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Alex Ovechkin

NHL Announces Initial All-Star Rosters

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According to a league release, the NHL has named the first eight selections to the four divisional All-Star teams for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in Sunrise, Florida.

The league names one player to represent each team at the game, a rule in standing since the league switched to a divisional format for its mid-season talent showcase. A public fan vote will decide the three remaining players per division next week.

Each division’s leader in points percentage after gameplay concludes on January 11 will determine coaches for these teams. The Boston Bruins have already clinched the best such number in the Atlantic at that time, meaning Jim Montgomery will be behind the bench for the star-studded Atlantic Division, arguably the league’s best contingent of talent.

The initial rosters for each division are as follows:

Atlantic Division

Boston: G Linus Ullmark (1st appearance)
Buffalo: C Tage Thompson (1st appearance)
Detroit: C Dylan Larkin (3rd appearance)
Florida: RW Matthew Tkachuk (2nd appearance)
Montreal: C Nick Suzuki (2nd appearance)
Ottawa: LW Brady Tkachuk (3rd appearance)
Tampa Bay: RW Nikita Kucherov (4th appearance)
Toronto: RW Mitch Marner (2nd appearance)

Metropolitan Division

Carolina: LW Andrei Svechnikov (1st appearance)
Columbus: LW Johnny Gaudreau (7th appearance)
New Jersey: C Jack Hughes (2nd appearance)
NY Islanders: C Brock Nelson (1st appearance)
NY Rangers: G Igor Shesterkin (1st appearance)
Philadelphia: C Kevin Hayes (1st appearance)
Pittsburgh: C Sidney Crosby (5th appearance)
Washington: LW Alex Ovechkin (8th appearance)

Central Division

Arizona: LW Clayton Keller (3rd appearance)
Chicago: RD Seth Jones (4th appearance)
Colorado: RD Cale Makar (2nd appearance)
Dallas: LW Jason Robertson (1st appearance)
Minnesota: LW Kirill Kaprizov (2nd appearance)
Nashville: G Juuse Saros (2nd appearance)
St. Louis: RW Vladimir Tarasenko (injured) (4th appearance)
Winnipeg: LD Josh Morrissey (1st appearance)

Pacific Division

Anaheim: RW Troy Terry (2nd appearance)
Calgary: C Nazem Kadri (2nd appearance)
Edmonton: C Connor McDavid (6th appearance)
Los Angeles: LW Kevin Fiala (1st appearance)
San Jose: RD Erik Karlsson (7th appearance)
Seattle: C Matthew Beniers (1st appearance)
Vancouver: C Elias Pettersson (3rd appearance)
Vegas: G Logan Thompson (1st appearance)

The most important note on these rosters is obviously that of Tarasenko’s status. The 31-year-old is on injured reserve with a hand injury, and likely won’t be able to suit up. His replacement will be named shortly.

More to come…

Snapshots: Three Stars, Top Rookie, Penguins, Zohorna

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With the calendar turning to January, the NHL announced its Three Stars for December.  Taking home the top spot was Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin, whose 13 goals last month moved him up into second in all-time NHL goals as he now sits at 806, 88 behind Wayne Gretzky for the record.  Oilers center Connor McDavid was the second star after leading the league in goals (14) and points (31) while tying for the lead in assists (17) and is the first player this season to record 30 points in a month.  Sabres center Tage Thompson was the third star after picking up 22 points in 11 games while helping Buffalo pick up eight wins to get back within striking distance of a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The NHL also revealed the Rookie of the Month for December with Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov getting the nod. The 23-year-old posted a 1.63 GAA along with a .939 SV% and two shutouts in eight appearances last month, just weeks after inking a four-year, $8MM contract extension that kicks in next season.
  • Penguins defenseman Kris Letang accompanied the team to Boston in advance of tomorrow’s Winter Classic but didn’t practice and remains listed as day-to-day, notes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. At this point, it seems unlikely that he’ll be able to suit up in the outdoor game.  Meanwhile, blueliner Chad Ruhwedel was a participant in practice, albeit in more of a reserve capacity.  He has been out for the last two games and could be available to suit up against the Bruins.
  • Radim Zohorna has been shuffled back and forth off Calgary’s roster in recent days and that trend continued today as FlamesNation’s Ryan Pike relays (Twitter link) that the Flames have sent Zohorna back to AHL Calgary. The 26-year-old has played in five NHL games this season and will likely be recalled in advance of their next game on Tuesday.  For each day Zohorna is in the minors, the Flames are banking a little over $4K in cap space while extending his waiver exemption as he’ll remain exempt until he plays in ten NHL games or is on Calgary’s roster for 30 days.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Lafferty, Claesson

