Injury Notes: Zucker, Allison, Raffl, DeMelo
According to CapFriendly, the Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Jason Zucker back on long-term injured reserve after returning from injury for just one game. He played last Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights, so the team placed him retroactive to January 17th. He’ll now have to miss another 10 games and 24 days, of which he’s already missed two and five, respectively. Zucker had been on LTIR for almost a month already after suffering a lower-body injury. He is once again week-to-week. Zucker is again struggling during his second full season in Pittsburgh, posting just 13 points in 31 games.
More injury news from around the league on this Sunday:
- Philadelphia Flyers forward Wade Allison suffered an MCL sprain during yesterday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, per head coach Mike Yeo. Allison, one of Philadelphia’s better forward prospects, had already suffered an ACL tear that kept him out at the beginning of the 2020-21 season. Yeo notes, that he believes this MCL injury is on a different knee. It was Allison’s first game of the season for the Flyers after posting four points in seven games with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He’s listed as week-to-week.
- Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness says forward Michael Raffl is out between 10 days and two weeks with a lower-body injury. Raffl’s seen a lot of ice time this year, his first in Dallas, in a checking role alongside Radek Faksa and Luke Glendening, posting nine points in 37 games. Dallas will need to call up a forward to replace him, likely Rhett Gardner or Riley Tufte.
- Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo sustained an upper-body injury during yesterday’s loss against Boston, per team play-by-play man Dennis Beyak. DeMelo has just four points through 36 games but has still been above the norm defensively. There’s no current timeline for his return.
Joel Farabee Out Four Weeks With Upper-Body Injury
The Philadelphia Flyers’ nightmare season continues, this time with an injury to Joel Farabee. The young forward had been placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss up to four weeks with an upper-body injury. Kevin Hayes has also been placed on injured reserve following his adductor procedure earlier this week. As replacements, the Flyers have recalled Wade Allison and Jackson Cates to the taxi squad.
Interim head coach Mike Yeo told reporters including Giana Han of the Philadelphia Inquirer that something happened to Farabee last night, but didn’t get into the specifics of whether or not it is related to his previous injury. At any rate, he’ll be out for the next few weeks as the Flyers continue to spiral down the standings. The team has now lost ten straight and barely sit ahead of the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders, who have each played fewer games.
Farabee, 21, is one of the few bright spots in Philadelphia, even though his overall production still hasn’t been outstanding this season. The 2018 first-round pick has 11 goals and 18 points in 33 games, enough to put him fourth on the team in scoring so far. While there are many players on the roster who might not be with the team after this dreadful season, it seems unlikely that Farabee would lose his spot as a building block. The young forward signed a six-year, $30MM extension in September that will keep him under contract at a reasonable $5MM cap hit through the 2027-28 season.
In terms of replacements, Cates has played just seven games at the NHL level this season and 11 since signing out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth as an undrafted free agent last spring. Allison, a second-round pick from 2016, scored seven points in 14 games last season for the Flyers but has missed a huge chunk of this year with an ankle sprain. In seven games with Lehigh Valley, Allison had four points.
Kevin Hayes Undergoes Procedure, Out 3-4 Weeks
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that center Kevin Hayes underwent a procedure this morning to drain fluid from his adductor region. He will miss the next three to four weeks, another pump in what has been a nightmare season for the veteran forward.
Hayes has played in just 20 games this season, including last night’s loss to the New York Islanders. He has just three goals and nine points while dealing with several stints on injured reserve and a bout with COVID-19. All of that followed the tragedy of his brother’s death in the offseason, when Jimmy Hayes suddenly passed away.
Speaking about his teammate, Scott Laughton told reporters including Jordan Hall of NBCS Philly that he “commends him for playing through what he has” and called him an incredible teammate. With a three to four-week absence now in front of him, Hayes will miss at least the next seven games and likely many more, as the scheduled Olympic break is filled with previously postponed matches.
