Mike Smith Suffers Setback; Returns To Edmonton
The Edmonton Oilers are in the middle of a road trip that carries them through Detroit, Boston, Buffalo, St. Louis, and Winnipeg, but find themselves in first place in the Pacific Division. Their offense has been nearly unstoppable, but their goaltending has also been excellent to start the year. That’s despite Mike Smith dealing with an injury and Mikko Koskinen carrying the load; the latter has a 7-1 record with a .920 save percentage through eight games, easily the best numbers of his career to this point.
Koskinen could have to keep it up for the next while, as Smith has suffered a setback in his injury recovery and returned to Edmonton, according to Jason Gregor of TSN. Oilers head coach Dave Tippett told him that “it is a concern for sure” and that Smith will get more imaging back in Edmonton to evaluate the issue.
For now, it’s Koskinen and Stuart Skinner for the Oilers as they try to navigate this road trip. The team was defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in the first game, with Skinner allowing three goals on 38 shots in just the second start of his young career. It’s hard for fans to trust Koskinen as the de facto starter at this point after he has struggled in that role in the past. The big netminder has a .909 save percentage overall for the Oilers, with a 63-48-9 record.
In the case of Smith, though he has been relatively healthy in recent years, injury was always going to be a concern moving forward. The veteran goaltender is one of the oldest players in the league at 39 (40 in March) and has a lot of miles on his body from a long career in the NHL. His 645 games played puts him 43rd all-time among NHL goaltenders and he has faced more shots than all but 33 netminders–18,815 in fact.
Still, the hope should be that Koskinen can get them through this stretch and Smith can return at some point. If either of those things turn bad, the Oilers may find themselves in the market for another goaltender. Though Skinner is obviously talented, his inexperience is certainly something to consider for a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations.
Senators And Canadiens Have Shown Interest In Vitali Kravtsov
Back when Rangers winger Vitali Kravtsov refused his assignment to AHL Hartford and was given permission to seek a trade, it was reported that several teams had shown interest in the 21-year-old. According to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Senators and Canadiens were the two teams with the most interest in acquiring the 2018 first-rounder.
Kravtsov came to North America last season after a good showing with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL where he potted 16 goals in 49 games. However, that production didn’t carry over to New York as he had just two goals and two assists in 20 contests with the Rangers. He had a goal in three preseason contests this year but it wasn’t enough to make the team as he was sent down. It was only last week that Kravtsov was officially loaned back to Chelyabinsk to get some playing time and he made an immediate impact, scoring twice while adding an assist in his first game back.
Ottawa has been known to be seeking forward help going back to the start of the season and as a team that’s only now just trying to start to emerge from their rebuild, Kravtsov is the type of player that they would want to add to their existing young core. As for Montreal, their depth is limited when it comes to left-shot wingers so there would be a spot in the bottom six for him to try and fill.
Of course, given his draft pedigree, New York placed a high price tag on Kravtsov’s services, one that clearly no one has met yet. The fact that he’s now playing again can only help his value over sitting at home and a good showing back in the KHL could be enough for teams to up the ante on their offer. Based on Seravalli’s report, the Senators and Canadiens will be among the teams keeping a close eye on how Kravtsov does in the weeks to come.
Snapshots: Senators, Cernak, Greenway
The NHL currently has no plans to postpone and reschedule any of Ottawa’s games in the midst of their COVID outbreak, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Josh Brown became the sixth Senators player to be sidelined along with associate coach Jack Capuano which was enough to lead some to believe that yesterday’s game against Boston could be postponed. However, they were able to get enough reinforcements to ice a full lineup for that contest. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly indicated that the league is “monitoring the situation” but that they would prefer to not have to reschedule games if possible. The Sens begin a stint of three games in four days on Thursday so this situation will be one to monitor if more players have to be quarantined.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak will miss at least a few games due to an upper-body injury sustained on Tuesday, head coach Jon Cooper told Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. The 24-year-old logs over 20 minutes a game on Tampa Bay’s back end including the second-most penalty kill time among their defenders so his absence will be a tough one to fill. They will get Mikhail Sergachev back from suspension on Saturday but Jan Rutta and Cal Foote will also be called upon to play more minutes.
- The Wild have activated winger Jordan Greenway from IR and will have him in their lineup tonight against Arizona, relays Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The 24-year-old suffered a high ankle sprain two weeks ago versus Seattle and missed the last four games. It’s a contract year for Greenway who will be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility this summer so not missing extended time will certainly help his cause. He has two assists in seven games this season after recording 32 points in 56 contests in 2020-21.
Bob Murray Resigns As Ducks GM
A day after being placed on administrative leave, Ducks general manager Bob Murray has tendered his resignation and will enroll in an alcohol abuse program, per a team announcement. Jeff Solomon, who was named the interim GM yesterday pending an investigation into Murray, will retain that title for the time being. Murray released the following statement:
I want to apologize to anyone adversely affected by my behavior. I vow to make changes to my life, starting with enrolling in a treatment program. I want to thank Henry and Susan Samueli, and Michael Schulman, as working for them has been one of the highlights of my career. As I step away from the Ducks, I will focus my attention on where it should be: improving my life for the betterment of my family and friends.
