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Andreas Athanasiou

Atlantic Notes: Weber, Athanasiou, Pysyk, Kovar

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The Montreal Canadiens have had a nice start to the season with an 8-5-3 record to start the season. However, more good news could be on the way as there was a Shea Weber sighting today as the veteran defenseman took the ice this morning along with David Schlemko, Brendan Gallagher, Noah Juulsen and Carey Price, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie.

The team captain was originally scheduled to return sometime in December, so it still may be a while before he fully returns, but this is a step in the right direction for the veteran. Weber could add another key element to a young team that seems to have found some offense from a number of young names and gotten some solid goaltending from Price. Adding Weber to their blueline could only make the team stronger as they start hitting the middle of their season schedule.

  • The Detroit Red Wings like what they see from winger Andreas Athanasiou so far this year. What the 24-year-old has always lacked was competive consistency, which they are finally starting to see everyday, according to MLive’s Ansar Khan. Athanasiou has always had the speed that many people felt he could put up big numbers if he figured things out. However, the best the Red Wings have gotten out of him has been 18 goals, two years ago. Through 13 games so far this season, he already has six goals and nine points and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. “I know those chances are going to come, so it’s just playing hard when I get out there and capitalizing on those chances,” Athanasiou said.
  • George Richards of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Florida Panthers defenseman Mark Pysyk remains a healthy scratch for the seventh straight time despite being medically cleared to play again on Thursday, but can’t seem to work his way back into Florida’s lineup. He was knocked out of the lineup after taking a hit from Washington’s Alex Ovechkin on Oct. 19. The hope is he will be in the lineup on Sunday.
  • Jan Kovar was brought overseas with the intention of plugging him in the New York Islanders’ lineup. Two months later has the 28-year-old Kovar playing on a PTO with the Providence Bruins of the AHL, but faring quite well with five goals and nine points in eight games. Could a promotion be in order? “Smart player,” said Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney (via Providence Journal’s Mark Divver). “I really like the skills, top of the circles down in the offensive zone. What probably surprises me a little bit, coming from (the KHL), is how gritty he is, as far as playing in high traffic, possession.”
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that defenseman Anton Stralman and forward Adam Erne were out tonight and are listed as day-to-day, both with upper-body injuries. With the return of defenseman Victor Hedman, it looked as if the team’s defense was almost healthy. Instead, the team will be without Stralman for the time being, who was the one to fill many of Hedman’s minutes. Slater Koekkoek remains in the lineup.

 

East Notes: Tkachuk, Smith, Nielsen, Athanasiou, Penguins

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Senators winger Brady Tkachuk skated for the first time today since tearing a ligament in his leg, notes Postmedia’s Ken Warren.  The fourth pick back in June was off to a very strong start to his season with three goals and three assists in just four games before suffering the injury.  Although this is certainly a step in the right direction, he’s likely to miss at least another two to three weeks based on the original recovery timeframe.

Meanwhile, Warren adds (via Twitter) that center Zack Smith underwent surgery on Sunday to repair a trio of facial fractures and has been prohibited from any physical activity for at least a week.  He has been placed on injured reserve.  The Senators are now down to just 12 healthy forwards so there’s a possibility that they’ll make a roster move in advance of Tuesday’s game against Arizona.

More from the East:

  • The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they will be without center Frans Nielsen for at least the next two games due to an undisclosed injury. The veteran got off to a quiet start to his season but has been more productive as of late with four assists in the last four games.  Detroit may also be without center Andreas Athanasiou tomorrow night as he is listed as doubtful with an undisclosed injury.  The 24-year-old is tied for the team lead in goals with four through the first eleven games.
  • Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left practice early today due to a lower-body issue that occurred on Saturday, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. As a result, his availability for Tuesday’s game against the Islanders is in question.  Meanwhile, winger Jake Guentzel should be able to play despite leaving Saturday’s game early following a high-stick to the face from teammate Dominik Simon.

Snapshots: Zetterberg, Brodeur, Nash

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Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill provided an update on the condition of Henrik Zetterberg to reporters, including MLive’s Ansar Khan and the prognosis isn’t a good one.  He noted that as things stand, he doesn’t expect the veteran to be ready to play in training camp and that if that is indeed the case, it’s doubtful that he will play at all in 2018-19.  Zetterberg dealt with lingering back issues last season and the pain doesn’t appear to be going away.  Detroit will be eligible to place his $6.083MM contract on LTIR if he is deemed unable to play during his physical at training camp next month.

