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Central Notes: Kucherov, Hurricanes, Hofmann, Panthers

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While he was ruled out for the year before the regular season got underway, Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov has resumed skating and is on pace to return for the start of the playoffs, notes Joe Smith of the Athletic (Twitter link).  The 27-year-old actually did some light work with Tampa Bay in practice although he’s still long way away from being ready to return.

The big question will be when he is indeed ready to play.  The Lightning can’t afford to activate him off LTIR at all this season due to their salary cap situation but if he has started light skating drills already, it may also be difficult to argue that he’ll need two full months to recover and then immediately be ready for game one of the playoffs just days later.  It’s certainly going to be something to keep an eye on although Tampa Bay is certainly thrilled that their top-scoring forward is doing well in his recovery from offseason surgery.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • The Hurricanes have a few areas that they’d like to improve between now and the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link). In particular, a stay-at-home defenseman to offset some of their more offensive-minded options, a depth forward, and goaltending depth are the areas that Friedman highlighted although they may be hard-pressed to try to address all three of those.
  • The Blue Jackets’ acquisition of Gregory Hofmann from Carolina last month came as a surprise considering the 28-year-old had two years left on his deal in Switzerland. However, EV Zug GM Reto Klay told Zentralplus’ Andreas Ineichen that Hofmann is expected to sign with Columbus as soon as later this season once the NLA playoffs are over.  The winger has 17 goals and 21 assists in just 33 games this season and will not be subject to entry-level restrictions on his first NHL contract due to his age and could be an intriguing addition for the stretch run.
  • The Panthers will have winger Anthony Duclair and defenseman Anton Stralman back in their lineup tonight against Chicago, relays George Richards of Florida Hockey Now (Twitter link). Duclair has done relatively well in his first season with Florida, picking up two goals and eight assists in 19 games and had missed the last six games with a lower-body injury.  Meanwhile, Stralman, who had missed four straight with a lower-body issue of his own, sits third among Florida blueliners in ATOI at 20:09 per contest.

Injury Updates: Saros, Hischier, Anderson-Dolan, Panthers

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The Predators aren’t getting much good fortune on the injury front.  Just a day after losing a pair of core players to injury and Ryan Johansen to the CPRA list, Nashville is now without one of their goaltenders.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Juuse Saros is day-to-day with an upper-body injury that was sustained in yesterday’s game in a collision with Nino Niederreiter, one that netted the winger a fine.  Saros earned the starting role last season but has struggled this year, posting a .895 SV%, the lowest of his career.  Veteran Pekka Rinne has been the better goalie statistically this year and will hold down the fort while Saros is out while Kasimir Kaskisuo will likely be recalled from the taxi squad on Thursday.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • The Devils expect to have an update on Nico Hischier’s status over the next few days, notes Sean Farrell of the Bergen Record. The center has missed the last two games after getting hit in the face with a puck on Saturday, extending his tough luck to start the season.  While he was named captain, he has hardly played, missing time due to a leg injury sustained in offseason training as well as a stint on the CPRA list.  As a result, Hischier has played in just five games so far, collecting two goals and an assist.
  • Kings center Jaret Anderson-Dolan has resumed skating as he tries to work his way back from an upper-body injury, relays Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. However, head coach Todd McLellan indicated that it’s unlikely that the 21-year-old will be available for the rest of their homestand, spanning the next three games.  Anderson-Dolan was off to a strong start to his year before being injured against Arizona, collecting five points over his first six games.
  • Panthers defenseman Markus Nutivaara and winger Anthony Duclair will accompany the team on their five-game road trip, reports Jameson Olive of Florida’s team website (Twitter link), suggesting the veterans are nearing a return. Nutivaara has missed the last nine games with an upper-body injury while Duclair missed his first game Monday due to a lower-body issue but it appears he won’t be out for long.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/13/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. On a positive note, no new players have been put on the list, but quite a few have been removed from the list. The Los Angeles Kings list is being put together now, but there has been a report from John Hoven that both Blake Lizotte and Andreas Athanasiou are both off the list:

