Pacific Notes: Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, Holland, Kane
The Oilers aren’t expected to engage in any extension talks with pending RFA wingers Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi this season, reports Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (subscription link). Both players carry a $1.175MM cap hit this season and are eligible for salary arbitration this summer. However, they’re on opposite trajectories which makes in-season discussions a bit tricky.
Yamamoto has struggled considerably this season, collecting just five goals and two assists in 29 games, a sizable drop from the 26 points in 27 games he had as a midseason recall just two years ago. Puljujarvi, meanwhile, is off to the best start of his career and is only two points shy of matching his career high in points (25) that he set last season. With limited cap space to work with beyond this season, GM Ken Holland may need to free up some money if he wants to sign either of them long term. Given that the Oilers are trying to contend this season, a move like that is likelier to happen in the offseason which makes the decision to wait on extension talks an understandable one.
More from the Pacific:
- Still with Edmonton, many teams are having cap issues with multiple players in COVID protocol but Holland has an idea to try to get around that. In a recent interview with 630CHED (audio link), he proposed that players in COVID protocol get the same treatment as players on LTIR – teams can exceed the cap by up to that players’ AAV but have to be compliant to activate them. That would allow them to afford to bring up replacements without having to play short for a game to receive a cap-exempt recall with those players returning to the minors when those in protocol return. Edmonton is among the many teams facing that issue as they return to play as Holland acknowledged they will have some cap challenges with at least four regulars – Puljujarvi, Duncan Keith, Darnell Nurse, and William Lagesson – among those that won’t be available if play resumes over the next few days.
- Evander Kane is among a trio of players placed into COVID protocol earlier this week on the Sharks’ farm team, per an announcement from the Barracuda, their AHL affiliate. The 30-year-old – who is now fully vaccinated – is off to a good start to his first career stint in the minors with six assists and eight points in five games but will have to wait for a little while to add to those totals.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: New York Islanders
In the spirit of the holiday season, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season passes the one-quarter 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 New York Islanders.
What are the Islanders thankful for?
A stingy defense corps.
Yes, part of their success is due to Barry Trotz’s system but the Islanders boast a group of blueliners that is still relatively unheralded. Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech are both quality rearguards locked up on long-term deals that could wind up being team-friendly by the end; Pulock’s extension carries a $6.15MM AAV through 2030 that kicks in next season while Pelech checks in at $5.75MM through 2029. That’s a quality duo on the back end to build around for a long time. Noah Dobson will also be part of that long-term future while Scott Mayfield’s contract continues to be one of the better bargains in the league for at least one more year after this one.
Individually, none of these players brings a ‘wow’ factor to the table but as a group, it’s a good enough unit to help keep them close most nights even when the offense struggles. If they’re going to claw their way back into the playoff picture, this group will be a big part of it (especially with Pulock set to return soon).
Who are the Islanders thankful for?
For years, Sorokin has been touted as their goalie of the future. After finally coming to North America and playing last season, he was the backup to Semyon Varlamov. It’s time to consider the torch as passed. This season, the 26-year-old has been one of the better goalies in the league, posting a .926 SV% which puts him in the top ten league-wide in that category. He also has made over 70% of the starts this season. Part of that is due to an early injury to Semyon Varlamov but Sorokin has also outplayed Varlamov considerably as well. There was some risk to Sorokin’s three-year, $12MM contract considering he had played all of 22 regular season games heading into this season but all of a sudden, he’s one of the better bargains for goaltenders around the league.
What would the Islanders be even more thankful for?
Offense. Not just depth scoring or secondary scoring, or offense from the defense. The Islanders need production, period. Mathew Barzal is their star center but he only has five goals this season (which still puts him in a tie for fourth on the team). Kyle Palmieri, Josh Bailey, and Zach Parise are all capable veteran players and they’re all stuck at a single goal. Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin are big pieces of their fourth line on above-market contracts and they’ve failed to light the lamp in 39 combined games. The defense as a whole has just five tallies on the season. You get the point.
With even an average offense and some better luck on the COVID front, this is a team that could be right in the playoff mix as things stand. If they’re going to get back into postseason contention with the struggles they’ve had early on, they’re going to need a lot of players to rediscover their scoring touch over the holiday break.
What should be on the Islanders’ Holiday Wish List?
Beyond adding scoring, more defensive depth would go a long way towards helping their chances of climbing back into the race in terms of giving them some injury insurance (and we know GM Lou Lamoriello isn’t throwing in the towel just yet).
