Dylan McIlrath

Free Agent Focus: Detroit Red Wings

June 25, 2017 at 3:25 pm CDT | by natebrown 1 Comment

The free agent period is now less than one week away from opening up and there are several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Detroit’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: Winger Tomas Tatar has been the Red Wings most consistent scorer over the past couple seasons and is due for a large raise as a result. Though he played with a shoulder injury for much of the season, Tatar still managed to pot 25 goals. The wrinkle with Tatar is that he could still be used as a trade chip should Detroit general manager Ken Holland seek a defensive upgrade. But this seems unlikely. Holland rarely pulls the trigger on deals, despite being known to say that he’s “working the phones.” Expect Tatar to re-sign for somewhere around the money Gustav Nyquist received, possibly getting more.

C Andreas Athanasiou: Another player rumored to be used as a trade chip, Athanasiou is a dynamic, game breaking forward who uses his speed and hands to generate scoring chances while creating highlight reel goals. Despite this, the Red Wings brass and coaching staff have chided Athanasiou for his lack of defensive play and this could pull back some of the dollars he could see. The Red Wings are in somewhat of a strange flux with their roster, and Athanasiou is one of the bright spots on the roster. He’ll see a bump from his entry-level deal, especially since Detroit will need to be more reliant upon him this year.

Other RFA’s: Xavier Ouellet, Robbie Russo, Martin Frk, Jake Paterson, Brian Lashoff

Key Unrestricted free agents: LW Drew Miller – Miller isn’t so much a “key” UFA player as he is an indication of what the Red Wings brass truly values. Miller, at best, is a fringe fourth liner in the NHL. Though a “penalty kill specialist,” numbers revealed that the Red Wings penalty kill hardly missed Miller when he was sent down to AHL affiliate Grand Rapids last season. The point? The Red Wings must hand off ice time to younger, faster, more skilled players. Re-signing Miller reveals that the Red Wings still don’t trust their young players and worse, will yield very little in the way of production from Miller.

Other UFA’s: Joe Vitale, Ben Street, Dylan McIlrath, Mitch Callahan, Edward Pasquale

Projected Cap Space: Via CapFriendly, the Red Wings have close to $8MM ($7,902,955 to be exact). This money will be used to essentially re-sign everyone within the organization and leave maybe $2-$3MM for an unrestricted free agent. Though Dan Girardi is out there, it makes little sense for Detroit to throw large sums of money on a defenseman who is clearly declining. Saving the money and possibly trying to upgrade via trade would be Detroit’s best option.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Hindsight Bias: The Best And Worst Of Trade Deadline Day

May 13, 2017 at 6:49 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 2 Comments

With the conference championships underway, we’re left with just four teams remaining in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. For the rest, they can take a look at the major trades made up to and on March 1st this year and gauge whether they were a mistake or a success. It’s somewhat of a mixed bag this year, with no deadline acquisition fueling their team to postseason dominance and no scapegoat whose underwhelming performance is to blame for an epic collapse. With that said, over two months later, it is safe to say that there were some clear winner and loser trades at the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline.

Winner: Anaheim Ducks – Patrick Eaves

Eaves has quietly been one of the most consistent contributors in the NHL this season and that did not change when he moved from the Dallas Stars to the Ducks ahead of the deadline. A versatile, two-way winger, Eaves has fit in well in Anaheim as is the lone major deadline addition who is still playing in the conference championships. After scoring 37 points in 59 games with the Stars, about .63 points per game, he registered 14 more in the final 20 regular season games for the Ducks, boosting his scoring to .7 points per game down the stretch in his new home. He even has two goals and two assists in seven playoff games, despite battling injuries. Anaheim may be down 1-0 in their pursuit of the Campbell Bowl and a Stanley Cup berth and their postseason success has bumped the price for Eaves up from a 2017 second-round pick to a first-rounder, but with a one in four chance at a title and a chance to re-sign Eaves, the Ducks cannot be more pleased with how this deal has played out thus far.

