Snapshots: Halak, Canucks GM Search, O’Connor, Lafreniere
While Canucks goaltender Jaroslav Halak has come up in trade speculation lately with him being close to reaching a $1.25MM bonus for games played, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts column that the veteran doesn’t seem inclined to want to move. As part of Halak’s contract, he did receive a no-move clause, giving him control over where he goes if Vancouver is able to find a trade taker for him. The 36-year-old is two games away from triggering a $1.25MM bonus payment, one that will count against Vancouver’s salary cap in 2022-23 with the team being in LTIR and having no cap space to apply the bonus money against this season. If Halak doesn’t want to leave Vancouver, however, it’s a payout they’re going to have to make.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Still with Vancouver, team president Jim Rutherford told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link) that he has narrowed his list of potential new general managers to around five. The Canucks have technically been without a GM since Jim Benning was fired back in early December although Rutherford has effectively been acting in that role since joining the team on December 9th.
- Penguins forward Drew O’Connor is listed as out week-to-week with an undisclosed injury, notes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The injury was sustained in Saturday’s game against San Jose and the 25-year-old has been placed on LTIR, meaning he’ll miss at least 10 games and 24 days. O’Connor has three goals and two assists in 22 games this season.
- The Rangers announced (Twitter link) that winger Alexis Lafreniere has cleared COVID protocol and has been reinstated to the active roster. The 20-year-old has had a quiet sophomore season so far, notching just 11 points in 37 games which isn’t what New York was expecting when they drafted him first overall in 2020. Morgan Barron was assigned to the taxi squad to make room for Lafreniere on the active roster.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Winnipeg Jets
In the spirit of the holiday season, PHR has been taking a look at what teams are thankful for as the season approaches the midway mark. 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 Winnipeg Jets as we wrap up our series.
What are the Jets thankful for?
Their deep top end of their forward group. Pierre-Luc Dubois has been much better in his first full season with Winnipeg, giving the Jets a strong one-two punch with him and Mark Scheifele. Kyle Connor is having a standout season, averaging a point per game while playing in all situations. Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler are still top-six options while Andrew Copp is on pace for a career year (while logging over 20 minutes a game). Paul Stastny is a versatile player that can play both down the middle and on the wing and is still capable of playing in the top six when called upon. That’s seven quality top-six forwards at their disposal, a luxury that not a lot of teams have.
Who are the Jets thankful for?
For the last three seasons, he has led the league in shots faced and as Winnipeg makes up their games in hand over the coming months after having several postponed games, there’s a good chance that he makes it four in a row. At a time where many teams are looking more favorably at the idea of a platoon or tandem situation, Hellebuyck has been the old-school starter, logging heavy minutes. His numbers are down a little bit this season but still above average but he’s only two years removed from winning the Vezina Trophy while he finished fourth in voting last year. He still has two years left on his contract at a very reasonable price $6.167MM for someone that logs the minutes he does.
What would the Jets be even more thankful for?
Getting more from their defense. Kevin Cheveldayoff spent a lot of resources over the offseason to rebuild their back end after it was exposed as a weakness last season with the additions of Nate Schmidt and Brendan Dillon. They were supposed to complement a pair of strong offensive defenders in Neal Pionk and Josh Morrissey to give them a well-rounded group. However, Winnipeg hasn’t received a lot of production from their back end with just ten goals in total, half of which came from Morrissey. As a result, the effects from that upgrade really haven’t been felt – they’ve been better defensively but that has been mitigated with a drop in output. Getting the production back would give them the best of both worlds and really give them a boost heading into what will be a busy second half of the season.
What should be on the Jets’ wish list?
There’s a big difference here between what they will want and what they can actually do. Once Wheeler is able to come off LTIR (which will be in the next few days), their cap space will be gone and they’ll have to soon drop to close to a minimum-sized roster to get back to compliance. So while they’d undoubtedly love to try to add (either up front or defensive depth), they’re going to be very limited in what they can afford as they’ll have to match money or add someone making close to the minimum and send someone down to make room. That means they’ll be forced to shop more for depth pieces. Adding some veteran depth up front would be beneficial and while finding a cheap goalie will be a tough, an insurance policy behind Eric Comrie is something Cheveldayoff should want to do.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Central Notes: Buchnevich, Wheeler, Wild, Kuemper
Blues winger Pavel Buchnevich has been cleared from COVID protocol, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. As a result, St. Louis – who has had 21 different players unavailable due to positive tests in recent weeks – now doesn’t have anyone missing for that reason (though defenseman Scott Perunovich is out with an unspecified injury). Buchnevich will be a welcome addition back to the lineup for the Blues as he sits tied for second in team scoring with 14 goals and 21 assists in 34 games. St. Louis had an open roster spot so they didn’t need to make any corresponding roster move to bring him back onto the active roster.
