East Notes: Chara, Hamilton, Dahlin, Brassard
The Islanders are starting to receive trade interest in veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara, Pierre LeBrun reports in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment. While the 44-year-old is no longer the top pairing player he was for a lot of his time in Boston, some contending teams could use him as a shutdown and penalty kill player in a limited role. He carries a $750K AAV although there are bonuses of up to another $750K in the existing deal but those could roll over and be applied on next year’s cap with the bonus cushion. While Chara doesn’t have any trade protection, LeBrun adds that GM Lou Lamoriello will go to the veteran to see if he indeed wants to move. He has seven assists in 42 games this season while still averaging over 18 minutes a game.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- New Jersey is set to get blueliner Dougie Hamilton back on Thursday, notes NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. The veteran has missed the last 17 games due to a broken jaw although he still sits second in scoring by Devils defenders with 20 points in 30 games. New Jersey is currently carrying a full roster and will need to make a move in order to free up a spot to activate Hamilton from IR.
- The Sabres should have defenseman Rasmus Dahlin back in the lineup on Wednesday in Montreal after he missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The 21-year-old is on pace to surpass his career highs offensively from back in his rookie season as he already has 33 points in 49 games this season while logging just shy of 24 minutes a game.
- The Flyers have transferred center Derick Brassard to injured reserve, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The placement was not backdated so it appears the veteran – who has battled hip injuries all season long – will miss at least another week. Brassard played in one game two weeks ago after coming back from hip trouble and clearly, the injury hasn’t fully healed yet. When healthy, he has been productive with 11 points in 20 games.
Trade Deadline Primer: New York Rangers
With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the New York Rangers.
The Rangers opted to shake things up over the offseason with Chris Drury being promoted to GM and Gerard Gallant taking over as their new head coach. The roster was also reshaped and the results have certainly been promising as they’ve gone from a team that missed the playoffs to one that is within striking distance of first place in the East. As a result, Drury will be busy looking to add but with their salary cap situation, they will be balancing the short term and the long term with any acquisitions.
Record
32-13-5, 3rd in the Metropolitan
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$20MMM today, $33.5MM in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: NYR 1st, NYR 2nd, STL 2nd, NYR 4th, WPG 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th
2023: NYR 1st, NYR 2nd, NYR 3rd, NYR 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, NYR 7th
Trade Chips
Most contenders wouldn’t want to necessarily subtract from their current roster but it’s an option that New York may need to consider with backup goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. The 26-year-old has made it known that he’d like to play more but with Igor Shesterkin in the fold, that’s not going to happen barring injury. The pending restricted free agent carries a $2.425MM cap hit and is owed a qualifying offer of $2.65MM, one that might be a bit too pricey for them for next season. There are some teams that would likely want to get a longer look at Georgiev to see if he could be a longer-term option although the Rangers would be wise to get another goaltender if they opted to move Georgiev now with veteran Keith Kinkaid serving as their third-string option.
Things have not gone well for winger Vitali Kravtsov in his time with the Rangers. The 22-year-old didn’t make the team out of training camp, went back to the KHL, and it’s clear a change of scenery would be beneficial. However, considering he was the ninth overall selection in 2019, his draft status may carry some weight and be appealing to a team looking for a prospect that’s a little more developed over a draft pick. He’s a restricted free agent this summer but it’s hard to see him commanding a big raise on his $925K AAV since he only has 22 games under his belt.
Young defensemen are always desirable commodities to rebuilding teams and New York has one on its roster in Libor Hajek that is struggling to get into the lineup. He has played in just 14 NHL games this season plus five more on a conditioning assignment but is only a year removed from playing in nearly 80% of their games last year. He signed for his qualifying offer last summer for just over $874K and the lack of playing time doesn’t give him a case for much of a raise. With youngster Braden Schneider starting to establish himself, the path to playing time is even steeper now for Hajek and he seems like a logical player that could be added into a trade.
The three-year, $7.5MM given to blueliner Patrik Nemeth raised some eyebrows and he has had a limited role on the third pairing so far without doing a whole lot. If Drury looks to bring someone in with term left on their contract, Nemeth is the type of player they could try to use as a salary offset.
Other Potential Trade Chips: F Morgan Barron ($925K through 2022-23), F Austin Rueschoff ($842K, RFA), F Evan Vierling (unsigned prospect)
Team Needs
1) Forward Depth: Injuries have thinned out New York’s forward depth at times this season and has left their bottom six group a little weaker than they’d like. Replacing Sammy Blais’ grit is one area they’d likely want to add but bringing in a two-way player that can score a bit and kill penalties is another element that would certainly be beneficial for them to add.
