Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Oskar Sundqvist From AHL
After Tom Sestito was handed a four-game suspension for his actions in Wednesday night’s Penguins-Jets game, Pittsburgh has decided to call up Oskar Sundqvist from the AHL to replace him. He’ll likely get into the lineup when they take on the Edmonton Oilers tonight.
Sundqvist was a third-round pick of the Penguins in 2012, and made his NHL debut for the club last season. In his 18 game stint, he scored just four points. A different story at the AHL level though, Sundqvist uses his size and strength to create scoring chances and has recorded 39 points in 53 games this season. He ranks third on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in goals, behind Jake Guentzel—who scored 21 in 33 games before getting the call to play with Sidney Crosby—and Tom Kostopoulos.
It’s the first call up of the season for the 22-year old forward, but he’ll get a good chance to stick for a while. Patrick Hornqvist remains out with a concussion for the time being, and Sundqvist could fit his role admirably. Carl Hagelin and Scott Wilson are also banged up, meaning this call up is probably a signal that the young forward is about to get another shot at the NHL. Remember he even suited up for two playoff games last spring, though was held scoreless in both.
Tom Sestito Suspended Four Games
Last night, Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Tom Sestito was given a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct after a hard hit from behind on Winnipeg Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom. The league announced this morning that Sestito would have a phone hearing today on supplemental punishment for the incident. Well, that hearing has come and gone and NHL Player Safety has decided to hand down a four-game suspension for the veteran winger.
As Player Safety acknowledges, Enstrom did see Sestito coming and turned away from the check. However, they continue that Enstrom slowed and made his move earlier enough that Sestito had “sufficient time to minimize the force of the hit”. Instead, Sestito continued at full-force and caused injury to Enstrom because of it. The suspension will hopefully work toward teaching Sestito that hitting someone right on the numbers from behind is the exact kind of dangerous play that the NHL is looking to eliminate.
Sestito has only played in nine games this season -while racking up 44 penalty minutes in that time – with the Penguins and his presence will hardly be missed. However, the hope is that the missed games and subsequent loss of pay will impart some knowledge and sense of responsibility on Sestito in the future, if and when he gets back on the ice. Sestito is one of the few pure enforcers remaining in the NHL as the league moves away from violence for violence’s sake.
Injury Notes: Stamkos, Borowiecki, Kinkaid
Steven Stamkos was again skating with teammates this morning, as he inches his way back to the lineup. While there is a good chance the Tampa Bay Lightning captain will return to the ice this season he might not be as effective right away. That’s what Zach Parise told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times a few weeks ago, speaking from experience. Parise had the same surgery on his knee in November of 2010, and though he returned later that year as well, didn’t feel right until the following Christmas.
I’d say it took probably a year and a half to get back to feeling back to normal. That’s what my therapist said, six months to heal, a year you feel better. But to get back to that level for me, I feel like it was almost the following Christmas.
So Stamkos, who may get a chance to help his team in a playoff race—the Lightning are just four points out with 17 games left to play—likely won’t be the elite offensive presence he’s proven to be over the past eight years. Fear not Lightning fans, though Parise says he didn’t feel right until Christmas, he still scored 30 goals and 69 points the year following surgery. It wasn’t all bad.
- The Ottawa Senators will be without Mark Borowiecki tonight against the Arizona Coyotes after tweaking an injury last night in Dallas. Borowiecki is leading the league in penalty minutes this year and gives the Senators a destructive physical presence on the blue line. His 288 hits easily pace the NHL, 38 more than Matt Martin despite playing in eight fewer games.
- Keith Kinkaid has injured his right knee and will be out tonight for the New Jersey Devils, meaning newcomer Ken Appleby will be the backup for Cory Schneider. Andrew Gross of The Record reports that though the Devils don’t think Kinkaid’s injury is serious, if he’s held out of the lineup for a few more games they’ll get Appleby some playing time. The 21-year old has played well at the AHL and ECHL level this season.
- The Nashville Predators will be without P.A. Parenteau and Vernon Fiddler tonight, meaning Kevin Fiala and Colton Sissons will figure back into the lineup. Parenteau practiced this morning but will be held out for precautionary reasons, while Fiddler was absent from practice.
- Tyler Bozak was absent from this morning’s Toronto Maple Leafs practice, but Mike Babcock says he’s a game-time decision. If he’s out, Eric Fehr will get into his first game since being traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the deadline. The former Penguin has had a rough season including being waived just before the deadline.
