals-against and .924 save-percentage in 15 games.