Atlantic Division Notes: Ennis, O’Reilly, McIlrath, Smith
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
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
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.
More from around the NHL:
- Goal-scoring is up around the league with a per-game-average of 5.91 markers to date. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case in Vancouver where the Canucks have averaged just two goals per game, the lowest rate in the NHL. Writing for The Province, Jason Botchford highlights some disturbing trends suggesting the Canucks offensive issues are likely to linger throughout the season. Botchford notes that the team is dead last in even-strength, score-adjusted shot-attempt differential and suggests that trend will place additional pressure on Vancouver’s special teams. But through seven games, the Canucks have converted on just 12.5% of their man-advantage chances. Two players the Canucks expected and needed to step up this season have yet to do so. Defenseman Ben Hutton has recorded just a single goal while winger Sven Baertschi has failed to find the back of the net. As Botchford writes, the Canucks have talent but perhaps not enough depth at this point.
- Earlier today we learned the Rangers waived Dylan McIlrath. The former first-round pick had appeared in just one game and was the eighth defenseman on the team’s depth chart. As Larry Brooks of the New York Post noted via Twitter, the Rangers simply weren’t going to keep eight defensemen on the roster all season. Brooks also believes the chances of McIlrath getting claimed is “50-50.”
Metro Division Snapshots: Carolina, Jooris, Buchnevich, McIlrath, Poulin
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.
More from around the Metro Division:
- With Pavel Buchnvich expected to return to the lineup Friday the New York Rangers were facing a difficult decision regarding whom to remove from their 23-man roster to open a spot for the rookie forward. But the injury to Josh Jooris Wednesday night allowed the Rangers to delay that decision a little longer, writes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. However, instead of taking advantage of that opportunity, the Blueshirts this morning have placed Dylan McIlrath on waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the club will likely send their 2010 first-round draft pick to Hartford of the AHL. McIlrath has suited up for just one game this season and has been a healthy scratch six times.
- Former New York Islander netminder Kevin Poulin has signed a deal with Barys of the KHL, tweets Igor Eronko of Sports Express. Poulin showed promise early in his career after debuting in the league with a 92.4% save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.44 in 10 appearances as a 20-year-old back in 2010-11. It’s been downhill ever since with his save percentage declining in each subsequent campaign. Poulin last saw action in the league in 2014-15, starting once and allowing three goals on 26 shots. He appeared in 29 contests for Stockton in the AHL, winning 14 and stopping 90.9% of the attempts against.
New York Rangers Looking For McIlrath Deal
As teams get ready for the start of the regular season, they have to submit final rosters and be cap-compliant on Tuesday evening. In New York, it seems this will cause the team to look for a deal for one of it’s young blueliners, despite having trouble in their own end last season.
According to Larry Brooks of the NY Post, the team is actively seeking a trade partner for Dylan McIlrath. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal also tweets that Adam Clendening has made the squad, lending credence to Brooks’ report, since the two were basically battling for the same spot.
McIlrath, on a one-year deal worth $800K this season, is a former 10th overall pick of the Rangers from 2010 but has not blossomed into the bruising shut-down defender they’d hoped for. He played in 34 games last season, though did show some promising signs late in the year; his possession numbers were quite strong, even without the consistent playing time.
For the Rangers, going with the cheaper, younger option in Clendening is also about versatility. As Brooks writes, the 23-year old free agent is able to play both sides of the ice, while McIlrath is strictly a right-side option. While that may scare off the Rangers, many teams (see: Edmonton) are looking desperately for right-handed options that can be effective in the NHL. McIlrath may not represent that right now, but with his pedigree and relative youth the Rangers will probably have no trouble finding a buyer.
Roster Crunch: Metropolitan Division
We’ve taken a look at three out of the four divisions now, and the decisions they’ll have to make come training camp. The Pacific’s depth on defense, the changes coming up front in the Central, and the mass of young talent set to break through in the Atlantic. Now, we’ll take a look at the what many considered the best division in hockey last year, with four 100-point teams and both the President’s Trophy winner and Stanley Cup Champions.
Washington Capitals – There is probably no team with fewer uncertainties going into the season than the Washington Capitals. After running away with the regular season points lead, the Capitals couldn’t even make it to the Stanley Cup final, but they’ll head into next season with largely the same group. They brought in Lars Eller, whose possession numbers should help the third line, and allowed Jason Chimera and Mike Richards to walk (though the latter remains unsigned). Basically the only battle in camp will be for a fourth line or 13th forward spot; can Brett Connolly do enough to make the squad over Stanislav Galiev? Exciting stuff.