Blashill also stated that Andreas Athanasiou is the most likely candidate to shift to center if Zetterberg is indeed out for the season.  While Darren Helm is also a natural center, he has spent the bulk of the last few years on the wing but the coach believes the continuity of keeping him there is preferable for the Red Wings.

More from around the league:

  • The contract for Martin Brodeur as the assistant GM in St. Louis expired back in June and although he was expected to return, that is no longer the case, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription required). He spent the past three years in that capacity while also spending a year split between playing and being a special advisor with the Blues.  Rutherford notes that his next destination is not yet known but it’s believed that he would like to return to the Devils at some point where he spent the majority of his Hall of Fame career.
  • With training camps set to start within the next couple of weeks, Rick Nash remains the most prominent unrestricted free agent left on the market. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy told Mark Divver of the Providence Journal (Twitter link) that he has yet to hear anything regarding the winger’s intentions for 2018-19.  Boston acquired him just before the trade deadline to fill a role in their top-six and have yet to really fill that vacancy over the summer.  If Nash does decide at some point to play, a return to Boston on a one-year pact would certainly be an option; he had stated back in May that he’d be open to returning there.

Atlantic Notes: Point, Athanasiou, Halak, Alzner

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With his entry-level contract set to expire at the end of this season, Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point may only get better as he looks towards a bigger contract next season. In only his second season, the 22-year-old quickly and quietly moved into the No. 2 center position last season and went from 18 goals and 40 points in his rookie campaign to 32 goals and 66 points in his sophomore campaign last year.

Now armed with the incentive to take another big step in his development as he will get a chance to earn himself a hefty raise next season, don’t be surprised if Point takes that next step to become a point-per-game scorer in the league, according to NBC Sports Scott Billeck. Point likely wouldn’t be in this position had it not been for the unfortunate injury of Steven Stamkos in 2016-17 as Point received the roster spot in wake of Stamkos’ injury. He has made the most of it. One other reason, his growth is likely to continue is because of his impressive playoff performance last year where he posted seven goals and 16 points in 17 games.

  • MLive’s Ansar Khan writes that Detroit Red Wings winger Andreas Athanasiou could find himself a trade candidate in the coming months if he can’t prove to be a more consistent player. The 24-year-old is coming off a disappointing season in which he went from an 18-goal scorer in 2016-17 to a 16-goal scorer last season, even though he played seven more games. However, Khan writes that missing training camp and the first 10 games of the season due to a contract impasse last year might have a lot to do with his struggles. If the team was going to trade him, Khan believes the team wouldn’t be interested in draft picks as they were when they moved out Tomas Tatar to Vegas at the trade deadline. Instead, the Red Wings may be on the lookout for a defenseman, who can help their struggling defense.
  • Don’t be shocked if Boston Bruins’ new backup Jaroslav Halak turns in a solid season this year behind starter Tuukka Rask and maybe fights him eventually for the starting job. NBC Sports Joe Haggerty writes the 33-year-old may have struggled immensely the past two years with the New York Islanders, but he should be in a much better situation, defensively, in Boston. While never having been a backup before, Halak is expected to eat into some of Rask’s playing time this year. He is likely to be asked to play between 30-35 games this year, which should give him a easier workload as opposed to the 54 games he played in New York. Behind the Islanders shaky defense, Halak finished with a 3.19 GAA and a .908 save percentage. The starting job in the future may depend on how each goalie fares this year.
  • NHL.com’s Matt Cudzinowski interviewed Montreal Canadiens defenseman Karl Alzner who signed with the team last offseason, but struggled in Montreal in his first season there. The 29-year-old said he was disappointed in his play in the first year and attributed much of it to needing time to get comfortable and adjust to the way the Canadiens play. “There were definitely some growing pains,” Alzner said. “It wasn’t a very fun year of hockey. People maybe had some expectations for me that were a little bit unrealistic. I know what I can bring to this team when I’m playing well. I just need to stay under the radar and do the right things, do the little things right. That’s success for me.”

