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Christian Fischer

West Notes: Coyotes, Boudreau, Schuldt

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With there being so many notable restricted free agents despite training camps being only a few weeks away, it will be worth watching to see if teams adjust their approaches towards trying to lock up their young players earlier.  With that in mind, Coyotes GM John Chayka acknowledged to Craig Morgan of The Athletic (subscription required) that the team has already started talks with their three potential RFA forwards next summer in wingers in Clayton Keller, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Christian Fischer but was quick to add that none of the talks should be considered as advanced.  Arizona hasn’t hesitated to lock up players early in recent years but considering that they could be facing a bit of a cap crunch in the near future, they may opt to tread lightly with these talks for now.

Elsewhere out West:

  • While new general managers often like to handpick their head coach, don’t expect that to be the case in Minnesota. New Wild GM Bill Guerin told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he has “full confidence” in head coach Bruce Boudreau so there is no coaching change on the horizon.  The veteran bench boss could reach the 1,000 games coached mark this season but the team has won just two postseason contests over his first four seasons with the team.
  • Jimmy Schuldt’s presence on the Golden Knights’ entry into their upcoming rookie tournament raised some eyebrows as the defenseman remains unsigned. His agent told SinBin.Vegas (Twitter link) that both sides are preparing as if a deal will be done by the time the tournament gets underway on September 7th.  However, Jesse Granger of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that while he could play on a tryout deal as many undrafted players do in these events, his sense is that it’s unlikely that Schuldt would participate.  Many teams pursued the 24-year-old in college free agency last season but he was only eligible for a one-year, entry-level deal which is why he’s now unsigned after playing just one game with the team.

Poll: Should Christian Fischer Face Discipline For Hit On Jamie Benn?

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Flying under the radar today was one of the more dangerous knee-to-knee hits in recent memory that occurred last night in the opening game between the Arizona Coyotes and Dallas Stars. Late in the first period, Coyotes forward Christian Fischer was facing down none other than Stars captain Jamie Benn as he crossed the red line on a rush. Fischer decided the best course of action was to extend his left leg as Benn cut to left, making direct contract with Benn’s left knee and sending him airborne from the contact (video). The trip cost Fischer two minutes for a minor kneeing penalty, but 24 hours later there has been no word on any other supplemental discipline from the NHL Department of Player Safety.

On one hand, Fischer made a split second decision to both slow the rush and brace himself against the charging Benn. It wasn’t the type of hit typically targeted by Player Safety and did not appear to have much forethought or intent to injure. Although clearly a penalty, Fischer served his time and, to some extent, justice was served.

However, this also seems like the type of incident that has gone unnoticed almost entirely due to the result. Not only did Benn get right up, seemingly totally uninjured, but he went right back at Fischer. He also finished the night with two assists and looked perfectly healthy. Had Benn instead suffered a massive knee injury, as was entirely possible from such a check, the likelihood that Player Safety would have looked into the loss of one of the league’s top players is extremely high. Fischer was fortunate that Benn was not seriously hurt and, even if the decision was made in haste, knew full well that knee-to-knee contact could have had a disastrous result. Yet, he still decided to throw his leg into the path of the speeding Benn.

Player Safety tends to respond quickly to incidents such as these, sometimes announcing a hearing and sometimes even recognizing a controversial event and confirming that there would not be any supplemental discipline. At this point, Fischer’s knee has somehow gone totally unnoticed. Is this just a minor penalty that simply looked dramatic on the ice? Or was this a dirty play by Fischer that was dangerous and/or intentional and deserving of punishment?

Arizona’s Moves Continue To Improve Coyotes Team

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With the recent acquisition of Alex Galchenyuk, the Arizona Coyotes are well on their way to taking another step towards building a winning team in the desert. If you add the players Arizona acquired last year at this time, a full year under the belt of coach Rick Tocchet and the continued development of their young players, the team seems to be heading in the right direction and the team is starting to get excited.