Arizona – John Hayden
Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Detroit – Calvin Pickard
Los Angeles – TBA
Minnesota –  Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Brad Hunt, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Dmitry Kulikov, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Morgan Frost, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Jakub Voracek, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom*
Tampa Bay – Steven Stamkos
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Taylor Hall (Sabres), Ryan Carpenter (Chicago), Andreas Johnsson (Devils), Janne Kuokkanen (Devils), Michael McLeod (Devils), Kyle Palmieri (Devils), Pavel Zacha (Devils); Anthony Duclair (Panthers), Jesse Puljujarvi (Oilers), , Marcus Johansson (Wild), Jared Spurgeon (Wild), Joel Eriksson Ek (Wild), Nick Bjugstad (Wild)

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/12/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The Wild are still listed as TBA, but the rest of the list is in:

Arizona – John Hayden*
Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Detroit – Calvin Pickard*
Edmonton – Jesse Puljujarvi
Florida – Anthony Duclair
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota –  TBA
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Kyle Palmieri, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Pavel Zacha, Travis Zajac
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Morgan Frost, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Jakub Voracek, Scott Laughton*, Oskar Lindblom*
Tampa Bay – Steven Stamkos*
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: (none)

The biggest addition here is Stamkos, who seemingly won’t be able to play in tomorrow’s game against the Panthers. Stamkos was a late scratch by the Lightning yesterday, but that was reported as injury-related. No update on his status was given this morning, but his appearance here is certainly troubling.

There are also two new names for the Flyers, including one that no hockey fan wanted to see on the CPRA list this season. Lindblom, a cancer survivor, has been added. It can’t be stressed enough that appearing here does not necessarily mean the player has tested positive for coronavirus, but everyone hoped Lindblom would avoid it entirely this season.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/11/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The list is in:

Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Edmonton – Jesse Puljujarvi*
Florida – Anthony Duclair*
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota –  Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brad Hunt, Marcus Johansson, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri*, Pavel Zacha*
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil*
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Morgan Frost*, Jakub Voracek*
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Marcus Foligno, Minnesota Wild; Yegor Sharangovich, New Jersey Devils

With Puljujarvi’s addition, the NHL has pushed back the start time for Edmonton-Montreal to give them more time to process testing. It is not clear yet if the two teams will play. It would be the first postponed game in the North Division should it be pushed back.

Two more Philadelphia players isn’t a great sign for the Flyers, who are now just ten days away from the scheduled Lake Tahoe outdoor game. It is currently still scheduled as planned, as is the Flyers game on February 18 against the Rangers. We’ll have to see whether that changes, but New York has also had a player pop up on the list today in Chytil.

Palmieri and Zacha were only removed from the protocol yesterday but now find themselves back on it (though, Corey Masisak of The Athletic tweets that this was a clerical error). The Devils are currently scheduled to play on February 16, similarly against the Rangers.

*denotes new addition

Snapshots: Stuetzle, Thornton, Duclair, Spurgeon

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The Ottawa Senators have already been in camp for several days already, but the team will get another big name player into camp soon as 2020 first-round pick Tim Stuetzle arrived in Ottawa Saturday night. The 18-year-old is coming off an impressive performance at the World Junior Championship after he led Team Germany to one of the countries best finishes ever. After a seven-day quarantine, he will join his team and is likely to start his NHL career, according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch.

“I hope I’m going to play in the NHL this season, that’s 100% my goal and I will work very hard for that,” Stuetzle told reporters in Edmonton following Germany’s elimination in the quarterfinals.

Stuetzle finished the World Juniors with five goals and 10 points in five games. The third-overall pick, who signed his entry-level deal last week, is likely going to play wing for the Senators this season.

Florida Panthers Sign Anthony Duclair

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The Florida Panthers’ roster turnover continues, as the team signs Anthony Duclair to a one-year, $1.7MM contract. Duclair became an unrestricted free agent when the Ottawa Senators decided not to extend him a qualifying offer after the season and has been representing himself in negotiations.

Panthers GM Bill Zito has brought in several familiar faces this offseason, acquiring players like Alexander Wennberg and Markus Nutivaara from his days with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That will continue with Duclair, who played for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the early part of the 2018-19 season. Zito explained exactly why he brought Duclair to Florida:

Anthony is a dynamic and highly skilled player who is capable of being a dependable offensive contributor for our team. He possesses tremendous speed and goal scoring ability and earned an opportunity to be named an NHL All-Star last season. We’re excited to welcome Anthony and look forward to what he can add to our team.