Murray had been with the organization since 2005 when he joined them as their Senior VP of Hockey Operations and GM of their AHL affiliate which was in Portland at the time. The 66-year-old was promoted to GM midway through the 2008-09 campaign where he took over for Brian Burke, a role he had held ever since until today.
Over that stretch, Murray made a whopping 105 trades and signed 287 contracts, per CapFriendly. Among his notable signings were the eight-year deals handed to franchise mainstays Corey Perry ($69MM) and Ryan Getzlaf (66MM) which remain the richest contracts in franchise history plus the eight-year pacts that defenseman Cam Fowler ($52MM) and goaltender John Gibson ($51.2MM) are currently on, ones that have generally been viewed as team-friendly deals over the years. Anaheim made eight playoff appearances with Murray running the show, getting as far as the Western Conference Final in two of those years.
As for Solomon, he’s in his first year with Anaheim after being hired just a few months ago following 14 seasons in the front office for the Kings. It appears as if the interim GM title could very well be his through the end of the season; owners Henry and Susan Samueli indicated in a statement that they will now undergo a “methodical, extensive search” that they hope to complete no later than next summer. Accordingly, Solomon will have an opportunity to make a strong case for the full-time role; helping get Anaheim to the playoffs after missing three straight years would certainly help on that front; the Ducks are off to a good start with a 7-4-3 record early on, good enough for second in the Pacific Division and are definitely in the mix in the early going.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was the first to report Murray’s resignation.
Jared McCann Removed From COVID Protocol
The Seattle Kraken are getting a reinforcement, as Jared McCann has been activated from the COVID protocol and was back at practice today. To make room on the roster, Max McCormick has been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers.
McCann hasn’t played for the Kraken since October 28 but up to that point had been arguably the team’s best forward. With three goals and seven points in his first eight games, he was picking up right where he left off last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In 43 games, he had 14 goals and 32 points for Pittsburgh playing mostly the wing. He has seen more time at center in Seattle and likely will be back in the middle if Yanni Gourde, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury according to Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic, is out for long.
The Kraken haven’t been able to keep the puck out of their net this season, allowing a Pacific Division-leading 44 goals against through their first 13 games. Getting their entire lineup healthy would certainly help in that regard, but they’ll need to start getting better goaltending if they want to compete for the playoffs at all. Chris Driedger returned for his first start last night but struggled by allowing four goals on 23 shots. They now have a league-worst .868 save percentage through the first month of the season.
Leo Komarov Expected To Be Placed On Unconditional Waivers
In something of a surprise move, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports that veteran forward Leo Komarov is expected to be on unconditional waivers tomorrow. The move would be to terminate Komarov’s contract, allowing him to return to the KHL where he would join SKA St. Petersburg. Komarov never did report to Bridgeport after being assigned to the AHL, but by terminating his deal it would mean forfeiting the remainder of his $2MM salary for this season.
Importantly, it would also clear Komarov’s entire $3MM cap hit off the books for the Islanders. Assigning him to the AHL only cleared $1.125MM, meaning New York and GM Lou Lamoriello would gain some extra cap space should this termination go through. After trading away Johnny Boychuk‘s deal a few days ago, the Islanders are already under the cap and accruing cap space every day. Moving on from Komarov would give them even more cap space and help to accommodate a midseason acquisition.
The simple fact is that Komarov is no longer effective enough to be a full-time option at the NHL level. The 34-year-old forward recorded just 11 points in 52 games last season (regular season and playoffs combined), with only a single goal. While he’s always been a good defensive player and a physical presence, willing to hit just about anything that moves, his time as a realistic NHL option is over. A return to the KHL makes sense at this point, especially if he can recoup at least most of his remaining NHL salary.
Depending on what he signs in the KHL he may be an unrestricted free agent again next summer, but it seems unlikely that we’ll ever see Komarov as a regular in the NHL again. If that’s true, he leaves with 491 career regular season games, 63 goals, 170 points and 1,160 hits.
Nathan MacKinnon Out Three Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
The Colorado Avalanche will be without their most explosive offensive weapon for the next little while, as head coach Jared Bednar told reporters today that Nathan MacKinnon will be out “give or take three weeks” with a lower-body injury.
MacKinnon suffered the injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets a few days ago but is set to miss around eight games depending on when he’s able to return. That’s another big chunk of what has been a tough season so far for the Hart Trophy finalist, who already sat out two games while in the COVID protocol. When he’s on the ice he’s been as explosive as ever, with ten points in eight games (though only one of those was a goal), but he’ll now face an extended layoff.
This is a brutal blow for the Avalanche, who are already floundering in the early part of the season. At 4-5-1 the team is eight points behind the Central Division-leading St. Louis Blues and six points back of the third-place Winnipeg Jets for a divisional playoff spot. While they have played the fewest games in the division, they’ve also allowed as many goals or more than every team ahead of them in the Central standings.
