- Although he joined the Penguins in free agency, defenseman Matt Hunwick had received an offer from his former team in Toronto, Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock told Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. While Babcock didn’t specify what had been offered, his comments suggested the three-year term that Pittsburgh gave him was more than what Toronto was offering. Hunwick has three goals and an assist with the Penguins this season while averaging slightly more ice time than he had in 2016-17 (18:27 versus 17:59).
Penguins Rumors
Trade Notes: Veleno, Hutchinson, Penguins
Few junior-level trades draw the attention of any NHL teams outside of those teams who have drafted players involved. However, when it comes to “exceptional player” and presumptive 2018 top ten pick Joe Veleno, a new team is a whole new opportunity to evaluate his talent. Veleno, a member of the 2017 QMJHL champion Saint John Sea Dogs, has been traded to the Drummondville Voltigeurs for three first-round picks and two second-round picks, per Sportsnet. The Sea Dogs lost top prospects Thomas Chabot (OTT), Jakub Zboril (BOS), and Julien Gauthier (CAR), as well as 2016-17 leading scorers Matthew Highmore (CHI), Mathieu Joseph (TB), and Spencer Smallman (CAR) to the pros this season, resulting in a massive drop-off in success. Veleno and Edmonton Oilers 2017 selection Ostap Safin have been point-per-game scorers this season, but it hasn’t been enough to keep Saint John out of the basement of the QMJHL’s Maritime Division. Veleno, the first and only player awarded early entry to the QMJHL under “exceptional player status”, will now head to Drummondville and hook up with an overachieving Voltigeurs squad that is tied for the most points in the league, despite having few high-end prospects outside of 2018 eligible defenseman Nicolas Beaudin. How Veleno adjusts to not only joining a new team, but stepping in and immediately becoming the most talented player on the roster could be extremely telling for scouts. Veleno is projected by most to be selected somewhere between #5 and #10 overall in June, so success in Drummondville could be enough to ensure that he is a top five pick, while struggle could knock him out of the top ten altogether.
- Back in the NHL, trade talk surrounding goalies is the hot topic right now. According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos (video), the Edmonton Oilers are focused in on Winnipeg Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson and are hoping to make a deal soon. With Cam Talbot injured, Edmonton has been on the hunt for help in net and Hutchison – who is buried in Winnipeg – appears to be their first choice. As Kypreos states, the only delay on the deal is the health of Jets backup Steve Mason. Mason is on his way back from a concussion and Winnipeg wants to take their time with his evaluation before trading away their goalie depth. Although it is Eric Comrie, not Hutchison, currently backing up Connor Hellebuyck, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff holds all the power in the negotiation and clearly wants to play it safe.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are also thought to be in the hunt for backup goaltending. Although starter Matt Murray appears to be back to full health and ready to return, there are doubts about the play of young Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith behind him. Jarry was pulled from last night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after allowing three goals on 16 shots and DeSmith allowed the game-winner on one of the only nine shots he faced. Jarry has been okay overall this season, especially as a 22-year-old rookie, but DeSmith has struggled mightily in his two brief appearances and cannot be relied upon at this point in time. With Murray also not playing his best hockey thus far – he has a save percentage just north of .900 and a goals against average just south of 3.00 – the Penguins may want a more seasoned, dependable #2 or #3 behind him, something they tried and failed to find with Antti Niemi.
Vegas’ Fleury Expected To Return Tuesday
The Vegas Golden Knights have won three straight and are getting great play from backup goaltender Malcolm Subban, but Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp tweets that the team’s starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will return to the ice on Tuesday when Vegas hosts the Carolina Hurricanes.
Fleury has been out since Oct. 13 with a concussion after taking a knee from Detroit’s Anthony Mantha, which started a flurry of goaltending injuries and forced the team to go five goalies deep for quite a while. Subban took over after Fleury’s injury, but went down not long after with a lower-body injury. That forced the team to call up both their AHL goalies in Oscar Dansk and Maxime Lagace. Both also fared well, but Dansk went down and the team was forced to call up 2017 seventh-round pick Dylan Ferguson from his junior team on an emergency basis. Since then Subban has returned and played well as the team waited for Fleury to return.
The 33-year-old veteran and face of the franchise was cleared to return to practice on Wednesday. Some thought Fleury intended to return on Dec. 14, when the Golden Knights will host the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, he will make his return two days earlier. He has only played four games for the expansion franchise, posting a 3-1 record and a 2.48 GAA.
