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Injury Updates: Kuemper, Byram, Boqvist, Murphy

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It appears as if Colorado’s goaltending situation will be tenuous for a little while.  Following last night’s victory in Montreal, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that starting netminder Darcy Kuemper could be out for two days or two months, meaning that there’s no timeline for his return.  Kuemper is believed to have suffered his upper-body injury at Wednesday’s morning skate after taking a high shot which, coupled with Bednar’s comment, suggests that the veteran may be dealing with a concussion.  With Pavel Francouz only beginning his LTI conditioning loan on Wednesday, it will be Jonas Johansson’s crease for the time being.

Other injury news from around the league:

  • Still with the Avalanche, Chambers notes in a separate column that defenseman Bowen Byram’s injury isn’t a concussion but that it does pertain to the head injury he just came back from. That return only lasted two games and it wouldn’t be surprising of Colorado errs on the side of caution when it comes to determining when he returns.  When healthy, the 20-year-old has impressed with nine points in 13 games while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night on the back end.
  • The Devils announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Jesper Boqvist from injured reserve. The 23-year-old has missed the last couple of weeks due to an upper-body injury and has split his season between New Jersey and their AHL affiliate in Utica.  With the Devils, he has one assist in five games but has eight points in seven minor league contests.  New Jersey had an open roster spot so no one needed to be sent down to make room for Boqvist on the active roster.
  • The Blackhawks have placed defenseman Connor Murphy in concussion protocol, relays Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune. There is no timetable for his return.  The veteran is second to Seth Jones in ATOI for Chicago’s defensemen at just under 22 minutes a night while leading the team in blocked shots with 48.

Chicago Blackhawks Extend Connor Murphy

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With just one year left on his current deal, Connor Murphy was set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. No more, as the Chicago Blackhawks defenseman has inked a four-year extension that keeps him under contract through the 2025-26 season. The deal comes with a $4.4MM cap hit. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman explained exactly why he did the deal now:

When we acquired Connor in the summer of 2017, we had visions of him growing as both a player and leader in our organization for many years. He has transformed into a defenseman capable of matching up with the opponent’s best players and someone we trust to help us preserve a lead in the final minutes. Connor’s voice carries weight in our locker room as a veteran presence and we’re thrilled that his development and leadership will continue as a Blackhawk.

Murphy, 28, has come so far since arriving in Chicago that a $4.4MM cap hit now appears to be a bit of a discount for the Blackhawks. The former Arizona Coyotes defenseman was acquired in a deal for Niklas Hjalmarsson and was already making $3.85MM per season. That small raise is a win for Chicago given how much responsibility Murphy has taken on over the last couple of years, including averaging more than 22 minutes a game in 2020-21. He led the team in both even-strength and shorthanded ice time, being matched against the opponent’s best every night.

A four-year extension buys out his age 29-32 seasons, meaning there likely isn’t a steep decline during the contracted years, though any long-term deal does come with some obvious risk. Murphy has never been a very effective offensive player and has a career-high of just 19 points, meaning his entire value comes from his defensive ability. If that falters at all, the Blackhawks would be paying a healthy contract to a player with little impact on the game.

It seems obvious that the Chicago management team wasn’t completely sold on some of the young players that have come through the system in recent years. Henri Jokiharju and Adam Boqvist have both been traded, while this summer they brought in veterans like Seth Jones and Jake McCabe on long-term deals. Murphy will be expected to be the third member of that core group of defenseman as they look to get back into playoff contention. Those three-Murphy, Jones and McCabe–will now carry a combined cap hit of $17.9MM in each of the three seasons after this one.

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

Latest On Nikita Zadorov, Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Blackhawks were reportedly listening to offers for defenseman Nikita Zadorov at the NHL Trade Deadline, but ultimately decided not to move him. However, that doesn’t mean that the two sides will stay together for much longer. As Ben Pope writes for the Chicago Sun-Times, the Blackhawks have dropped some hints that they are not content with the big blue liner and time is running out for him to prove himself.

Zadorov, 25, is in his first season in Chicago after coming over from the Colorado Avalanche in the Brandon Saad trade this past off-season. The Blackhawks hoped that Zadorov would step into a lineup that was missing many difference-makers on the back end and would transform into a bona fide top pair defenseman. While Zadorov has still been impressive as a physical force and solid defender, there has not been much else to praise about Zadorov’s game this season. He has been firmly entrenched as a second-pair defender in terms of time on ice, is fifth in defensive scoring and even lower in per-game production, and is on pace for a career-high in giveaways, even in a shortened season. Zadorov has merely continued to play the same role in Chicago as he did in Colorado, that of a complementary stay-at-home defenseman. While that is not without value, it isn’t what was expected of the 2013 first-round pick and may not be worth the cost to the Blackhawks. The team has not-so-subtly expressed their frustration recently, acquiring a younger and similar style of defender in Riley Stillman and then making Zadorov a healthy scratch on deadline day after discussing him with other teams beforehand.