Loser: Minnesota Wild – Martin Hanzal

A team that is not so happy with their first-round investment is Minnesota. The Wild had been one of the best teams in the league all season long when they surprised many by acquiring one of the top trade deadline targets in Hanzal. The power forward performed admirably post-trade, putting up half as many points as his season total in Arizona in less than half as many games, 26 in 51 versus 13 in 25. He even added a playoff goal. However, his time in the playoffs, by no fault of his own, was much shorter than expected. The Wild were upset by the St. Louis Blues in five games and just like that they’re Stanley Cup hopes were gone. Falling so short despite high expectations makes the cost of adding a piece that didn’t matter much more difficult to swallow. Minnesota owes the Arizona Coyotes a top pick this season and a second-rounder next season plus another conditional pick and prospect, with little to show for the price.

Winner: New York Rangers – Brendan Smith

While the Rangers were underwhelming in their semi-final series against the Ottawa Senators, one many expected them to win, their exit is still not all that surprising given their status as a wildcard seed. Helping them to upset the Montreal Canadiens in Round One and take the Senators to six games was deadline acquisition Smith. While some initially mocked the deal – a 2018 second-round pick and 2017 third-round pick for a defenseman with just five points – Smith proved to be an excellent fit in New York. He scored four points in 18 games with the Rangers and also played better in his own end, earning him more play time. A disappointing start to the season in Detroit for the career-Red Wing quickly turned into a career revival with impressive play for his new squad. The postseason brought yet another four points and continued high-level play for Smith. Unfortunately, perhaps his worst game as a Ranger came in the elimination loss to the Senators when he was exposed on defense multiple times. Yet, in the big picture he was a success in New York. There is no word yet on whether there is mutual interest between both sides in an extension, especially since the Rangers carry many expensive blue line contract, but regardless this deal has to be considered a win for the Blueshirts.

Loser: Los Angeles Kings – Ben Bishop

Bishop may be happily settling in to his new home in Dallas after signing a nice six-year deal, but his time in Los Angeles did little to help him secure that contact. The Kings and the keeper were strange bedfellows to begin with, as now ex-GM Dean Lombardi traded red-hot backup goalie Peter Budaj, 2015 second-round defenseman Erik Cernak, and a 2017 seventh-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Bishop, just as starter Jonathan Quick was returning to health. The Kings needed scoring, not better goaltending, if they wanted to make the playoffs, but ended up with neither from the Bishop trade as he picked up only two wins in seven appearances with L.A. and posted just a .900 save percentage. The Kings finished 10th in the Western Conference and eight points out of a playoff spot, not even all that close to a berth, and now need to find a new backup goalie for 2017-18. The Bishop trade makes as little sense now as it did then and undoubtedly figured in to Lombardi’s firing.

Winner: Boston Bruins – Drew Stafford

The Bruins may have lost in the first round of the playoffs, but they likely wouldn’t have if four of their six starting defenseman didn’t miss all or most of the series. Even with those major injuries, the Ottawa Senators still had a difficult time eliminating the Bruins and Stafford was a thorn in their side with two goals and consistent two-way contribution. Add in four goals, matching his total earlier in the season with the Winnipeg Jets, and four assists in 18 regular season games as well as an outstanding +8 rating, and Stafford was an excellent addition for Boston. Acquired for just a sixth-round pick, Stafford was easily the steal of the trade deadline and ongoing talks of an extension would only add more value to a shrewd deal by GM Don Sweeney.

Loser: Florida Panthers – Thomas Vanek

Vanek was having a great season for the Detroit Red Wings when the Trade Deadline rolled around. He had 38 points in 48 games and was sniping with accuracy unseen over the past five years. When the Florida Panthers struck a deal to acquire that level of talent for just a 2017 third-round pick and struggling prospect Dylan McIlrath, there was a consensus that they had won the trade considering the affordable cost. Yet, the counter to that argument was that, even if he maintained the same rate of production, Vanek alone was likely not enough for the Panthers to make the playoffs. In the end, that proved to be true. Vanek’s scoring dropped off to just two goals and ten points in 20 games and his shooting percentage fell almost ten points, but even if it hadn’t, the Panthers wouldn’t have qualified for the postseason. They finished 13th in the Eastern Conference, 14 points shy of a playoff spot. At the end of the day, acquiring the impending free agent and missing the playoffs by that much was simply a waste of a third-round pick for a team that is still building.

Loser: New York Islanders – No One

The idea that you can’t lose at the Trade Deadline if you don’t make a deal is incorrect. Case in point: the 2016-17 Islanders. New York ended up missing the postseason by just one point and their playoff hopes were alive up to the final day of the season. Had the Isles made a trade, even a small one, that could have won them one more game down the stretch, they might have been a playoff team after all. Given their need to convince star John Tavares to stick around, the Islanders should have been more willing to do something – anything – to transform into a playoff team.

Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Atlantic Division

March 1, 2017 at 4:44 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 8 Comments

The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the neck-and-neck Atlantic Division:

Winners

Boston Bruins:

Acquired Drew Stafford from Winnipeg Jets for conditional 2017 sixth-round pick

GM Don Sweeney did not want a repeat of 2016, when he gave up second, third, fourth, and fifth-round picks for Lee Stempniak and John-Michael Liles, only for the team to miss the playoffs. In 2017, he succeeded in bringing in a reliable depth player and goal-scorer, Stafford, without having to pay the price of a top pick or any of Boston’s numerous high-end prospects. Sweeney deserves credit for not panicking when his divisional rivals all began making multiple moves, holding to his word of not overpaying and eventually getting a last-minute deal done at a bargain price for a good player.

Detroit Red Wings:

Acquired 2017 third-round pick from Chicago Blackhawks for Tomas Jurco
Acquired 2017 third-round pick and 2018 second-round pick from New York Rangers for Brendan Smith
Acquired 2018 sixth-round pick from Montreal Canadiens for Steve Ott
Acquired 2017 third-round pick and Dylan McIlrath from Florida Panthers for Thomas Vanek

As hard as it is to imagine, the Red Wings are going to miss the playoffs and were in a complete fire sale at the deadline. For as long as it has been since they were in such a position, the team did pretty well. GM Ken Holland may have been able to get a better deal for Vanek earlier in the season, but getting two high picks for Smith and anything at all for Ott was nice maneuvering. The Red Wings in essence added five picks for four players that were unlikely to be on the team in 2017-18 anyway. Could they have dealt Riley Sheahan and Drew Miller too? Possibly, but they did enough as is.

Montreal Canadiens:

Acquired Jordie Benn from Dallas Stars for 2017 fourth-round pick and Greg Pateryn
Acquired Brandon Davidson from Edmonton Oilers for David Desharnais
Acquired Steve Ott from Detroit Red Wings for 2018 sixth-round pick
Acquired Dwight King from Los Angeles Kings for conditional 2018 fourth-round pick
Acquired Andreas Martinsen from Colorado Avalanche for Sven Andrighetto

Whether GM Marc Bergevin’s obvious plan to tailor his roster to new head coach Claude Julien’s style works out remains to be seen. However, adding five NHL-caliber players is a feat in itself, and doing so without losing much is even more impressive. The numerous Expansion Draft questions aside, the Habs added too long-term defensive options for two players they had grown tired of and a mid-round pick. The same applies to Martinsen for Andrighetto. King for a fourth-rounder could also end up as a bargain for a tough, postseason battle-tested player.

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Acquired Peter Budaj, Erik Cernak, and a 2017 seventh-round pick from the Los Angeles Kings for Ben Bishop, a 2017 fifth-round pick, and another conditional 2017 pick
Acquired 2017 second-round pick and Byron Froese from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Brian Boyle
Acquired Mike McKenna from the Florida Panthers for Adam Wilcox
Acquired Mark Streit from the Philadelphia Flyers for Valtteri Filppula, a 2017 fourth-round pick, and a conditional 2017 seventh-round pick
Acquired 2018 fourth-round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Mark Streit (flipped)

Like the Red Wings, the Lightning are not familiar with fire sales, but GM Steve Yzerman got the job done. Dumping Filppula by flipping Streit was a genius move and, all things considered, really only left them down a conditional last-round pick. A second-round selection for Boyle was also an excellent deal. The Bishop trade was strange (for both sides), but the Bolts were ready to let him walk anyway and now have promising blue line prospect Cernak to show for it. Yzerman tried to move Jason Garrison as well, but it’s no surprise there were no takers.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Acquired Brian Boyle from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2017 second-round pick and Byron Froese
Acquired Eric Fehr, Steve Oleksy, and a 2017 fourth-round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Frank Corrado

Many fans were afraid that the young Toronto Maple Leafs would overpay in promising prospect talent or multiple draft picks, but GM Lou Lamoriello, one of the greats, did no such thing. Boyle solved a season-long problem at fourth-line center and brings a much-needed veteran, two-way presence. A second-round pick was well worth it to them for that addition. Corrado was hardly playing in Toronto and had become a nuisance really, so getting Fehr, who solves an Expansion Draft exposure problem, and a fourth-round pick for him was nice deal.