More from the Central:
- Jets winger Blake Wheeler could return to the lineup this weekend, reports Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe. The captain has missed nine straight games with a knee injury, an amount that could have been much higher had it not been for the COVID-related postponements. Wheeler has only scored once in 22 games this season but had 16 assists which is still tied for third on Winnipeg despite missing more than a month.
- Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin has resumed skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, relays Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link). He was injured blocking a shot a week and a half ago. His pending return will be welcome with Jared Spurgeon expected to be eased back into the lineup; McLellan adds that it’s unlikely that the captain – who is working his way back from a lower-body injury – will play both ends of the upcoming home-and-home with Chicago.
- While Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper left Monday’s game against Minnesota with an injury, he isn’t expected to miss any time, mentions Mike Chambers of the Denver Post (Twitter link). He’ll serve as the backup goaltender tonight and is slated to start on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Dmitry Orlov Suspended Two Games
The Department of Player Safety has handed out a two-game suspension to Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov for his knee-on-knee hit on Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers last night. As the accompanying video explains:
It is important to note that while Ehlers is attempting to move around Orlov on this place, this is not a case where an exceptionally sharp or sudden movement by a player receiving a hit turns a potential full body check into a leg-on-leg contact. The two players are moving slowly enough that Orlov has time to recognize that Ehlers is changing position, and he responds to this by thrusting his arms and knee out wider to attempt to get a piece of Ehlers.
While this is a common response from defensemen, on this play the only contact Orlov is able to make is direct, forceful, knee-to-knee contact. If Orlov wants to initiate contact on this play, he must ensure that he is able to make more substantial upper-body contact, rather than having the force of the blow concentrated on his opponent’s knee.
The fact that Ehlers suffered an injury on the play was taken into consideration. Jets head coach Dave Lowry already ruled the forward out for the rest of the team’s road trip and explained that he is undergoing further evaluation to determine the extent of the injury. Orlov was also not penalized by on-ice officials.
Though he does have a suspension on record, the league decided that Orlov does not have any relevant disciplinary history in this case as his previous ban was for boarding in 2014. Now, he’ll have a second suspension on the books, one that will be taken into account when determining punishment for any similar incidents. Orlov will miss games against the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators in the coming days.
Gustav Forsling Added To COVID Protocol
One of the less talked about developments that have made the Florida Panthers such a deep, imposing team the last two seasons has been the progression of Gustav Forsling, a fifth-round pick snatched off waivers in early 2021. Forsling has become one of the most trusted defensemen on the Florida roster and is averaging over 21 minutes a night for the Panthers this year.
Unfortunately, they’ll need to find someone else to eat those minutes for the next few days as Forsling has been placed in the COVID protocol. He won’t play tomorrow against the Edmonton Oilers, and likely will be out against the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken, should he face the regular five-day isolation period.
Now 25, Forsling is in the first season of a three-year deal signed last July that carries a cap hit of just $2.67MM through 2023-24. That’s an incredible bargain for a defenseman that is eating incredibly tough defensive deployment and yet still has 19 points in 34 games. The Panthers have outscored their opponents 43-25 at even-strength this season despite the defenseman starting just 39 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone. Without him, a player like Olli Juolevi will have to step into a bigger role after playing a little over 15 minutes against the Calgary Flames yesterday.
Latest On Evander Kane
Jan 19: It does not appear as though a decision is going to be made on Kane for a few more days. Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet tweets that the NHL needs the rest of the week to finish their investigation. That would suggest there will not be an update on his playing status or new contract until next week at the earliest. Kane remains an unrestricted free agent for the moment.
Jan 12: Ever since the San Jose Sharks filed the papers to terminate Evander Kane‘s contract, speculation has run rampant over where the power forward would next ply his trade. The Edmonton Oilers were immediately linked and general manager Ken Holland confirmed that he had spoken to Kane’s representatives during a press conference yesterday.
The Tampa Bay Lightning were also rumored as a contender for his services, but Joe Smith of The Athletic reported last night that after consideration, they have removed themselves from the running. The Lightning don’t have any cap space to work with and general manager Julien BriseBois explained to reporters today (including Smith), that they aren’t even expecting to make any deadline moves this season because of the financial constraints.
So with some options dropping out and others confirming their interest, Kane’s agent Dan Milstein tweeted yesterday that they were still interviewing with teams and there were still plenty of details to work out.
One of those details could be another league investigation, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the league is looking into the incident that caused Kane’s termination in the first place. That is the process of Kane crossing the border into Canada on December 29, eight days after testing positive for COVID-19. San Jose says he did not have proper medical clearance and the NHL is investigating the incident. Friedman believes it will prevent Kane from signing in the short-term, though doesn’t give a timeline on when the investigation will be resolved.
The league of course has already gone through several Kane-focused investigations over the last few months, with two–gambling and domestic abuse–resulting in a dismissal of the allegations and one–use of a fake vaccination card–resulting in a 21-game suspension.
Kane has until the trade deadline to sign a new contract in order to be eligible for the playoffs this season.