Snapshots: Cunningham, Halverson, Sestito
Earlier this season Tucson Roadrunners captain Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice and was rushed to hospital. The 26-year old forward’s heart had stopped for an unknown reason, and needed ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) treatment to save his life. The procedure affected the circulation in his leg, and he had to make a decision. Tucson’s general manager Doug Soetaert put it this way to AZCentral’s Jeremy Cluff:
It’s life or limb, and obviously you pick life over limb, right? That was the way he’s moving forward. He’s been battling through the whole thing. We continue to battle with him. He’s going to make it.
Cunningham had part of his left leg amputated, but is now walking again with the help of a prosthetic. Ray Ferraro sent out a video of Cunningham walking down a hallway, dubbing it “the most awesome thing [he’s] seen in while.” It truly is awesome to see Cunningham up and walking again, and most importantly smiling as he approaches the camera. Everyone is wishing him luck as he gets his life back on track.
- The New York Rangers will be without Rick Nash and Henrik Lundqvist tonight when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Both are day-to-day with minor injuries. The team has recalled Brandon Halverson from the ECHL on an emergency basis to replace Lundqvist, meaning Antti Raanta will be in net. Halverson was the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2014 and made his professional debut this season for the Hartford Wolfpack before heading to the ECHL. The 20-year old will get a taste of an NHL arena at least as he backs up Raanta tonight.
- Tom Sestito will have a phone hearing with the NHL today after his hit on Toby Enstrom last night. The check from behind sent Enstrom to the hospital with possible facial fractures, and led to more aggressive play between the two teams last night. Amazingly, Sestito was only on the ice for 62 seconds last night, and was involved in a fight and this illegal check before being thrown out of the game. The 29-year old enforcer had been called up earlier that day to lend some physicality to the Penguins line up not, as Jets’ head coach Paul Maurice put it, “to dangle”.
Morning Notes: Expansion, Enstrom, Butcher
As the expansion draft gets closer and fans start to guess what the new Vegas Golden Knights will look like, anticipation for the upcoming season has started to grow in Las Vegas. In a conversation with Josh Cooper of Puck Daddy, the league disclosed that the announcement of the roster will be televised along with the NHL Awards show, which is always held in the city.
Because the team doesn’t go team-by-team for the draft, it wouldn’t be possible to televise the actual process. But be sure that the league will make a spectacle out of the announcement—it is Las Vegas after all. Teams have to submit their list of protected players on June 17th, with the Golden Knights selecting the players by June 20th and revealing them the next day.
- Toby Enstrom is in the hospital following a brutal hit from behind by the Pittsburgh Penguins tough-guy Tom Sestito. The enforcer was called up for the game against Winnipeg because of the expected payback against Evgeni Malkin for a hit on Blake Wheeler—except Malkin took his punishment early in the first period when he dropped the gloves with Wheeler himself. Sestito would go on to fight Chris Thorburn before taking a run at Enstrom. The Winnipeg defender is being treated for possible facial fractures, according to Sportsnet.
- As teams begin to lock up their prospects to entry-level contracts, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reminds Avalanche fans of a deadline approaching for one of their own. Will Butcher, a former fifth-round pick of Colorado who went on to excel at the University of Denver, will become a free agent on August 15th much like Jimmy Vesey did last summer. Though the Avalanche will try everything they can to sign him, with a deadline so close many prospects are tempted to just wait and see where the could go on the open market. Butcher would likely have several teams after him should he become a free agent, after another outstanding campaign as the captain of his university team.
Morning Notes: Concussion Protocol, Tynan, AHL
The GM Meetings will wrap up today without much to say. The tagline of the three days in Boca Raton might as well have been “status quo”, as nothing seems to be changing. That includes the concussion protocol for goaltenders, as Ken Campbell of The Hockey News writes.
Goalies across the league have complained about the process, saying that taking a netminder off the ice and out of his rhythm is hurting the game. It’s worth it though, if it prevents even a single concussion from happening. For now, the GMs and league will leave the protocol the same and treat goaltenders like any other player who suffers a head shot on the ice.
- The Blue Jackets have sent T.J. Tynan back down after making his NHL debut last night. In a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils, Tynan played just over seven minutes and had a single shot on goal. The 25-year old playmaker will return to the Cleveland Monsters for the time being and wait for his next opportunity.
- Today is the AHL trade deadline where, like its NHL counterpart, teams can move players to contenders and preserve their playoff eligibility. Patrick Williams of NHL.com put together a nice summary of all the moves made in the AHL up to this point, including names like Tom Gilbert and Teemu Pulkkinen. There will likely be several moves made as teams load up for a Calder Cup run, though very few (if any) will include real prospects.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled both Tom Sestito and Cameron Gaunce today, as they face off against the big Winnipeg Jets tonight. In a corresponding move, they sent Derrick Pouliot back to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Sestito especially gives the Penguins another big body to avoid being pushed around by the Jets, though he doesn’t offer much in the way off offense.