Losers

Buffalo Sabres:

Acquired Mat Bodie from New York Rangers for Daniel Catenacci

The Buffalo Sabres are out of the playoff hunt and should have been full-blown sellers at the deadline. Instead, they made one minor hockey trade. There was interest in defenseman Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson and golatender Anders Nilsson, but GM Tim Murray didn’t get any offers that he likes. Unfortunately, he’s not really in any position to be picky. Both Kulikov and Franson have been disasters in Buffalo and you take whatever you can get for them. Unless you’re committed to re-signing Nilsson, you move him too. Murray treated deadline day like a lazy Sunday.

Florida Panthers:

Acquired Thomas Vanek from Detroit Red Wings for 2017 third-round pick and Dylan McIlrath
Acquired Adam Wilcox from Tampa Bay Lightning for Mike McKenna
Acquired Reece Scarlett from New Jersey Devils for Shane Harper

Does Vanek improve the Panthers? Absolutely. Was a third-rounder a good price for his services? Yes. Are the Panthers a player away from being a contender? No. In fact, Vanek may not even help them make the playoffs. Scoring and the power play are Florida’s biggest weaknesses and those will improve with Vanek. However, the Panthers face a brutal schedule the rest of the way and just one player likely won’t help them win enough games to make a difference. They needed to go all out if they were buyers. As it stands now, they still need help from other teams just to get into the postseason. A team in that situation should have given more though to trading one of Mark Pysyk or Alex Petrovic before they lose him for nothing in the Expansion Draft.

Ottawa Senators:

Acquired Alexandre Burrows from Vancouver Canucks for Jonathan Dahlen
Acquired Viktor Stalberg from Carolina Hurricane for 2017 third-round pick
Acquired 2017 second-round pick and Jyrki Jokipakka from Calgary Flames for Curtis Lazar and Mike Kostka

Burrows for Dahlen has shades of Martin Erat for Filip Forsberg. Then extending the aged and somewhat ineffective veteran for two years made it worse. Meanwhile, the Panthers get Vanek for a third-rounder and the Bruins get Stafford for a sixth-rounder and you give up a third-round selection for Stalberg, who is objectively worse than either of those players? Bad over-payment on the part of GM Pierre Dorion. You can’t blame the team for moving on from Lazar, but you can blame them for letting it get to that point and for not holding off for a better offer. After three notable trades, have the Senators really gotten any better?

Deadline Primer: New York Rangers

February 25, 2017 at 4:30 pm CDT | by Glen Miller 3 Comments

At times this season the New York Rangers have looked the part of legitimate Stanley Cup contender. With a talented a deep group of forwards, the Blueshirts have shown the ability to score goals in bunches and have been among the top offensive teams in the NHL all season long. Certainly they boast enough firepower to keep pace with anyone in the league.

At other times the defensive lapses that derailed their 2015-16 campaign have reappeared and may again threaten to undermine the Rangers playoff hopes. It looks more likely than ever that Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein are simply ill-suited for the fast paced style the Rangers want to employ and just can’t cut it in top-four roles. Either would be decent options on the third pair but right now one of them has to play on one of the team’s top two pairings.

So what exactly are the Rangers? Are they a team one savvy blue line addition away from competing for the Stanley Cup? Or are they a team whose window is all but closed; one that needs too much help to reasonably expect to contend and who should resist the urge to mortgage yet more of their future in what will almost surely be another fruitless effort to win it all? That’s the question that GM Jeff Gorton and his staff have to answer in the coming days.

Record

39 – 19 – 2, 80 points, currently in third place in the Metro Division.

Deadline Status

They’re the Rangers and have essentially been all-in for the last several seasons. The Blueshirts have added Martin St. Louis, Keith Yandle and Eric Staal at the deadline at each of the last three trade deadlines respectively and they’ll be a buyer yet again. But don’t necessarily expect a splashy move. Gorton has already displayed a strong desire to protect the organization’s limited pool of prospects and draft picks. They’ll look to make a deal but likely are not willing to sacrifice much in the way of young NHL talent or futures in any move.