But the biggest thing on their wish list both now and in the future is cap space. They don’t have it and they need it in a big way. The Isles were forced to bridge their young stars to merely stay cap-compliant now so it’s a longer-term concern. If they want to add now, they need to free up cap room first and if they want to keep their core intact, they need to free up cap room. Accordingly, that is going to be the biggest wish in the coming weeks, months, and years for the Isles.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
2021 Spengler Cup Cancelled Due To COVID-19
The 2021 Spengler Cup won’t be taking place due to COVID-19 cases affecting teams within the tournament, per The Hockey News’ Steven Ellis.
The tournament was set to begin tomorrow, December 26th. A severe number of cases today within the NL’s HC Davos organization, the hosts of the tournament, forced the cancellation after the Canadian national squad and HC Ambri-Piotta (NL) also backed out.
The Spengler Cup is the world’s oldest invitational hockey tournament, including six teams every year including Team Canada and HC Davos. This year, Frolunda HC (SHL), HC Slovan Bratislava (Slovak Extraliga), KalPa (Liiga), HC Sparta Praha (Czech Extraliga), and the Bern Selects were also scheduled to participate.
It’s the second straight year that the tournament has been cancelled due to COVID-19.
No Contract Talks Yet Between Bruins And Tuukka Rask
Going back to last summer, it has been widely expected that Tuukka Rask would eventually rejoin the Bruins once he has fully recovered from hip surgery that he underwent in July. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday including NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin, team president Cam Neely indicated that while there have been talks between Rask and GM Don Sweeney, they haven’t been regarding a contract for this season yet.
That isn’t to say that there haven’t been any discussions – Rask has been using Boston’s team facilities to rehab while even serving as an emergency goalie for practice but there’s a difference between that and putting pen to paper on a contract. In the meantime, Neely indicated that the current COVID situation certainly isn’t helping as they want to see Rask face NHL-caliber shots in practice to get ramped up and back into playing shape. With the team being in the midst of an outbreak and their facilities closed, that’s hard to do and depending on how long this lasts, it could delay their plans to bring him back accordingly.
It’s not as if they absolutely have to get Rask back right away either. Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman have combined for a .919 SV% and a 2.39 GAA, making the Bruins one of the stingiest defensive teams in the league. Adding Rask to that tandem is a luxury over a necessity.
As a result, Sweeney needs to preserve as much of his cap space as possible to fill other team needs closer to the deadline so whatever contract offer they make to Rask will come in a lot cheaper than the $7MM AAV he had on his last deal. Fortunately for them, Rask has indicated a willingness to sign for cheap, allowing them to preserve some flexibility. However, it appears Boston fans will have to wait a little while longer for the 14-year veteran to officially make his return.
2021 Year In Review: January
2021 has certainly been another eventful year both on and off the rink. Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis. We begin with the month of January.
Barzal Bridge: Throughout the entire COVID delay to the start of the 2020-21 season, the expectation was that the Islanders would be forced to do a bridge deal with their top center in Mathew Barzal. In the end, it’s exactly what happened as the two sides agreed to a three-year, $21MM contract that will carry a qualifying offer of $8.4MM in 2023. While a longer-term contract was preferable for both sides, the shorter term gave New York a little bit more wiggle room to work with which they used to officially complete contracts for veterans Matt Martin, Tom Kuhnhackl, Andy Greene, and Cory Schneider. Barzal hasn’t been able to match the production from his Calder-winning season in 2017-18 when he averaged over a point per game but he is still an offensive weapon on a team that is best known for being a low-scoring squad.
Crawford Retires: It was somewhat surprising when Corey Crawford left Chicago and signed a two-year, $7.8MM contract with the Devils. In the end, Crawford decided not to go through with it, instead announcing his retirement. He hung up his skates with a 260-162-53 record with a 2.45 GAA, .918 SV%, and 26 shutouts along with a pair of Stanley Cup titles in 2013 and 2015, all coming with the Blackhawks. Meanwhile, with no other veteran netminders available that close to the start of the season, New Jersey opted to have Scott Wedgewood serve as the backup last season with Aaron Dell and Eric Comrie also seeing limited action with the team.
Swapping Young Stars: Pierre-Luc Dubois didn’t exactly hide his desire to leave Columbus while Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic were certainly amenable to leaving Winnipeg. In the end, the three were all swapped for each other with the Jets picking up a third-round pick along with Dubois. Columbus retained enough of Dubois’ salary to make it a match with Laine while Roslovic quickly signed a two-year, $3.8MM bridge deal after being acquired. Interestingly enough, it was Roslovic who had the best season of the three as he picked up 34 points in 48 games with his new team. This season, however, Dubois has gotten off to a particularly strong start, notching more points than Laine and Roslovic combined (although Laine has been limited to just 10 games due to an oblique injury).
