Boone Jenner To Undergo Surgery
The Columbus Blue Jackets continue to see key players head to the shelf, this time announcing surgery for Boone Jenner. The veteran forward will undergo a procedure tomorrow to repair a fractured thumb and is out for approximately four weeks.
Jenner has been moved to injured reserve and in his place, the Blue Jackets have recalled Joshua Dunne from the minor leagues.
It’s another brutal injury for a Blue Jackets team that can’t seem to escape them this season, as Jenner will join Jakub Voracek, Jake Bean, Joonas Korpisalo, Justin Danforth, Nick Blankenburg, Adam Boqvist, and Zach Werenski on injured reserve. The 29-year-old captain was the club’s second-highest scorer on the year, playing mostly alongside prized free agent signing Johnny Gaudreau on the top line. With 22 points in 30 games he was on pace to set a new career-high, but will now have his season disrupted by a month-long absence.
While it is another frustrating injury for Columbus fans to deal with, there is at least one thing to get excited about. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that young prospect Kent Johnson is expected to center Gaudreau and Patrik Laine while Jenner is out. That will, at the very least, provide some highlight-reel moments even if expecting Johnson to step into a first-line center role is a little too much at this point in his career. The 20-year-old has 14 points in 27 games but at times looks slightly outmatched physically at the NHL level.
Dunne, meanwhile, will get another opportunity in the NHL after spending all of last season in the minor leagues. The undrafted forward played six games for the Blue Jackets in 2020-21, and is still looking for his first NHL point. Through 24 games with the Cleveland Monsters, the 6’4″ Dunne has 11 points this season.
Five Key Stories: 12/12/22 – 12/18/22
With the roster freeze almost upon us, there wasn’t a flurry of trade activity. However, there was still some notable news around the NHL which is recapped in our key stories.
Not So Fast: A little while ago, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman floated the possibility that the players’ escrow debt could be paid off this season, permitting a more sizable jump in the Upper Limit next season. He walked that back a bit at the Board of Governors meetings, suggesting that their current projections have the projected escrow debt around $70MM at the end of the season. If that’s the case, the salary cap would only go up by $1MM once again for 2023-24. While there has been speculation that the NHLPA might be interested in trying to negotiate something that would allow for a smoother increase and also raise the ceiling next season by a higher amount but Bettman didn’t want to comment on that scenario.
Formenton To Switzerland: Now that he’s unable to play in the NHL this season after failing to come to terms on a contract with Ottawa before the December 1st deadline, Alex Formenton has found a place to play as he has signed with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss NLA. The deal runs through the end of the current season and gives the team the right to “reevaluate their contractual relationship” if new elements come to life in the ongoing investigation into an alleged sexual assault back in 2018 involving members of Canada’s World Junior team, of which he was a part of. Formenton will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
Five For Moore: Trevor Moore has come a long way in his four seasons with the Kings, going from being a depth player when he was acquired from Toronto to an important part of their top six. The California native was rewarded for his efforts with a five-year, $21MM contract extension that will begin next season. The deal contains a 10-team no-trade clause for the 2023-24 campaign but no trade restrictions after that. The 27-year-old had a career year last season with 17 goals and 31 assists in 81 games and Moore is producing at a similar pace so far this season with 18 points in 34 contests so far. Los Angeles now has a little over $68MM in commitments for next season, per CapFriendly.
Tolvanen To Seattle: There was some surprise when Nashville placed winger Eeli Tolvanen on waivers as just a few years ago, he was viewed as a key part of their future plans. There was further surprise when he slid all the way to Seattle who claimed him off the wire. The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by the Predators back in 2017 and impressed in his first consistent stint of NHL action in 2020-21, collecting 22 points in 40 games. That helped him earn a three-year, $4.35MM contract, one that is currently in its second year. The $1.45MM cap hit for the rest of this season and next likely scared a lot of teams away but now Seattle will get an opportunity to see if he can live up to his potential with them.
