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Angus Crookshank

Atlantic Notes: Jeannot, Greenway, Crookshank

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tanner Jeannot will miss tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens as the rugged forward has been deemed day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Jeannot suffered the injury in last night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after fighting Ryan Reaves and taking a punch that brought him to the ice. The 26-year-old did not return after the fight.

Much was made last February when Tampa Bay acquired Jeannot in exchange for five draft picks and Callan Foote, and to this point, Estevan, Saskatchewan native hasn’t been able to come close to duplicating the success he had in Nashville. Through 50 games this season, Jeannot has six goals and seven assists and is -11.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Bill Hoppe of The Times Herald tweeted that the Buffalo Sabres might get Jordan Greenway back into their lineup tomorrow night. The news comes from Sabres head coach Don Granato who said that Greenway remained a possibility to dress when the Sabres take on the Philadelphia Flyers. The seven-year veteran hasn’t dressed since last Saturday and has spent this week dealing with an upper-body injury, but is apparently okay after having imaging done earlier this week. Greenway has averaged a career-high 17:16 in ice time per game this season and has nine goals and 15 assists in 62 games.
  • Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun is reporting that Ottawa Senators forward Angus Crookshank is unlikely to return this season as he is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old rookie has dressed in 13 games this year and has averaged just a shade over 10 minutes of ice time per game. He’s played in a bottom-six role but did get some top-6 minutes on his most recent recall and will likely be in the mix for a spot in the Senators forward group next season. Crookshank hasn’t produced much in the way of offence, but he has chipped in with two goals and an assist.

Bowen Byram Fined By Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety issued their punishment to Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram, issuing him a $5,000 fine for interference, the maximum allowable financial penalty under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. This will mark the first time in his young career that Byram has received disciplinary action from the Department of Player Safety.

The play in question took place in last night’s game against the Ottawa Senators, as Byram delivered a blindside hit to Senators’ forward Angus Crookshank (Video Link). Byram was assessed a two-minute minor penalty on the play for interference, and Crookshank was able to return to the contest.

Luckily for the organization, the Department of Player Safety did not choose to suspend Byram, allowing the team to keep him in the lineup for the rest of the regular season. Since acquiring Byram from the Colorado Avalanche at this year’s trade deadline, Byram has scored three goals and six points in 10 games, averaging just over 23 minutes of ice time per game.

Unfortunately, although the team got off to a 4-2-0 start with Byram in the lineup, the team has only managed a 1-3-0 record in their last four, dropping them further down in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings. Nevertheless, with a positive showing in his first few games with the organization, Buffalo will be eager for a full year of Byram next season.

Senators Recall Angus Crookshank, Reassign Zack Ostapchuk

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Mar. 22: Ottawa confirmed Crookshank’s recall Friday, which came under emergency conditions, although Giroux was okay to play in yesterday’s 5-2 loss to St. Louis. In a corresponding transaction, the team reassigned rookie center Zack Ostapchuk to Belleville, ending his emergency loan. The 20-year-old played in six straight games, the first of his NHL career, after a recall earlier in March. However, he failed to record a point and struggled across the board with a -1 rating, a 30.6 FO%, and a 40.0 CF% at even strength while averaging 10:25 per game.

Mar. 21: The Senators have recalled winger Angus Crookshank from AHL Belleville, per the league’s transactions log. He will play in Thursday’s game against the Blues if Claude Giroux, who assistant coach Daniel Alfredsson said will be a game-time decision due to illness, can’t go.

A fifth-round pick by the Sens in 2018, Crookshank is in his fourth professional season with the organization after wrapping up his collegiate career with the University of New Hampshire in 2021. The 5-foot-11 winger adjusted to the pros well down the stretch in 2020-21, recording 16 points in 19 games, but his progress was stunted when a preseason knee injury cost him the entire 2021-22 season.

He’s been slowly rebounding since, and he’s come out in full force this year with a team-leading 24 goals and 46 points in 50 games for the B-Sens. His performance has been strong enough to earn him two recalls already this season, both emergency loans in December, resulting in his first seven NHL games. Today marks his first day on Ottawa’s roster since being returned to the minors on Jan. 7.

Crookshank didn’t look entirely out of place in his NHL minutes, recording a goal and an assist, but his usage was extremely limited, averaging 8:50 per game. That didn’t hold him back from averaging a shot on goal per game, however, and he had a solid 48.4 CF% at even strength despite starting the majority of his shifts in the defensive zone. He’s an intriguing candidate to see some time higher up in the lineup down the stretch with playoffs no longer possible for Ottawa.

The 24-year-old is in the final season of his entry-level contract, which carries an $838K cap hit and pays him only $70K at the minor-league level. He’ll be an RFA this summer, but he needs one more professional season to have arbitration rights.

Senators Expected To Activate Mathieu Joseph

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The Senators are gearing up to activate winger Mathieu Joseph from long-term injured reserve, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports Sunday. To clear roster and salary cap space, the team assigned wingers Angus Crookshank and Jiri Smejkal to AHL Belleville.

Joseph, 26, was moved to LTIR just last week, but the move was retroactive to when he exited the lineup with a lower-body injury against the Stars on December 15. He will have satisfied the minimum 10-game, 28-day absence requirement ahead of their game Tuesday against the Flames and will be activated immediately upon becoming eligible.

Before the season began, Joseph and his $2.95MM cap hit were the subject of trade discussions to help alleviate the Senators’ difficult cap squeeze after a busy offseason. Without any takers, Joseph began the season still in Ottawa and responded with a career-best 0.76 points per game pace through his first 25 games, recording six goals, 13 assists, and a +12 rating that remains first on the team.

