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Winnipeg Jets Recall Michael Hutchinson To Start

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The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Michael Hutchinson to start tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, sending down Eric Comrie. Additionally, Adam Lowry has been activated from injured reserve while Jacob Trouba takes his place among the wounded.

Head coach Paul Maurice and the front office decided to give Connor Hellebuyck the night off after he participated in the All-Star festivities this past weekend, meaning Hutchinson will get his first opportunity of the season. That is very important for the 27-year old goaltender, as he is a pending unrestricted free agent and will take any opportunity to show that he belongs in the NHL.

Hutchinson is one of the more interesting cases over the next few weeks, as he’s been one of the best goaltenders in the minor leagues all season and has a history of relative success in the NHL. In 99 career games, he carries a .910 save percentage, though that is skewed by his extreme success early on in his career.

Still, he could be an option for a team looking to strengthen their goaltending depth before the deadline. If the Jets believe that Comrie and Steve Mason—currently dealing with the effects of his second concussion of the season—are enough depth behind Hellebuyck, they could sell Hutchinson to the highest bidder. Otherwise, he will be an interesting free agent case in the summer.

Hellebuyck is clearly the starter now in Winnipeg, after taking a huge step forward this season and establishing himself as one of the better goaltenders in the NHL. Mason though was just signed to a two-year, $8.2MM contract and is too expensive to bury in the minor leagues. When healthy, he’ll have a role on this team meaning there isn’t much room for Hutchinson. Instead, he could try to catch on somewhere else around the league as a backup, or even try to compete for a starting job on a rebuilding club.

A chance to prove himself against one of the top teams in the league doesn’t come every day, and you can bet many eyes around the NHL are tuning in to see what happens. Whether he’ll play another game as a Winnipeg Jet isn’t guaranteed, though he certainly has a good opportunity right now.

Central Notes: Schwartz, Seguin, Winnipeg Injuries

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Blues winger Jaden Schwartz took another big step towards his return today as he participated in a full practice for the first time since suffering an ankle injury back in early December.  As a result, Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Schwartz could be activated off injured reserve in time for their game on Tuesday against Ottawa.  If that doesn’t happen, then Thursday versus Colorado looks like a realistic target.

Schwartz’s return will be a boon for a St. Louis attack that has certainly missed his presence.  Prior to the injury, he was off to the best start of his career with 35 points (14-21-35) in just 30 games; he still sits third in team scoring despite missing the last 19 games.  Assuming he works his way back to his top line form in the coming weeks, that could lessen the need for the Blues to add a top-six forward between now and the trade deadline.

More from the Central:

  • If the Stars have intentions of keeping center Tyler Seguin away from unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019, Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe suggests that it may take equalling or beating Jamie Benn’s current deal (eight years, $76MM) to keep him from testing the market. He adds that Dallas has every intention of getting him locked up before he’s eligible to hit free agency.  Seguin can sign an extension starting on July 1st.
  • Postmedia’s Ted Wyman provides an update on several injured Jets forwards. Center Mark Scheifele is still a couple of weeks away from returning from his shoulder injury so it doesn’t appear like he will be ready to play following the All-Star break.  Meanwhile, fellow pivot Adam Lowry (upper body) could return to action in one of their two games this week while winger Shawn Matthias (upper body), who was believed to be day-to-day, is now being listed as week-to-week.  Winnipeg doesn’t have any extra forwards on their roster at the moment so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a recall early in the week in case Lowry isn’t ready to play on Tuesday.

Snapshots: van Riemsdyk, Hutchinson, Dal Colle

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Expect James van Riemsdyk to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs all season. That’s what TSN’s Darren Dreger writes in his latest column, positing that he and fellow pending unrestricted free agents Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov, are best used as “own rentals” for the playoff push.

While there are some big numbers floating around for any potential van Riemsdyk extension, he’s continued to play an important role on the Maple Leafs, tying Auston Matthews for first on the team in goals with 19.

  • The Winnipeg Jets have recalled Michael Hutchinson from the AHL for tonight’s game, explaining that Steve Mason has fallen ill and can’t back up Connor Hellebuyck. To make room, the team has placed Adam Lowry on injured reserve. Hutchinson is an extremely interesting goaltender to keep an eye on this year, as he’s headed for unrestricted free agency in the summer. Though he’s stuck in the minor leagues this season due to Mason’s signing, the 27-year old has dominated the AHL with a .942 save percentage and could land an NHL job in the summer. In 99 career NHL games he does hold a .910 save percentage, and could be an excellent backup option.
  • New York Islanders head coach Doug Weight has confirmed that Michael Dal Colle will make his NHL debut tomorrow, the second-last player to do so from the first round of the 2014 draft. Only Connor Bleackley, who never signed with the Colorado Avalanche and re-entered the draft in 2016 (going in the fifth round), is left. Dal Colle was selected fifth overall, and still has some real upside to his game, but will have to quickly prove that he’s ready to take the next step.

