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Snapshots: Laine, Sabres, Henriksson, Team USA

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With trade rumors surrounding the Winnipeg Jets and Patrik Laine, there are many wondering if a deal is coming any time soon. However, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe writes that no matter what happens between the Jets and Laine, nothing will be happening any time soon.

With most teams already at the flatlined salary cap, Wiebe writes that general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will likely wait until next offseason when more teams might have the cap room to take on Laine and be able to send the assets that the Jets want back. That’s not to say that the Jets have given up on signing Laine to an extension. The scribe writes that while the two sides have had some issues, he doesn’t believe that it has reached a point of no return and believes an extension is just possible as a trade.

The problem with a contract is that Laine is a rare gem, who has 138 goals in 305 games and is tied for seventh in the league for goals scored since 2016. Throw in the fact that he’s still quite young at age 22 and is just starting to develop into a complete player and it isn’t easy coming up with the parameters of a deal.

  • The Buffalo Sabres could go in two different directions this season with a team having a solid chance to reach the playoffs. However, if the team goes its usual route lately and once again find themselves out of the playoffs near the trade deadline, NBC Sports James O’Brien writes that Buffalo would have a few assets that could net them a solid return. While newly signed forward Taylor Hall has a no movement clause, it still quite plausible that he would waive that if things go south in Buffalo to get a chance at the playoffs, while veteran Eric Staal might also proven to be a valuable asset if the team doesn’t make the playoffs. The 36-year-old has a affordable $3.25MM contract, which could make him attractive down the road. That doesn’t even include players like Rasmus Ristolainen, Carter Hutton and a few others who are already on the team. Needless to say, the hope is the team finally breaks its nine-year playoff drought, but it could turn into a different direction if things don’t go right in Buffalo.
  • Just yesterday, it was announced that Team Sweden would be without 2021 draft prospect William Eklund for the World Junior Championship this year after the 18-year-old tested positive for COVID-19. Now Sweden has taken another hit immediately after that news when Adam Johansson of Expressen.se reports (translation required) that the team’s No. 1 center Karl Henriksson will also have to miss the World Juniors after also testing positive for COVID-19. While the World Juniors don’t start in Edmonton until Dec. 26, the Swedish team is expected to leave for Canada on Dec. 13th, too late for the two young prospects to pass quarantine rules before having to enter the country. Henriksson, a second-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2019, has been centering top prospects Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz in international play and will be a big loss for Sweden.
  • Sticking with the World Juniors, Team USA has lost a few prospects as a Boston University trio will not be attending the World Juniors training camp due to COVID-19 protocols, according to New England Hockey Journal’s Jeff Cox. The U.S. team will have to do without forward Robert Mastrosimone, a second-round pick in 2019 by the Detroit Red Wings; defenseman Alex Vlasic, a second-round pick in 2019 by the Chicago Blackhawks; and goaltender Drew Commesso, a second-round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks this year.

Buffalo Sabres Loan Jonas Johansson To Germany

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After making his NHL debut this past season and putting up stellar numbers in the AHL, young Buffalo Sabres goaltender Jonas Johansson is hoping to take the next step this coming season. Given the struggles that veteran Carter Hutton experienced this year, Johansson should have the opportunity to challenge for an NHL role from the get-go. Being fully prepared for a training camp battle will be a major factor in Johnasson’s odds in the position battle, so the net minder is getting an early start to his season. The Krefeld Pinguine of Germany’s DEL have announced that they have acquired Johansson on loan from the Sabres.

The DEL has postponed its regular season start until mid-December, but the league has put together a preseason tournament for eight of their 14 teams, called the Magenta Sport Cup. Johansson’s loan covers the extent of the tournament, which begins on November 11. After that point, it is unclear if he will stay with the Krefeld or will return to Buffalo in anticipation of NHL training camp opening.

By landing Johansson, Krefeld gets a goalie who recorded a .921 save percentage and 2.28 GAA in the AHL last season, both of which were top-ten marks. While he was limited to just five AHL appearances in 2018-19, his performance was even better. Johansson, 25, stands 6’5″ and 214 lbs. and is a great positional goaltender. He will be a major asset for Krefeld, as he hopes to be in the backup role for Buffalo.