NHL Announces Revised Schedule
The NHL has announced the revised schedule, filling up the February Olympic break with games that had previously been postponed. New dates have been announced for 98 games, date changes for 23 more, and a handful of start time changes for matches down the road. The full list of rescheduled games can be found here.
Notably, 95 games were rescheduled into the 16-day window from February 7-22, originally held open for Olympic participation. That includes a slate of ten games on February 17, the busiest day of the previously empty block. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly released a statement on the changes:
We are profoundly grateful to our fans for their support and understanding during a challenging time and to our Clubs, the NHL Players’ Association and the Players for their cooperation in a rescheduling of unprecedented logistical complexity.
For teams like the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators, who have played in just 32 games so far this season (nine fewer than some other teams) it means a very full February schedule. The Islanders will play seven games between February 9-22, while the Senators have ten games between February 7-22.
The NHL schedule maker is likely not done for the year, but the recently announced changes to the testing protocol should help avoid many postponements in the future. Asymptomatic players will no longer be tested after the All-Star break, save for those traveling across the U.S.-Canada border. So far, the league has not announced any games scheduled past April 29, originally noted as the final day of the regular season.
Detroit Red Wings Claim Gemel Smith
It’s a family reunion in Detroit, as the Red Wings have claimed Gemel Smith off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Smith is the older brother of Red Wings forward Givani Smith.
Sean Shapiro of The Athletic tweets that because the Smith brothers are several years apart, they have never played on the same team or against each other during their hockey careers. They’ll get that chance now in Detroit, as Gemel Smith will have to be kept on the NHL roster after the waiver claim.
That’s certainly an interesting twist, given the 27-year-old forward hasn’t played a single game at any level this season. He dealt with a surgery that has kept him on injured reserve for the last several months and is only now approaching a return to play. Instead of going to the minor leagues, he’ll end up in Detroit where he could very well receive a bigger opportunity than he has in years.
A veteran of just 88 games at the NHL level, most of those came with the Dallas Stars in 2017-18 when he suited up 46 times. Smith has played just 11 NHL contests over the past three seasons but did have two 40-point minor league campaigns during that time.
His younger brother Givani Smith, 23, has found out exactly what can happen when you’re on an organization in the middle of a rebuild. He’s played in 31 games for the Red Wings this season, scoring two goals and four points while racking up 68 penalty minutes. While still only averaging a little over eight minutes a night, he’s nearly matched his previous career total of games played already.
Smith Claimed, Lagesson Clears Waivers
Jan 19: While Smith has been claimed by the Detroit Red Wings, Lagesson cleared waivers and has been assigned to the Oilers’ taxi squad.
Jan 18: The Edmonton Oilers have placed William Lagesson on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Gemel Smith of the Tampa Bay Lightning has also been placed on waivers as he nears a return from the injury that has kept him out through the first part of the season.
Lagesson, 25, played just 7:29 in the Oilers brutal third-period meltdown on Saturday night, and has gotten into just ten games this season overall. Waived at the start of the season, he cleared and spent a good chunk of the year in the minor leagues. A fourth-round pick in 2014, he has four points in 37 career NHL games, not exactly what would draw much attention from other teams.
Still, in the era of COVID-related absences, you never know who will be grabbed off waivers as an emergency replacement. Lagesson does carry a cap hit of just $725K, less than the league minimum salary and something that could be of interest to a cap-strapped contender.
Smith meanwhile hasn’t played at all this season, but his placement on waivers suggests that period on the sidelines could be coming to an end. The 27-year-old forward has cleared waivers several times in the past, including last January. It seems almost guaranteed that he will clear again, given he has just eight games (at any level) under his belt since the start of 2020-21.
Ryan Dzingel, Rudolfs Balcers Enter COVID Protocol
The Arizona Coyotes and San Jose Sharks have both made several updates to their COVID protocol list, as they prepare for action tonight and tomorrow.
For the Coyotes, Ryan Dzingel has joined Antoine Roussel in the protocol and is unavailable for tonight’s game. A player that has seemingly disappeared entirely the last few years, Dzingel has just four goals and six points in 20 games for the Coyotes in 2021-22. A two-time 20+ goal scorer, he has just 12 goals and 19 points since the start of the 2020-21 campaign and now will have to miss at least three games with this latest absence.
Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports some good news on the Coyotes’ side though, as Jakob Chychrun is expected to play for the first time since December 10. The young defenseman is the subject of much trade speculation, and getting back into game action will only help the Coyotes’ leverage in any negotiation.
For San Jose, it’s a bit of good news and a bit of bad news. The team has activated Alexander Barabanov from the COVID protocol, but replaced him with Rudofs Balcers, who is now unavailable. San Jose recalled Joachim Blichfeld and Adam Raska from the AHL in the meantime.
Balcers, 24, had scored in each of his last two games and now has four goals and 12 points in 27 games for the Sharks this season. Signed to a two-year deal in the offseason that carries a $1.55MM cap hit, his year has been broken up by injuries and illnesses that have limited his playing time. Now he’ll be forced out of the lineup for at least two games.