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With no games scheduled until Tuesday, the NHL has gone ahead and released its Three Stars for this past week.  Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin took home the top nod after recording six points in three games, including two goals against Winnipeg to put him in sole possession of second in NHL history with 802.  Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev was the Second Star after a trio of extra-time victories that saw him post a 0.94 GAA along with a .965 SV%.  Meanwhile, Canucks center Elias Pettersson earned the last spot of the group after tying for the most assists (five) and points (seven) on the week which is particularly impressive considering he missed Vancouver’s first game of the week due to illness.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • While Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are the headliners among Chicago’s speculative trade candidates, Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago posits that forward Sam Lafferty might be of interest on the trade market closer to the trade deadline. The 27-year-old has eight points and 37 hits in 26 games this season while winning a little over 52% of his faceoffs.  He can play all three forward positions as well and that type of versatility can be appealing to contending teams.  At a $1.15MM AAV through next season, he’s also someone most teams should be able to afford so Lafferty could very well be an under-the-radar candidate to move over the next couple of months from the Blackhawks.
  • Fredrik Claesson won’t be returning to North America next season as CSKA Moscow of the KHL announced that they’ve inked the defenseman to a two-year contract extension. Claesson has 170 career NHL contests under his belt and this will be the first time since 2014-15 that he hasn’t played at the top level.  However, after spending most of last year in the minors, he opted to try his hand overseas and it has worked out well for him with receiving this commitment.  The 30-year-old has a dozen points in 41 games so far this season.

Evening Notes: Kane, Motte, Chartier, Ovechkin

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Earlier today, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus wrote a piece comparing and contrasting the position the Chicago Blackhawks are in as compared to the Nashville Predators. Lazerus advocated that Chicago’s position, in the depths of a full-scale rebuild, was more enviable than the Predators, who have several large contracts on the books for years to come, preventing them from building on it, while the team’s core hasn’t had much playoff success. As compelling as Lazerus’ article was, another interesting element was who he chose to talk to on these thoughts: Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane.

Lazerus discusses the idea with Kane, stating the winger has “’future general manager’ written all over him.” Kane’s response to that sentiment was rather intriguing as well, telling Lazerus he might be interested in something in the front office down the road, but once retirement comes around, he’d like to focus on being a dad and give his partner, Amanda, a break. That, presumably, is still a ways away for the 34-year-old, who is still playing elite level hockey and is expected to be an expensive asset at this year’s trade deadline, and again on this summer’s free agent market. Should he stick with Chicago and work his way up in their front office, an on-ice legend becoming GM not only wouldn’t be unheard of, but in today’s NHL would put him along some of the best executives in the game, including Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman.

  • The Ottawa Senators enjoyed an exciting game this evening against the Washington Capitals, even if they did wind up losing in overtime, but it unfortunately came at an even greater cost. The team lost forward Tyler Motte in the first period to an upper-body injury, and just moments later, forward Rourke Chartier was forced to leave the game, also with an upper-body injury. Overall, Ottawa did well for itself this evening considering they were forced to play down two men for a majority of the game. Now their attention will towards both injured players moving forward. Motte, a strong two-way player, has nine points through 31 games this season while Chartier was playing in just his sixth NHL game of the season. The Senators will have some extra time to deal with their injuries, tomorrow’s game cancelled amid a poor weather forecast, next playing December 27th.
  • Alex Ovechkin has hit another impressive milestone. It wasn’t the one most fans were hoping for this evening, just one goal behind Gordie Howe for second all-time. However, with his sixth shot this evening, the legendary forward passed Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque for most shots-on-goal all-time. Bourque previously held the record with 6,209 shots on goal. Considering Ovechkin is still motoring on as good as he’s ever been, and each shot being a new record, time will merely tell if his final number is a record even remotely breakable.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Novak, Sharks

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Alex Ovechkin taking the top spot. The legendary Washington Capitals forward became just the third player in NHL history to score 800 goals, and the third to record 18 consecutive 20+ goal seasons. Gordie Howe, ahead of him on both of those lists, is the target now, as Ovechkin’s next goal will tie him with Mr. Hockey at 801.

Second and third place went to Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres and Mats Zuccarello of the Minnesota Wild, who both had eight points on the week. Thompson, 25, continues what has become one of the most impressive breakouts in recent memory, with 25 goals and 49 points this season. Through his first six seasons of professional hockey, Thompson scored 44 goals at all levels combined (including playoffs). Since the start of 2021-22, he now has 63. Zuccarello meanwhile just continues to impress in Minnesota. The undrafted, 5’8″, 35-year-old playmaker now has 36 points in 31 games and is well on his way to another outstanding campaign.