This off-season, Zadorov presents a number of challenges to Chicago. The impending restricted free agent will need a new contract, which at a minimum will require a $3.2MM qualifying offer. However, despite his underwhelming effort this season, Zadorov can probably argue for making more than that and has the option to file for arbitration to support that claim. The problem for the Blackhawks is that they have very few contracts coming off the books this off-season and are projected to have limited cap flexibility to make other moves. Retaining Zadorov at a higher number even further reduces that cap space without making a material change to their roster, which is only a fringe playoff team this season. A potential arbitration case makes using their cap space even more problematic. If the relatively young blue liner demands a long-term deal as well, that becomes an issue with a number of young players already pushing for play time. Beyond the actual contract, the only way that Chicago can ensure that they even retain Zadorov’s RFA rights beyond July 21 is to protect him in the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft. With Duncan Keith and Connor Murphy as virtual locks to be protecting, adding Zadorov to that group would mean exposing valuable veteran Calvin de Haan and the recently-acquired Stillman. Yet, if they don’t protect Zadorov he could very easily be selected and lost for nothing.

In order to avoid a difficult expansion decision and possible contract battle and arbitration case, the Blackhawks may decide to re-ignite trade talks for Zadorov once their season has come to an end. Until then, Pope notes that Zadorov will be given every chance to prove that he is worthy of a longer look in Chicago. With de Haan and Adam Boqvist currently injured and the Blackhawks fighting for a playoff spot, Zadorov has the chance to step up and finally show that he can be a complete top-four defenseman. If he succeeds, perhaps all of the off-season issues fall by the wayside in favor of keeping a rare physical specimen and good young defender at all costs. However, if he falters then the partnership between the Blackhawks and Zadorov could be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Injury Notes: Chicago, Colorado, Raymond

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The Chicago Blackhawks issued a few injury updates today, including that Dylan Strome has been put in the concussion protocol. Strome, who has essentially been working as Chicago’s top center this season, is a huge loss for a team that is still very much in the thick of a playoff race. The Blackhawks are sitting third in the Central Division, though have already played 19 games—Tampa Bay and Dallas, two teams chasing them, have only had 15 and 12 respectively.

Lucas Carlsson will also miss some time and has been placed on injured reserve. The defenseman is dealing with a strained groin and is expected to miss 10-14 days. It’s not all bad news though. Connor Murphy, who hasn’t played since February 7 while dealing with a hip injury, has been activated from injured reserve. Murphy is averaging a career-high 22:45 through 13 games this season.

  • Dennis Gilbert may not be a Blackhawks defenseman anymore, but he’s getting injured like one. The Colorado Avalanche blueliner will be out four to six weeks after undergoing facial surgery according to Peter Baugh of The Athletic. The injury was presumably suffered in a fight with Keegan Kolesar last week, which resulted in Gilbert’s exit after fewer than two minutes of ice time. Erik Johnson and Pavel Francouz meanwhile are both still out long-term, according to head coach Jared Bednar.
  • Detroit Red Wings top prospect Lucas Raymond suffered an elbow injury while playing in Sweden and according to Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, will have surgery that is expected to keep him out eight weeks. There is no long-term concern for Raymond, the fourth-overall pick from the 2020 draft. The young winger had 18 points in 34 games for Frolunda this season and still needs to sign his entry-level contract with the Red Wings.

Snapshots: Tatar, Dumba, Devils, Murphy, Hamonic

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The Montreal Canadiens will be without Tomas Tatar Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who is a healthy scratch, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. The move made by head coach Claude Julien is believed to be a message sent to both Tatar and the team after Montreal has lost three of their last four games.

Tatar, despite having four goals and eight points in 14 games, has been adequate on the ice, but not as good as last season when he posted 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games. Engels believes that the message is meant just as much to the team as Tatar is one of the most popular players in the locker room.

The Philadelphia Flyers attempted a similar benching of leading scorer Travis Konecny on Jan. 30. Unfortunately, he has not scored a point since then.