Penguins Recall Kevin Czuczman, Return Frankie Corrado To AHL
- Pittsburgh has flipped depth defensemen, announcing that they have assigned Frank Corrado to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL while recalling blueliner Kevin Czuczman. Corrado had only been recalled on Thursday and didn’t see any action since then. As for Czuczman, he leads the Baby Penguins in points by a defender with 14 through 22 games. He last saw NHL action back in 2013-14 with the Islanders, who had signed and played him immediately after his collegiate season ended.
Penguins Notes: Centers, Cole, Kuhnhackl, Murray
Despite acquiring Riley Sheahan earlier in the season, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests in a reader chat that the Penguins are still likely to pursue another third line center. However, instead of looking towards the rental market, he notes that they would prefer a younger player that has years of team control left beyond this one. Mackey singles out Vegas as a team that GM Jim Rutherford could be intrigued by. They have several pivots (Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, and Oscar Lindberg) that are 26 and are signed for one more year beyond this one although Eakin’s $3.85MM cap hit is probably too much for them to take on.
More from Pittsburgh:
- In the same chat, Mackey reports that the Sabres were one of the teams to express interest last month in defenseman Ian Cole. Buffalo joins Vegas, Toronto, and Colorado as teams that have at least inquired about Cole’s availability. However, with blueliner Justin Schultz on the shelf for a little while, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Penguins aren’t as willing to deal him now as they were not too long ago.
- Winger Tom Kuhnhackl is dealing with an upper-body injury, the team announced via Twitter. He’ll be evaluated by team doctors before they give a timeline for how long he might be out. The injury was sustained on Thursday night in a collision with teammate Ryan Reaves in the third period and he did not return to the game afterwards.
- While he isn’t ready to return to the lineup just yet, goaltender Matt Murray has taken to the ice in full equipment and the next step for him is to return to practice with the team in the coming days, notes Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that they are pleased with Murray’s progress as he recovers from his lower-body injury sustained back on November 23rd.
Penguins Shifting Focus On Defense
Just last week, the Pittsburgh Penguins were in the enviable position of having enough depth on defense to be a seller, despite their position as a clear-cut buyer in terms of contending for a third straight Stanley Cup title. However, the Penguins know too well from their experiences over the past few years just how quickly that feeling of comfort on the blue line can change with injury. In placing Justin Schultz on injured reserve this morning, with the expectation being that he will be out “weeks” at the very least, Pittsburgh’s opinion on their blue line has changed in an instant.
Ian Cole was the man on the block last week, with many teams having immediate interest in obtaining the services on the solid stay-at-home defender. An impending free agent who has been devalued in Pittsburgh following the signing of a similar player in Matt Hunwick and the re-emergence of Olli Maatta this season, Cole had become expendable for the Penguins. However, as beat writer Jason Mackey indicates, any talk of moving Cole is completely off the table for now with Schultz out of the lineup.
In fact, the health of Schultz going forward could turn the Pens from sellers to buyers on the blue line. Frank Corrado, who was called up to take Schultz’s spot on the roster, has not worked out so far. If that continues, Pittsburgh will at least need to add another depth option. Chad Ruhwedel, while remarkably reliable for Pittsburgh over the past year plus, is best suited for that #7 depth option role. Hunwick and Cole, while both experienced, successful defenders, are very similar and similarly one-dimensional. Beyond a healthy grouping of (the also injury-prone) Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, and Maatta, there are serious questions without Schultz to round out the top four. If “weeks” turn to “months” for Schultz to return to action, GM Jim Rutherford could end up on the opposite side of the defensive trade market.
Minor Transactions: 12/07/17
While teams get ready for a busy Thursday night of action, slight adjustments will be made to rosters across the league. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Justin Schultz on injured reserve and recalled Frank Corrado from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Schultz is dealing with a lower-body injury, and is expected to miss “weeks”. Corrado has played three games for Pittsburgh this season, and could end up facing his old team as the Penguins take on the Maple Leafs this weekend.
- The Washington Capitals have sent Travis Boyd to the minor leagues, after the 24-year old forward made his NHL debut on Monday. Boyd has shown elite offensive ability at the AHL level, but was held scoreless in his two NHL contests. The undersized forward will likely get another chance at some point, but for now will return to Hershey where he has 20 points in 23 games. For the Capitals, Boyd’s assignment likely means that Andre Burakovsky is ready to return to the lineup.