Deadline Cap Space

According to Cap Friendly, the Rangers will have just more than $10.1MM in cap space with which to play with. Again, a significant departure from past versions of the Rangers but a welcome one all the same as the team won’t necessarily have to pay a higher price due to requiring their trade partner to retain salary.

Draft Picks

2017: NYR 1st, NYR 3rd, Florida 4th, NYR 5th, Vancouver 6th, NYR 7th

2018: NYR 1st, NYR 2nd, Ottawa 2nd, NYR 3rd, NYR 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, Florida 7th*

*Contingent on Dylan McIlrath appearing in at least 30 NHL games in 2016-17.

Trade Chips

Shockingly, the Rangers still have their first round pick for 2017. The Blueshirts haven’t exercised a pick in the draft’s opening round since 2012, when they chose defenseman Brady Skjei 28th overall. Should they choose to hold onto that pick, they do own multiple second round picks in 2018 thanks to the Derick Brassard–Mika Zibanejad swap. Perhaps they’ll be willing to make one of those choices available.

After failing to earn a spot with the Rangers AHL affiliate in Hartford, Ryan Gropp returned to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL, where he has registered a 25-41-66 scoring line in 55 games. He was the Rangers second round pick in 2015 and could be viewed by some teams as a potential late bloomer. The Rangers are fairly deep between the pipes in their system with Igor Shesterkin leading the way. Adam Huska and Tyler Wall are both playing NCAA hockey this season and are legitimate NHL prospects. The Rangers have done an excellent job as an organization identifying unheralded goaltending prospects and seeing them develop into quality pro netminders and Huska and Wall have a chance to continue that trend.

The Rangers will be reluctant to move anyone on the NHL roster but might consider including one of Jesper Fast or Oscar Lindberg in a package to upgrade the blue line given the amount of depth up front. They might also be willing to part with Matt Puempel or Brandon Pirri but neither player likely carries much trade value. Other clubs will come calling on young forwards like Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller and Chris Kreider, players just beginning to hit reach their respective ceilings in the NHL, but it would take a substantial offer to pry one of them away.

Players to watch: Kevin Klein (recent back issues could increase the Rangers need on the blue line); Lindberg; Fast; Gropp; Wall;

Team Needs

Defense: The question is whether one legitimate top-four blue liner is enough or will the team need to add two new defensive options.
Defense: See above
Defense: See above the above.

Minor Transactions: 2/1/2017

February 1, 2017 at 1:45 pm CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

Here’s where we will track the day’s less significant roster transactions:

The Columbus Blue Jackets reassigned defenseman Dean Kukan to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline (via Twitter). The 23-year-old blue liner was recalled Sunday but did not appear in the Jackets wild 6 – 4 win over the New York Rangers last night. He appeared in eight games last season, his first in the NHL, but failed to register a point. The Swiss-born Kukan signed a deal with Columbus prior to the 2015-16 season after a lengthy pro career playing in his home country. In 37 games this year with Cleveland, Kukan has 13 points.
Joe Haggerty of CSNNE has relayed that Zane McIntyre has been recalled by the Boston Bruins to replace Anton Khudobin as the team’s backup netminder. The Bruins are desperate for quality play in goal behind starter Tuukka Rask. McIntyre and Khudobin have combined to post a woeful record of 1 – 8 – 2 in 15 appearances with a GAA of 3.42 and a S% of 0.875. Boston has just two back-to-backs scheduled this month, suggesting they won’t have to rely on their backup much, provided Rask remains healthy.
Defenseman Dylan McIlrath and forward Paul Thompson, each of whom was placed on waivers by Florida yesterday, went unclaimed and will remain in the Florida Panthers organization, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. George Richards, who covers the Panthers for the Miami Herald, later added that McIlrath was reassigned to Springfield, along with forward Jared McCann. McIlrath, acquired earlier this season from the New York Rangers, has seen action in just five games for Florida this season. The former first-round draft pick has had trouble earning regular playing time. Thompson, 28, has played in 21 games for the Panthers, registering three assists while averaging less than eight minutes per game.
The Washington Capitals returned blue liner Christian Djoos to Hershey of the AHL, reports Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Djoos was Washington’s seventh-round selection in the 2012 entry draft and has yet to debut in the NHL. He’s in the midst of a solid season for Hershey, tallying 26 points in 35 AHL contests.