  • Corey Masisak of The Athletic reports that a New Jersey Devils team spokesman said the team will be allowed to return to practice on Monday. That will be the first time the team has been allowed on the ice since the game at Buffalo on Jan. 31. The team is currently scheduled to play on Tuesday at the New York Rangers.
  • The Minnesota Wild got even more good news when they learned that defenseman Matt Dumba should be in the lineup on Tuesday when they begin playing once again after suffering what looked to be a severe ankle injury, according to Star Tribune’s Sarah McLellan. Dumba got tangled up with teammate Jordan Greenway and suffered an awkward fall on Jan. 30, but the blueliner said that he’s feeling good and has no issues regarding the injury. The 26-year-old Dumba is looking solid this season, already with three goals in just nine games this season. Teammate Mats Zuccarello is also getting closer to a return. The veteran forward practiced Friday in a non-contact jersey.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have placed defenseman Connor Murphy on injured reserve, retroactive to Feb. 9, according to NHL.com’s Brandon Cain. The blueliner was suffered a right hip injury in that game and is expected to miss up to two weeks. Murphy has been playing well for Chicago with two goals and five points in 13 games, while averaging 22:45 of ATOI.
  • The Vancouver Canucks could be getting a boost back to their defense as head coach Travis Green reported that defenseman Travis Hamonic is close to returning to the team. The 30-year-old blueliner remains on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury. He has only appeared in five games with the Canucks this year with two assists, but could be a big addition if he returns soon.

Andrew Shaw In Concussion Protocol

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The Chicago Blackhawks announced some unfortunate injury news today, noting that Connor Murphy will be out for 10-14 days with a right hip issue and Andrew Shaw is in the concussion protocol. Murphy didn’t play in the team’s last game, but Shaw did, hitting the ice for nearly 15 minutes in their overtime win against the Dallas Stars.

The important thing here is Shaw’s health, given his history of concussions. The bang-and-crash forward has been sidelined by head injuries many times in the past, and head coach Jeremy Colliton (whose playing career was also ended due to concussions) was “visibly distraught” when he updated reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago on Shaw’s status today.

It’s not clear at all what this mean’s for Shaw’s future, but for now, he won’t be in the lineup when the Blackhawks host the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening.

The team announced two other transactions: Wyatt Kalynuk has been recalled to the taxi squad from the AHL, while Anton Lindholm has gone the other way, assigned to the Rockford IceHogs.

Blackhawks’ Brent Seabrook Will Try To Play In Qualifying Round, Postseason

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No one thought much about it when veteran Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook was declared out for the season in late December. The Blackhawks were not looking like a playoff team at the time and the aged and battered Seabrook was not going to be the difference between a postseason spot or not. Seabrook proceeded to have three separate surgeries – his right shoulder and each hip – and was expected to be ready to begin the 2020-21 season.

However, the extended pause in the league season due to COVID-19 has changed everything for the Blackhawks and Seabrook. Chicago was the final team in the Western Conference to qualify for the league’s expanded postseason and will have a chance to win a playoff spot in a “knockout round” match-up with the Edmonton Oilers later this summer. Meanwhile, Seabrook has had ample down time to rehab his injuries and has now resumed skating, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic. Powers rights that the next step would be for Seabrook to be cleared for contact, after which he could potentially join the Blackhawks for training camp, set to begin later this month.

Of course, actually being selected as one of the defensemen to play for Chicago in the qualifying round and beyond is a whole other issue entirely for the 35-year-old Seabrook. The veteran has not looked like himself for several years now and his four points in 32 games and career-low ice time this season implies that cracking the starting lineup may be an uphill battle even if Seabrook is completely healthy. With Calvin de Haan, similarly ruled out for the season but recently cleared to return, joining top-six regulars Duncan Keith, Connor Murphy, Adam Boqvist, Olli Maatta and Slater Koekkoek, Chicago’s starting defense may already be set. This also doesn’t include AHL depth options and the possibility that top defense prospect Ian Mitchell could also be in the mix.

Nevertheless, Seabrook will still work toward being cleared for action and could play an important locker room role and serve as valued depth at the very least for Chicago. The team will need all the help they can get to upset Edmonton and a tuned-up and refreshed Seabrook is just as likely as anyone to be that potential surprise x-factor in the qualifying round series, made even more surprising by the previous expectation that his season was over.

Blackhawks Notes: Mitchell, Dach, De Haan, Crawford

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Sooner or later, Ian Mitchell will join the Chicago Blackhawks. Whether he’ll suit up for the Stanley Cup Qualifier against the Edmonton Oilers remains to be seen. Until coronavirus ended the college season, Mitchell had banked 32 points in his junior year with the University of Denver, and his availability for the tail end of the NHL season was largely going to be dictated by how far of a run Denver could make in their own playoffs. Though the details of the proposed return-to-play plan between the NHL and NHLPA aren’t finalized, it’s assumed that players in Mitchell’s situation – those who have signed their entry-level deals but haven’t debuted – won’t be allowed to join their clubs for the playoff, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Regardless, Mitchell isn’t likely to join the defensive rotation this season, not with Duncan Keith and Adam Boqvist, Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy, and Olli Maatta and Slater Koekkoek likely making up the top three line pairings, writes The Athletic’s Scott Powers If Mitchell isn’t able to sign with the Blackhawks this season, that probably suits Chicago just fine, as they could gain an extra year of cost control for Mitchell. If he is allowed to sign, not only might Chicago burn a year of Mitchell’s entry-level deal, but it’d also align his first year of restricted free agency with Boqvist and Kirby Dach. The Hawks know all too well how difficult it can be to build a contender when a team’s best young players become expensive at the same time.