Big Extensions: After a promising rookie season, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford was quite impressed with John Marino and handed him a six-year, $24.4MM extension that bought out the remainder of his RFA-eligible years plus three UFA seasons. At the time, it looked like the deal had the potential to be a big bargain for them down the road if he was able to build on his rookie performance although there was some risk considering how inexperienced he was. The early returns have been inconsistent as he took a bit of a step back last season although Marino has bounced back this season, logging 22 minutes a game while chipping in with 12 points in 30 games. That’s the type of performance that could make this a team-friendly deal in the near future.
Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets were able to lock up one of their top young talents, inking Oliver Bjorkstrand to a five-year, $27MM extension. He has become a reliable top-six piece for Columbus and has become fairly consistent in the scoring department, ranging between 0.32 and 0.4 goals per game (between 26 and 33 over an 82-game season) in each of the last four years. The contract more than doubled his AAV at the time and bought out four seasons of UFA eligibility.
Rutherford Resigns: Just weeks after signing Marino, Rutherford abruptly resigned as GM of the Penguins, citing personal reasons for why he decided to leave. He was at the helm of Pittsburgh since 2014 with the team winning a pair of Stanley Cups during his tenure with them. Of course, this won’t be the last time that Rutherford finds himself in one of these Month in Review columns over the coming days with him now being in Vancouver. Patrik Allvin took over as interim GM and has been speculatively linked as a candidate to join Rutherford with the Canucks in the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NHL Extends Holiday Break, Postpones December 27th Games
The NHL announced per a tweet Friday evening that all games scheduled to take place on Monday, December 27 are postponed in order to provide for adequate COVID-19 testing results after teams return from the holiday break.
Teams are still permitted to return to practice on Sunday, December 26.
There were 14 games scheduled to happen on Monday. Only the Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, and Tampa Bay Lightning are unaffected by these postponements.
The league said in their press release today that a further update on their return to play plans will come on Sunday. If an additional rash of positive tests come in that weekend, it’s exceedingly likely that further postponements will happen.
50 games had already been postponed this year, bringing the total number of postponements to 64.
Czechia Announces Final Roster For 2022 WJC
After their pre-tournament game against Switzerland was cancelled yesterday due to COVID-19 concerns, Czechia has named their final roster for the 2022 World Junior Championships which begin in earnest on December 26.
Two names in particular of note on this team are David Jiricek and Jiri Kulich, who are both eligible for the 2022 NHL Draft. Jiricek is a likely top-ten and potential top-five selection come July, and a good tournament could help solidify that positioning. He’s actually serving as an assistant captain for the team along with 19-year-old undrafted Michal Gut. Montreal Canadiens prospect Jan Mysak was announced as the team’s captain earlier in the week.
Jiricek is impressing this season with five goals and six assists in 29 games with HC Plzen in the Czech Extraliga. Kulich, a likely second- or third-round selection, has seven goals and four assists with Karlovy Vary in the Extraliga.
The Czechs will be watched intently by Columbus Blue Jackets fans, as they carry a pair of talented prospects in defenseman Stanislav Svozil and forward Martin Rysavy. Svozil somewhat unexpectedly fell to the third round in 2021 where Columbus drafted him 69th overall. He’s done well in his first season in North America, posting a goal and 17 assists in 26 games with the WHL’s Regina Pats. Rysavy, a seventh-rounder in 2021, has five goals and 11 assists in 28 games with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
Toronto Maple Leafs Place William Nylander In COVID Protocol
The Toronto Maple Leafs tweeted out this afternoon that the team placed right wing William Nylander into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
Nylander becomes the seventh forward and 13th Maple Leaf on the protocol list. Morgan Rielly entered protocol just yesterday.
John Tavares, Alexander Kerfoot, Ilya Mikheyev, David Kampf, Wayne Simmonds, Jason Spezza, Rasmus Sandin, Travis Dermott, T.J. Brodie, Jack Campbell, and Petr Mrazek round out the rest of the COVID absences for Toronto.
In all likelihood, this means that Nylander won’t be available if the team resumes playing next week. The 25-year-old Swede is enjoying his best season to date, posting 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 30 games while playing 18:47 per game.
With Nylander now out, when Toronto hits the ice again, it’ll likely give a chance for players like Kyle Clifford and Joey Anderson to get back onto the active roster and play some games.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: New Jersey Devils
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season passes the one-quarter 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 New Jersey Devils.
What are the Devils thankful for?
The World Junior Championship.