Panthers Waive Paul Thompson And Dylan McIlrath

January 31, 2017 at 10:45 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

The Florida Panthers will be changing up their roster coming out of the All-Star break as the team has waived right winger Paul Thompson and defenseman Dylan McIlrath, Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel reports (Twitter link).

The 28 year old Thompson was acquired from New Jersey last offseason as part of the deal that saw the Panthers unload Marc Savard’s contract. He has played in 21 games for Florida this season, recording three assists, 22 penalty minutes, and a -4 rating while averaging just 7:54 per night. He is earning $575K at the NHL level and $225K in the AHL and is in the final year of a two year deal signed back in July of 2015. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

As for McIlrath, Florida acquired him back in November from the Rangers in exchange for blueliner Steven Kampfer and a 2018 7th round pick. He has played in just five games with the Panthers since then, picking up a goal and ten penalty minutes while playing only 9:34 per contests. This marks the second time he has been waived this season as New York waived him back in October where he passed through unclaimed.

The former 2010 first rounder (tenth overall) also has seen action in six AHL contests with Florida’s AHL affiliate in Springfield, recording two points (1-1-2) and 13 penalty minutes. He carries a salary and cap hit of $800K this season and will be a restricted free agent afterwards.

[Related: Panthers Depth Chart]

Atlantic Division Notes: Ennis, O’Reilly, McIlrath, Smith

January 16, 2017 at 1:00 pm CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

After missing 30 games due to groin surgery, Buffalo Sabres winger Tyler Ennis returned to the team’s lineup this afternoon and it didn’t take long to make a good impression. Ennis scored just 19 seconds into Buffalo’s matinee contest against Dallas today to give the Sabres an early lead. Prior to the injury, the 27-year-old Ennis had tallied just a single goal and an assist in 12 appearances.

Ennis, a three-time 20-goal scorer, has been a spectator much of the past two seasons, seeing action in just 23 contests a year ago and now missing 30 games this season. A healthy Ennis would provide a big boost to the Sabres lineup, both for the balance of this campaign and beyond.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

Sticking with the Sabres, the team has also recalled center Cal O’Reilly from Rochester of the AHL in advance of today’s game, according to John Vogl of the Buffalo News. O’Reilly, 30, has 34 points in 36 minor league games and has also made four appearances with the Sabres, failing to register a point. In 137 career NHL games the 30-year-old pivot has scored 16 goals and 48 points.
The Florida Panthers have recalled defenseman Dylan McIlrath from a conditioning assignment with Springfield in the AHL, the team announced via Twitter. McIlrath appeared in six games with the Thunderbirds, tallying a goal and an assist while accumulating 13 minutes in penalties. Florida acquired the physical blue liner in a trade earlier this season from the New York Rangers in exchange for fellow defenseman Steven Kampfer and a draft choice.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ben Smith is nearing a return to the club, reports James Mirtle of TSN. Mirtle adds that Smith will have the pins removed from his broken hand later in the week. Smith was claimed by the Leafs off of waivers from Colorado earlier this season and has scored two goals and one assist while primarily playing on the team’s fourth line and serving as a key penalty killer.

Minor Transactions: 1/4/2016

January 4, 2017 at 11:00 am CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

A day after calling up Daniel Altshuller from Charlotte of the AHL, the Carolina Hurricanes have returned the goaltender to the Checkers, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Meanwhile, the club has recalled veteran net minder Michael Leighton from their top minor league affiliate to serve as the team’s back-up between the pipes behind starter Cam Ward.

Altshuller did not see action in last night’s 3 – 1 loss to Carolina and has yet to make his NHL debut. The 22-year-old was selected in the third-round of the 2012 draft, 69th overall, by the Hurricanes and has appeared in 33 contests across the last two seasons with Charlotte, posting a record of 11 – 12 – 5.

Leighton, 35, has seen action in three games with Carolina this season, starting two, and has a 2 – 1 – 0 record with a GAA of 3.53 and a Save % of 0.875. He has appeared in 109 games over parts of 10 NHL seasons, spending time in the Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia and Hurricanes organizations during that time. He famously backstopped the Flyers to a surprising berth in the 2009-10 Stanley Cup Final, ultimately losing to the Blackhawks in six games.

