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Senators Owner Accuses Rangers Of ‘Soft-Tampering’

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The first day of the NHL Board of Governors meeting has started with some dramatics. According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the owner of the Ottawa Senators, Michael Andlauer, has accused the New York Rangers of  “soft-tampering.”

It’s safe to say there’s now a Brady Tkachuk-sized wedge between the two organizations. Andlauer’s statement was regarding a report from Larry Brooks of the New York Post indicating the Rangers were aggressively pursuing Tkachuk in a trade with the Senators.

Nothing indicates that Brooks’ report came from a leak within the Rangers organization but the Senators organization believes it did. Andlauer told LeBrun that Ottawa hasn’t discussed Tkachuk with any team and he hopes he will be the team’s leader for many years.

The accusation is understandably heavy and will likely be discussed at the Board of Governors meeting. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the Rangers responded to the accusation by saying, “This is an irresponsible accusation and we defer to the Commissioner’s office.”

It’s a situation the league will likely investigate given its updated policies on tampering. The league was reportedly displeased with the number of contracts preemptively announced before free agency began on July 1st and sent a memo to all 32 teams.

Any team caught tampering could face fines as large as $5MM, lose draft capital, or even have contracts voided (although that wouldn’t apply in this scenario) should they be caught tampering. The last time a team has been charged with tampering by the league came back in 2016 when former-general manager for the Vancouver Canucks, Jim Benning, made public comments regarding P.K. Subban and Steven Stamkos which resulted in a $50K fine.

Metro Notes: Garand, Ovechkin, Milano, Wilson, Tomasino

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The New York Rangers are returning to their regular look between the pipes tonight. The organization announced they’ve reassigned goaltender Dylan Garand to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Garand’s reassignment means Igor Shesterkin will return this evening against the Chicago Blackhawks. He missed yesterday’s game after he and his wife welcomed a new child. Garand didn’t play in yesterday’s loss to the Seattle Kraken, but nobody would have been surprised if he did.

Jonathan Quick, a more than reliable backup for the Rangers this season, let in six goals on 21 shots during New York’s collapse in the second and third periods. The situation paved the way for Garand to make his NHL debut after securing a 7-2-2 record in 11 games for the Wolf Pack this season. Nevertheless, the former 103rd overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft will continue to wait to make his first NHL appearance.

Other Metro notes:

  • According to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, the Washington Capitals had a pair of forwards resume skating this morning albeit in non-contact jerseys. Alex Ovechkin and Sonny Milano skated before the Capitals’ formal practice this morning and Milano has reportedly been elevated to working with pucks. The fact Ovechkin has even returned to skating is impressive given he’s just under three weeks removed from fracturing his fibula.
  • Power forward Tom Wilson was a notable absence from Washington’s practice this morning (X Link). Wilson took a puck to the face in the team’s recent win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and he finished the game with nearly a season-low time on ice of 16:15. There’s no indication he’s been ruled out of the Capitals’ upcoming game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Still, it’ll be something to monitor over the next few days.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins could be getting a boost to their forward core tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche. According to Wes Crosby of NHL.com, Penguins’ forward Philip Tomasino was skating in a non-contact jersey before today’s practice after missing the team’s most recent game with an upper-body injury. The former first-round pick has been a boon to Pittsburgh’s offense since being acquired from the Nashville Predators on November 25th scoring three goals and four points in his first five games.

Morning Notes: Lemieux, Cowan, Fowler

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Former Carolina Hurricanes forward Brendan Lemieux has signed a contract with HC Davos, matching a report earlier this week that the 27-year-old would move overseas to continue his career. The Hurricanes and Lemieux mutually split this past week, allowing him to move to Switzerland to play in the National League. Lemieux spent this season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, making $775K on a one-way deal. It was the first time Lemieux was in the AHL since the 2017-18 season, and the former second-round pick was struggling offensively, with just two goals in 12 games.

As for why Lemieux chose to go overseas, it does appear that he was chasing a new opportunity. Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News writes that Lemieux has signed for the rest of this season as well as two additional years.

