Drouin, Danault Avoid Suspension, Earn Fines
The Department of Player Safety has one hearing today, but two other incidents last night have already been resolved. Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin and Los Angeles Kings forward Phillip Danault have both earned fines for actions in yesterday’s games.
For Drouin, a cross-check against Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin will cost him $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA. The incident happened partway through the third period, resulting in a five-minute major and game misconduct. Drouin delivered a hard retaliatory cross-check to the side of the head on a scrambled draw but will avoid suspension in this case.
Danault’s wallet meanwhile is $5,000 lighter today after a dangerous trip of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point last night. This was another occurrence of what appeared to be a slew foot, something that has been much more common this season. Brad Marchand and Kevin Labanc have both served suspensions for them, while others like P.K. Subban, Calvin de Haan, and Ryan Hartman have also earned fines.
Despite avoiding suspensions in these cases, Drouin and Danault will both have these incidents on their record for any future supplementary discipline. They will be considered and could result in increased punishments down the road.
PHF Announces Large Salary Cap Increase
The Premier Hockey Federation has announced that their Board of Governors has committed to investing over $25MM in direct payments and benefits over the next three years, the largest one-time independent investment in the history of professional women’s hockey. The investment will lead to a huge, 150 percent increase in the league’s salary cap for the 2022-23 season, up to $750K from $300K. The PHF, formerly the NWHL, is the leading women’s professional league in North America and consists of six independently-owned franchises.
PHF commissioner Tyler Tumminia released the following statement:
The PHF has been steadfast in its vision to grow the game under a new era that truly provides leading opportunities for athletes in the sport who deserve to be treated as professionals. This amazing investment by ownership reaffirms the strength of their commitment to being difference-makers who advance the professional game so that our athletes can thrive as role models who continue to inspire the next generation.
The investment, which will also include full healthcare benefits and equity in teams, follows a successful few months for the league. In October, the league announced a landmark deal with ESPN+ as its exclusive U.S. broadcast partner for this season. In December, they announced a partnership with Upper Deck to produce the first-ever series of trading cards for professional women’s hockey. Earlier this month an agreement was announced with Warrior as the league’s new equipment provider.
This new investment also comes with the expectation of expansion. According to John Wawrow of the Associated Press, the league is moving forward with plans for two expansion clubs; one in Montreal and the other in an undisclosed U.S. location. It will also increase the schedule to 28 games for each team next season.
Devan Dubnyk Signs AHL PTO
Jan 19: After more than a month with the team and four appearances, Dubnyk has been released from his PTO. The 35-year-old netminder is expected to be in the mix for Team Canada’s Olympic squad, though he did register just an .869 save percentage during his time with the Checkers.
Dec 7: The Charlotte Checkers are bringing in some veteran goaltending depth, signing free agent Devan Dubnyk to an AHL professional tryout. The 35-year-old netminder played 22 games at the NHL level last season, but hadn’t found a contract so far in 2021-22.
It’s been quite a while since Dubnyk suited up in the AHL, last gracing the minor league during the 2013-14 season. Before those eight games with the Hamilton Bulldogs, it was way back in 2009-10 when he played a full season with the Springfield Falcons. In nearly 550 regular season NHL games, Dubnyk has a 253-206-54 record while posting a .914 save percentage. A finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2015, he has been ineffective the last two seasons in the NHL.
For the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche last year, Dubnyk posted an .895 save percentage in those 22 appearances. This PTO will help the Checkers cover the goaltending position while Joey Daccord is recalled to the Seattle Kraken, though it’s not clear how long it will last. It could be turned into an AHL contract, or perhaps the veteran goaltender is hoping to showcase enough to land an NHL deal somewhere in the league. At the very least, he’s getting a chance to play in some competitive games ahead of the Spengler Cup, where he is expected to be the starter. Should the NHL decide not to go to the Olympics, Dubnyk would also be in the mix for Team Canada.
Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/19/22
It’s a light Wednesday evening in the NHL with just three games on the schedule, though there are a couple of tasty matchups. First, the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to take on the New York Rangers in a matchup of two Eastern Conference playoff teams. Next, the streaking Colorado Avalanche head to California to take on the struggling Anaheim Ducks, two teams heading in opposite directions. As those teams and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad shuffling right here.
Atlantic Division
- Jacob Bernard-Docker has been moved to the Ottawa Senators taxi squad, saving some salary while the team is off. The Senators don’t play until tomorrow when they’ll take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first of a three-game road trip.