The 25-year-old Duclair has been one of the most enigmatic players in the league ever since he exploded onto the scene in 2015-16 with a 20-goal campaign. The third-round pick totaled 44 points in that first full season but struggled to maintain that level moving forward. Even that year came with the Arizona Coyotes, his second organization after an early trade from the New York Rangers, and since then he’s played for Chicago, Columbus, Ottawa, and now Florida.

Still, it’s hard to ignore the talent. Duclair is lightning fast and possesses excellent hands that can do some truly incredible things in tight spaces. His 23-goal season with the Senators last year wasn’t a big surprise once he was given the opportunity to play up in a lineup and on the powerplay, something that may be available in Florida as well. Remember, the Panthers lost Evgenii Dadonov (to the Senators, in fact) in free agency and Mike Hoffman is still unsigned.

For $1.7MM though, Duclair comes almost risk-free. That’s only a little more than someone like Wayne Simmonds landed, even after a dreadful eight-goal, 25-point year. Even better, because of his young age Duclair will actually be a restricted free agent once again after the one-year deal expires, meaning that Florida gains an extra season of control should they want to extend a qualifying offer. In all, this seems like a perfect fit for both player and team this late in free agency.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was the first to break the news.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Free Agent Profile: Anthony Duclair

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It’s hard to believe that a player who was named to the all-star game just last year would still be sitting on the free-agent market at this point in the offseason, however, Anthony Duclair remains one of the top names in free agency who hasn’t found himself a home one month into it.

On the surface a 25-year-old all-star unrestricted free agent is a rarity as most big-named free agents are older when they hit UFA status the first time. Of course, much of that is due to the fact that the Senators did not qualify him, leaving him a free agent. Regardless, Duclair is coming off a great season in which he tallied 23 goals and 40 points in his first full season in Ottawa and looked prime to sign a long-term deal with the Senators this offseason. On top of that, he is also a fast skater, placing sixth in the fastest skater contest at the all-star game last year. However, Duclair struggles significantly in one area that could be keeping him from being signed — his defense. He is a goal scorer first, and there is a significant step back on his defensive efforts, one that former Columbus Blue Jackets’ coach John Tortorella mentioned before the team traded him to Ottawa back at the trade deadline in 2019.

Strangely enough, however, despite the belief that Duclair would dominate on the power play and not even play on the penalty kill, it’s the exact opposite. Duclair struggled on the man advantage at times during the season, while actually providing solid play on the Senators’ penalty kill, which makes things even more confusing.

However, another fact that stands out is that Duclair dominated the first half of the NHL season, scoring 21 goals and 33 points in 47 games. While the second half of the season was suspended, he only tallied two goals in 19 games following the all-star game, a significant drop off, making him one of the more unique players with little consistency.

Potential Suitors

While many people figured that Duclair had a good chance to sign a long-term deal with Ottawa this offseason, that never materialized. Duclair fired his agent and opted to represent himself. He was supposedly offered a two-year deal at $3MM AAV and turned that deal down, believing he could get more on the open market. However, no deal has materialized in this depressed market and now with Ottawa having brought in Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Galchenyuk, it’s extremely unlikely that the Senators will bring back Duclair even if he accepts a lesser contract.

Other teams still may be interested, although a deal is likely to come closer to when training camps begin. There are a number of playoff teams that might be interested in bringing in the 25-year-old as a second or third-line option on a short-term deal, but Duclair might have to accept less from those teams than the deal that Ottawa offered in the first place.

The Nashville Predators, who are looking for more firepower for their team, have been mentioned as one team that is looking at both Mike Hoffman and Duclair as options, although Hoffman could be the team’s first choice. However, Duclair might be a good fit, who could battle for a spot on the team’s second line there.

Other playoff teams like the Boston Bruins, the Dallas Stars or the Colorado Avalanche as options, but many of these teams might be more likely to look and see what they have in training camp before bringing in Duclair.