Minor Transactions: 01/08/18

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Teams around the NHL are beginning their mandated bye weeks, marking an unofficial midpoint of the season. With that, there is only a single game on tap for tonight, between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets. That won’t stop clubs from making minor moves to improve, and we’ll have all the recalls and reassignments right here.

Injury Updates: Baertschi, Tanev, Bailey, Lowry, Howard

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The Canucks are set to get a boost up front tonight against Montreal as winger Sven Baertschi is expected to be activated off injured reserve, notes Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province.  He suffered a jaw injury back on December 9th and despite being out of the lineup since then, he still sits fourth on the team in goals.

It isn’t all good news for Vancouver, however.  After taking a puck to the mouth and losing multiple teeth on Saturday, defenseman Chris Tanev will not play tonight, reports Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy (Twitter link).  He adds that there is nothing broken but that he will still need surgery.  However, Tanev’s plan at this point is to play the next three games after tonight and then have the surgery when the Canucks have their bye week.

More injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Islanders coach Doug Weight provided a brief update to reporters, including Alex Squadron of the New York Post, on winger Josh Bailey, who did not play this afternoon against New Jersey. While he stated that it’s not a long-term issue, he added that “It wasn’t horrific news, but certainly not good news”.  Accordingly, it certainly sounds like there’s a chance that Bailey will miss time coming out of the bye week as well.
  • Jets center Adam Lowry is dealing with an upper-body issue, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun notes via Twitter. He was able to take the warmup before today’s game against San Jose so it doesn’t appear to be a serious issue but with Mark Scheifele already out, Winnipeg’s depth down the middle is getting tested.  Lowry missing the game opened up the opportunity for 2015 first-rounder Jack Roslovic to make his NHL debut.
  • Although they were forced to recall goalie Jared Coreau earlier today, the Red Wings don’t expect to be without netminder Jimmy Howard for long, GM Ken Holland told Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News. He’s dealing with a lower-body injury and while he will be re-evaluated on Thursday, the expectation is that he will be ready to make the start on Saturday against Pittsburgh.

Trade Rumors: Coyotes, Canadiens, Jets, Islanders

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In all likelihood, the recent three-way trade that sent Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators and Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators will be the biggest deal made this season. Yet, that hasn’t stopped the whispers of an bustling trade market, especially this early in the season. At the quarter pole of the 2017-18 campaign, it’s been an unpredictable season, prompting an unexpectedly active market. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch has had his ear to the ground and has plenty of input on who the buyers and sellers are right now:

  • To no one’s surprise, Garrioch states that the floundering Arizona Coyotes are “willing to talk about pretty much every player on their roster”. That of course doesn’t include Calder-hopeful Clayton Keller or many of their other 21-and-under starters, but the rest of the roster may as well be up for grabs. The big off-season acquisitions of Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Jason Demers have done nothing to change this team’s ability to win hockey games. At some point, GM John Chayka is going to go from “up-and-coming” to “up-and-went” and that pressure could force him to make some major moves as he rethinks his rebuild. While impending UFA’s like Raanta, Brad Richardson, and Luke Schenn would be the easiest pieces to move, the stakes are high for a Coyotes team whose core has done next to nothing for years and key pieces like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, and Tobias Rieder could soon be on their way out.
  • Perhaps the only team more disappointing than Arizona in 2017-18 is the farthest team from them across North America: the Montreal Canadiens. Under new head coach Claude Julien, the Habs have fallen apart. However, the newly-signed coach isn’t going anywhere, putting GM Marc Bergevin, who Garrioch calls ” the NHL’s most active GM”, on the hot seat. Bergevin may be willing to make a big move to save his job, and of course the first name that comes to mind is young forward Alex Galchenyuk, who has predictably struggled under the defense-first Julien. Galchenyuk seems lost in Montreal, without an identifiable position, role, or spot in the lineup, and could use a change of scenery. However, he is not wholly to blame for the Canadiens’ struggles. Tomas Plekanec has long been on the block and if the team truly commits to a rebuild, big names like Max Pacioretty, Shea Weber, and (if anyone is willing to take on his monstrous new contract) even Carey Price could soon join the list.
  • Garrioch mentions both the Winnipeg Jets and New York Islanders as possible sellers, but given the surprising success of both clubs thus far, neither is likely rushing to trade pieces away unless they can make their teams better this season. Impending Jets UFA’s Shawn Matthias and Matt Hendricks may draw interest, but if Winnipeg is in playoff position come deadline time, they would want veteran depth for themselves. It seems more likely that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could use his overflow of young forwards like Marko Dano, Joel Armia, Andrew Copp, Adam Lowry, or Brandon Tanev as trade bait to bring in another top-six forward for a team that doesn’t shoot the puck nearly enough. As for the Islanders, Garrioch singles out first-time UFA Calvin de Haan as the player to watch. Yet, de Haan is one of, if not the best shot-blocker in the NHL, can play major minutes, and is reliable in both ends. If the Isles can resign him, wouldn’t they? Obviously, John Tavares is the main focus and the team thinks highly of younger options like Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, but the loss of a player like de Haan, especially with Travis Hamonic now in Calgary, could cripple a playoff-bound Islanders squad. Odds are de Haan sticks around, at least as long as New York remains playoff-bound.
  • So who’s looking? Garrioch mentions the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins as suitors for forward help, with the Dallas Stars potentially looking to make another big blue line trade to turn their season around. With that many buyers and several disappointed sellers, the trade NHL trade market may not wait until 2018 to heat up.