2) Top-Four Defender: Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba are proven top-four pieces but after that, New York’s back end primarily consists of younger players or depth veterans like Nemeth or Jarred Tinordi. A veteran that can allow them to take a bit of pressure off their younger players would help with an emphasis on being able to play a key defensive role.
3) Long-Term Center: Mika Zibanejad has his extension for next season so he’ll be in place for the long haul. But Ryan Strome’s fate remains in question and Filip Chytil likely isn’t ready to step onto the second line if Strome doesn’t re-sign. If there’s a way to get a long-term second pivot, that would be a nice pickup for Drury even if it means that Strome winds up moving on.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Central Notes: Zuccarello, Borowiecki, Matteau, Reichel
Wild winger Mats Zuccarello was a late scratch for their game in Ottawa tonight with what the team revealed (Twitter link) was an upper-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that the injury is not believed to be too serious. The 34-year-old is well on his way to a career year with 52 points in just 41 games, good for second on the team in scoring behind Kirill Kaprizov.
More from the Central:
- The Predators announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Mark Borowiecki is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and didn’t play tonight against Florida. The veteran – who recently signed a contract extension – has played in 41 games this season, recording just two assists but has 137 hits and a league-high 103 penalty minutes.
- The Avalanche activated winger Stefan Matteau and assigned him to AHL Colorado, per a team release. The 27-year-old was recalled to the Avs back in October but suffered a lower-body injury in his first game and has been out since then. Matteau’s assignment clears another $750K off Colorado’s books, a small bit of savings towards their trade deadline spending.
- While Lukas Reichel is currently up with the Blackhawks, they’re expected to send the rookie down before their next game on Friday, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 19-year-old has certainly held his own in his first four NHL contests but if Chicago can limit him to nine or fewer NHL appearances this season, he won’t burn the first year of his entry-level contract and it appears that the team is preferring to give him a few short stints rather than one extended stretch to get to that threshold.
Anaheim Ducks Hoping To Extend Hampus Lindholm
Time is ticking on Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek, who now has fewer than one month to make a decision on whether to trade or hold onto some of the most sought-after pending free agents in the league. Rickard Rakell, Josh Manson, and Hampus Lindholm are all on expiring contracts and could bring back quite a few assets on the trade market, but are also key members of a Ducks team that is trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
There is of course the possibility that the Ducks extend any one of those players before the deadline, taking out any risk of losing them for nothing in the offseason. That appears to be the tactic Verbeek is trying to take with Lindholm, as Pierre LeBrun explained on TSN’s Insider Trading:
When you talk to other teams around the league, they view Hampus Lindholm as the number one rental defenseman on the market–if he is indeed on the market. One of the first things that Pat Verbeek has done is reach out to Lindholm’s camp, led by agent Claude Lemieux, and start the process of seeing if there is enough common ground to sign an extension before the trade deadline, to remove Hampus Lindholm from the trade market. That would be a heartbreaker for a lot of teams who would love to throw some assets at Anaheim for a player who plays 23 minutes a night on the top pairing.
Earlier in the segment, Darren Dreger had noted that the Toronto Maple Leafs could now be interested in Lindholm after Jake Muzzin‘s recent injury, though they will have to take their time to see what his recovery timeline is like. Of course, the Maple Leafs wouldn’t be the only team interested in the 28-year-old Lindholm. One of the most consistent two-way performers in the league since the moment he entered the NHL, Lindholm has 20 points in 50 games this season while playing in all situations. There’s no one that averages more even-strength ice time on the Ducks than the 6’4″ defenseman, and he has shown an ability to contribute both on the powerplay and penalty kill.
If you’re looking for someone who can reshape your entire defense corps, Lindholm is the kind of talent you can target. Though with any player like that, it will come at a cost. Not only will Lindholm cost you a big package at the deadline, but any team hoping to extend him after acquiring him would need to put a huge offer forward. Just recently, Eric Stephens of The Athletic suggested that on any extension, the pending free agent defenseman would be looking at a raise over the $6.75MM he earns this season, making him a huge commitment to any team, including the Ducks. Lindholm himself told Stephens that being on a competitive team in the playoffs is important to him, something that Anaheim is still chasing.
The Ducks currently sit just outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference, two points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the final wildcard spot. That’s with 52 games played though, the most in the league and two more than both Los Angeles and the Edmonton Oilers, who currently hold the final spot in the Pacific Division. With a negative goal differential on the season and a so-so record recently, it’s not clear that the exciting Ducks will be able to actually take that next step and contend this season.
It does seem that playoff contention is coming though, with young talents like Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Isac Lundestrom, and Jamie Drysdale already showing how dynamic they can be at the NHL level. Third-overall pick Mason McTavish will be there soon enough to help, meaning on a long-term deal, Lindholm could certainly expect several years of postseason play in Anaheim.