In other morning notes:

  • Hockey Canada tweeted that Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan will attend the team’s selection camp but won’t participate for precautionary reasons. The news caps off an eventful, albeit difficult couple of days for the 19-year-old. Cowan recorded a point for the 56th consecutive game on Friday, unofficially setting an OHL record, but was injured a short time later by an open-ice hit. In a corresponding move, Team Canada added Anaheim Ducks prospect Beckett Sennecke to their selection camp. The 2024 third-overall pick has 21 goals and 23 assists in 26 OHL games this season and has 14 points over his last four games.
  • It’s being reported that the Anaheim Ducks were hoping to include defenseman Cam Fowler in the trade to acquire Jacob Trouba (as per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). Fowler has been looking for a trade for quite some time, but the Rangers wanted to keep flexibility for this year and next and wouldn’t have realized much savings if they were to add Fowler’s $6.5MM cap hit. Friedman notes that the Ducks and Fowler are looking for a solution to their situation that will help both the team and the long-time Ducks veteran. The 33-year-old Fowler has been a perennial 40-point player for most of his career but has struggled this season with just three assists in 14 games.

Predators Owner Speaks On State Of The Team

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Alex Daughterty of The Tennessean wrote about the thoughts of Nashville Predators’ soon-to-be majority owner Bill Haslam. The story covers Haslam’s thoughts on general manager Barry Trotz, head coach Andrew Brunette, as well as the team’s summer free agent spending spree that has not worked out according to the plan. The Predators currently sit second last in the entire NHL in points after dishing out big money long-term contracts to Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei.

Haslam tells The Tennessean that the organization still feels that it should have spent that money on pricey free-agent acquisitions and says that it would do whatever it takes to keep making the team better.

There is no faulting the logic that the Predators had going into the summer, The team performed well last season with much less talent (on paper) and seemingly felt that some offseason moves could move the team from playoff contender to Stanley Cup contender. However, a third of the way through the season, they sit seven games below .500 and don’t look like a group that is set to go on a run.  That being said, a run of good play can change things quickly, just look at the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have won five of their last six and are back in the thick of it in the Eastern Conference.

Nashville needs more from Stamkos and Marchessault, who both have just 13 points in 28 games this season. Stamkos’ even strength production has fallen off a cliff as he has just one goal and two assists, while Marchessault has just three goals and three assists at even strength.

Skjei, on the other hand, hasn’t produced near the offense he did last season when he had 47 points in 80 games with Carolina, but the biggest alarm bell on the 30-year-old is the amount he is turning over the puck. Skjei has already matched last season’s turnover numbers with 36 in the first 28 games and could exceed 100 on the year if he keeps up this pace.

Rangers Recall Dylan Garand And Connor Mackey

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December 9th, 9:18 AM: The New York Rangers have assigned Garand back to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL, signalling that Shesterkin will return to the lineup tonight.

December 8th, 9:49 AM: The New York Rangers announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Dylan Garand and defenseman Connor Mackey from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League. The 22-year-old Garand has been called up likely as a backup option for Jonathan Quick as Igor Shesterkin’s wife is in labor, and he is expected to miss the game. Garand has been terrific in Hartford this season, posting a .917 save percentage to go along with a 2.42 goals-against average. He posted his first shutout of the season on Friday night against the Rockford IceHogs and has a record of 7-2-2 on the season.

A 2020 fourth-round pick, Garand is on the smaller side, but his confidence appears to be growing as the season progresses and he is beginning to show a ton of upside.

Mackey has dressed in 22 games with the Wolf Pack this year and has tallied two goals and four assists with a +2 plus/minus rating. The 28-year-old has been a staple in the AHL during his professional career, dressing in 146 career games and registering 12 goals and 57 assists. The Tower Lakes, Illinois native is no stranger to the NHL, having dressed in 40 career NHL games with three different teams. Mackey has posted four goals and seven assists for 11 career NHL points.

It is expected that Mackey will serve as the Rangers’ seventh defenseman (as per Colin Stephenson of Newsday Sports).

Five Key Stories: 12/2/24 – 12/8/24

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The first full week of December is in the books and it was a busy one across the NHL.  The biggest news is recapped in our key stories.

4 Nations Rosters Set: While the 4 Nations Face-Off is still more than two months away, the four countries participating – Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States – all released their rosters for the event.  Players can still be substituted as injury replacements until the event begins so it wouldn’t be shocking if most (if not all) will have one or two different players in the lineup when it gets underway on February 12th.  In terms of NHL representation, the Panthers lead the way with eight players participating while the Golden Knights have seven.  Florida is one of only two teams to have a player for each different country with Toronto being the other.  Meanwhile, the Kraken and Metropolitan-leading Capitals do not have a single representative.