Vision Disorder Contributed To 2019-20 Struggles For Sabres’ Carter Hutton

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In an honest interview with the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski, Buffalo Sabres’ goaltender Carter Hutton revealed that his career-worst season was not merely due to bad luck or age. While Hutton did face a disproportionate amount of difficult scoring chances while in net for a struggling Sabres squad and at 34 is no longer as equipped to face such a challenge, a medical issue played a major role in his difficulties. Hutton tells Lysowski that he has been battling a vision disorder that has had a destructive impact on his ability.

Hutton has been diagnosed with a condition called convergence insufficiency. In short, Hutton’s eyes do not move at the same time. His left eye moves slower than his right, making for serious struggles with depth perception. As a result, tracking pucks and anticipating shots became extremely difficult. Hutton admits that even simple practice shots were often enough to fool him. Hutton sought treatment and has been working daily to improve his optical strength and visual reflexes in hopes of returning to form. Meanwhile, he was hiding his struggles away from the media as he did not want to be perceived as using the disorder as a crutch for his poor play.

Hutton posted a career-worst .898 save percentage and 3.18 GAA in 31 appearances this season. This included a 12-game stretch from October to November in which he did not record a win and allowed more than four goals per game. Hutton’s struggles were not the only reason that Buffalo also floundered yet again in 2019-20, but even a few wins in that 12-game stretch may have been enough to get the team into the upcoming expanded playoff field. Instead, Hutton and company have a long off-season ahead of them and will face questions next season. Hutton in particular – one season removed from starting 48 games for the Sabres and two seasons removed from posting the NHL’s top marks in save percentage and GAA as the backup for the St. Louis Blues – faces an uphill battle to return to form in a contract year.

Hutton deserves respect for battling this disorder that so greatly impacts his play without using it as an excuse and for continuing to work through treatment on a daily basis in hopes of extending his career. However, if these visual impairments continue despite his dedication to improvement, his playing days are almost certainly numbered.

Stretch Run Storylines: Buffalo Sabres

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As things stand, the NHL is planning to have games resume at some point over the coming weeks.  Assuming the regular season continues, there will be plenty of things to watch for over the stretch run.  Over the coming weeks, PHR will examine the top stretch run storylines for each team.  We continue our look at the Atlantic Division with Buffalo.

The Buffalo Sabres had high hopes the team would make that next step this offseason and the team did start strong once again with Jack Eichel leading the way. However, once again, the Sabres struggled midway through the season and saw them drop in the standings and out of the playoff race. The team in some ways is quite young, but with no playoff appearances since the 2010-11 season, there is quite a bit of pressure on the team to figure things out and get back to winning.

Lack Of Long-Term Deals

One of the most interesting things about the Sabres is that their future is quite open as Buffalo has locked up just five players past the 2020-21 season and will have to start looking at locking up some of their talent long-term at some point down the road. The biggest problem for Sabres’ management is that they have made some poor decisions over the years with long-term deals handed out to Kyle Okposo and more recently Jeff Skinner, both of which currently look like questionable deals.

The team should gain quite a bit of cap space this summer with a number of players about to hit unrestricted free agency, including Wayne Simmonds, Michael Frolik, Jimmy Vesey, Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson, Matt Hunwick and Vladimir Sobotka. While the franchise may bring one or two of them back, it does free up some cap room to add some talent. The team also have a number of restricted free agents, who could be eligible for long-term deals, including Sam Reinhart, Victor Olofsson, Dominik Kahun, Brandon Montour and Linus Ullmark. The question is whether Buffalo is ready to lock some of these players up.

Goaltending Questions

The Sabres thought they solved their goaltending issues a couple of years ago when they signed Carter Hutton to a three-year deal. However, that experiment hasn’t gone well either. The goaltender has struggled in a starting role, struggling even more this year than in his first season. This year in 31 appearances, the 34-year-old has a 3.18 GAA and .898 save percentage and finally the Sabres decided to split the starts between Carter and Ullmark.

Ullmark is a lock to return, but the question is what to do with Carter. Do they want to give him one more chance or perhaps buy out his final year. Is Ullmark, who did show significant improvement this season (2.69 GAA, .915 save percentage in 34 appearances), ready for a starting role? Should the team go out and sign one of the many big-named unrestricted free agent goalies this offseason? Lots of questions, but the team must make a decision down the road to fix those woes.