- With Ben Bishop dealing with a sore back and not on the Dallas Stars current road trip, the team has recalled goaltender Mike McKenna from the AHL according to Mark Stepneski of NHL.com. McKenna isn’t expected to get much in the way of starts unless Bishop remains out through next weekend. The Stars don’t have a back-to-back situation until Friday and Saturday of next week.
- Ville Husso has been called up to the St. Louis Blues on emergency conditions, after Carter Hutton suffered a lower-body injury. Husso will be used as a backup tonight behind Jake Allen, but since he might not make it on time local goaltender Tyler Stewart will take warm-ups with the team. To make room for Husso on the roster, Samuel Blais has been sent back to the minor leagues.
Pittsburgh Penguins Place Greg McKegg On Waivers
The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed forward Greg McKegg on waivers today, after registering just four points in 26 games. The Penguins need a roster spot for an extra defenseman after Justin Schultz was injured yesterday. There’s no guarantee that McKegg is assigned to the minor leagues, but it is likely.
McKegg has been a full-time center for the Penguins until recently, but even when he was in the lineup hasn’t seen the ice very much. Averaging fewer than 10 minutes a night, he does contribute some on the penalty kill and has already nearly matched his career-high in goals this season. A former prospect of the Toronto Maple Leafs, McKegg has bounced around since being traded for Zach Hyman in 2015.
The Penguins are still out looking for help down the middle, which would eventually move McKegg out permanently. For now they’ll stick with Carter Rowney in the fourth-line role, but would likely rather Riley Sheahan to slide down after acquiring a different option for the third group.
McKegg is no stranger to waivers, having been placed their a handful of times throughout his career. The 25-year old could be claimed by another club looking for some depth at center ice, as he is on a minimum two-way deal and wouldn’t hurt a salary cap.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Metropolitan Notes: Sprong, Cizikas, Hakstol, Stephenson
Having already scored nine goals in his first 18 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, many wonder why Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Daniel Sprong still remains in the AHL when he could be helping out the Penguins at the NHL level.
Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette writes calling up Sprong is not in the plans for Pittsburgh’s general manager Jim Rutherford. The GM says that the team has historically not called up players before they thought they were ready, instead opting to allow them to develop. Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin, Conor Sheary and Tom Kuhnhackl are the recent examples of players who were not rushed to the NHL.
“The important thing is, when you put a young player into this league, is he is as prepared as he can be for all aspects of the game,” Rutherford said. “If he’s not, you risk setting the player way back. That group of five, those guys were ready before they got called up, but we made sure it was at a time where they had their confidence and they could deal with setbacks.”
The team believes that Sprong still has work to do on his play without the puck, according to Rutherford. The team wants to see Sprong improve his defense as well as work on his stick/wall play. Of course, with a four-game winning streak and improved play of late, there may not be much need for him anyway.
- The New York Islanders announced earlier today they have placed Casey Cizikas on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, retroactive to Nov. 25, which means he could be activated at any time. Cizikas was injured in a game against the Ottawa Senators. The fourth-line and penalty killing center has four goals and four assists in 23 games for the Islanders. So far, the team hasn’t made any corresponding moves.
- Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi tweeted that Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is accompanying the team on their Western Canada trip, which could play an instrumental role on the status of head coach Dave Hakstol. The Flyers have lost 10 straight games. Carchidi adds that if a coaching change is made, a likely choice to take over would be Lehigh Valley Phantoms coach Scott Gordon in the interim.
- Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washigton Post tweets that after suffering an injury in Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals wing Chandler Stephenson is day-to-day. However, the team recalled Travis Boyd this afternoon from the Hershey Bears of the AHL, which suggests that Stephenson might miss some time. Stephenson, a bottom-line center, has two goals and six points in 18 games this season. Boyd has never played in the NHL before. He has three goals and 17 assists in 23 games for the Bears.
Penguins Loan Josh Archibald On A Conditioning Stint
- Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey, the Penguins have reassigned Josh Archibald to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning assignment. The 25-year-old forward hasn’t been injured; he just hasn’t played this season. Through two months of the 2017-18 season already, Archibald has skated in only two games with Pittsburgh and had to this point avoided the AHL entirely. However, a total time of 21:38 of game action means Archibald needs to get his legs back under him in the minors if he is to be of any use in the NHL this year.