Vrana Rejoins Red Wings: Red Wings winger Jakub Vrana has now entered the follow-up phase of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, allowing him to rejoin the team. He first went into the program back in mid-October after playing in just two games. There’s a good chance that Vrana won’t play this coming week as he’ll need some time to get back into playing condition but after the holiday break, Detroit should have one of their top wingers back in their lineup.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Islanders Recall Cory Schneider On Emergency Basis
Semyon Varlamov left Saturday’s game with an injury and it appears it will keep him out for at least one game as the Islanders announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled goaltender Cory Schneider from Bridgeport of the AHL.
The 36-year-old has had a good first couple of months in the minors this season, posting a 2.50 GAA along with a .921 SV% in 15 games with his save percentage ranking tied for seventh in the league. Schneider, a veteran of 410 NHL appearances over 13 seasons, has seen just one game at the top level in the last three years since joining the Islanders with that appearance coming last season. It’s unlikely he’ll see any action on this recall barring injury as the net will be Ilya Sorokin‘s for the time being.
It’s notable that this recall actually puts the Isles over the 23-player roster limit. However, there is a Goaltender Exemption provision in the CBA that does allow teams to bring up a goalie that doesn’t count against the limit. It can only be used twice in a season and for a maximum of 48 hours. That’s enough to get through Monday’s game against Colorado but they’ll have to determine after that point if Varlamov is good to return. If so, Schneider will be sent down and if not, Varlamov will need to be moved to injured reserve to keep Schneider on the roster.
Barry Trotz Unlikely To Coach In The NHL This Season
Earlier this season, Barry Trotz left the door open to returning behind an NHL bench this season but it appears that he has closed his mind to that idea. Speaking with Daren Millard on The Chirp podcast (audio link), the veteran bench boss acknowledged that he has had calls from teams but that he just isn’t ready to get back to coaching just yet:
I don’t know yet. I’m deciding. There’s a couple of teams that reached out, and I said I’m not there yet. I’m probably going to take the rest of the year off and see where I am. It’s still a part of me, but I’m going to continue to stay true to myself and my family right now.
Back in October, Trotz had suggested that an opportunity with an Original Six franchise might give him the spark he was looking for. However, at this point, it’s unlikely that an opportunity with one of those teams is going to materialize in the coming months which takes that option off the table.
This is the first time that Trotz has had any sort of family time during the season as he had previously spent the last 23 seasons behind the bench between the Predators, Capitals, and Islanders. The 60-year-old was offered the job in Winnipeg during the offseason but declined with the Jets then turning to Rick Bowness, a choice that has worked out quite well for them so far. Trotz has the third-most wins in NHL history with 912 and when he wants to come back, he’ll almost certainly have a chance to add to that number. But by choice, that chance isn’t likely to come this season.
Blue Jackets To Loan David Jiricek For World Juniors
The Blue Jackets have made a decision on Czechia’s request to loan defenseman David Jiricek for the upcoming World Juniors. As Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (subscription link), Columbus will let the 19-year-old participate in the event where he’ll play alongside two more team prospects in forward Martin Rysavy and defenseman Stanislav Svozil.
Jiricek was the sixth-overall pick by the Blue Jackets in the summer despite missing significant time due to an injury sustained in the original version of the World Juniors last December. This will be his third time participating in the event (not including the canceled edition).
His first season in North America has been a successful one to the point where it was possible that Columbus could have declined the Czechs’ request in order to allow him to continue his momentum with AHL Cleveland. Jiricek is on a nice run with the Monsters with an impressive 11 points in his last 10 games and is likely to have another NHL stint at some point in the second half of the season after getting into two games back in late October. It seems likely that Columbus will want to keep him below the 10-game threshold to not activate the first year of his contract.
The roster for the Czechs hasn’t been finalized yet – they have three cuts still to make – but as things stand, they’re likely to send 12 NHL-drafted prospects to the event with Jiricek being the headliner. On top of that, the team will likely also have draft-eligible winger Eduard Sale, who is expected to be a lottery selection in June. Accordingly, they could be an under-the-radar team to keep an eye on.
