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Aaron Dell

Pacific Notes: Shore, Nolan, Dell, Marchant

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After leaving Thursday’s game against Toronto due to an upper body injury, Kings center Nick Shore is listed as day-to-day for the time being but was seen with his arm in a sling today, reports Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider.  He will be evaluated further on Saturday.  Shore is in his second full season at the NHL level and recently passed his career high in points last week; he has 12 on the year in 63 games.

Still with the Kings, left winger Jordan Nolan didn’t skate with the team at practice today and he is also listed as day-to-day.  The 27 year old has missed the last three games with a leg injury and the fact he didn’t skate today would put his status for tomorrow’s game against Vancouver in serious doubt.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • The Sharks are planning to play backup goaltender Aaron Dell more often down the stretch, notes CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz. Dell has made just 11 starts through 63 games this season and as a result, starter Martin Jones is on pace to play in nearly 70 games which many believe is too high of a workload.  To his credit, Dell has been more than solid in his limited body of work this year, posting a 1.88 GAA and a .935 SV% when he does get to play.  San Jose has five back-to-back games in March (the first set coming this weekend) so there’s a good chance Dell will get to play more regularly in the weeks ahead.
  • The Ducks recently added former NHL center Todd Marchant to serve as an assistant coach for the remainder of the season although he will remain their Director of Player Development. Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register outlines his role with the team, which will involve serving as an ‘eye in the sky’ during games while working with the team on faceoffs and the penalty kill.  That role should come as no surprise as Marchant was a strong penalty killer for much of his 17 year NHL career.

Pacific Division Snapshots: Jones, Hertl, McDavid, Draisaitl

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With San Jose goaltender Martin Jones scheduled to make his 42nd start of the season tomorrow, Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area wonders whether the 27-year-old’s workload has been too heavy. As it stands now, Jones is on pace to start nearly 70 games in 2016-17. The scribe spoke with former Sharks net minder Brian Boucher to seek his opinion on the matter. In Boucher’s estimation, if San Jose is to seriously contend for a Stanley Cup, they need to find a way to cut Jones’ workload, perhaps to something in the neighborhood of 65 games over a full schedule.

Boucher also questions whether the team fully trusts rookie goalie Aaron Dell, who has posted terrific numbers in limited action. Dell, 27, has won six of his eight starts and has posted a S% of 0.930 with a GAA of 1.97. The Sharks are currently in first place in the Pacific Division, 13 points ahead of fourth place Calgary, and assuming they can maintain that cushion it’s quite possible the Sharks will give Dell more time between the pipes in order to keep Jones as fresh as possible for a playoff run. If not, the team might peruse the trade market in search of a quality backup, much like the did a year ago by acquiring James Reimer ahead of the deadline.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • Sticking with San Jose, it appears the Sharks are going to be welcoming young forward Tomas Hertl back to the lineup, as Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports. Hertl, who has been skating with the team for the last week, missed the team’s last 31 games with a knee sprain. Pashelka is unsure where Hertl will slot into the lineup upon his return but he notes the 23-year-old Czech had been the team’s third-line pivot prior to the injury.
  • David Staples of Postmedia suggests it’s time for the Edmonton Oilers to split up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, noting that each has become a solid defensive pivot and slotting one on the other’s wing is a waste. The notion represents a possible solution to the club’s third-line center question as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, as solid two-way pivot, would slide down the lineup in this scenario. The flip side, of course, is such a move weakens the team on the wing thus lessening the possibility of the team listening on offers for Jordan Eberle and perhaps increasing the odds Edmonton might rather add a winger prior to the trade deadline.

 

Pacific Notes: Sharks, Puljujarvi, Getzlaf, Perry

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While it’s still a couple of months before the trade deadline, CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz suggests in a reader mailbag that San Jose’s roster isn’t likely to change much between now and the end of February.

Like quite a few teams this season, the Sharks find themselves quite tight to the salary cap.  Tomas Hertl is currently on LTIR which frees up a bit of extra space in the short-term but any payroll they add between now and his return would have to be freed back up before they could activate him off of injured reserve, which should be sometime late next month.

Further complicating things potentially is the strong play of recent call-ups Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc.  Both have played well enough to lock down a spot full-time which could force the Sharks to make some tough decisions once Hertl is ready to return, assuming no one else gets hurt between now and then.

One area that Kurz thinks they could try to make a move in is between the pipes to get another backup goalie to take Aaron Dell’s spot.  The rookie has started only four of 35 games this season which has forced Martin Jones to play more than the Sharks probably would like.  Of course, their limited cap space would limit their options but there typically are a couple of cheap, veteran backups that are made available close to the deadline.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • Despite making him a healthy scratch more than he has played this month, the Oilers plan to keep rookie Jesse Puljujarvi up with the big club instead of sending him to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, notes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. Head coach Todd McLellan anticipates that the rookie, who has played in in just five of the last 13 games, will see more ice time with the season-ending injury to Tyler Pitlick.  Puljujarvi’s rookie campaign hasn’t gone as anticipated as he has just one goal and seven assists in 25 games.
  • In an effort to jump-start their two top veterans, the Ducks have split up long-time linemates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, writes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. While the two have combined for 56 points this year, only 11 of those have been goals which isn’t enough from one of the highest priced forward duos in the league with a combined cap hit just shy of $17MM.

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