  • The Nashville Predators have recalled Tommy Novak from the AHL, and he’ll get quite the opportunity. Team reporter Emma Lingan tweets that Novak will center Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund while also getting a chance on the powerplay. The 25-year-old has 26 points in 25 games for the Milwaukee Admirals this season after getting his first chance in the NHL during 2021-22.
  • The San Jose Sharks, off today after a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames last night, have sent Nick Cicek and C.J. Suess to the minor leagues. With Tomas Hertl likely facing a suspension, it wouldn’t be surprising to see additional moves tomorrow ahead of the rematch in this odd two-game, no-travel series with the Flames.

Snapshots: Flames, Board Of Governors, Capitals

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The Calgary Flames are without two key players tonight as they take on the Montreal Canadiens. Before puck drop, the team announced center Elias Lindholm and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar are out with an upper-body injury and a non-COVID illness, respectively.

Mikael Backlund slides up to the top line in Lindholm’s absence, while Connor Mackey makes his sixth appearance of the season in place of Weegar. Lindholm isn’t quite producing at last year’s clip, but he still leads the team in scoring with 23 points in 28 games. Weegar’s yet to score his first goal as a member of the Flames, but has six assists in 28 games and is averaging over 20 minutes per game. Still, Calgary would like some more offense out of Weegar, who had a career-high 44 points last season as a member of the Florida Panthers.

  • Today wasn’t the most eventful opening day of the NHL’s Board of Governors’ meeting in Florida, but NHL.com’s Dan Rosen expects that to change tomorrow. Rosen notes that tomorrow’s docket includes salary cap projections for the 2023-24 season, updates regarding the ongoing sale process for the Ottawa Senators, and a potential fan code of conduct. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will likely issue an update after tomorrow’s meetings conclude.
  • Speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said the team won’t enter a rebuild while Alex Ovechkin is still chasing the NHL’s all-time goals record. Ovechkin has noted a desire to remain competitive while chasing the record, vying for team and individual success. Leonsis also noted that Wayne Gretzky himself will be in attendance for all Capitals games as Ovechkin inches toward his record of 894 career goals.

Snapshots: Ovechkin, Schmiemann, Puljujarvi

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In the past, there has been an expectation that Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin would finish up his career with Dynamo Moscow in Russia.  On Friday, the veteran did indeed sign a contract with them, just not the Dynamo Moscow you might be thinking of.  Instead, Dynamo’s soccer team announced the signing of the 36-year-old to a one-game contract, naming him the captain for the match as well.  That game was played on Saturday with Ovechkin actually scoring the game-winner against Amkal in a 5-0 victory.  Fittingly, given how many of his goals have been scored in the NHL, it came on a one-timer from the left side, the clip of which can be seen here.

More from around the hockey world:

  • The Canucks have added some defensive depth at the AHL level as their farm team in Abbotsford announced the signing of Quinn Schmiemann to a two-year deal. The 20-year-old was actually a sixth-round pick of Tampa Bay back in 2019 but wound up not signing and remained in the WHL this season where he picked up 14 goals and 40 assists in 58 games during the regular season while finishing third in scoring for the Blazers in the playoffs with 18 points in 17 contests.
  • Sportsnet’s Mark Spector posits that an arbitrator could award pending RFA winger Jesse Puljujarvi a contract in the $3.5MM to $4MM range this summer. That would certainly be a big blow to the Oilers who simply couldn’t afford to carry that type of contract on their books.  The 24-year-old has been more impactful since coming back to North America at the start of last season but despite some impressive underlying numbers, he still managed just 14 goals and 22 assists in 2021-22.  If that is indeed in the range of where Puljujarvi’s camp sees him landing in an arbitration hearing, it wouldn’t be surprising to see GM Ken Holland shopping him over the coming weeks.

East Notes: Ekblad, Ovechkin, Maple Leafs

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Most people have forgotten that despite the Florida Panthers’ torrid pace over the past few months, defenseman Aaron Ekblad has been rehabbing a lower-body injury for about the past six weeks. Team head coach Andrew Brunette said today that Ekblad was a full participant in today’s practice and that the team remains hopeful he returns at some point during the First Round series against the Washington Capitals. There’s even a possibility Ekblad is ready to go for Game 1 on Tuesday night if all goes smoothly for him.

It’s likely just adding insult to injury at this point for Washington, who’ll now have to face the Presidents’ Trophy winner and the hottest team in the East with another added All-Star component in the lineup. Ekblad was playing nearly 25 minutes per game prior to his injury, notching 57 points in 61 games, which still has him at ninth in the NHL among defensemen despite the injury. He’ll slide right back into a nightmare top pairing for opponents with MacKenzie Weegar, who’s flourished in the no. 1 defenseman role since Ekblad’s injury.