That depth production will prove extremely valuable in his return to the lineup. The Senators’ largest ailment this season has again been an inept bottom-six, one that’s produced a combined 18 goals sans Joseph as the season nears its halfway mark. Combined with subpar goaltending from Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo, the team remains last in the Eastern Conference with a 14-21-0 record and 28 points.

Crookshank and Smejkal now return to minor-league action for the foreseeable future, although both fared decently well in their first career NHL stints throughout the first half of the season. The 24-year-old Crookshank scored a goal and an assist in seven games and posted positive possession metrics despite being leaned on heavily in the defensive zone, although he did it in just 8:50 per game. Smejkal, 27, has one assist and a -2 rating in nine games this season.

Evening Notes: Senators, Wild, Penguins

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The Ottawa Senators announced today that they have recalled forwards Angus Crookshank and Jiri Smejkal from their AHL affiliate in Belleville. Both players had been previously assigned to the AHL after the Senators 5-4 overtime win on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Both Crookshank and Smejkal had been with the Senators on an emergency recall prior to the break and were unable to stay with the club because the emergency conditions wouldn’t be satisfied. But with the team in Toronto tomorrow night to take on the Maple Leafs both players were able to be recalled joining the club as they get set to begin a busy stretch of games over the next few weeks. The Senators play three times before the new year and 15 times in January as they try to play catchup to the rest of the Eastern Conference.

In other evening notes:

  • The Minnesota Wild announced a pair of recalls as they brought up Daemon Hunt and Jake Lucchini from the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Both players were reassigned to Iowa on Sunday making this move a paper transaction similar to that of the Senators. Lucchini has spent most of the year in Iowa and played his first game with Minnesota on December 23rd. His recall could mean that forward Ryan Hartman will remain out of action when the Wild resume play against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night. Hunt will likely serve as the Wild’s extra defenseman for tomorrow night’s game.
  • Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that he believes it is possible the Pittsburgh Penguins could hang on to pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel until the end of the season and treat that as their big trade deadline acquisition. The Penguins currently sit five points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but hold three games in hand on the Tampa Bay Lightning who currently occupy that position. Kingerski believes that the Penguins will forgo a potential trade package for Guentzel if they remain within six points of the playoffs by the end of January.

Senators Reassign Angus Crookshank, Jiri Smejkal

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The Senators returned forwards Angus Crookshank and Jiri Smejkal to AHL Belleville after last night’s 5-4 overtime win over the Penguins, a team release states.

Both players were on the roster on an emergency basis. Since the Senators do not play until the league resumes play on Wednesday, their emergency conditions are no longer satisfied, and they can be returned to the minors during the league’s holiday roster freeze. One or both of Crookshank and Smejkal will likely be brought back up to the NHL roster before Wednesday if neither Mathieu Joseph nor Zack MacEwen can return from their respective lower-body and hamstring injuries. Both are listed as day-to-day and haven’t been ruled out for any future games.

Crookshank played in four games for the Senators during his recall, the first of his NHL career. It’s been a trying development path for the 24-year-old, who missed the entire 2021-22 season with a knee injury after concluding his collegiate career at the University of New Hampshire. The 2018 fifth-round pick has put up solid scoring numbers in the minors, including 21 points in just 24 games with Belleville this year. He averaged just 8:56 per game while on recall but notched his first NHL goal last Tuesday against the Coyotes. His possession numbers were good, posting a relative Corsi share of 4.2% at even strength, suggesting he may be ready for some increased minutes the next time he’s brought up to the NHL.

This ends Smejkal’s second recall since signing with the Senators as a free agent out of the Swedish Hockey League over the summer. The 6-foot-4, 223-pound Czech winger has seen minimal usage like Crookshank, averaging 8:57 in six games played with Ottawa since his initial recall on December 8. His first NHL point, an assist on a Jacob Bernard-Docker goal, came in Thursday’s 6-4 loss to the Avalanche. He returns to Belleville for now, where he has three goals and six assists in 19 games.

Senators Recall Angus Crookshank From AHL’s Belleville

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The Ottawa Senators have recalled winger Angus Crookshank from the AHL’s Belleville Senators. Crookshank has appeared in 24 games for the minor league club this season, scoring a team-high 10 goals and 21 points. This performance comes after Crookshank managed 26 goals and 47 points in 71 AHL games last season, good for fourth on Belleville in scoring.

This is the first call-up of the 23-year-old Crookshank’s career, which began after Ottawa drafted the forward in the fifth round of the 2018 NHL Draft. Crookshank went on to play in three seasons with the University of New Hampshire, totaling 90 games and 63 points with the school. He turned pro following the conclusion of New Hampshire’s 2020-21 season, finishing the year with 16 points in 19 AHL games. But despite the hot start to his professional career, Crookshank was forced out of the entire 2021-22 season after undergoing surgery on his knee. He’s returned strong for the Belleville Senators, though, and earned his first shot at an NHL debut as a result.

Ottawa is currently facing a string of forward injuries, missing both Mathieu Joseph and Rourke Chartier for their Sunday game against the Vegas Golden Knights. The team is also uncertain when Vladimir Tarasenko will return, with the top scorer questionable for Sunday.

The Senators also recalled forward Jiri Smejkal in response to their list of injuries. Smejkal recently appeared in his first two career NHL games, going without a point in either contest. The 27-year-old is in his first NHL season after seven years in various top leagues across Europe. Ottawa will need to turn to an extra forward – likely Smejkal – with Rourke and Chartier out. But if Tarasenko also misses Sunday’s matchup, Crookshank could find himself primed for his first NHL game.

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