Winnipeg Jets Find Themselves In Enviable Position

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When the Winnipeg Jets took the ice this morning to practice before their matchup with Arizona tomorrow night, Mathieu Perreault was with them. It wasn’t in the yellow non-contact jersey he’d been donning lately, but a white sweater indicating he was close to a return to game action. Perreault has played in just five games this season while dealing with injury, a trend that has dominated his playing career. The 29-year old forward has never played more than 71 games in a single season.

Perreault’s return and the subsequent assignment of Brendan Lemieux to the AHL had Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic thinking though, as he tweeted out his expectations for the next few months.

Jets lots of depth up front. Other teams looking for help at forward will come calling ahead of Feb. 26 trade deadline.

Indeed, the Jets have one of the more enviable forward groups in the NHL. Even without Perreault—a perennial 40+ point player even despite his injury history—the Jets are 10th in the league in goals per game and boast several budding superstars up front. Patrik Laine has given up his short residence as headline-maker to Mark Scheifele, who has seemingly taken a huge step forward every year of his NHL career. After breaking out last season with 82 points, the 24-year old Scheifele has 21 points in his first 16 games and is showing no signs of slowing down. Team captain Blake Wheeler is riding shotgun with 23 points already, and could challenge his career-high of 78 points set two seasons ago. Wheeler has turned into one of the most consistent offensive players in the league, with at least 26 goals 61 points in each of the last four seasons.

"<strongBehind the top group (which also includes Nikolaj Ehlers, a 21-year old speed demon with a 30-goal future) the Jets find themselves flush with talent. Perreault and Bryan Little provide some veteran options, both of whom have plenty of experience at center ice and big scoring upside. But it’s the next wave that will allow them to be dealers at the deadline should they so choose. The team can’t even find room for Lemieux or Jack Roslovic, who has 17 points in 15 games for Manitoba and is patiently waiting for his chance.

An interesting name to watch out for in Winnipeg (and one that was mentioned in the most recent live chat) will be Adam Lowry. The 24-year old center is a big piece (not just figuratively, as he stands 6’5″) for the team down the middle but is a restricted free agent this summer. The Jets aren’t yet a cap team, spending right up to the ceiling every year and have to measure their finances carefully going forward. This summer will bring restricted free agency for Lowry, Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey and Connor Hellebuyck among others, while 2019 will have new deals due for Laine and Connor. With the clear need around the league for centers, and Lowry’s size, youth and relative inexpensiveness he would be a huge trade piece if the team ever decided to dangle him near the deadline. With the depth they have at center, it wouldn’t be crushing to them and another team may believe Lowry can better his 29-point career high if thrust into a more prominent role.

Either way, the Jets are one of the most interesting teams to watch as they head into the winter months. Their solid record of 9-4-3 combined with being one of the youngest teams in the league makes them one to not only consider playoff candidates, but up-and-coming Stanley Cup contenders in the years to come. A few well-timed moves could accelerate that contention.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Brendan Lemieux Recalled, Adam Lowry Placed On IR

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The Winnipeg Jets have brought Brendan Lemieux up from the minor leagues to replace Adam Lowry, who has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to October 12th. Lowry is dealing with an upper body injury, and didn’t play on Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Lemieux—the son of famed NHL pest Claude Lemieux—was the Buffalo Sabres’ second-round pick in 2014, 31st overall. He was included in the Evander Kane/Tyler Myers swap in 2015 while still unsigned, but inked with the Jets and eventually began his professional career in 2016-17. Scoring just 19 points last year for the Manitoba Moose, he showed off his bloodlines with 130 penalty minutes. This year, his offensive upside has shown off in the first few games, scoring five points through his first four contests. This is a prospect who scored 41 goals in 57 games for the Barrie Colts as an 18-year old, and there is plenty of potential left in the tank.