Throw in franchise defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson as someone who sees the changes. Many thought Ekman-Larsson might spurn the struggling franchise, yet he agreed to sign an eight-year, $66MM extension last week. Just last year, the team went out and traded their first-round pick (seventh overall) to the New York Rangers and picked up two key pieces to their team in center Derek Stepan and goaltender Antti Raanta. Stepan has continued his solid play, while Raanta put up a solid second half of the season after an injury-plagued first half, putting up a 2.24 GAA and a .930 save percentage in 47 games. He has also been rewarded with a three-year, $12.75MM extension, which kicks in this year. Chayka also went out and traded for veteran defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jason Demers in separate deals last year.

While many people felt that after a flurry of moves a year ago, the Coyotes would make a huge jump in the standings, that didn’t happen, especially after starting the season with an 11-game losing streak. However, their second half showed more of that improvement as the team had a stretch towards the end of the season in which it went 17-8-3.

Regardless, there seems to be a lot going right for the Coyotes right now, according to NBC Sports’ James O’Brien. The scribe points out some key facts, including the initial reaction to the Galchenyuk deal has been positive. While it’s too early to tell, Galchenyuk’s chances of becoming a solid player is quite a bit higher than Max Domi, who the Coyotes sent back to Montreal. Assuming that Galchenyuk can make the conversion to center, that would relieve some stress from the team’s lack of depth at that position. Now if the team wants to move Dylan Strome or Christian Dvorak to the wing position, there won’t be extra pressure to keep him at center due to their lack of depth.

One other key factor is the team still has an enormous amount of young players who could be ready to take that next step. Clayton Keller scored 23 goals in his rookie year and could improve on that exponentially. Other players like Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun, Strome, Brendan Perlini and Christian Fischer could also take that next step. And don’t forget the sixth pick in next week’s draft.

The team also still has plenty of cap space available with more than $18MM in space waiting for them to use. They could dip into the free agency market or continuing to add players through trade. However, with the way Chayka is constantly tweaking this team, there are likely more changes to come.

Chicago Pro Hockey League Is Launched

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Since the success of Da Beauty League in Minnesota, a summer league featuring plenty of NHL talent during their offseason, other summer professional leagues have started to pop up. Today saw the launch of the Chicago Pro Hockey League (CPHL) which will take place in Chicago this summer and include more than 80 players from professional leagues across North America.

In their press release, the league states that Vinnie Hinostroza, Nick Schmaltz, Jordan Oesterle, Connor Carrick, Ryan Hartman, Tommy Wingels, Christian Fischer, Ryan Dzingel, T.J. Tynan, Robbie Russo, Alex Broadhurst, Garret Sparks, Christian Dvorak, Anders Bjork, Tommy Di Pauli and Louis Belpedio will all be a part of the inaugural season.

Leagues like this are often a good proving ground for junior or NCAA prospects, as well as a chance for fans to see their favorite players for a lower price. The season begins on July 11th, and tickets will cost just five dollars. Games will be held at the Chicago Blackhawks’ practice facility, and a portion of the proceeds are given to charity each week.

Florida Trades Demers To Arizona For McGinn

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The Florida Panthers have traded defenseman Jason Demers to Arizona in exchange for Jamie McGinn, tweets Elliotte Friedman. AZ Sports Craig Morgan confirms the deal is straight up with no other pieces. However, Friedman adds that Florida will retain 12.5 percent of Demers salary in the deal.

Demers is a solid two-way defenseman, finishing last year with nine goals and 19 assists. The 29-year-old defenseman was rumored to be moved several times this offseason, so the trade comes as little surprise.

The Panthers previous management, in hopes of making a Stanley Cup run, signed Demers last summer to a five-year, $22.5MM contract to help man their blueline. However, an 81-point performance last season and with a change in management, the team was suddenly stuck with Demers who no longer fit into their long-term plans and with a remaining four years at $4.5MM annually. In acquiring McGinn, the team almost cuts that cost in half as the 29-year-old wing has just two years remaining at $3.33MM AAV. With his departure, the team may look to several younger possibilities to help fill out their defense.

The 29-year-old McGinn is coming off a regular season in which he put up nine goals and eight assists in 72 games. However, with the team ready to install all of its talented young forwards like Clayton Keller, Christian Dvorak, Christian Fischer, Max Domi, Brendan Perlini and many others into the lineup. McGinn had little place left. It was rumored he was about to have to switch positions in Arizona. Demers, however, would help with a struggling, yet improving blueline. He should solidify the team’s top two pairings on defense, along with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Alex Goligoski.

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