  • Alex Ovechkin was a full participant at Capitals practice today, and AP’s Stephen Whyno reports it’s looking like he’ll dress for Game 1 against the Panthers. This is obviously an indescribable boost to Washington’s chances in this series, as they’ll need everyone firing on all cylinders in order to pull off one of the largest possible upsets in these playoffs. His 50 goals leads the time by a wide margin, and it looks like he’ll get a chance to add to his 71 career playoff goals and 135 career playoff points.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs got some mixed injury news at practice today. Ondrej Kase, who hasn’t played in six weeks, was a full participant in practice today and it appears he’ll be in the lineup for Game 1 tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, while Michael Bunting practiced for the first time since sustaining an injury against Tampa last week, he wasn’t a full participant and left practice halfway through. He’s extremely doubtful for Game 1.

East Notes: Price, Ovechkin, Maple Leafs Forwards

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While the return of Carey Price to the Montreal Canadiens lineup helped clear the murkiness surrounding his immediate health situation, it did not make his future in Montreal any more certain. Price, who is set to turn 35 before next season, has been one of the best goalies of his generation but questions have surfaced regarding his future with the only NHL team he has ever known. It has been speculated that Price’s healthy return could pave the way for goaltending-needy teams to consider acquiring him in the offseason, but it now seems that idea may not be very realistic.

In an interview with TSN on their broadcast of the team’s contest against the Panthers, Canadiens Executive VP of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton was asked about Price’s future with his team. Gorton was relatively non-committal, speaking in broad terms about meeting with Price and trying to “see what he wants to do” after the season ended. But after he gave that expectedly vague statement, Gorton did shed some light on how he views Price’s role in the Canadiens’ future. Gorton said: “If [Price] can be healthy, we’d be crazy not to want him.” While that comment is just an answer on a television interview and not any sort of binding statement regarding Price’s future, it does indicate that despite the Canadiens taking a more rebuild-oriented approach to their new regime’s early days, they still have Price in their plans moving forward.

Now, for a few other notes regarding Eastern Conference teams:

  • Coach Peter Laviolette issued an update (relayed by Dan Rosen of NHL.com) on the status of Alex Ovechkin today. The Capitals’ captain has been out with an upper-body injury and did not play in the team’s season finale against the Rangers. But although he didn’t play in today’s game, it does seem that he is on track for a relatively soon return. Ovechkin skated this morning and had a “good day,” according to Laviolette, so it’s likely that he’ll be ready in time for the Capitals’ playoff series.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe updated the media on the injury situations of forwards Ondrej Kase and Michael Bunting before tonight’s game against the Bruins. Bunting participated in this morning’s optional skate and Keefe referred to both him and Kase as “close” to a return. Since the Maple Leafs’ season will be judged largely by whether or not they are able to get past their first-round opponent, getting both Kase and Bunting back in time for game one would be a major coup for the team. Bunting has been one of the league’s biggest breakout stories this season, with 23 goals and 63 points in 79 games, and Kase has also been a nice find too, with 14 goals and 27 points in 50 games.

Injury Notes: Ovechkin, Rossi, Maple Leafs

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The Washington Capitals will not have Alex Ovechkin in the lineup again this evening, as he continues to deal with an upper-body injury. The superstar winger did participate in today’s skate, however, and head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters including Samantha Pell of the Washington Post that it is too early to tell whether Ovechkin will play in the season finale tomorrow.

Just the fact that he’s back on the ice is obviously a good sign, as it at least appears as though Ovechkin will be ready to start the playoffs. Who he and the rest of the Capitals will face in the first round is still a mystery, as they continue to battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final Metropolitan Division playoff spot, but having the 50-goal scorer in the lineup is obviously the biggest priority at this point.

  • Marco Rossi is headed back to Minnesota to be evaluated for an injury according to Michael Russo of The Athletic, who notes that several players from the Iowa Wild will be recalled as “Black Aces” in the near future. Iowa failed to make the playoffs this season meaning Rossi and others–which, according to Russo will include Zane McIntyre and Calen Addison–can come up to practice with the team and be ready for any injuries that may present themselves in the first round.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs will rest some of their important players in the regular season finale tomorrow night, as Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are both not expected to be in the lineup, according to Mark Masters of TSN. The team will also rest goaltender Jack Campbell and a decision on John Tavares–who missed practice today due to “maintenance”–will be made tomorrow. That means Matthews will finish the year at 60 goals and Marner will miss a chance at hitting 100 points as the Maple Leafs focus on the daunting task of a first-round victory, something that will likely have to come at the hands of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that the first game of that series will be Monday, meaning they won’t have to sit with their thoughts very long.

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