San Jose Sharks Activate Matt Nieto, Place Luke Kunin On IR
Just ahead of their game tonight at home against the Calgary Flames, the San Jose Sharks announced they have activated forward Matt Nieto off of IR. To create space for Nieto, the team has also placed forward Luke Kunin on IR.
Nieto has been out nearly two week dealing with an undisclosed injury, last playing on December 4th. It’s unclear exactly how Nieto sustined the injury, the winger playing a not-out-of-the-ordinary 15:51 that game. A longtime member of the Sharks and Colorado Avalanche, Nieto is having himself another solid season with six goals and five assists through 28 games while chipping in on the penalty kill.
Kunin, 25, had been off to a solid start in his first season in San Jose, putting up 13 points in 31 games to date, but suffered a lower-body injury that forced him out of the game early back on December 13th. Kunin hasn’t played since and as of right now, a timetable is unclear. San Jose has three games at home this week, starting tonight, before the Christmas break.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Ottawa Senators
With American Thanksgiving now behind us and the holiday season coming up, PHR continues its look at what teams are thankful for in 2022-23. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Ottawa Senators.
Who are the Senators thankful for?
Pierre Dorion
There was once a time when Senators GM Pierre Dorion was anything but a fan favorite and far from the top of the list of people the Senators and their fans were most thankful. Now, beginning to put the finishing touches on a team rebuild and fresh off what was dubbed “the summer of Pierre,” Ottawa is most thankful for the executive responsible for bringing them their current and future core.
Dorion’s tenure in Ottawa certainly didn’t start off great, and the GM did have to eat much of the criticism for the team’s ultimate teardown and rebuild, which saw the team deal away their stars like Matt Duchene, Mark Stone, and Erik Karlsson. Since then, Dorion has used the assets he’s recouped to build an exciting young group headlined by players like Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Joshua Norris, and Drake Batherson. Not wanting to run the risk of any of them leaving during their immediate prime, Dorion proceeded to extend all four long-term, not to mention extending franchise-defenseman Thomas Chabot.
Those players needed compliments of course and Dorion acquired just that, signing hometown star Claude Giroux and acquiring sniper Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks as well as starting netminder Cam Talbot from the Minnesota Wild.
There’s no doubt this team has underperformed expectations this year, something Dorion will have to take some responsibility for and address going forward, however this season is still a considerable step forward from the previous several. Beyond righting the ship on the ice, Dorion will have to work on long-term extensions for DeBrincat and defenseman Artem Zub, but given the executive’s track record, especially in the past year, the Senators should be thankful Dorion is in charge of solving these problems.
What are the Senators thankful for?
Progress off the ice
The team hasn’t been sold and there’s no immediate plans to break ground on a new arena, however the drama surrounding these subjects that has followed the Senators for years seems to be wearing off. Both stories still follow the team, but now appear to be painted in a much more positive light.
Recall back in June when the Senators organization was given preferred bidder status at the LeBreton Flats location, indicating a new arena was close once again. Sure, the team has been through this before with that location, but with new ownership expected to come on shortly, things may look different this time around.
Speaking of that ownership group, interest in buying the team appears to be as rich as ever and headlining the interested parties is actor Ryan Reynolds. It’s not expected that Reynolds would be able to purchase the team outright on his own, but it appears the NHL prefers that the winning bid for the Senators include Reynolds in the ownership group. Now, Reynolds coming into the mix isn’t just for the sake of vanity, the actor being a noted hockey fan with expressed interest in ownership and already a partial owner of a professional soccer team in that of Wrexham AFC, located in Wrexham, Wales.
What would the Senators be even more thankful for?
Sustained health
The star players discussed above that will make up the future of the Senators are all tremendous players performing at or close to the top of their abilities this season. Tkachuck, DeBrincat, Giroux, Batherson, and Stutzle are all at or near a point-per-game pace, Cam Talbot is having another strong season, and while the defense could be a little better, they’ve largely done their job. So, why is the team 14-14-2?