It’s been a disaster for Philadelphia this season and the lack of a full-strength Hayes has been a big part of that. In his first two seasons with the Flyers, he registered 35 goals and 72 points in 124 games, playing on both the powerplay and penalty kill. The team is now 13-18-7 on the year and owns the third-worst goal differential (-34) in the Eastern Conference. Now on an eight-game losing streak, they’ll have to find a way to get back in the win column without Hayes in the lineup.
Poll: Is The Eastern Conference Playoff Picture Already Complete?
It doesn’t make for much of an exciting stretch run, but it just might be the truth and The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington isn’t afraid to make the claim: less than halfway through the 2021-22 NHL season, the eight Eastern Conference playoff spots appear to be locked up. While the eight in place can certainly jockey for position, Harrington believes that those teams currently in the postseason in the East will stay in postseason position and those not, including his Buffalo Sabres, have nothing left to play for this season. Do you agree?
The conference standings do paint a pretty bleak picture for the playoff race, as the gap between the eighth and final playoff spot and the next closest competitor is sizeable. In terms of both absolute points and points percentage, the Boston Bruins sit in eighth in the East with 46 points and a .657 points percentage, holding the second wild card spot if the postseason started today. In ninth place in both categories are the Detroit Red Wings, but calling it a distant ninth is generous. Detroit has 39 points on the year, just seven back of Boston, but having played four more games than the Bruins the Red Wings are actually just a .500 team, 157 percentage points back. Every other team outside the playoff picture is under .500 and they are all chasing a Bruins team that is 8-2 in their past ten games, riding a five-game winning streak. Just ahead of Boston are the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are also 8-2 in their last ten. The only other teams in the conference that are not 200+ percentage points ahead of Detroit are the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers.
[See: Eastern Conference Standings]
Statistically, there don’t appear to be any clear underachievers outside of the playoff picture primed for a late push either. All eight teams not in a playoff spot in the East have a negative goal differential, with the top mark being the Columbus Blue Jackets at -15. In contrast, the worst differential among the playoff teams is the Rangers’ +17 and they are the only club below +20. Hardly any of the non-playoff teams hold a spot in the top half of the league in any major statistical category either. The New York Islanders are ninth in goals against per game and eleventh in penalty kill efficiency, the Blue Jackets are tied for twelfth in goals for per game, the New Jersey Devils are thirteenth on the penalty kill, and the Ottawa Senators are tied for fourteenth in power play efficiency – end of list.
Yet, can the playoff picture really be sealed up this early? The law of averages suggests that a current playoff team is likely to slump while a current non-playoff team is likely to hit their stride in the second half. In fact, this may have already begun. While the Bruins and Penguins have been surging, the Capitals are just 4-3-3 in their last ten games and struggling to find consistent goaltending and defensive play. The Capitals’ record is also buoyed by a league-leading nine overtime points and their abysmal 30th-ranked power play is a major stain on their playoff resume. If there is a pretender in the East, it could be Washington. The Rangers may also be due for some regression in the second half. New York has exceeded expectations thus far and have somehow found ways to win despite trouble scoring. Their 2.85 goals per game is tied for 18th in the league, behind the likes of Columbus and New Jersey and just .01 ahead of Ottawa. On the flip side of the playoff picture, the Islanders are one of the biggest disappointments of the season. A conference finalist last year, the Isles looked to be building a true contender. While they are still playing a good defensive game, the team has had no luck offensively this season. Yet, with a league-low 30 games played, the Islanders could have time to find their game and fight their way back into postseason consideration. At least on paper, the Philadelphia Flyers should also be better than their current record, while the rebuilding Red Wings and Blue Jackets should be happy with their performance so far this season but would be even happier to get their young rosters into a postseason battle.
It is hard to remember a conference having no battle for playoff position in recent memory, especially so early in the season. While it looks like that could be the case this year in the East, is that actual a realistic expectation? Is the current gap in the standings just too wide to overcome? Or is there enough potential for one or two teams in the playoff picture to collapse while one or two on the outside find a way back? Vote now and comment on which teams, if any, could drop out of the playoff picture and who might replace them.