Metropolitan Division
- The Washington Capitals have recalled Axel Jonsson Fjallby from the AHL to the taxi squad, giving them an extra forward if needed. Jonsson-Fjallby has played in eight games this season for the Capitals but is still looking for his first NHL goal.
Central Division
- With Joel Eriksson Ek officially exiting the COVID protocol, the Minnesota Wild have reassigned Connor Dewar to the taxi squad. Eriksson Ek hasn’t played since before Christmas due to an injury and positive COVID result. The two-way center has 11 goals and 20 points in 30 games so far.
- The Nashville Predators have reassigned Jeremy Davies to the taxi squad, after he made his season debut last night. A seventh-round pick from 2016, Davies played over 12 minutes, recording a minor penalty and three shots.
Pacific Division
- The Los Angeles Kings have loaned Jaret Anderson-Dolan to the AHL, while moving Jacob Moverare to the taxi squad. The daily moves by the Kings are meant to save some cap space and salary while the team sits dormant. More are expected tomorrow ahead of their game against the Colorado Avalanche.
- The Anaheim Ducks have recalled Danny O’Regan to the taxi squad and Brogan Rafferty to the active roster, as the team continued to deal with COVID-related absences for Josh Manson, Cam Fowler, and Simon Benoit. Rafferty, 26, has played exclusively at the AHL level this season and has 10 points in 27 games for the San Diego Gulls.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Dmitry Orlov To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
The Washington Capitals could be down a key defenseman in their next game, as the Department of Player Safety has announced a hearing for Dmitry Orlov. The potential supplementary discipline stems from a hit late in the third period of last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.
With Nikolaj Ehlers circling in the Capitals zone, Orlov delivered a knee-on-knee hit to take the Jets forward off the puck. Ehlers immediately crumpled to the ice holding his knee, needed to be helped off by a member of the training staff, and has already been ruled out for Winnipeg’s next game. Head coach Dave Lowry explained to reporters after the game including Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet that he expects Ehlers to miss more than just one game but is still being evaluated.
There was no penalty called on the play, but the DoPS appears to be making sure Orlov receives some sort of punishment. A suspension is the likely outcome of any hearing, though not guaranteed. The 30-year-old defenseman has been suspended in the past for boarding, an incident that will be taken into account in the league’s decision.
Snapshots: Coyotes, Canucks, Kuzmenko, Pillar
The Coyotes are set to get their top defenseman back in the lineup as Jakob Chychrun has cleared COVID protocol, relays Jose M. Romero of the Arizona Republic. Chychrun had been out with an upper-body injury sustained back in December and was close to returning before testing positive. Head coach Andre Tourigny, defensemen Anton Stralman and Kyle Capobianco, and goalie Scott Wedgewood all also cleared protocols and are with Arizona on their road trip. However, they will be without winger Antoine Roussel who entered COVID protocol today and will miss at least the next five days.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While the attendance restrictions in Vancouver have been extended through the middle of February, the Canucks will not be having any games on their upcoming three-game homestand rescheduled, mentions Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma (Twitter link). Vancouver already has seven games that need to be rescheduled with at least some of those changes expected to be announced very soon.
- Free agent winger Andrei Kuzmenko won’t be deciding on which NHL team he’ll sign with anytime soon. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports in the latest Insider Trading segment that the 25-year-old will wait until the end of his season in Russia before choosing where to sign with. Kuzmenko is on Russia’s training camp list for the upcoming Olympics and as the second-leading scorer in the KHL, it’s quite likely that he’ll make it. Ottawa is among the teams known to be interested although Dreger relays that almost every team has at least reached out to his agent (Gold Star’s Dan Milstein) to inquire about Kuzmenko.
- Wild prospect Josh Pillar was traded from Kamloops to Saskatoon at the WHL trade deadline on Monday. The 2021 fourth-round pick has averaged just over a point per game for the second straight season with 11 goals and 20 assists in 29 games. However, the two picks the Blazers are receiving are conditional as the winger is currently dealing with a private medical situation and the move was made to allow Pillar to recover closer to home.
2021 Year In Review: November
2021 was certainly another eventful year, both on and off the rink. Over the coming days, PHR will wrap up our look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. Next up is a look at November.
