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2021 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced

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The NHL has announced the 31 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild.

Each team submits one nominee. This year’s are:

Anaheim: Cam Fowler

Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Boston: Charlie Coyle

Buffalo: Jack Eichel

Calgary: Mikael Backlund

Carolina: Jordan Staal

Chicago: Connor Murphy

Colorado: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Columbus: Cam Atkinson

Dallas: Esa Lindell

Detroit: Dylan Larkin

Edmonton: Kyle Turris

Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky

Los Angeles: Trevor Moore

Minnesota: Mats Zuccarello

Montreal: Jonathan Drouin

Nashville: Pekka Rinne

New Jersey: P.K. Subban

NY Islanders: Anders Lee

NY Rangers: Chris Kreider

Ottawa: Thomas Chabot

Philadelphia: Scott Laughton

Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby

San Jose: Kurtis Gabriel

St. Louis: Ryan O’Reilly

Tampa Bay: Alex Killorn

Toronto: John Tavares

Vancouver: Tyler Motte

Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury

Washington: Garnet Hathaway

Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler

Snapshots: Eichel/Krueger, Sutter, Wheeler, Grzelcyk

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Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger isn’t having a good week. The team has lost three straight, including a 3-0 shutout loss to Philadelphia Sunday. When star Jack Eichel went down with an injury and was expected to miss time earlier this week, Krueger told the press, including The Athletic’s John Vogl that Eichel got hurt during warm-ups on Thursday and his injury was not related to the fact that he missed the morning skate that day.

Eichel, who played Sunday, said after Sunday’s game that the injury didn’t happen in warm-ups like Krueger said. Eichel said the injury occurred during Tuesday’s game against New Jersey, contradicting Krueger’s statement three days earlier.

When Vogl asked about his job status, Krueger said he wasn’t worried.

“Absolutely not, John,” said Krueger. “If you do, I don’t know. But I’m not wired that way, just so you know. I’m wired to work on solutions and take responsibility, and I do both right now.”

Not a good sign in Buffalo.

  • Vancouver Canucks center Brandon Sutter is having a solid season in the final year of his five-year, $21.9MM contract. The 32-year-old has scored six goals in 24 games so far this year. Despite being a logical trade chip for the upcoming trade deadline on April 12th, Sutter says he wants to stay with the Canucks past this year, according to The Province’s Ben Kuzma. “You know when your contract is up there’s always going to be speculation and talk,” he said. “For me, I’m just focused on this group and this team. I want to be here and this is where I want to stay. Really no secrets there from me.”
  • Just because the Winnipeg Jets asked defenseman Toby Enstrom to waive his no-movement clause so the team could protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie in the 2017 Vegas expansion draft, don’t expect Winnipeg to do the same with Blake Wheeler this year for the upcoming Seattle expansion draft. The Athletic’s Murat Ates (subscription required) writes that Wheeler would fit the profile of someone the Seattle Kraken would pass on if he were left exposed, considering he’s 35, has three more years at $8.25MM and is no longer a dominant top-line forward (although still a solid top-six player). The scribe notes that the Jets would never ask him to waive his no-movement clause. Winnipeg intends to use Wheeler as well as Mark Scheifele as examples to other Jets’ players that the team will stick with their stars for their entire career.
  • Joe Haggerty of BostonHockeyNow writes the Boston Bruins could see the return of top-four defenseman Matt Grzelcyk soon. The 27-year-old blueliner practiced Saturday, but wasn’t ready to go Sunday against the Rangers. Grzelcyk has been out with a lower-body injury and has missed all but two games since Jan. 21. He has tried to come back twice when he obviously wasn’t ready. Grzelcyk has only appeared in six games this year.

2020 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced

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The NHL has announced the 31 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild.

Each team submits one nominee. This year’s are:

Anaheim: Cam Fowler

Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Boston: Patrice Bergeron

Buffalo: Jack Eichel

Calgary: Travis Hamonic

Carolina: Jordan Staal

Chicago: Jonathan Toews

Colorado: Gabriel Landeskog

Columbus: Cam Atkinson

Dallas: Tyler Seguin

Detroit: Justin Abdelkader

Edmonton: Leon Draisaitl

Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky

Los Angeles: Trevor Lewis

Minnesota: Matt Dumba

Montreal: Carey Price

Nashville: Pekka Rinne

New Jersey: P.K. Subban

NY Islanders: Matt Martin

NY Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist

Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk

Philadelphia: Kevin Hayes

Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby

San Jose: Evander Kane

St. Louis: Ryan O’Reilly

Tampa Bay: Alex Killorn

Toronto: Mitch Marner

Vancouver: Alexander Edler

Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury

Washington: Garnet Hathaway

Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler

Central Notes: Dach, Boqvist, Steen, Wheeler

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It looks like Team Canada may have to go without one of their top forwards on their team after all as Chicago Blackhawks center Kirby Dach will not be joining the team in Czechoslovakia for this month’s World Junior Championships. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that the Blackhawks will not be releasing the 18-year-old.