Well, one explanation is injuries. Outside of Norris, who was injured in the fifth game of the season and hasn’t played since, and Zub, who’s played in just 14 of 30 games, no player has missed all that much time this year. But, players missing a few games here and there does add up and prevents the team from sticking together for longer stretches of time and developing any sort of cohesiveness.
The team has turned it on lately, winning their last four games, but at the moment has Stutzle, Norris, Zub, Mathieu Joseph, and Jacob Bernard-Docker all on IR. Missing such a large contingent of players, it’s going to be difficult for a team that finished with 73 points a season ago to make the jump to the playoffs this season, especially if that group has won just 14 of its first 30 games to date.
What should be on the Senators holiday wishlist?
Another star defenseman
Thomas Chabot is clearly a top defenseman any team, including the Senators, would be happy to have, but amid a somewhat disappointing team-season so far, one thing has become clear: they could use another top-notch defenseman. The team has been connected to just about every top-pairing defenseman that’s been available this offseason and into this season.
The Senators had seemingly kicked tires on MacKenzie Weegar before he was included in the Jonathan Huberdeau–Matthew Tkachuk deal, and rumors of the team’s interest in Jakob Chychrun have persisted. Ottawa and Chychrun seem to fit like hand and glove together, however Arizona’s price remains high and appears to include Shane Pinto, a player the Senators are not only high on for the future, but view as a key piece right now, especially in light of the Norris injury.
The team had also apparently been connected to a swap of Nikita Zaitsev and Tyler Myers last month, however that trade didn’t materialize. Myers may be able to make a difference on the Senators as they are right now, but long-term, the organization will have to seriously consider the price-tag on a true top pair defenseman like a Chychrun.
Ottawa Senators Recall Scott Sabourin
4:54 pm: Given that Sabourin was ultimately recalled with a potential Austin Watson suspension in mind, the Senators announced after their game today that they’ve returned Sabourin to the AHL. Watson had ended up with merely a fine and was able to play against he Minnesota Wild, and thus Sabourin was not needed.
9:15 am: The Ottawa Senators announced this morning that they have recalled forward Scott Sabourin from the Belleville Senators, their AHL affiliate. No other corresponding move was announced, however with $2.4MM in cap space and a roster spot to give, none was needed. This marks Sabourin’s first recall this season after clearing waivers and being assigned to Belleville back on October 10th.
The veteran has earned his trip up to the NHL though, recording 13 points through his first 24 games with Belleville this season, well on his way to a career year in the AHL. Always known for his gritty play-style that features plenty of penalty minutes, perhaps the most impressive part of Sabourin’s stat-line this year are his penalty minutes: 144. That’s not an error, the winger does in fact have 144 penalty minutes through his first 24 games. For reference, his previous career high in any season in the NHL, AHL, ECHL, or OHL was 147, set back in 2016-17 in 54 games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.
Should Sabourin get into game action with Ottawa, it would mark his fourth season of NHL action. A late-bloomer, Sabourin made his debut at age 27 with Ottawa during the 2019-20 season, where he played in 35 games, a career-high. Since then, he’s featured largely in the AHL once again, but has seen time with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020-21 and Ottawa once against in 2021-22.
St. Louis Blues Recall Logan Brown, Assign William Bitten To AHL
The St. Louis Blues this afternoon announced they’ve recalled forward Logan Brown from the Springfield Thunderbirds, their AHL affiliate. In a corresponding move, the team has assigned forward William Bitten to Springfield. Brown had been in the AHL on a conditioning loan, which the Blues assigned him to Thursday. Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was the first to report the move.