Coaching News: Interim Blackhawks Kyle Davidson wasted little time making a big splash as he fired head coach Jeremy Colliton. Chicago posted a 87-92-26 record with the 36-year-old behind the bench, a record that didn’t really turn their fortunes around. Their lone playoff appearance was in the bubble with the expanded format and despite the fact that former GM Stan Bowman made some big additions over the summer (defensemen Seth Jones and Jake McCabe plus goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury), they got off to a 1-9-2 start, prompting the change. Derek King was named as interim head coach.
Meanwhile, while the Avalanche got off to a bit of a slow start themselves, GM Joe Sakic gave head coach Jared Bednar a vote of confidence with a two-year extension through the 2023-24 season. He’s in his sixth season behind the bench in Colorado and the Avs have had four straight playoff appearances including three straight second-round trips. However, that’s as far as they have gotten and expectations will certainly be high in the second half of the season as with many expiring contracts on the horizon, the team they bring back next season may not be as strong as this year’s edition.
Eichel Traded: While it took a lot longer than pretty much everyone would have hoped, Jack Eichel was finally on the move as he was traded to Vegas along with a 2023 third-round pick in exchange for winger Alex Tuch, center Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick, and a 2023 second-round selection. There was no salary cap retention on any player involved in the swap. Eichel underwent his desired disk replacement surgery soon after the swap and he is already back on the ice, working his way towards a return. The Golden Knights now have a top center in the fold although they have some salary cap challenges ahead once their team is fully healthy as well. Meanwhile, Krebs and Tuch represent longer-term building blocks for Buffalo who will be extending their rebuild for a while longer.
Another Record-Breaker: Miro Heiskanen set a new record for the highest AAV given to a defenseman coming off an entry-level contract. That lasted a few days until Cale Makar broke it. And now, there’s a new mark to reach as Rangers defenseman Adam Fox signed a seven-year, $66.5MM extension. The deal carries a $9.5MM AAV and has trade protection in each of the last four seasons, the only ones eligible since those are the only UFA-eligible years. Fox was the Norris Trophy winner last season and is certainly going to be in the mix for the award again this year as he sits third in scoring among all NHL blueliners with 39 points in 39 games.
GM Departures: Long-time Ducks GM Bob Murray was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into professional conduct. The next day, he tendered his resignation and indicated he’d enroll in an alcohol abuse program. Murray had been Anaheim’s general manager since taking over partway through the 2008-09 season, making him one the longest-tenured in that role in the league. Jeff Solomon is currently the interim GM although Anaheim is now starting the process of looking for a full-time replacement (with Solomon among those in consideration).
Late in the month, the Canadiens made a front office change as well, dismissing GM Marc Bergevin along with long-time top scout Trevor Timmins. It was quite the change of fortunes for Bergevin who just months earlier had been engaged in talks on a contract extension following Montreal’s surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final last summer. Former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton was brought in to head up a new-look front office. Montreal operated without a GM for the past month and a half until today’s hiring of Kent Hughes.
Hughes Extension: The first two years of Jack Hughes’ career with New Jersey were fairly quiet as far as first-overall picks go. However, that didn’t stop the Devils from pursuing a long-term extension with him and they were able to get a deal done, one that will pay the 20-year-old $64MM over the next eight seasons. The deal will make him the highest-paid forward on the Devils and if he can get to the top-line level that he was projected to reach just a few years ago, this deal has an opportunity to become a team-friendly one towards the end. The contract buys out four years of UFA eligibility with Hughes receiving a 10-team no-trade clause in each of those. Hughes is averaging a point-per-game in his first 20 contests this season, a promising improvement over his first two seasons.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
East Notes: Toffoli, Sourdif, Palmieri, Arniel
The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that winger Tyler Toffoli will return to the lineup tonight, signifying that he has been activated from injured reserve. He has missed the past six weeks due to a hand injury but despite that, he only slipped to third in team scoring as he has 17 points in 26 games. Montreal doesn’t need to make a corresponding roster move to bring him off IR with the placements of Cole Caufield and Joel Armia in COVID protocol earlier today. Defenseman Kale Clague was also activated from COVID protocol into the second roster spot.
More from the Eastern Conference:
- Panthers prospect Justin Sourdif was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings from Vancouver at yesterday’s WHL trade deadline. A third-round pick in 2020, the winger has 32 points in 24 games this season and now goes to an Edmonton squad that is gearing up for a long playoff run. Florida has already signed Sourdif to an entry-level contract, one that will slide this season and begin in 2022-23.