Is The Eastern Conference Playoff Picture Already Complete?
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Yes 74% (647)
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No 26% (233)
Total votes: 880
AHL Notes: Malone, Trade, Signings
Veteran minor leaguer Sean Malone is set to miss an extended period of time following recent surgery, reports Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. Malone is a familiar name to Buffalo Sabres fans; the Harvard product has spent four of five pro seasons with the AHL’s Rochester Americans and three of those under contract with the Sabres. After leaving last season to sign with the Nashville Predators, Malone returned to Buffalo this off-season and has been enjoying the best season of his career with nine goals and 22 points in 23 games with Rochester. However, Hoppe writes that an undisclosed lower-body injury that has plagued the 26-year-old throughout much of his career finally caught up with him, forcing him to opt for surgery. The decision will keep Malone out at least six weeks, according to Americans head coach Seth Appert. Though Malone has only two NHL games to his credit, one with Buffalo and one with Nashville, the veteran is a trusted member of the Sabres’ organizational depth chart and one whose absence in the minors will be noticed. Appert states that Malone is a leader and “go-to guy” who has been instrumental in the development of top Sabres prospects like Jack Quinn and J.J. Peterka. Though Malone is expected to be out until at least March, hopefully the veteran can return to action at full strength and hit the ground running at his current career scoring pace, perhaps even earning another chance in Buffalo.
- The Arizona Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes completed an AHL trade on Friday, with forward Stephen Harper moving from the Chicago Wolves to the Tucson Roadrunners in exchange for future considerations. Harper was the hero of the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Playoffs last season, earning postseason MVP honors for leading the Fort Wayne Komets to a title behind 13 points in 12 playoff games – all as a rookie no less. He has continued to excel at the “AA” level this year too, with 18 points in 15 games. However, the power forward hasn’t earned much more opportunity this year as a result of those efforts. Harper has played in just six AHL games this season in a limited role, which is likely what prompted a trade. The 26-year-old USports product is not exactly an NHL prospect, but has earned a chance to show what he can do at the next level and the Roadrunners appear willing to give him that opportunity.
- Is a Daniel Briere pipeline forming between the ECHL’s Maine Mariners and the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms? The Mariners may be affiliated with the Boston Bruins, but they share an owner with the Philadelphia Flyers in Comcast Spectacor and GM and President Briere is a former long-time Flyer himself. For the third time already this season, a Mariner has signed an AHL contract with the Flyers’ affiliate in Lehigh Valley. The Phantoms announced that they have signed forward Alex Kile to a contract for the remainder of the season. Kile was the first ever signing by the Mariners when they joined the ECHL back in 2018 and the University of Michigan product has 162 points in 201 ECHL games ever since, with some AHL loans mixed in as well. With five goals and 12 points in seven games with Maine so far this year, the Phantoms decided that the 27-year-old Kile was worthy of a more permanent AHL stay.
- The Washington Capitals have seen enough from USports forward Derek Gentile this season to put an end to his collegiate season with a pro contract. The Dalhousie University standout signed a contract with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, though he will begin his pro career in the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingrays. Gentile, the captain of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in 2019-20, missed his first collegiate season in 2020-21 but you wouldn’t know it by his play this season. Gentile recorded 15 goals and 27 points in 18 games for Dalhousie prior to his departure. And he stayed hot in his pro debut on Friday, posting two goals and an assist in his pro debut. Gentile could be in Hersey very shortly if that keeps up.
Philadelphia Flyers Activate Three From COVID Protocol
The Philadelphia Flyers got a huge boost ahead of tomorrow’s game against Boston, as Philly Hockey Now’s Sam Carchidi reports that defensemen Ivan Provorov, Justin Braun, and forward Travis Konecny came off the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol today.
While Philadelphia is happy to get three important players back into the lineup, it’s especially crucial for Thursday’s game. It’s the second night of a back-to-back series for the Bruins, but goalie Tuukka Rask is expected to make his season debut and take advantage of the home-ice momentum.