Dach burned, the third overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has already burned the first year of his entry-level contract and has already scored five goals and 10 points in 26 games with Chicago. The 6-foot-4 center has been a solid mainstay as a bottom-six center as he gets used to playing with adults in the NHL. The only reason the why Team Canada was holding out hope is that Dach seems to have hit a rookie wall as he hasn’t scored a goal in 12 games.

  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports that the Blackhawks haven’t yet made a decision on defensman Adam Boqvist, who is also a candidate to be loaned to Sweden for the World Junior Championships. The eighth overall selection in 2018, Boqvist is a different story as he has appeared in eight games so far and has not burned his entry-level contract yet. The team must decide on whether to keep him on their roster and burn that first year of his contract or whether to send him to the WJC and then perhaps let him develop more in the AHL for the remainder of the year. The team will announce their decision after they have come to one.
  • The St. Louis Blues are expected to get a much-needed addition as the team announced they are expecting forward Alex Steen to return to the lineup tonight. Steen has been out since Nov. 6 with a high ankle sprain and has missed 16 straight games, but should add some depth to the bottom-six. The 35-year-old has yet to score a goal in 17 games with the Blues this season, but should add some experience and defensive acumen to the St. Louis’ lineup.
  • Despite rumors that Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler was injured after missing practice Saturday, The Athletic’s Murat Ates reports that the Jets forward will play Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers. The 33-year-old has eight goals and 23 points this season for the Jets.

 

Central Notes: Blues’ Defense, Perreault, Girard, Makar

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The St. Louis Blues have had quite a bit going right for them and while much of the team’s success could easily be handed to goaltender Jordan Binnington, one key reason the team won both games in Winnipeg is the play of their top defensive pair, Colton Parayko and Jay Bouwmeester, according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required).

The pair are being used to stop the Jets’ top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler and have played more than 25 minutes matched up against that line in 5-on-5 play. Wheeler does have one goal on four shots in that span, but both Scheifele and Connor have each tallied just two shots combined in those situations.

“Fairly well,” Bouwmeester said when asked how the Blues have defended the group. “We had some breakdowns, and they had some chances. There were some odd-man rushes and things like that. They’ve got skilled guys and guys who don’t need a lot of room to get good chances. Bottom line is I think whoever’s going to control the puck and control the play is going to control what they give up.”

  • Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that there will be just one change in the Winnipeg Jets’ lineup for Sunday’s Game 3 in St. Louis against the Blues. The Jets will bring Mathieu Perreault back into the lineup after the veteran missed Game 2 with an undisclosed injury and Par Lindholm will become a healthy scratch. Perreault hadn’t missed a game this season until Friday. “We’re going to need more of that (secondary scoring) if we want to have any kind of chance of coming back in this series,” said Perreault. “Whoever I’m playing with today, our line, the third and fourth line, we’ve got to find a way to make sure we don’t get scored on, and then chip in a goal here and there to try and help the team win.”
  • A.J. Haefele of BSN Denver reports that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard is still being evaluated after leaving Saturday night’s game against Calgary in overtime after taking a hit from Sam Bennett. However, the scribe reports that he is a possibility to play. Girard played 22:05 of ice time in Game 2 and would be a huge loss if he wasn’t able to go.
  • Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports that recently signed defenseman Cale Makar is expected to be at the team’s morning practice Saturday and could get into the lineup immediately. Dater adds that he gets the impression that Makar will be in the lineup even though head coach Jared Bednar has not made any announcements. The team’s first-rounder in 2017 will have to be protected for the Seattle expansion draft if he even plays one playoff game this season. However, it looks as if the Avalanche are willing to do that.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Rule Changes, Percy

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The NHL has released their three stars for last week, and familiar names occupy each spot. Marc-Andre Fleury is in the top spot after going 3-0 with two shutouts for the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury allowed just one goal on 77 shots and is now carrying a .911 save percentage on the year. While that number is down from last season, Fleury leads the league with 32 wins and eight shutouts while also having played the most minutes of any goaltender. The Golden Knights are leaning heavily on their starter, a strategy that will be tested when the playoffs roll around.