Atlantic Notes: Bjugstad, Athanasiou, Karlsson, Callahan

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Panthers forward Nick Bjugstad has long been in trade speculation but nothing has come to fruition.  Even though his name has popped up in the rumor mill once again as of late, his agent Ben Hankinson told Michael Russo of The Athletic during an interview on KFAN (audio link) that it’s unlikely that his client winds up being dealt:

“I’m pretty close with their GM, Dale Tallon, who’s a big Nick Bjugstad fan. Even the last couple of years hasn’t been, numbers-wise, as productive for him so there was a lot of talk. A couple of years ago too. And it’s the same teams: Montreal, Pittsburgh was looking, the Wild have always been in the mix. So every time I go to Dale, he says, ‘Not a chance, Hank. There’s not a chance we’re trading him. I love him.’”

The 25-year-old adapted well to being shifted to the wing with Florida and posted a career year offensively with 49 points (19-30-49) in 82 games.  However, given Bjugstad’s size and ability to play down the middle, the Panthers are assuredly going to continue to field interest in him but it doesn’t appear that they’re willing to deal him just yet.

More from the Atlantic:

  • Although the Red Wings were able to get a deal done fairly quickly with Andreas Athanasiou, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press believes there is still a chance the team could trade the winger. The 23-year-old has shown flashes of becoming a dominant player but at the same time, has struggled considerably with his focus in his own end which has drawn the ire of the coaching staff.  At $3MM for two years, St. James suggests that teams may view his new deal as an asset which could help facilitate a move if Detroit is inclined to part ways with Athanasiou.
  • With talks that discussions between the Senators and Lightning regarding defenseman Erik Karlsson have cooled off, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that Dallas has now re-emerged as the likeliest destination for the blueliner. The Stars had shown interest early on but weren’t inclined to include top prospect Miro Heiskanen in a trade which is what had seemingly put them out of the running early on.
  • From the same report, Brooks adds that the Rangers still have some interest in bringing back winger Ryan Callahan if Tampa Bay decides that they still need to free up some cap space for this season and next. New York will likely be seeking some form of draft pick compensation from the Lightning to relieve them of their $5.8MM per season obligation over the next two years.

Andreas Athanasiou Agrees To Two-Year Deal

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The deadline for player-elected salary arbitration comes and goes today, and Andreas Athanasiou won’t be filing this season. That’s because he’s agreed to a two-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings according to Craig Custance of The Athletic. John Matisz of theScore reports that the deal will come in around $3MM per season for the speedy winger, who dealt with a lengthy holdout last summer and ended up signing on October 23rd, well into the season.

Athanasiou, 23, set a career high in points last season with 33 in 71 games, but still wasn’t the dominant offensive presence that some have predicted. His speed is of the game-changing variety, but he hasn’t been able to round out the rest of his game to become a top-line player on a consistent basis. There’s nothing wrong with falling in somewhere further down the depth chart, but this two-year deal will give him another chance at showing that he can be an elite scoring threat in the NHL. Athanasiou will still be a restricted free agent when the contract expires, but would be much closer to unrestricted free agency and a potentially expensive long-term contract.

Given the long and sometimes public negotiation that went on last offseason though, this deal comes as somewhat of a surprise. There were plenty of rumors a year ago that Athanasiou could be traded, and his representation even confirmed that he was talking to KHL teams about a potential contract to go overseas. While the two would eventually come to an agreement on a one-year contract worth just under $1.388MM—or at least the prorated version of it—it wasn’t clear what Athanasiou’s long-term future was in Detroit. It’s still not a guarantee that he lasts on the Red Wings through the next part of his career, but getting him under contract before the arbitration deadline is a good sign.

The cap hit of $3MM though may pose a problem for the Red Wings. Detroit now has just over $6MM in cap space remaining, and still have to work out contracts with Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha. Long-term deals for either of them will eat up a good chunk of that number after Larkin led the team in points with 63 and Mantha led in goals with 24. The team does have nearly $4MM in cap space tied up in Johan Franzen who can be moved to long-term injured reserve, but that still doesn’t give them a lot of wiggle room for in-season moves or any more free agent acquisitions. The Red Wings are trying to rebuild, and cap space can often be used as a weapon in trade negotiations in order to collect extra assets. While there is quite a bit of relief coming next summer, the Red Wings look like they’ll push up against the ceiling for another year without a very exciting roster to show for it.

Free Agent Focus: Detroit Red Wings

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Free agency is now a little more than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  Here is a breakdown of Detroit’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Dylan Larkin — After a great start in his rookie year, there were a lot of questions after he struggled in his sophomore campaign when he put up just 32 points. However, the 21-year-old center brushed away any doubts this year, putting up 16 goals and a team-leading 63 points. With a team full of veterans, the Red Wings must begin to depend more and more on Larkin, who is developing into the franchise player they need to center one of their top lines. Add in a recent appearance at the IIHF World Championships where he helped Team USA win a bronze medal and he’s the key to Detroit’s rebuild.