  • Speaking of Dach, the Blackhawks’ rookie center isn’t quite as gung-ho to return to the ice as NHL players are “supposed” to be, but that shouldn’t be a knock on the young center’s character, writes The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus. On the contrary, Dach displayed remarkable self-awareness and maturity in his comments about returning to play: “As a young guy in my first year, I feel like I’ve got a lot of potential to grow and learn in this league, and to become the player I want to be. I know I’m a few steps away from that. At the same time, this could be a health risk for many young guys’ careers. We’re high-intensity athletes, where our hearts and lungs are pumping extremely fast, and (COVID-19) could be damaging to us, even past our careers. That’s something you’ve got to take into consideration when you go back.” Dach, 19, showed enough in his first season to excite the Chicago faithful, scoring 23 points in 14:16 ATOI. Despite his concerns, Dach plans on joining his teammates for their Stanley Cup Qualifier against the Edmonton Oilers, which, if nothing else, will provide Dach an early brush with playoff-adjacent hockey. 
  • Calvin de Haan, meanwhile, is back on the ice as of today, per Carter Baum of NHL.com. In his first season with the Blackhawks, the former Islanders and Hurricanes blueliner appeared in 29 games before right shoulder surgery knocked him out for the year – or so we thought. When healthy, de Haan was a penalty killer for Chicago, and he’ll likely slot back into the second pair or defenseman with Connor Murphy if he’s fully back up to speed. Baum provides this quote from Coach Jeremy Colliton: “Obviously we’ve got to get him on the ice and go through camp and hopefully everything continues to progress as far as his health.” 
  • The Blackhawks have an uphill climb ahead of them if they hope to survive the Stanley Cup Qualifier. Taking on the star-studded Edmonton Oilers on their home ice (without fans) presents a challenge for the Hawks, but it’s still a better deal than they were likely to get had the season finished on time. Chicago wasn’t likely to scratch their way back into the playoff hunt, but now youngsters like Dach, Boqvist, and Alex DeBrincat can garner some experience playing games of consequence against some of the best players in the game. The Blackhawks have the experience to upset Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Oilers, but to do so will likely require goaltender Corey Crawford to quickly get on top of his game, per Tracey Myers of NHL.com. After trading Robin Lehner to the Golden Knights, Chicago has no viable Plan B should the 35-year-old Crawford struggle to hit his stride. Not to pile on in the stakes department, but Crawford is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Brent Seabrook, Calvin De Haan Out For The Season

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Friday: In an update, the Blackhawks announced that both Seabrook and de Haan have undergone successful surgery. The recovery timeline for de Haan will be four to five months, while Seabrook’s will be revealed after he undergoes additional surgeries on his hips.

Thursday: The status quo in Chicago will shift dramatically when the team returns to action. The Blackhawks have announced that two of their starting defensemen will miss the remainder of the season due to injury. Both Brent Seabrook and Calvin de Haan will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. Seabrook will also have surgery on both hips. The duo have been placed on Long-Term Injured Reserve.

This singular announcement means that one-third of the Blackhawks’ starting blue line is now out of action for the rest of the year. Seabrook and de Haan are not exactly offensive dynamos, combining for just ten points so far this year. However, their defensive presence will be missed. De Haan leads the team in both hits and blocked shots, and Seabrook is among the the best on the team in both categories as well. The pair also chew up considerable minutes, with each averaging nearly 20 minutes per game this season. While Chicago is not without hope on the back end, with Duncan Keith, Connor Murphy, Olli Maatta, sand Erik Gustafsson still present on a deep unit, but these losses will nevertheless still be felt.

Also on the sidelines for Chicago is Brandon Saad, announced as missing the next three weeks with a right ankle injury. Saad, while underwhelming so far this season, is still the Blackhawks’ second-leading goal-scorer and fifth in points on the team. With the Blackhawks already in the basement of the Central Division and now missing Saad for several weeks and Seabrook and de Haan for the rest of the year, today’s announcement will more or less mark the end of Chicago’s season, barring an unexpected boost in the absence of their established veterans.

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