Lowry had been held scoreless through the first four games, but is an interesting piece going forward for the Jets. After scoring 15 goals last season, the 6’5″ forward seemed poised to take another step forward offensively. After all, he’s only 24 and has shown an ability in the minor leagues. His role down the middle is secure for now, but the team will need to find other answers at the center position for the time being.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Winnipeg Jets

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Winnipeg Jets

Current Cap Hit: $67,661,666 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Patrik Laine (Two years remaining, $925K)
F Kyle Connor (Two years remaining, $925K)
F Nikolaj Ehlers (One year remaining, $894K)
D Josh Morrissey (One year remaining, $863K)

Potential Bonuses

Laine: $2.65MM
Ehlers: $850K
Connor: $850K
Morrissey: $500K

Total: $4.85MM

The future looks bright for the Jets, especially with Laine, who is constantly overshadowed by Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews. Laine, who was taken second-overall in last year’s draft, put up phenomenal numbers that make Jets fans believe again in their team. He put up 36 goals in his rookie campaign and added 28 assists for a 64-point season. He should only get better and become the cornerstone of the franchise in the future. He should be joined by Ehlers, who also had a breakout year last year. The 2014 first-round pick had 15 goals in his rookie year, but added to that this past year, putting up 25 goals and 39 assists for 64 points.

The team also has high hopes for Connor to make the team and find himself a full-time role this year. The team’s 2015 first-round pick, put up big numbers a couple years ago at the University of Michigan two years ago, then scored 25 goals with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and still managed to get 20 games in with the Jets, where he scored two goals and three assists. The team believes he has a good shot to end up on one of the back two lines. Morrissey, the team’s first-round pick back in 2013, found a full-time role with the Jets last year as he put up six goals and 14 assists. He is currently slated to start on the Jets’ third-line defense.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

D Toby Enstrom ($5.75MM, UFA)
F Bryan Little ($4.7MM, UFA)
D Jacob Trouba ($2.81MM, RFA)
G Connor Hellebuyck ($2.25MM, RFA)
F Shawn Matthias ($2.13MM, UFA)
G Michael Hutchinson ($1.15MM, UFA)
F Adam Lowry ($1.13MM, RFA)
F Joel Armia ($925K, RFA)
F Marko Dano ($850K, RFA)
F Brandon Tanev ($700K, RFA)
F Matt Hendricks ($700K, UFA)
F Michael Sgarbossa ($650K, RFA)

That’s a long list, but most of the players are restricted free agents and should easily be retained. However, the team will have to make some decisions on some key veterans, including Little, who many feel is an underrated forward. The 29-year-old has been with the franchise from the start of his career when they were the Atlanta Thrashers and has scored 184 goals for the franchise. With the team’s large number of young forwards, might they move on from Little in a year? Injuries have plagued little over the past two years as he’s missed 48 games. His 21 goals last year were solid, but he will need to prove his value this year if he wants another long-term deal. Another potential unrestricted free agent would be Enstrom, who will be 33 next year and the team will have to decide whether to keep the veteran blueliner. His offensive numbers dropped into the teens in the last couple of years. Mattias and Hendricks are expendable fill-ins, but valuable veterans to hold that roster together.

The team will be looking to several of their restricted free agent as key players in the future. The team will be looking at Trouba to have a big season this year. The 23-year-old defenseman had a career-high 33 points a year ago and he did that in only 60 games, so many feel he may take his game up a notch this year if he can avoid injuries. Despite Hellebuyck’s down year as they attempted to hand him the starting goaltender job, the team still looks at him as a potential starter that just wasn’t ready to take their reigns last year. His 2.89 GAA in 56 games didn’t get the job done. With Mason coming in, Hellebuyck will have more time to develop as a backup.

The team will be looking for Lowry to continue to develop as well. Lowry had 15 goals last year and the 24-year-old is expected to center the team’s third line. Armia also has bigger expectations this year after putting up 10 goals a year ago. He could also end up as a wing next to Lowry on that third line. Dano could also pick up a full-time role with the Jets this year. The former 2013 first-rounder played 38 games for Winnipeg last year, putting up four goals and seven assists.

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