Now coming off his entry-level deal, Larkin is in line for a significant raise from the $1.43MM deal he’s been on for the past three years. Not arbitration eligible, however, the negotiations might get ugly like the one that Andreas Athanasiou dealt with last year, especially with multiple quality players who will be restricted free agents this summer.

Other RFA’s: F Athanasiou, F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Martin Frk, F Matej Machovsky, F Anthony Mantha, F Zach Nastasiuk, F Matt Puempel, D Daniel Renouf.

Key Unrestricted Free Agent: D Mike Green — On a positive note, the team doesn’t have any pressing unrestricted free agents. While Green is quite an offensive defenseman, he’s also 32 years old and not necessarily in the team’s long-term plans. The team’s original plan was to trade the veteran blueliner to a playoff contender at the trade deadline and had hoped that he would provide the team with a big haul of picks and/or prospects. Instead, Green got hurt and missed the two weeks prior to the trade deadline and weren’t able to move Green.

While there has been some talk of bringing him back on a short-term deal, he might be able to get a bigger deal elsewhere, but considering defense is one of the team’s biggest weaknesses and not a lot of defensive prospects there to take his place, a reunion is certainly possible.

Other UFA’s: F David Booth, G Jared Coreau, F Turner Elson, F Matt Lorito, G Tom McCollum, F Ben Street, F Eric Tangradi.

Projected Cap Space: With all the bloated veteran contracts the Red Wings have on the books, cap space is something the team has had little of over the past few years. The team did get the contracts of Green, Tomas Tatar, and Petr Mrazek off the books to free up a little room, but they will likely need all of that to re-sign Larkin, Athanasiou, Mantha and Bertuzzi. While general manager Ken Holland says he doesn’t intend to sign any major free agents to long-term deals this summer, he did say he would look at players with shorter term deals, but in the end, the team hopes to bring in some of their youth to fill in the gaps this year.

East Notes: Pittsburgh’s Fourth Line, Hall, Canadiens, Red Wings

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The Penguins are expected to try to add some offense to their fourth line this summer, notes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Getting some scoring from their bottom trio was an important key to their successful Stanley Cup runs the past two years but that was an area of concern this past postseason.  With that in mind, GM Jim Rutherford will be looking to put together a more balanced fourth line that can chip in with a goal here and there.  If they re-sign pending RFA Riley Sheahan, he’ll likely be part of that unit while youngsters Zach Aston-Reese and Daniel Sprong could be options as well.  If they look to the open market for a veteran to take a spot, Mackey suggests that Tampa Bay UFA winger Chris Kunitz could make some sense; prior to joining the Lightning last summer, the 38-year-old had spent nine seasons in Pittsburgh.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Still with Pittsburgh, with the Friday deadline to sign 2016 CHL draft pick fast approaching, the Penguins are expected to relinquish the rights to defenseman Connor Hall, reports Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Hall was a third-rounder that year (77th overall) but he has battled considerable injury problems that have limited him to just 64 games (less than one full season) since being drafted.  The 20-year-old posted 11 assists and 78 penalty minutes in 47 games with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL in 2017-18 and will look to catch on with another organization.
  • Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin acknowledged to NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger that the team is leaning towards keeping the third-overall selection unless they are blown away by a trade offer. Assuming that Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov go first and second to Buffalo and Carolina as expected, the Canadiens will likely choose from wingers Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk.  Bergevin also stated that the team is not ready to write off using Jonathan Drouin at center next season.  Drouin, who played down the middle in junior but was a winger with Tampa Bay, struggled considerably at the beginning of the year but appears to have made enough progress in the eyes of management to get a second chance.
  • The Red Wings are open to moving their sixth-overall selection in the draft, reports Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required). GM Ken Holland admitted that trading up doesn’t make a lot of sense for them but sliding down a few spots would certainly be a possibility for them.  Custance adds that Holland has had preliminary meetings with the agents for pending RFA wingers Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha plus pending UFA defenseman Mike Green.