Trouba To Anaheim: After being unable to move him during the summer, the Rangers had made it known recently that defenseman Jacob Trouba was still available.  Eventually, they had enough prospective deals lined up that they went to the blueliner and asked him to pick one he liked or else he’d potentially land on waivers.  He accepted a trade to Anaheim in exchange for blueliner Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick (the earlier of Detroit’s or Boston’s).  Notably, the Ducks assumed the entire $8MM cap charge on Trouba for this season and next and while they get an upgrade on the back end (and potentially a flippable player with retention down the road), the Rangers picked up some significant cap space.

Shesterkin’s Sticking Around: New York wasted little time putting the cap space freed up for 2025-26 in the Trouba trade to use, signing goaltender Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year, $92MM contract extension that begins next season; the deal contains a no-move clause while the majority of the deal will be paid out as signing bonuses.  The $11.5MM AAV is a new NHL record for a netminder.  Shesterkin has been one of the top goaltenders in the NHL since coming to the league in the 2019-20 season and it was widely expected that he’d top Carey Price’s $10.5MM price tag in this agreement.  While his camp was believed to be seeking more than Artemi Panarin ($11.643MM), that didn’t wind up happening.  With the signing, the goaltending position is now sealed up for the better part of the next decade.

Hip Surgery For Seguin: Stars center Tyler Seguin is set to miss the next four to six months due to hip surgery.  It’s a big blow for Dallas as the 32-year-old was off to one of his best starts in recent years, tallying nine goals and 11 assists in his first 19 outings.  On the short end of the timeline, it’s possible that Seguin could return in early April, the likeliest scenario is that he misses the rest of the regular season.  While Dallas has cap space for now and doesn’t need to move Seguin to LTIR, they could look to do so closer to the trade deadline.  While the exact amount they could spend is dependent on their roster composition at the time of placement, they could potentially use a big chunk of his $9.85MM AAV to add to their roster.

Coaching Change In Chicago: The Blackhawks became the third team to make a coaching change this season (joining Boston and St. Louis) when they fired Luke Richardson.  Taking his place will be now-former AHL Rockford bench boss Anders Sorensen who has been named as interim head coach, a role he’ll hold for the rest of the year.  Richardson was in his third season with the rebuilding Blackhawks and his team played to a 57-119-15 record, good for a points percentage of just .338.  That said, the team was selling off assets early in his tenure so the poor overall record isn’t surprising.  However, GM Kyle Davidson brought in several veterans over the summer to try to give the team a better foundation but it didn’t result in on-ice success with the team recording just 18 points in 27 games before the change.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Lightning, Smith, Tokarski, Lazar

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The Lightning lost a pair of key players during today’s game against Vancouver.  Center Anthony Cirelli left with an injury in the first period while defenseman Erik Cernak only played one shift in the third period.  Speaking with reporters postgame including FanDuel Sports Network Florida’s Gabby Shirley (Twitter link), head coach Jon Cooper didn’t have an update on either player but added that they’ll know more on each of them on Monday.  Cirelli was averaging a point per game through his first 24 appearances heading into today’s action while Cernak had seven assists in his 24 outings.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • A day after sending Riley Stillman to the minors, the Hurricanes have found his replacement for the time being. The team announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Ty Smith from AHL Chicago.  The 24-year-old has been up multiple times with Carolina this season but has yet to play and will likely continue to serve in the seventh defenseman role while he’s on the roster.  Smith has three goals and four assists in seven games with the Wolves so far.
  • Still with the Hurricanes, they assigned goaltender Dustin Tokarski to Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. As has frequently been the case this season, this is merely a move to bank a bit of cap space and delay Tokarski’s waiver clock.  He’ll almost certainly be recalled before Tuesday’s game against San Jose.
  • While there has been some speculation that Devils center Curtis Lazar won’t return this season, that’s not believed to be the case, relays NJ Advance Media’s Gabriel Trevino (Twitter link). The veteran underwent left knee surgery at the end of October but no firm timeline was given for his return.  That said, GM Tom Fitzgerald mentioned recently that acquiring a fourth-line center was on his priority list before the trade deadline in March so even if the team still believes Lazar could return, it seems as if they intend to operate as if he won’t so that way, they’re still covered.