That’s not to say Colorado can’t compete without MacKinnon, but as arguably the most valuable contract in the entire league, he gives them a huge advantage every night. The 26-year-old is still carrying a cap hit of just $6.3MM, meaning their funds could be allocated to other places like retaining captain Gabriel Landeskog in the offseason. Landeskog is where a lot of the offensive burden will land in MacKinnon’s absence, as he’ll be asked to do even more to keep the Avalanche scoring.
It’s been a heck of a start for the Avalanche, who have had injuries or illnesses affect nearly every one of their key players. With MacKinnon now out for three weeks, their resolve will certainly be tested even further.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Jake Neighbours Sent Back To Junior
Like Hendrix Lapierre earlier today, Jake Neighbours will have to wait a little while longer to continue his NHL dream. The St. Louis Blues have assigned Neighbours to the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL, his junior club. Ineligible for the AHL, the young forward will spend the rest of the season with the Oil Kings but will not burn the first year of his entry-level contract. In his place, the team has recalled Dakota Joshua from the AHL.
Of Neighbours, Blues head coach Craig Berube had this to say:
I think there’s been games that I really liked him. He’s done some real good things. You have to look at a lot of the games and the score and the time of the game and just a lot of things played into hockey much ice time he got. It’s not easy. But overall, I think he did really well. He’s a smart player like I’ve always said, he’s killed penalties for us in these games, done a great job, he’s scored a goal, he’s around the puck all the time, has a nose for the puck. (This is all) going to be a learning process for him, a kid that young coming into the League.
Neighbours, 19, ended up playing in nine games for the Blues, the maximum he was allowed before his entry-level deal would have kicked in. He managed to score his first NHL goal and record two points in that time, while also wowing fans in the preseason with his obvious offensive upside. Playing just a handful of minutes likely isn’t the best way for him to spend this crucial development year though, so when he managed just 6:05 in ice time last night, it was obvious that a decision was coming to send him back to the WHL.
There is certainly lots to look forward to for Neighbours in the WHL. Though he obviously has missed a handful of games due to his NHL stint, he should step right back into a scoring role with the Oil Kings and once again dominate the league. Last year in a shortened season, Neighbours had 33 points in just 19 games for Edmonton. He also should be a top candidate for the Canadian World Junior team, in his last chance before turning 20 next March. His time with the Blues will come, but it won’t be this season.
Brandon Hagel Out Two Weeks With Shoulder Injury
The Chicago Blackhawks took home their third victory of the season last night, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout. They did it without Brandon Hagel, as he was being evaluated for a shoulder injury suffered on Sunday. Now the team has revealed that shoulder injury will keep Hagel out for the next two weeks. It’s not all bad news though, the team also announced that Isaak Phillips and Tyler Johnson have been removed from the COVID protocol.
Hagel, a sixth-round pick from 2016 by the Buffalo Sabres, has blossomed into a legitimate NHL player with the Blackhawks. Signed in 2018 after he failed to ink an entry-level deal with the Sabres, the former Red Deer Rebels star quickly climbed the ranks to become a full-time member of Chicago’s lineup last season. In 52 games he scored nine goals and 24 points, suggesting there was more to come from the winger in the future.
That future appeared to be this season, as Hagel started the year with four goals and six points in his first 13 games. On the first season of a three-year contract, he was already providing the kind of inexpensive supplementary scoring that the Blackhawks need to be effective.
Two weeks could mean that Hagel misses as few as five games, though it’s unclear right now when he’ll be fully ready to return to action. For now, he and MacKenzie Entwistle, who has also been ruled out for the next several weeks, will have to watch and hope the team can get things turned in the right direction without them.
Travis Hamonic Assigned To AHL
The Vancouver Canucks have officially assigned Travis Hamonic to the AHL as they head out on a three-game road trip to the U.S. As Ben Kuzma of Postmedia points out on Twitter, Hamonic is not considered fully vaccinated, so if he traveled with the team he would face quarantine restrictions upon his return to Canada. Instead, the team has recalled Jack Rathbone for the trip and placed Luke Schenn on injured reserve.
In this case, Hamonic had already cleared waivers before the season began so won’t need to go through that process again until he plays in 10 games at the NHL level or spends 30 days on the active roster. The veteran defenseman has been in the lineup four times so far, playing a season-high 19:50 in last night’s overtime loss against the Anaheim Ducks.
Rathbone meanwhile isn’t just some last-minute call-up. The 22-year-old defenseman has already played eight games for Vancouver this season and appears to be a big part of their future on the back end. He recorded one point in two games for Abbotsford, but will get back on the road with the big club and receive another opportunity to show what he can do at the NHL level.
One thing to remember about the Hamonic demotion is that while in the AHL, only $1.125MM of his $3MM cap hit is buried. The team has Tyler Motte traveling with them as he approaches a return from LTIR, meaning the salary cap dance will get even more complicated in the coming weeks for Vancouver.