Jake Muzzin In Concussion Protocol; Out Indefinitely
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Jake Muzzin for the next little while, as the defenseman returned home to recover from last night’s scary incident. After being involved in an awkward collision and appearing to slam his head on the ice, Muzzin left the game and was taken to a Montreal hospital. He has now been released, returned to Toronto, and is “feeling better today” according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, who spoke with reporters including Mark Masters of TSN.
Muzzin, whose 33rd birthday it was yesterday, has had a nightmare season that already included a different concussion. The veteran defenseman has just 12 points in 41 games and has been on the ice for 43 goals against at even-strength, compared to just 34 goals for. That imbalance has been arguably the worst part of the Maple Leafs’ season, as Muzzin had previously been one of the most reliable two-way defensemen in the league, able to match up against an opponent’s best and tilt the ice in Toronto’s favor.
As he leaves, Rasmus Sandin, who was scratched from yesterday’s game, returns. He’ll be joined by newcomer Ilya Lyubushkin, who takes the spot of Justin Holl, who is not expected to play tonight.
Muzzin’s absence though leaves many questions to be answered in Toronto. Will he be able to find his previous level of play, or even be able to return at all? Putting him on long-term injured reserve doesn’t really do the team any good unless he is going to miss the rest of the season, meaning an unclear recovery timeline will only complicate their deadline plans. Hopefully, he’ll be able to recover without issue in the coming days and weeks, even if his return to the ice takes a little longer than that.
Florida Panthers Activate Maxim Mamin; Loan Owen Tippett To AHL
The Florida Panthers already have too many forwards, and yet one more is returning today. The team has activated Maxim Mamin from injured reserve and expects to have him on the first line with Carter Verhaeghe and Aleksander Barkov this evening. To clear a roster spot for Mamin, the team has sent Owen Tippett back to the AHL once again.
This isn’t the first time Tippett finds himself without much opportunity in Florida. He was sent to the minors for a few days last month, was scratched the past two games, and played fewer than eight minutes in his last appearance. The young forward’s name has been in the rumor mill for months, and it was brought up again today by Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet’s The Jeff Marek Show:
Obviously you would like to see him play, I’m sure he wants to play. But I don’t think that’s necessarily the hold up of a trade. [Teams] scouted him in the American Hockey League, I’m sure there are plenty of teams that scouted him when he was a junior. Everyone kind of knows, or has an opinion on what they have or haven’t got yet. So while I’m sure [not playing] sucks for him, it doesn’t hold up a deal in my mind. And I think he’s going to be traded, I think it’s just a matter of–is he going to be part of a package to get something, or does he just go himself.
Sending Tippett to the minor leagues does give him a chance to play, but as Friedman suggests, it’s not like he has much to prove at that level. The 23-year-old forward recorded four points in his two-game stint with the Charlotte Checkers earlier this season and overall has 20 goals and 46 points in 53 career AHL appearances. Selected tenth overall by the Panthers in 2017, Tippett possesses a huge shot and powerful frame, but still faces inconsistency when trying to create offense for his linemates. Through 94 regular season games in his NHL career he has 14 goals and 33 points, though his short playoff run last year with four points in six games suggested he might have even more to offer in the postseason.
Nathan MacKinnon Avoids Supplementary Discipline
Though it had been reported earlier that Nathan MacKinnon would receive no discipline for striking the linesman in yesterday’s game with his stick, the league confirmed it with an explanation today.
The safety of our on-ice officials is, and has always been, of paramount importance to us. In this regard, we have always exercised a zero tolerance policy when it comes to any form of abuse of our officials. Last night, one of our officials was struck by a player with his stick immediately after a face-off. We immediately investigated the incident and, having conferred with the on-ice officiating crew and the NHL Officials’ Association, it has been determined that the player’s intention was not to strike the official but, rather, to initiate contact with the opposing player. Given this conclusion, it has been determined that no further discipline is necassary. This decision should in no way be seen as a diminution of our steadfast conviction to protect our officials.
After losing a faceoff to Tomas Nosek of the Boston Bruins, MacKinnon appeared to slash the linesman while Nosek skated out of his reach. The Colorado Avalanche will avoid losing their top forward to suspension, while the 26-year-old won’t have to give up any of his salary or miss any games.
This event conjured memories of Antoine Vermette‘s ten-game suspension in 2017, when he also slashed the linesman moments after a lost faceoff. In that case, Vermette himself confirmed that he deserved a suspension for his actions, admitting that while he was only “trying to get his attention” he did purposely make contact with the official. That is not the case here, where all involved appear to believe that MacKinnon was trying to hit Nosek, not the official.