Development Of Youth

The Buffalo Sabres now need their youth to take that next step in their development. The team has finally seen Eichel take that next step into both a leader on and off the ice, which is something the Sabres needed desperately. Olofsson proved extremely valuable in his rookie campaign with 20 goals and 42 points in 54 games, but dealt with some injuries that prevented him from making an ever bigger impact on the ice.

However, what the Sabres need is for more of their young talent to take that next step. Casey Mittelstadt struggled even more in his second season with just four goals and nine points in 31 games and was sent to Rochester to work on his confidence. Promising youngster Tage Thompson also spent the season with the Americans of the AHL to work on his game and was injured quite a bit. Defensive acquisition Henri Jokiharju struggled in his first season as well.

What the team needs is for some of their young players to take that next step like Eichel. Buffalo needs more from Rasmus Dahlin, the first-overall pick in 2018, and they must successfully develop prospect Dylan Cozens if/when he makes the team next year. Others need to step up as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor Transactions: 02/10/20

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We’re now just two weeks from the 2020 NHL trade deadline and the rental market is still not exactly clear. Even after the Toronto Maple Leafs squeezed a backup goaltender out of Los Angeles, we’re still waiting on teams to really start buying and selling. As they prepare for the six games on the schedule, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • The Buffalo Sabres have returned Andrew Hammond to the minor leagues, though it is not clear whether he’ll be back for tomorrow’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Carter Hutton was away from the team for a family reason during yesterday’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
  • Mathieu Joseph has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning, returning to the NHL after more than a month away from the team. The 23-year old winger has seven points in 34 games with the Lightning this season.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled Pontus Aberg to help them out at practice, given some absences up front. Though William Nylander is back, John Tavares and Justin Holl have taken his place on the shelf with an illness. Zach Hyman is also missing the practice as a maintenance day, while Kyle Clifford is away attending a funeral.
  • Alex Lyon has been returned to the AHL by the Philadelphia Flyers, indicating that Carter Hart is ready to return for them. The Flyers take on the Florida Panthers tonight in the first half of an important back-to-back.
  • Martin Fehervary has been recalled and will play for the Washington Capitals again tonight, after being involved in a paper transaction yesterday. Fehervary is getting a look in order for the Capitals to know what kind of depth they have on defense as the deadline nears.
  • Calle Rosen has been returned to the Colorado Eagles, as the Avalanche return home after a five-game road trip. Rosen has played eight games for the Avalanche this season after being acquired in the Tyson Barrie–Nazem Kadri deal last summer.

Buffalo Sabres Goaltending Down To AHL Tandem

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The Buffalo Sabres already had some issues in the net with their tandem of Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton this season. While neither has been too disappointing, neither has been a difference maker either. However, just in the last couple of weeks, that tandem has disappeared, at least temporarily. The team lost Ullmark to a leg injury and was placed on injured reserve on Jan. 29th and now Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski reports that Carter Hutton will be out for family reasons. No word on the timetable for his return.

The team already had called AHL’s Jonas Johansson when Ullmark went down and now the team has recalled Andrew Hammond to replace Hutton. That leaves the Rochester Americans’ tandem in charge of the NHL team.

Johansson is expected to start Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. The 24-year-old has made two relief appearances for Buffalo this season, posting a 2.58 GAA and a .886 save percentage. However, he has been much more successful in Rochester. He was named to the AHL All-Star Game with a 2.19 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 20 appearances.

Hammond, no stranger to the NHL with 56 NHL appearances including several key winning streaks with both Ottawa and Colorado over the years, has not made an appearance since filling in for the Avalanche during the 2017-18 playoffs. He has a 2.57 GAA and a .905 save percentage with the Americans in 27 appearances this season.

Both will be expected to hold down the pipes for Buffalo until either Ullmark or Hutton are able to return.

Eastern Notes: Mantha, Johansson, Dobson, Paul

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The Detroit Red Wings lost Filip Zadina for two to three weeks, but the team did get a boost of good news as winger Anthony Mantha practiced with the first time since he suffered a mid-body injury on Dec. 21 against Toronto when Jake Muzzin slammed him to the ice, according to NHL.com’s Dana Wakiji. The 25-year-old was wearing an orange no-contact jersey, but it’s step in the right direction for the winger who has appeared in just 29 games this season.

“I’m feeling better,” Mantha said. “Obviously today was the first practice with the team, so it feels good mentally. Physically, I’ve been getting better over the last couple of weeks. I can’t complain.”