Projected Contract

Representing himself may have been a mistake as the forward now may be forced to accept less than the two years at $3MM AAV that he reportedly declined earlier in the offseason. He will almost assuredly will have to accept a deal with little term, either a one or two-year deal, but may have to take something significantly less than what he rejected in the first place.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Duclair, Sabres, Bruins

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When Anthony Duclair was non-tendered by the Senators, some eyebrows were raised but the team had kept in contact with the winger in the early days of free agency.  That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that as a result of Ottawa’s other offseason additions up front (including wingers Evgenii Dadonov, Alex Galchenyuk, and Austin Watson), he’s no longer in the mix for a spot on the roster.

Garrioch adds that Duclair turned down a two-year offer around $3MM per year from the Senators, one that would have still represented a sizable raise on the $1.65MM he made last season.  However, after putting up 23 goals and 17 assists last year, the 25-year-old thought he could do better while representing himself on the open market.  Given the state of free agency right now though, it’s hard to see Duclair receiving the type of offer that he turned down just a month ago let alone an increase on that.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • The Sabres have named Charlie Mendola as their new director of hockey strategy, notes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. It’s a newly-created position within Buffalo’s department under new GM Kevyn Adams who is familiar with Mendola when the two worked together at the Academy of Hockey program at the LECOM Harborcenter.
  • While the Bruins saw their ECHL affiliate in Atlanta opt out of participating this season, they appear to be working towards finding a short-term replacement as Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that they are in talks to place some players with Jacksonville (an affiliate of Winnipeg). The Icemen are one of the teams that will start the season next month so reaching an agreement with them would allow Boston to potentially send a few prospects there for some game action.

Central Notes: Heiskanen, Tolvanen, Wallmark

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The Dallas Stars have been working to improve their team this offseason in hopes of getting back to the Stanley Cup Finals once again. However, the team has also had another focus this offseason, which is to free up enough cap room for the 2021-22 offseason when the entry-level contract of defenseman Miro Heiskanen is up and the 21-year-old will be a restricted free-agent who the Stars would like to lock-up long-term.

Heiskanen has been a key reason for the dominant defense that the Stars have used to push their way to the top. The 21-year-old may have only posted 35 points in 68 games last season, but his defense is what makes him special and it is critical to get the blueliner signed to a long-term deal. To free up cap room, the Stars absorbed the full amount of their cap overages ($3.05MM) for next year as opposed to splitting it between the next two years, saving them $1.52MM in cap room for 2021-22 and chose not to buy out any players to keep extra cap penalties away from that year.

Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News writes that assuming the plan is to sign Heiskanen to a long-term deal, it likely will cost them somewhere between $8-9MM if you compare his deal to that of Ottawa Senators’ defenseman Thomas Chabot, who signed his long-term deal a year ago with an $8MM AAV. Now with newer contracts such as Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo and Nashville’s Roman Josi, the market seems set for Heiskanen when the two sides can begin negotiating at the start of the 2020-21 season.

  • With the Nashville Predators having moved out quite a few veteran players during the offseason including Mikael Granlund, Kyle Turris, Nick Bonino and Craig Smith, the team looks likely to be forced to insert a number of young players into their lineup to fill it out. While The Athletic’s Adam Vingan (subscription required) writes the team is still working on trying to bring in Mike Hoffman or Anthony Duclair to fill one of those roles, the Predators will be putting quite a bit on the shoulders of Eeli Tolvanen this year. The 2017 first-rounder is a likely candidate to take on a top-six role with the team after sitting in the AHL for the past two seasons. Tolvanen has only appeared in seven NHL games during that time, but after a 21-goal campaign with Milwaukee last season, he is the most likely candidate to step into the lineup, although it isn’t out of the question that 2019 first-rounder Philip Tomasino could also make the team with a strong camp.
  • While he hasn’t been loaned out to a European team, newly signed Lucas Wallmark is training overseas with Bjorkloven of the Allsvenskan, who play in his hometown of Umea in Sweden, according to a report in HockeyNews.se (translation required). Wallmark will practice and train with the team until the NHL season starts. The 25-year-old joined his third time in a year after being traded at the trade deadline to the Florida Panthers as part of the Vincent Trocheck trade and then was not issued a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free-agent. He opted to sign with the Blackhawks.

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