West Notes: Jones, Larsen, Lomberg, Stephens

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Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones skated before practice today as he works his way back from a right foot injury, notes WGN Radio’s Charlie Roumeliotis (Twitter link).  The 30-year-old was originally pegged to be out around four weeks with the injury and he has missed the last three so resuming on-ice skating now suggests he’s pretty much on track in his recovery.  Jones has played in 17 games so far this season where he has 10 points while logging 25:43 per night, his highest ATOI since his first season with Chicago back in 2021-22.

More from out West:

  • The Flames announced (Twitter link) that assistant coach Brad Larsen has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team to attend to a family matter. Larsen is in his first season with Calgary after joining them as an assistant coach this past offseason following a year away from the league after being fired as head coach with Columbus after two seasons.
  • Still with the Flames, winger Ryan Lomberg did not accompany the team on its trip to Dallas and won’t be in the lineup tonight, relays Sportsnet 960’s Derek Wills (Twitter link). His absence isn’t injury-related; instead, he stayed back in Calgary to be with his wife with the birth of their child pending.  Lomberg has three assists, 22 penalty minutes, and 47 hits in 27 games this season in his second stint with the Flames after signing a two-year, $4MM contract with them back in July.
  • A day after being sent to the minors, the Kraken recalled center Mitchell Stephens per the AHL’s transactions log. The move ultimately allowed them to delay his waiver clock by one day.  The 27-year-old went into today’s action with four games played with Seattle where he had been held off the scoresheet in a little over nine minutes per game of ice time.

Wild To Reassign Travis Boyd, Expected To Activate Jakub Lauko

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The Minnesota Wild are swapping out one forward in favor of another. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports the Wild organization has reassigned forward Travis Boyd to the American Hockey League with Jakub Lauko expected back on Tuesday.

It’s the third time the 31-year-old Boyd has been reassigned back to the AHL’s Iowa Wild this season. The Hopkins, Minnesota native has only made two appearances for the Wild this season going scoreless while averaging 7:39 of ice time per game.

His production in Iowa has been understandably more fruitful. It’s his first stretch in the AHL since the 2019-20 season and he’s collected two goals and 11 points in 13 games. The AHL Wild will now have their third-highest scorer back as they look to stay competitive in a top-heavy AHL Central Division.

Lauko, who’s been on Minnesota’s injured reserve since November 26th due to a lower-body injury, is expected to return to the lineup against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday. He won’t help fill the voids in the top-six forward group but will add a stabilizing presence to the bottom of the forward core.

He’s skated in 21 games throughout his first year in Minnesota adding two goals and four points overall. Lauko will provide a more physical presence compared to Boyd and should cause some trepidation from opposing teams if he’s placed on a line with Yakov Trenin.

Vancouver Canucks Reassign Arturs Silovs To AHL

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Thatcher Demko is officially back for the Vancouver Canucks and with that came the expectation that the Canucks would reassign one of their other two netminders. That time has come as the organization announced they have reassigned goaltender Arturs Silovs to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.

Silovs became the obvious man-out in Vancouver on the heels of an abysmal start to the 2024-25 NHL season. There was some optimism that Silovs was a potential breakout candidate this year after backstopping the Canucks to Game Seven of their Round Two matchup against the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

He finished the 2024 postseason with a 5-5-0 record in 10 starts with a .898 save percentage and a 2.91 goals-against average. It was the longest chain of starts for Silovs in his young NHL career and he proved relatively reliable in Demko’s absence.

That optimism and confidence have evaporated with Silovs starting the 2024-25 NHL season with a 1-4-1 record in six starts, a .847 SV%, and a 4.11 GAA. It’s quickly become necessary for Silovs to continue his development in AHL Abbotsford.

It’ll be a familiar environment for the Riga, Latvia native. He’s been exceptionally consistent throughout his time in Abbotsford boasting a career record of 46-30-11, a .906 SV%, 2.62 GAA, and nine shutouts in 90 career AHL contests.

Silovs will look to regain his confidence in the AHL barring any more injuries at the NHL level. The Canucks, who are in third place in the Pacific Division, should be more than fine staying competitive with their current duo.

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