Look, it’s not very pretty watching Devils games right now. The team has lost six in a row, nine of their last ten, and now own the worst goal differential in the Metropolitan Division. In a season where they were supposed to be at least competitive, things have gone downhill, fast.
So around the holidays, what better way to soothe that ache than watching some of the Devils’ top prospects do battle on the international stage. Fans got an up-close look at Alexander Holtz when he played six NHL games earlier this season, but he’s now back with Team Sweden at his third WJC tournament. Shakir Mukhamadullin is one of the leaders of the Russian team and looks like he’ll be in the NHL in no time. Perhaps the most exciting is Luke Hughes, that fourth-overall pick and key building block who is suiting up for the U.S.
Of all the prospects in the Devils system, those three are arguably the most important. You can watch them all battle when the event kicks off tomorrow.
Who are the Devils thankful for?
If there’s one player that has been anything but disappointing this season it’s Mercer, who only turned 20 in October but is already handling NHL minutes with aplomb. Another one of those first-round picks, Mercer has 16 points in 30 games, strong possession numbers, and is averaging more than 16 minutes a night. Sure, he’s been completely outclassed in the faceoff dot and still has plenty of work to do to polish his overall game, but there have been so many brilliant moments that his ceiling looks higher than expected and his absolute floor has risen to that of an NHL middle-six player.
It’s hard to see why there would ever be a time moving forward that the Devils don’t pencil Mercer into the lineup and that’s a huge step forward for an organization that needed to build out support for Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. It looks like there will be more pain this season, but things are trending in the right direction, at least in terms of development.
What would the Devils be even more thankful for?
A healthy Hughes.
It was supposed to go so differently. This was the year that Hughes was supposed to take a big step forward and establish himself as a true top-line player in the league. He looked stronger in the offseason and things got off to a great start. In his first game, he scored twice, including a brilliant overtime winner that showed just how much confidence he had entered the season with. He had an assist in the first period of his next game before a hit from Seattle’s Jeremy Lauzon resulted in a dislocated shoulder for Hughes and a recovery period of six weeks.
While he avoided surgery, it immediately stole all of that offseason momentum for the young forward and forced him to–as Ray Ferraro of ESPN often says–jump on a moving train when he was ready to return. He’s done fine since rejoining the club, registering three goals and five points in 11 games, but is still missing some of that swagger from the start of the year. If Hughes can stay healthy for the rest of the season and get that back, perhaps the team can do a little more damage in the second half.
What should be on the Devils’ Holiday Wish List?
A Jesper Bratt extension.
The Devils don’t need to sell at the deadline this year. They likely will, if they can find a taker and add a few draft picks, but they’re past the hoarding section of the rebuild. Now they need to lock in these good young players and find a way to put together a competitive roster.
If Mercer’s development is the best thing from the team this season, Bratt’s play isn’t far behind. The 23-year-old forward has been the most reliable player on the roster from the start and is scoring at a career-best pace. His 24 points in 29 games lead the club and almost all of that damage has been done at even strength. If the Devils’ powerplay could improve–it’s currently clicking at just 12.9%–there’s a real chance Bratt could put up a 60 or even 70-point season at this rate.
While that’s a wonderful threshold to break for the young forward, it would also come with a cost for the Devils. Bratt will be a restricted free agent again this offseason and this time he’s eligible for arbitration. That kind of production would put him in the driver’s seat in terms of arbitration leverage, meaning a big ask would be on the table. An extension now at a more reasonable price might be prudent, if GM Tom Fitzgerald can get his representatives to the table.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Jani Hakanpaa Placed In COVID Protocol
The small number of teams not currently affected by COVID-related absences has shrunk by one, as the Dallas Stars placed Jani Hakanpaa in the protocol today according to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic.
Hakanpaa, 29, has filled a depth role for the Stars this season, averaging just over 15 minutes a night in 28 appearances. The hulking defenseman–who stands 6’6″–is one of the most physical players in the league, routinely separating an opponent from the puck by driving them to the ice. In those limited minutes he has 70 hits, after racking up 215 in last year’s shortened season split between Anaheim and Carolina.
One of the most imposing players in the league, losing Hakanpaa for the next ten days–assuming he tested positive, which was not confirmed by the team–would leave an interesting decision for the Stars management and coaching staff. Top prospect Thomas Harley could be recalled to enter the lineup, but he’s both not the same style of player nor the same handedness as Hakanpaa. Someone like the 6’4″ Alex Petrovic might be a more apt replacement, though he hasn’t played in an NHL game since 2018-19.
Regardless, given the depth role he plays, there shouldn’t be much issue for the Stars if it is limited to just Hakanpaa. The team is set to return to action on Monday against the Nashville Predators.