Provorov leads all Flyers in ice time per game (24:25) and leads Flyers defensemen in points (13), returning to stabilize a blue-line that’s suffered all season. Braun’s return also shouldn’t be overlooked – he’s likely the best defensive defenseman the Flyers have. He’ll likely return on a pairing with young Cam York.
Konecny is one of the forwards that the Flyers would like to see some more production out of. After being one of the team’s best point producers over the past few years, he has just five goals and 14 assists in 33 games. He’s hoping for a hot streak after his return.
Flyers Notes: Cancelation, Giroux, Brown, Hextall
The late-night cancelation of today’s Philadelphia Flyers-Carolina Hurricanes game is raising eyebrows all across the league, especially after the Flyers took the ice today for practice. The team seemingly has enough players to continue their season, even if several key ones would be missing tonight’s game. In an email to Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now, deputy commissioner Bill Daly wrote that the decision to postpone was “based on totality of circumstances” and that the league stands by it.
A bit later, the Flyers announced that Rasmus Ristolainen has been added to the COVID protocol. Perhaps his test is what predicated the postponement, as the league has always tried to contain spreading outbreaks.
More from Flyers practice:
- Claude Giroux has exited the COVID protocol and rejoined practice today, skating for the first time since isolating a week ago. The Flyers captain is still leading the club in scoring with 29 points in 32 games despite the recent time off and is putting up a strong case for a new contract in the offseason. While his days in Philadelphia seem numbered if only because of the lack of team success the group has had, Giroux is proving to be a top offensive player in the league. An unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, he’ll turn 34 tomorrow.
- The Flyers will be without Patrick Brown for the next month after he suffered an MCL sprain in Saturday’s game. The 29-year-old center has four points in 20 games this season but was a necessary option with so many others out with injury. Brown, who was claimed on waivers at the beginning of the season, is in the first season of a two-year deal that pays him the league minimum of $750K.
- On the latest edition of the Cam and Strick Podcast, Flyers’ legend Bobby Clarke discusses Ron Hextall‘s time as the Philadelphia general manager and specifically confirms that the team’s scouts wanted to select Cale Makar over Nolan Patrick with the second overall pick in 2017. Makar ended up going fourth to the Colorado Avalanche after the Dallas Stars took Miro Heiskanen third overall.
Cates And Seeler Removed From COVID Protocol, Bunnaman And Zamula To Taxi Squad
- The Flyers announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated winger Jackson Cates from COVID protocol and recalled him from the taxi squad while defenseman Nick Seeler was also removed from COVID protocol. In corresponding moves, winger Connor Bunnaman and defenseman Yegor Zamula were sent back to the taxi squad.
Flyers Have Shown Interest In Lawson Crouse
While Coyotes winger Phil Kessel and defenseman Jakob Chychrun have been the players receiving most of the trade speculation lately, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli puts another name in the mix, reporting that several teams – including the Flyers – have shown interest in winger Lawson Crouse.
Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim Added To COVID Protocol
The Philadelphia Flyers’ nightmare season never ends. Today, the team has placed Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim in the COVID protocol, making them unavailable to the team for tomorrow’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team has also loaned Felix Sandstrom and Kirill Ustimenko back to the AHL, clearing room for additional taxi squad recalls if necessary.
Konecny and Sanheim join Ivan Provorov, Nick Seeler, Claude Giroux, and Jackson Cates in the protocol, while several other key players remain out with injuries. Importantly, both new COVID additions played yesterday, logging 19 and 24 minutes respectively against the Anaheim Ducks. That wasn’t enough to help the Flyers win, however, as they continue to struggle through this disappointing season.
Now 13-14-6 on the year, Philadelphia will have to try to navigate the next little while without nearly their entire core. If Konecny and Sanheim tested positive, they will miss at least two games. Already the club had turned to young players like Cam York and Morgan Frost to carry some of the load, but now even more depth will be needed from the minor leagues.