Mantha was playing well, posting 12 goals and 24 points in those 29 games and was looking to potentially post career highs, but now will look to help the Red Wings offense, which has struggled for most of the year.

  • In his most recent mailbag, the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski writes that the Buffalo Sabres might be interested in taking a long look at 24-year-old prospect goaltender Jonas Johansson, who will be a restricted free agent next year and could be a candidate to replace Carter Hutton next season if he fares well, assuming they can move Hutton. Johansson has played well with the Rochester Americans this year, posting a 2.19 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 20 games. The team might also want to avoid keeping Johansson in Rochester next year, which could block the path when top goalie prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen becomes a full-time AHL goalie.
  • When the New York Islanders lost defenseman Adam Pelech for the season due to an Achilles’ tendon injury, many thought that rookie Noah Dobson would be the recipient of the extra minutes that the team lost. Instead, Newsday’s Andrew Gross writes that head coach Barry Trotz has relied on his five veteran blueliners and continues to hold Dobson out of key moments in games. Dobson doesn’t play in the third period at all in tight games. The five veterans are forced to take extra shifts in order to replace Dobson, who refers to the situation as five and a half defenders, but doesn’t feel the extra ice time is having a negative effect on the other five defenders.
  • Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Ottawa Senators forward Nick Paul is skating again and should be able to return at some point this week. The 24-year-old suffered a high ankle sprain on Jan. 7 against the Capitals and deemed to be out for four weeks, which is right on schedule. Paul has six goals and 13 points in 38 games this season.

 

Snapshots: Three Stars, Spooner, Okulov

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The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, and Boston Bruins fans will be happy to know that David Pastrnak’s performance was not overlooked. The young forward took home the top spot after scoring seven goals in three games including a four-goal performance against the Anaheim Ducks. Pastrnak is now tied with James Neal for the league lead in goals with nine.

Not to be forgotten however are John Carlson and Carter Hutton that took home second and third respectively. Carlson continues to lead the NHL in scoring with 18 points (including eight last week) and has been an absolute force for the Washington Capitals early. Hutton meanwhile stopped all 72 shots he faces last week including 47 in a single game to shutout the Los Angeles Kings. If the Buffalo Sabres netminder can continue to provide this kind of performance, the team may well have a chance to fight for that divisional playoff spot that they’ve coveted for so long.

  • Ryan Spooner has changed teams again, but that doesn’t mean he’s coming back to North America. The former NHL forward will join Dynamo Minsk in the KHL for the rest of the season, leaving HC Lugano of the Swiss NLA. Spooner is still just 27, but spent time with three different NHL organizations last season and can’t seem to find a home anywhere.
  • Following up on the recent report linking the Toronto Maple Leafs to Konstantin Okulov, Igor Eronko of Sport-Express confirms that the Russian forward has indeed spoken to Mike Babcock already. Okulov has 13 points through his first 17 games in the KHL this season and is a potential target for teams looking to add international talent next summer.

Arbitration Breakdown: Linus Ullmark

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Salary arbitration season is underway, as hearings began on July 20th and extend through August 4th. While arbitration awards are very infrequent, with most cases settling beforehand, occasionally a binding decision is handed down by the arbitrator. What goes on behind closed doors before that point? The players, aided by their representation and the NHLPA, and their respective teams, aided by a select group of lawyers, each file at a certain salary over a one- or two-year term. The arbitrator may decide on any salary at or between those two points, based on the arguments in each sides’ written brief and oral presentation. While both sides will have themes to base their arguments on, rather than debate only the merits of the player, the bulk of the conversation in an arbitration hearing instead centers around comparable players. Each side will use a tailored group of statistical ranges, both career and platform year numbers, to show how the player compares to similar recent arbitration-eligible players. All statistics are available to use, but their persuasiveness is the key. The player side will look to show that the player is superior to a group of players at a salary lower than their filing number, while the team side will look to show that player is inferior to a group of players above their filing number. Whoever makes the most convincing argument will land the favorable decision.