Brown, 24, is in his second year as a member of the Blues organization, splitting time with St. Louis and Springfield last season, recording 11 points in 39 games with the NHL team. A former top prospect with the Ottawa Senators, Brown had been trying to gain traction in the NHL after a modest breakout last season. But, the forward found himself on LTIR after playing just five games this season. Now, after the brief conditioning stint, Brown can look to stay healthy and get back into a groove in the Blues’ lineup.
Bitten was recalled back on December 3rd and made his long-awaited NHL debut that night. In four NHL games to date, the 24-year-old has just one assist, coming in his second game. By getting Bitten back themselves, Springfield will hope to get more of the scoring touch he had earlier this season, with eight goals over his first 20 games.
Afternoon Notes: Schedule, Stone, Sabres, Team Canada Captains, Hershey Bears
More hockey? You’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who wouldn’t want it. Earlier this week, there had been some discussions about the NHL potentially expanding the season back to an 84 game schedule for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign. Last night on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expanded on those rumors with an idea of what that schedule might look like, and how the league could get there.
In effect, the schedule would be expanded an additional two games to promote intra-division rivalries, such as the one between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers or the one between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, both of which have seen their head-to-head matchups drop off in recent years. As Friedman details, the schedule would consist of four games against each of the other teams within the division, three games each against each team in the opposing division, and two against each team in the opposite conference. To balance things out, each team’s slate of preseasons games could be cut down. It doesn’t appear that any change is imminent, however Friedman adds that there is a willingness to discuss the change between the league and the NHLPA, however there hasn’t been much dialogue on the subject recently.
- Things didn’t look good for Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone last night when he went down in obvious pain during the third period of the team’s game against the New York Islanders. The winger struggled to get off the ice with the assistance of his teammates, but surprisingly was able to come back and join them in the final moments of the game. Unsurprisingly, after the game, Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about the status of his star forward, telling The Athletic’s Jesse Granger that the hope is Stone’s injury is “just a stinger,” but he wouldn’t know much more until today. Cassidy added that Stone was not 100% when he rejoined the team late in the game. So far, no additional information has come out about Stone’s status. Vegas next plays at home on Monday against the Sabres.
- Yesterday, the Buffalo Sabres were able to get forward Kyle Okposo back from injury and Jeff Skinner back from suspension, but were without defensemen Owen Power, Jacob Bryson, and Ilya Lyubushkin. The team didn’t have much information on Power or Bryson, and the same holds true today, however according to The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, Ilya Lyubushkin is set to return tomorrow against Vegas. Noticeably absent from the ice this morning were defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson, but as Harrington adds, both were absent simply for rest purposes.
- With the World Junior Championship just eight days away, Hockey Canada announced its leadership group for this year’s World Juniors team. Captaining the group will be Seattle Kraken forward and fourth-overall pick in 2022, Shane Wright. Assisting him will be Arizona Coyotes forward Dylan Guenther, Dallas Stars draft pick and current Kamloops Blazers forward Logan Stankoven, Anaheim Ducks draft pick and Quebec Remparts forward Nathan Gaucher, as well as Chicago Blackhawks draft pick and Mississauga Steelheads defenseman Ethan Del Mastro. Canada will kick things off against Czechia on December 26th.
- Many don’t necessarily think about when an NHL team chooses to recall a player from their affiliate, it could set off a chain reaction of needs within their system, and that’s just what happened with the Washington Capitals and their goaltenders. When Darcy Kuemper went down a couple of weeks ago, the team recalled Hunter Shepard, which Hershey was able to cope with by recalling Clay Stevenson from the ECHL. No problem. But, when Washington also recalled Zachary Fucale yesterday in the wake of Shepard’s upper-body injury, Hershey was forced to sign an emergency back-up to a PTO for their game last night. Today, the Bears were able to smooth things out in net prior to their game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this afternoon, bringing up netminder Tyler Wall from the South Carolina Stingrays, Hershey and Washington’s ECHL affiliate. In a corresponding move, defenseman Martin Has has been sent to South Carolina. While this is a relatively minor move, it does give context for the transactions NHL teams make that sometimes seem to be done just for the sake of doing them.