Red Wings Notes: Larkin, Athanasiou, Fulcher

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Drafting Dylan Larkin was the equivalent of hitting the NHL talent jackpot writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. Calling him the foundation of Detroit’s rebuilding process, Larkin fell to Detroit in the 2014 NHL Draft. St. James assesses that the 21-year-old center is captain material and that the Red Wings have a chance to build around a player that could lead them back to their familiar days of contention. Of course, the Red Wings have been reluctant to actually rebuild and instead, opt to sign free agents in the hopes of making the playoffs, which blocks the progress of younger players. Larkin was the exception, as his performance was too strong to ignore right out of his first training camp in 2015, and he’s been a mainstay on the roster since.

  • St. James also answers questions about Andreas Athanasiou, the polarizing forward who dazzles with his speed and scoring prowess but perplexes with his inability to find regular ice time due to what appears to be conflicts with management. After holding out to start the 2017-18 season, Athanasiou did not live up to the billing Detroit was hoping for–but many in Hockeytown would argue he was never given the chance. She quotes head coach Jeff Blashill as saying… “that consistency level and work ethic and compete is going to be critical for AA.” It sounds like a tug of war between a player and management making some wonder if Athanasiou will find himself shipped out of town. St. James writes that with his numbers dropping, the return wouldn’t be what Detroit would want.
  • Red Wings prospect Kaden Fulcher is featured in a London Free Press article, extolling the performance of the youngster who has been strong between the pipes for the Hamilton Bulldogs en route to a Memorial Cup appearance. Fulcher signed a three-year entry level contract with the Red Wings and MLive’s Ansar Khan explains that Fulcher’s improvement is a reflection of his work ethic. The Red Wings expect him to compete for a job in Grand Rapids and should that not pan out, he would go to either the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL or back to Hamilton for his overage junior year.

Red Wings Notes: Bertuzzi, Frk, Mrazek, Howard, Nielsen

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After the Detroit Red Wings traded away winger Tomas Tatar last week at the trade deadline, the team has split his minutes in two directions. Prospect Tyler Bertuzzi has replaced Tatar’s spot in the lineup alongside Andreas Athanasiou and Dylan Larkin, while veteran Martin Frk has taken the departed forward’s power play minutes in hopes of proving worthy of returning to a top line in the future. So far, Bertuzzi has fared well in the two games he’s played in Tatar’s even-strength role, picking up two assists, while averaging more that 14 minutes of ice time. However, don’t expect that to stay that way next year, writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James.

While the team does want to get an extended look at Bertuzzi, what it’s really waiting for is next season. Then they will take long looks at winger Evgeny Svechnikov, the team’s first-rounder in 2015, and 2017 first-rounder Michael Rasmussen, who is expected to be the center of the future in Detroit. Rasmussen, is coming off a solid season in the WHL and might be ready to join the Red Wings next season. As for Svechnikov, the hope is that he is ready for a spot in Detroit next season, but has struggled at times in his first year in the AHL.

  • St. James also adds that don’t expect too many call-ups this year as the Grand Rapids Griffins are still fighting for a playoff spot in AHL, so players like Svechnikov, Filip Hronek and Matt Puempel might not see a lot of time in Detroit as they are needed in Grand Rapids.
  • In the same article, St. James writes that the team will have to also take a long look at backup goalie Jared Coreau, who was recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins after the team traded away Petr Mrazek. She writes that the team has doubts he can be a quality NHL backup and with one year left on Jimmy Howard’s contract, the team will be hard-pressed to find their future starter in one year. One possibility could be signing Mrazek back again in the offseason. With Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth already signed for next season, it seems unlikely that the Philadelphia Flyers will retain Mrazek, especially when he has a $4MM qualifying offer. Could Detroit make him their future No. 1?
  • Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the team might consider extending Howard’s deal for one more year to give the team more time to find their goalie of the future. However, with the Red Wings looking to get as many picks as possible for their future, it would also make a lot of sense for the team to move him before the draft as team’s wouldn’t mind acquiring a veteran with just one year left on his deal.
  • In the same story, Custance also takes a look at the way-too early protected list if there is an expansion draft in 2020 for the Seattle franchise, which seems inevitable. Sadly, the top two players the Red Wings would be forced to protect will be veterans Henrik Zetterberg and Frans Nielsen. The hope is that Zetterberg, who will be 39 by then, will have retired, which would free up a spot, however, Nielsen has a no-movement clause and then, at age 35, should not be on that list. However, the veteran, who would still have two years left on his deal at $5.25MM AAV at that point, is likely going to cost Detroit a quality player down the road.

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