The Buffalo Sabres are 50/50 on settling arbitration cases so far this summer, coming to an agreement with Remi Elie prior to a hearing, but going through the process with Evan Rodrigues. They remarkably have two cases left with just two hearing dates remaining. The first, scheduled for Friday, is with 26-year-old homegrown goaltender Linus Ullmark. Ullmark’s performance as well as his role with the team has been up and down over his career and there is no consensus as to whether he is still growing into a future starter or has settled into a backup position. That much was evident when the two sides exchanged filing numbers, as the two figures were drastically far apart. The Sabres prevailed against Rodrigues in a case that seemingly favored the player; will they do so again? Here is a closer look at the case:

The Case of Linus Ullmark

Career Statistics: 63 games played, 24 wins, .910 save percentage, 2.87 goals against average
Platform Statistics: 37 games played, 15 wins, .905 save percentage, 3.11 goals against average

Filing Numbers: Ullmark – One year, $2.65MM, Sabres – One year, $800K (midpoint: $1.725MM)

Player Side

Themes:

  • Starting-Caliber Goaltender: strong 2017-18 numbers in NHL and AHL; comparable numbers to starter Carter Hutton in platform season; higher quality start percentage than Hutton in platform season
  • Lacking Opportunity: strong numbers in 20 appearances as a rookie in 2015-16, made only six appearances over the next two seasons; Sabres were ninth-worst in shots allowed in platform season, lacked opportunity to play behind competent defense

Team Side

Themes:

  • Backup-Caliber Goaltender: inferior statistics to starter Hutton in platform season; SV% and GAA ranked in bottom ten among 48 goalies with at least 30 appearances in platform season; unable to earn more appearances in prior seasons
  • Unreliable Goaltender: cannot handle regular NHL workload, numbers in five appearances in 2017-18 far superior to numbers as primary backup in 2018-19; allowed four or more goals in 15 appearances, including seven of final twelve appearances and five times in back-to-back appearances

Potential Comparable Player:

David Rittich (2019)
Career Statistics: 67 games played, 35 wins, .909 save percentage, 2.70 goals against average
Platform Statistics: 45 games played, 27 wins, .911 save percentage, 2.61 goals against average
Salary: $2.75MM

  • Player’s argument: Similar career numbers; similar age, size, developmental path
  • Team’s counter: Rittich had substantially better numbers in the platform season; has shown steady improvement at NHL level, eventually winning starting role; Rittich has better quality start percentage, more reliable and consistent performances

Prediction

There are not many great cases for arbitration-eligible goaltenders with Ullmark’s level of NHL experience. That serves to benefit him though, as one such player is a case settled last week in Rittich. Although Rittich’s new $2.75MM salary is more than Ullmark’s side filed for, they can acknowledge Rittich’s superior play in the platform season and still argue that the career numbers are similar enough to warrant their  $2.65MM ask. As for the Sabres, they can easily argue that Rittich is on a much better trajectory than Ullmark, but the player side may admit to that themselves. They’ll have to really hammer home the contrast between the two goalies if they are to use Rittich’s case to their advantage. Otherwise, Buffalo will have to dig deep to find a different case that both fits the criteria for a case that can be used in a hearing and also makes sense as a comparable player, so they can add additional points to their argument. It’s going to be tough, though. The Sabres pulled out a surprise against Rodrigues, but don’t expect them to do it again. Anticipate a potential award to land somewhere in the $2.1-2.3MM range.

Sabres Sign Andrew Hammond

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“The Hamburglar” is making his next appearance in Buffalo. The Sabres have announced a one-year contract with Andrew Hammond worth the NHL minimum $700K. The veteran goalie should slot in as the team’s No. 3 keeper next season.

Buffalo had hoped that this was the year that stud goaltending prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen might take over full-time duties in Rochester, but the prospect underwent hip surgery in April which could miss a large chunk of the season and therefore would be better off as a backup option once he returns. Hence the addition of Hammond. The 31-year-old known for impressive streaks, including an incredible run while he was with the Ottawa Senators in the 2014-15 season in which he posted a 1.79 GAA and a .941 save percentage in 24 games for them. Unfortunately for Hammond, he also had just as many streaks where he was unsuccessful, making for a very streaky goaltender.

He has played just 56 total NHL games over his career and spent last season as the third-string option for the Minnesota Wild, but was not able to beat out backup Alex Stalock and served as the starting netminder with the Iowa Wild in the AHL. He played 33 games for Iowa, putting up a 2.81 GAA and a .910 save percentage, but never played a game for Minnesota.

While Buffalo’s goaltending situation looks solid in Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark, neither goalie posted great numbers and if one of them falters, the team might feel comfortable calling up Hammond.

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