- Islanders winger Kyle Palmieri hasn’t suffered a setback but head coach Barry Trotz told reporters including Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link) that his lower-body injury hasn’t been recovering as anticipated. He pegs the veteran’s health around 80-85% so it would appear Palmieri will be out for a little while longer. The 30-year-old has struggled considerably this season with just one goal and six assists in 25 games.
- Capitals assistant coach Scott Arniel has been placed in COVID protocol, reports Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll be away from the team for at least the next five days as a result.
Snapshots: Denmark, Harris, Muzzin
Denmark is the latest participant to announce an Olympic roster for next month’s event, but their’s is a bit more historic. This will be the first time that Denmark has ever participated in hockey after failing to qualify year after year. Last August, Denmark beat Noway in a winner-goes-to-Beijing game that landed them a spot for the first time in history.
The roster includes some familiar names like Mikkel Boedker, Frans Nielsen, Patrick Russell, and Nicklas Jensen, but they will be in a tough group with the Russian Olympic Committee, Czechia, and Switzerland. The full roster can be found here.
- One of the most interesting things on Kent Hughes‘ to-do list as he takes over as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens is trying to sign Jordan Harris, a top collegiate player, captain of Northeastern, and third-round pick that could become an unrestricted free agent later this year. As Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic points out though, Hughes seemingly has a few advantages–or at least some familiarity–in that negotiation. Hughes coached Harris for a time with the Boston Jr. Eagles several years ago, and two of the young defenseman’s college teammates at Northeastern happen to be related to the Montreal GM. Riley Hughes, a seventh-round pick of the New York Rangers (when they were run by Canadiens VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton, no less) is an alternate captain at Northeastern, while Jack Hughes is a freshman with the potential to be a first-round pick this spring. With the Canadiens already tweeting out highlights of Harris, you can bet they’ll put on the full-court press to get him signed in the coming months.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs will travel to New York to take on the Rangers without Jake Muzzin, as the veteran defenseman suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Blues. Mark Masters of TSN reports that Rasmus Sandin will move up to the second pair in Muzzin’s absence, with Alex Biega re-entering the lineup. Since Justin Holl is still in the COVID protocol, the Maple Leafs will be relying heavily on Sandin and Timothy Liljegren, consecutive first-round picks that haven’t made a huge impact to this point.
NHL To Change Testing Protocols After All-Star Break
The NHL has announced that it will make some changes to their COVID-19 testing procedures following the All-Star break, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Seravalli reports that asymptomatic players and staff will no longer be tested for coronavirus, provided that COVID-19 rates around the league continue to decline over the next few weeks. Testing will then only happen following symptoms or for cross-border travel.
Notably, Seravalli adds that 73% of NHL rosters have tested positive this season and approximately 60% in the last five weeks. The NHL already had protocols in place to stop testing players for 90 days after their positive case. The current procedures are in place through February 3, while the NHL and NHLPA will meet before January 31 to review and approve the proposed changes.
In a press release, the league has confirmed the potential changes and listed them as follows:
Testing Protocol: The plan is to continue the current testing Protocol through Feb. 3. Provided positive test results continue to decline within the NHL, and pending review and agreement by Jan. 31 by the NHL’s and NHLPA’s medical experts, the Protocol will be updated as follows:
i. There will be no testing of Fully Vaccinated Players and Staff during the All-Star break (including for participating Players and staff), unless needed for travel or development of symptoms.
ii. There will be a single test upon re-entry to Club facilities post-All-Star, after which there will no longer be asymptomatic testing, or testing of Fully Vaccinated close contacts.
iii. Thereafter, testing will continue only on a limited “for cause” basis in Fully Vaccinated Players and Staff who develop symptoms or require testing for cross-border travel.
iv. The post-COVID “testing holiday” will remain at 90 days, but symptom-based testing can still be done at the team physician’s discretion. Testing for cross-border travel post-COVID will be dictated by the relevant health authority, which is currently 90 days for entry to the U.S. and 180 days for entry to Canada.
Taxi squads, which were introduced in late December as teams were struggling to ice full rosters, are scheduled to disappear again after each team’s final game before the All-Star break. Whether they are maintained past that is still unclear at this point. Friedman reports that a revised schedule for the February Olympic break is expected as early as tomorrow. More than 100 games have been postponed so far.