The Florida Panthers have loaned blue liner Dylan McIlrath to the Springfield Thunderbirds on a conditioning assignment, the team announced on their website. McIlrath, a first-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2010, has appeared in four games with the Panthers since joining the team after being acquired from New York in a November trade for fellow defenseman Steven Kampfer and a seventh-round pick in 2018. The hulking defender has tallied a single goal and has 14 penalty minutes on the season, while averaging just 9:39 of ice time per game.
Yanni Gourde was reassigned by the Tampa Bay Lightning to their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, tweets Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. The 25-year-old pivot made two appearances this season, failing to register a point while seeing about nine minutes of action per night. The Lightning welcomed veteran forward Ryan Callahan back into the lineup last night and his return allowed the team enough roster flexibility to send Gourde to the minors.
In a procedural move necessitated by the activation of goaltender Michal Neuvirth from IR, the Philadelphia Flyers have placed blue liner Mark Streit on LTIR, according to CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio. Streit last played on December 11th and is expected to be out until sometime later this month due to a shoulder injury. By placing the veteran defender on LTIR, the Flyers are temporarily able to clear his $5.25MM cap hit from their ledger, thus allowing for the activation of Neuvirth. Had the transaction not been made, Philadelphia would have been over the salary cap by around $682K.

Snapshots: Maple Leafs Blue Line, Vancouver, McIlrath

October 27, 2016 at 1:15 pm CDT | by Glen Miller 2 Comments

There has been much written about this past summer’s blockbuster trade which sent LW Taylor Hall from Edmonton to New Jersey in exchange or D Adam Larsson; most of it critical of the Oilers side of the transaction. But Kevin McGran of TheStar.com opines that not only has the trade benefited both teams so far, it actually represents the sort of trade the Toronto Maple Leafs may have to explore in the future.

Hall already has five goals in six games for the Devils while Larsson has fit in well on Edmonton’s blue line, helping the Oilers to a 6 – 1 – 0 record. Even if Hall is considered the superior player, it still appears as if the deal has worked out in both team’s favor.

McGran argues that the Leafs, much like Edmonton, have a lot of highly-skilled forwards but a lingering deficiency on the blue line. Toronto has some interesting players on defense – Nikita Zaitsev, Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly, for example – but with Matt Hunwick and Roman Polak seeing regular playing time and with few prospects of particular note in the system, it’s clear the Leafs could use more young talent on the back end. While it’s possible the youngsters already on Toronto’s roster develop into a decent group of blue liners, it’s more likely the Leafs may eventually have to instead consider dealing from a position of strength – scoring wing – to address a weakness – defense. And just as the Oilers had to do, the Leafs might have to sacrifice a talented and popular player – and perhaps even a better player than the one they acquire – in order to fix the issues on the blue line.

The scribe does note that the Leafs likely won’t have to make that decision right away; that they likely have a year or two to see how things shake out.

Metro Division Snapshots: Carolina, Jooris, Buchnevich, McIlrath, Poulin

October 27, 2016 at 11:15 am CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

The Carolina Hurricanes, a team projected by some as a potential dark-horse in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, have won just one of their first six games and currently reside in the Metro Division basement. They’ll finally get a taste of home cooking Friday after starting the campaign on a six-game road trip as the Hurricanes will host the New York Rangers. Despite a respectable offense that is averaging three goals a game and a defense limiting opponents to the fourth-fewest shot attempts, Carolina has been undone by poor goaltending and as Ben Pope writes for Today’s Slapshot, it might be time for the Hurricanes to panic.

Cam Ward and Eddie Lack have combined for an 85.3% save percentage, the worst in the NHL, and have allowed four goals a game. Beyond the common numbers, the Hurricanes goalie duo is also performing at a below average level preventing goals against on low-, medium-, and high-danger shots, as Pope notes.

After just six games it’s fair to wonder about sample-size but Pope goes on to write that Ward, while sometimes making the spectacular save, has been a subpar netminder for much of his career. Lack, on the other hand, is nearly league-average in stopping shots from the outside but struggles mightily against attempts from in close.

Citing statistics available on Corsica.hockey, Pope opines the team’s defense hasn’t done the goalies any favors. Even though they have been excellent overall in suppressing shots, the ones they do allow have been of the medium-to-high-danger variety. The data shows 81.2% of the shots Carolina gives up are either of the medium of high-danger variety with the league average coming in at 63.4%.

Ultimately, the Hurricanes need better play between the pipes if they want to remain a relevant playoff contender. If that improvement doesn’t come internally, Carolina may have to scour the trade market to find a solution.

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