Blake Wheeler and Sidney Crosby were awarded second and third respectively, each scoring eight points in three games. Wheeler’s performance was capped by a four-goal game against the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday, giving him 80 points on the season. Crosby, who has 83 this year is actually on pace to record his best offensive season since 2009-10 and crack the 100-point mark for the sixth time in his career.

  • The GM meetings began this week in Florida, and Frank Seravalli of TSN examines ten potential rule changes that the group will be discussing. These include things like changing standings tiebreaker rules, changing how much a player can be fined for certain incidents, and perhaps even forcing players to wear helmets during warm-ups. It doesn’t sound like any huge changes will come out of this week’s discussions, but there might be a few tweaks.
  • The AHL trade deadline passed today with very little fanfare, but not for Stuart Percy. The former top prospect was traded from the Belleville Senators to the Providence Bruins in exchange for Austin Fyten. Percy, originally selected in the first round eight years ago, has just 12 NHL games under his belt and is currently on a minor league contract.

NHL Announces All-Star Skills Competitors

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The NHL All-Star Skills Competition is scheduled for this evening, and though Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon have both pulled out due to illness and injury there are still an incredible amount of talented players taking part. Most notable however may be the final entrant in the fastest skater competition: Kendall Coyne. A member of the US Women’s National Team, Coyne will take MacKinnon’s place after the Colorado Avalanche forward suffered a foot injury this week. The Olympic gold medalist is known for her speed and posted a 14.226 yesterday during event testing according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN. Though that wouldn’t have been enough to dethrone Connor McDavid last year, it would have put her ahead of Zach Werenski, Noah Hanifin and Josh Bailey in the competition. We’ll see what Coyne can do tonight, along with the rest of the competitors:

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What Your Team Is Thankful For: Winnipeg Jets

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With the holiday season having come and gone, PHR continues its look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads towards the midway mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve in the second half for the Winnipeg Jets.  Click here for the other articles in this series. 

What are the Jets most thankful for?

In what many considered to be the most competitive division in the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets are right at the top with the Nashville Predators who are ahead by just one point. The Jets boast a 25-13-2 record and while the team has suffered numerous injuries throughout the season, the team has been in the thick of things all season and much of that is due to the team’s depth and experience, especially on the blueline as multiple players, especially Dustin Byfuglien have struggled with injuries. However, the team hasn’t missed a beat as they are ranked 8th in goals scored, averaging 3.33 goals per game.

Who are the Jets most thankful for?

Their veterans. The team has gotten solid performances from many of their top players, but the team’s top two players have been Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, who have the glue to keep the team together. Scheifele has 22 goals and 27 assists and has been a constant on the team’s top line, while Wheeler has just six goals, but has 44 assists on that same first line. Scheifele, who scored 23 goals last season in 60 appearances, is already one goal away from tying that mark in just 40 games. He is averaging 22:40 in ATOI this season, almost two minutes more than his career-high. Wheeler is also playing a career-high 21:26, nearly a minute better than his career-high and he is on pace to break his career high in assists.

What would the Jets be even more thankful for?

The team needs to get Connor Hellebuyck, their goaltender going if they really want to make a deep run this season. While most of the preseason chatter revolved around their backup goaltending situation, Laurent Brossoit has been nothing short of fabulous for the Jets. Hellebuyck, on the other hand, hasn’t found his game yet. After being a Vezina Trophy candidate a season ago when he put up 44-11-9 record, a 2.36 GAA and a .924 save percentage, but his numbers are not nearly as impressive one year later. Through 31 appearances, Hellebuyck has 12 losses, more than he had last season with a 2.89 GAA and a .908 save percentage. The team will need more from him if they hope to make a deep run in the playoffs with teams like the Predators in their way.

What should be on the Jets’ Holiday Wish List?

More depth from their other lines. The team has gotten a lot of offense from their first line and you can’t complain too much about the 24 goals that Patrik Laine already has, despite having just seven assists to go with that number. However, what the team needs is more scoring. Once you get past Nikolaj Ehlers (15 goals) and Kyle Connor (13 goals), few forwards have been able to step up to add more depth scoring. The team needs more players in that middle-six to step up and start scoring goals to give the offense an even bigger spark, so that the first and second lines aren’t preyed upon by opposing team’s top defenses.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2019 All-Star Rosters Announced

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The NHL has announced the four rosters for the 2019 All-Star Game today, scheduled to be held on January 26th in San Jose. Earlier today, Alex Ovechkin, who was elected captain of Metropolitan Division squad, told the league that he wouldn’t be attending and will accept the punishment of missing one game either before or after the break. Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Auston Matthews will represent the Pacific, Central and Atlantic respectively, as the other captains. A replacement Metropolitan captain for Ovechkin has yet to be named.