Kris Letang Not Close To Returning, Will Not Travel With Team
When Kris Letang was originally injured prior to the Pittsburgh Penguins Stadium Series game against the Philadelphia Flyers on February 25th, he was listed as day-to-day and expected to rejoin the club within a matter of games. Now, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, head coach Mike Sullivan has told the media that he won’t be travelling with the team and that he’d update them when “he’s getting close.”
The Penguins are off on a five game road trip that will take them through western Canada before facing the Flyers again in Philadelphia on March 15th. If Letang isn’t travelling with the team, he likely at least is out for those first four games. Sullivan wouldn’t tell Mackey or anyone else what exactly the injury is, and it has been shrouded in secrecy since it happened. With it being revealed that T.J. Oshie‘s latest “upper-body” injury was actually a concussion, it does cause a little more trepidation when speculating about what may be ailing Letang.
In his last game before being taken out of the lineup Letang played almost 29 minutes, a huge amount for anyone suffering from an injury. In fact, the star defenseman hadn’t played less than 23 since the January game against Detroit in which he suffered a leg injury. That time he was placed on injured reserve and held out two weeks.
Wednesday night against the Jets will mark the sixth straight game he’s missed with the mysterious upper-body injury, and the team could use him back. Though they added depth in both Ron Hainsey and Mark Streit near the deadline, the team is still in the thick of a race for seeding in the Metropolitan Division.
While they are still 3-2 without Letang in the lineup, they’ve obviously missed his presence on the back end. It will be interesting to see where the team lies in the standings when he finally returns. It’s safe to say that the Penguins did well adding depth to their blueline though, as they’re without Letang, Trevor Daley and Olli Maatta for the forseeable future.
Snapshots: Schultz, Ryan, Folin
When the Pittsburgh Penguins traded a third-round pick to the Edmonton Oilers last year for Justin Schultz, they thought they were adding a depth defenseman with a bit of upside. What they got instead, is the fifth-highest point producer in the league among defenders. Behind only Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Duncan Keith and Victor Hedman, Schultz is providing #1-type production for less than half of what the Blues are paying Carl Gunnarsson and his four points.
That ridiculously low deal is what brought Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to wonder what hell earn this summer when he becomes a restricted free agent for the final time. Mackey thinks that Kevin Shattenkirk‘s four-year, $17MM extension in 2013 is the low-water mark for what one might expect this summer, which would already represent an almost $3MM raise per season. The Penguins don’t look to have an issue with the raise though, as they’re likely taking $5.75MM off the books when Marc-Andre Fleury eventually leaves town.
- The San Jose Sharks have sent Joakim Ryan back to the AHL, with David Schlemko expected to play in tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. Ryan was brought up just yesterday when it looked like Dylan DeMelo may not be ready to re-join the team. Instead, DeMelo did play his first game in almost two months and with it the need for Ryan was removed. He’ll head back down to the AHL where he has dominated this season, registering 33 points in 46 games.
- Christian Folin will miss at least three weeks with an upper-body injury, the Minnesota Wild announced today. The 26-year old defenseman suffered the injury last night against the Sharks, and will be out for almost the rest of the season. While the team recently had Jonas Brodin re-join the lineup, this is another hit to a defense group that isn’t as deep as they would like heading into the playoffs.
- The New York Rangers will be scratching Adam Clendening tonight and inserting Steven Kampfer in his place. In the latest article from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Clendening doesn’t agree with the demotion but will take it as motivation going forward. Tanner Glass is also expected to get into the lineup for the Rangers, who take on the surging Tampa Bay Lightning tonight in Florida.
Snapshots: Guentzel, Bindulis, Rangers
The Pittsburgh Penguins, like any other champion of the salary-cap era, have found worthwhile contributions from previously unheralded sources. Last year saw the playoff breakout of Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary, while this year Justin Schultz has turned into the defenseman that everyone had hoped for in Edmonton. As Dave Holcomb of FanRag Sports details, it may be Jake Guentzel that is the next breakout star for a team that has so many.
Guentzel has seen his ice time skyrocket since his latest call up, playing as much as 19:52 in a regulation loss on the 28th. He’s become a relied-upon member of the Penguins top-9 and will be needed past this year’s playoffs. With Sheary and Schultz up for new contracts as restricted free agents this summer and Nick Bonino hitting the open market, the team will have to make some tough decisions on the future construction of their lineup around the $25MM trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. Having a cost-controlled option like Guentzel that can slot in with any of the three is a huge plus for the Penguins and their long-term future.