Lane Pederson Clears Waivers
Feb 22: Not only did the Sharks grab Dzingel, but Pederson has also cleared waivers according to Chris Johnston of TSN, meaning they’ll keep him in the organization. Pederson can now be assigned to the minor leagues.
Feb 21: Toronto is apparently on the way to San Jose. The San Jose Sharks have claimed Ryan Dzingel off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs, just days after the team acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes. To open a roster spot, the Sharks have waived Lane Pederson according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
When the Maple Leafs acquired Dzingel, they quickly explained that the plan was to put him on waivers and try to keep him in the organization as a depth option. His entire $1.1MM cap hit could be buried in the minor leagues, giving them an experienced NHL option to replace the outgoing Nick Ritchie. Instead, he’ll get a chance to jump into the lineup with the Sharks, where he’ll have to be kept on the active roster.
It’s certainly not like Dzingel deserves to be in the minor leagues. Though his offensive production has dropped off in recent years, he still is an excellent skater with strong defensive capabilities. In 26 games for the Coyotes this year he scored four goals and seven points, but perhaps could get a bigger opportunity with the reeling Sharks. The team has won one game over the last month, often scoring two or fewer goals in the process.
The last time an underused forward came to San Jose from Toronto, it certainly worked out for the new club. Alexander Barabanov ended up with the Sharks after 22 largely underwhelming games with the Maple Leafs and now is a regular in the team’s top-six. While Dzingel may not be able to recreate the 26 points in 41 games Barabanov has this season, he has performed to that level in the past and potentially could still be a nice addition.
The player he’s replacing in Pederson, meanwhile, has just not been able to create any offense at all this year. In 26 games, Pederson is still without a single goal and has recorded just two assists. The fact that he’s in the first season of a two-year deal that will be one-way in 2022-23, likely keeps him from being claimed on waivers.
For Toronto, the overall effect of the trade is Ritchie (and a draft pick) out, Ilya Lybushkin in, for roughly the same cap hit. The difference is that the defenseman will actually stay on the Maple Leafs roster, meaning as a net transaction, they’ve actually created a bit of cap space.
Andrew Ladd Out Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
The Arizona Coyotes will be without Andrew Ladd for more than a month, as the veteran forward has been ruled out for four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. Ladd played just 1:13 on Sunday before exiting after a collision with Dallas Stars forward Luke Glendening.
Ladd, 36, is just eight games away from reaching 1,000 for his career, after finding his way back into the NHL with the Coyotes this season. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has six goals and nine points through 42 games, averaging fewer than 14 minutes a night. That’s better than being stuck in the minor leagues or not playing at all, as he has for most of the past two seasons with the New York Islanders, where he suited up for just four NHL games since the start of 2019-20. Now facing a major injury, the veteran must go through a long recovery period once again.
Importantly, something like this could have an effect on a draft pick for the Coyotes. Should Ladd not play in 2022-23–he’s still under contract for one more year at a $5.5MM cap hit–but spend it on something like long-term injured reserve instead of retiring, the Coyotes would receive a 2023 third-round pick from the Islanders. That pick is not transferred if he plays a single professional game in 2022-23 on his current deal or decides to retire at any point before the 2022-23 season concludes. Basically, if the Coyotes are stuck paying him while on LTIR, they get an extra draft pick.
While a four to six-week timeline shouldn’t affect next season, all injuries for players like Ladd come with at least some risk of long-term effects. It’s been a long, physical career for the big forward, who traveled through Carolina, Chicago, Atlanta, Winnipeg, and New York before arriving in Arizona this season.
With him out of the lineup, the Coyotes should have Nick Ritchie added in short order, after receiving him from the Toronto Maple Leafs a few days ago. Ritchie has arrived in Arizona according to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports but won’t practice today as he is still sorting through immigration issues.
Marcus Sorensen Signs In Switzerland
If you wondered whether Marcus Sorensen could return to the NHL next season, the answer is clearly no. After spending this season with Djurgardens, Sorensen is headed to Switzerland after signing a three-year contract with Fribourg-Gotteron that starts in 2022-23.
Sorensen, 29, spent parts of five seasons with the San Jose Sharks, setting a career-high with 17 goals and 30 points in 2018-19. After the 2020-21 season came to an end with an unspectacular performance in 29 appearances, he took his talents back to Sweden. Even before he signed with Djurgardens though, there were still signs that Sorensen could compete at the highest level. He was a very strong player for Sweden at the World Championships, scoring four points in seven games.
He wore the “C” in the SHL this season and had 34 points in 35 games, showing he can still dominate at that level too. The National League in Switzerland will be a new challenge, and a three-year deal probably ends any chance he’ll return to the NHL before his career is over.
If that’s true, he’ll finish with 226 regular season games played and another 34 in the playoffs, all with the Sharks.