The full rosters are as follows:

Pacific Division

G John Gibson (ANA)
G Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK)

D Erik Karlsson (SJS)
D Brent Burns (SJS)
D Drew Doughty (LAK)

F Connor McDavid (EDM)*
F Johnny Gaudreau (CGY)
F Joe Pavelski (SJS)
F Elias Pettersson (VAN)
F Clayton Keller (ARI)

Central Division

G Pekka Rinne (NSH)
G Devan Dubnyk (MIN)

D Roman Josi (NSH)
D Miro Heiskanen (DAL)

F Nathan MacKinnon (COL)*
F Mikko Rantanen (COL)
F Blake Wheeler (WPG)
F Patrick Kane (CHI)
F Mark Scheifele (WPG)
F Ryan O’Reilly (STL)

Atlantic Division

G Jimmy Howard (DET)
G Carey Price (MTL)

D Keith Yandle (FLA)
D Thomas Chabot (OTT)

F Auston Matthews (TOR)*
F Nikita Kucherov (TBL)
F Steven Stamkos (TBL)
F John Tavares (TOR)
F David Pastrnak (BOS)
F Jack Eichel (BUF)

Metropolitan Division

G Henrik Lundqvist (NYR)
G Braden Holtby (WAS)

D John Carlson (WSH)
D Seth Jones (CBJ)

F Sidney Crosby (PIT)
F Taylor Hall (NJD)
F Mathew Barzal (NYI)
F Claude Giroux (PHI)
F Cam Atkinson (CBJ)
F Sebastian Aho (CAR)

*Denotes team captain

One final skater spot on each roster has yet to be announced, as it will be determined by the “Last Man In” fan ballot, a concept borrowed from Major League Baseball. The format of the current All-Star Game, which requires one representative from each team on these smaller 3-on-tournament rosters, was bound to cause some confusion with the initial selections. Seven top-twenty scorers were not selected – Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Leon Draisaitl, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, Phil Kessel, and Gabriel Landeskog – and several will inevitably remain out of All-Star participation even after the fan ballot additions. Morgan Rielly, the league’s top-scoring defenseman, and Mark Giordano, enjoying an elite season on both sides of the puck, are two surprising omissions on the blue line. Several of the league’s top goalies are also going to miss out, ineligible for the fan ballot, including Ben Bishop, Frederik Andersen, and Andrei Vasilevskiy. The “Last Man In” will be an intriguing new addition to the All-Star process, with nominees to be named shortly, but more than a few notable names will be left out regardless. Meanwhile, the health of players like Price and Chabot for Team Atlantic and Hall for Team Metropolitan will bear watching, as those players may opt to skip the All-Star festivities, opening up more players to selection.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Plekanec, Seattle

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The NHL has released their three stars of the week and it comes as no surprise that David Pastrnak is in the top spot. The Boston Bruins forward scored five goals including a hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and added two assists in a dominant week. The 22-year old forward is well ahead of anyone else in the Maurice Richard race, with 16 goals in his first 17 games on the season.

Second and third go to a pair of veteran forwards that have experienced plenty of success in the past, as Blake Wheeler and Claude Giroux continue their strong seasons. The Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers captains had seven and eight points respectively last week, and are doing their best to keep the teams in the playoff hunt. Winnipeg now sits in third place in the Central with 21 points, while the Flyers have climbed out of an early hole and now sit behind only Columbus in the Metropolitan.

  • It was obvious it wouldn’t take long for Tomas Plekanec to find work in Europe after he terminated his contract with the Montreal Canadiens, and Czech outlet iSport reports that Kladno—the club owned by former NHL star Jaromir Jagr—and Brno are the leading candidates for his services. Though there isn’t a clear decision at this point, Plekanec will easily be able to find a hockey landing spot as he returns home after a long productive NHL career.
  • The NHL Board of Governors are still on track to hold a vote in early December to decide on the expansion application from the city of Seattle, according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told reporters that there will be a decision made during the annual meetings that begin on December 3rd, though wouldn’t commit to the 2020-21 season timeline that has been pushed forward. That all depends on the construction of the arena, which is by no means guaranteed to be ready for the fall of 2020. Still, it does look like things are on track for Seattle to be approved by the league next month, which would force teams once again to start preparing for the next expansion draft.

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