- Mark Divver of the Providence Journal reports that Kristofers Bindulis is the latest college free agent to watch. Several teams are after the Lake Superior State defenseman after his solid debut in the WCHA. The Lakers are having a rough season, but Bindulis has turned heads with 12 points in 28 games. Rail-thin in his draft year, Bindulis is now listed at 6’3″, 180-lbs and likely still able to fill out into his large frame. Watch for Vegas to start their roster off with some college free agents, and perhaps Bindulis is on their minds.
- The New York Rangers better hope they don’t finish fourth in the Metropolitan Division. After getting pummeled by the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 last night and causing Alain Vigneault to become more angry than he has all season (according to Brett Cyrgalis of the NY Post), the team is now just 5-4-1 in their last 10 and 0-3 against the Habs this season. With the first wildcard sport set to face the Atlantic Division winner, the Rangers would be up against the Canadiens right away and would need to turn that record around fast.
Metro Division Notes: Shattenkirk, Rangers, Schultz
Since deciding they would need to deal veteran defenseman Kevin Shattnkirk rather than risk losing him for nothing as a free agent, the St. Louis Blues worked hard to find a team with whom the blue liner would agree to a long term extension and thus be able to extract top value from their asset via trade. Deals evidently fell through with Edmonton and Tampa Bay, however, due to Shattenkirk’s preference to test unrestricted free agency. Ultimately the Blues caved and marketed Shattenkirk as a rental, agreeing to send him to Washington for a fair return, though likely not as high a price as they originally hoped to secure.
But according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post, the idea of Shattenkirk representing only a rental may be a bit premature. The scribe notes that both sides would be open to the blue liner remaining with the Capitals beyond the 2016-17 postseason. However, as Khurshudyan also points out, the team has several other potential free agents that would likely take priority over re-signing Shattenkirk, who may be more of a luxury to the Caps than a vital cog. With $51MM already committed to the 2017-18 salary cap, it’s far more likely the team will focus their limited resources on bringing back potential UFA’s T.J. Oshie and Karl Alzner, while also working out an long-term extension with talented center Evgeny Kuznetsov. Those deals would easily eat up most of the Capitals available space, leaving it nearly impossible for them to also fit Shattenkirk in under the cap barring a surprising trade to clear salary elsewhere.
More from the Metro:
- The New York Rangers, another team believed to have been interested in the aforementioned Shattenkirk, instead opted to shop in the second tier market, coming away with the solid, if unspectacular Brendan Smith at the deadline. It’s unclear whether the Blueshirts have enough talent to seriously contend for a Stanley Cup in a conference that includes the Capitals, Penguins and Blue Jackets, any one of whom has a decent shot to come out of the East. But one prominent former player thinks the team’s speed, skill and depth is enough to launch the Rangers into Stanley Cup contention. Justin Terranova of the New York Post spoke with former Blueshirts team captain Dave Maloney, and the MSG analyst contends the team is a far cry better than the one that flamed out in round one of last season’s playoffs and is good enough to win it all in 2017. He cites the changes made in how the team plays in their own end as a major difference between this year’s Rangers and last season’s edition. Maloney also adds that bringing in Smith addressed a team need and that while the blue liner hasn’t lived up to his billing as a former first-round pick, his size, mobility and familiarity with Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan, former teammates of his at the University of Wisconsin, make him a strong fit on the team’s back end. It remains to be seen whether the Rangers defense corps is good enough to slow down teams like Washington and Pittsburgh come playoff time, even after the addition of Smith.
- While deadline day disappointed many given the lack of high profile deals, anyone who needs a refresher that often times less significant swaps turn out to ultimately have more impact than the blockbusters need look no further than Pittsburgh’s Justin Schultz. The defenseman entered the league with high expectations after a stellar college career, but Schultz struggled in three-plus seasons with Edmonton before a deadline deal to Pittsburgh just one year ago helped resurrect his career. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that the 26-year-old blue liner last night broke the 40-point plateau for the first time and may now be well on his way to scoring a lucrative multiyear extension as a restricted free agent this summer. Twelve months ago, in search of some skill and depth on the blue line, the Penguins shipped a third-round pick to Edmonton for Schultz and the former Wisconsin Badger ended up playing a significant role in the team’s run to the Stanley Cup championship. Now with 10 goals and 41 points on the season, he is among the league’s top offensive threats from the back end and may be in line for a huge raise over the $1.4MM salary he currently makes. Not bad for a relatively inconsequential trade deadline acquisition one year ago.