Metropolitan Notes: Buyouts, Mahoney, Schenn
After finalizing the deal with Kevin Hayes this afternoon, the New York Rangers have come to terms with each of the four players who filed for salary arbitration this summer (Hayes, Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller and Dylan McIlrath) before any of them had a hearing. With it, comes an additional buyout window that will start on Monday and last for 48 hours.
In this window, the team may perform a buyout on a player who fulfills certain criteria. Many speculated during the last window that the team could buy out defenseman Dan Girardi, and as the Rangers move closer to the cap, this remains a possibility. Girardi’s play has deteriorated over the past few seasons, and he carries a cap hit of $5.5MM for the next four years.
If the team were to buy out Girardi, they’d be paying him $10MM total, spread over eight years. His cap hits would be as follows (via General Fanager):
2016-17 – $1.75MM
2017-18 – $2.75MM
2018-19 – $3.75MM
2019-20 – $3.75MM
2020-21 – $1.25MM
2021-22 – $1.25MM
2022-23 – $1.25MM
2023-24 – $1.25MM.
There has been no word from Rangers camp that Girardi is headed for a buyout, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation as it unfolds. Here are some more notes from the Metropolitan division:
- While there has been relatively little news out of Las Vegas since the city was granted an expansion franchise, Elliotte Friedman is hearing that the team is after Washington Capitals assistant general manager Ross Mahoney, and has asked the club for it’s permission to interview him. While there hasn’t been any response from the Capitals, Mahoney worked with new Las Vegas GM George McPhee for over a decade in Washington and may see it as a new opportunity.
- The last thing we heard about Brayden Schenn is that there has been “no progress of any kind” on a new contract, and the young forward is getting closer and closer to his arbitration hearing. Each player so far that has been scheduled before Schenn’s July 25th hearing has come to an agreement, but so far it doesn’t sound like there is any movement from either camp. The Philadelphia centerman is coming off his best year as a pro, one that saw him score 26 goals and 59 points in 80 games. His continued development will be a discussion point in arbitration, as the former fifth-overall pick has increased his point total each season of his career.
Arbitration Tracker
Ten days ago, the NHLPA released the schedule for player and team-elected arbitration hearings. Since then, four hearing dates have come and gone with no hearings, with eight players agreeing to contracts to avoid the unpleasant process.
Here’s an updated list of all 24 players who were scheduled for an arbitration hearing:
Player Elected Filings:
Arizona Coyotes
Michael Stone – Stone and the tough-negotiating Coyotes have a hearing set for August 4.
Colorado Avalanche
Tyson Barrie – Hearing set for July 29. Barrie has been the subject of near-constant trade rumors this summer.
Mikhail Grigorenko – Agreed to a one-year, $1.3MM contract on July 20, just two days before the scheduled hearing.
Detroit Red Wings
Jared Coreau – Agreed to a two-year, $1.25MM contract on July 6, well before any hearings were scheduled.
Danny DeKeyser – Signed a six-year deal on July 26th, locking him up long-term for the Red Wings.
Minnesota Wild
Jordan Schroeder – The Wild signed Schroeder to a one-year, two-way deal on July 23rd worth $675K in the NHL and $275K in the AHL.
Nashville Predators
Petter Granberg – Signed a two-year, two-way deal worth $575K / $175K (300K guaranteed) in the first year, and $650K / $175K in the second.
Calle Jarnkrok – Signed a six-year, $12MM deal July 27th.
New York Rangers
Kevin Hayes – Signed a two-year, $5.2MM deal Friday afternoon, hours after Kreider.
Chris Kreider – The Rangers and Kreider agreed to a four-year, $18.5MM contract Friday morning, beating the scheduled 9am arbitration meeting.
Dylan McIlrath – The massive defender signed a one-year, $800k contract last week, beating his hearing by a week.
J.T. Miller – World Cup-bound Miller and the Rangers settled on a two-year, $2.75MM contract on July 13.
Ottawa Senators
Mike Hoffman – After a long negotiation, the Senators and Hoffman agreed to a four-year, $20.75MM deal on July 27th.
Philadelphia Flyers
Brandon Manning – Manning got an unexpected second year in his two-year, $1.95MM deal he signed on July 26th.
Brayden Schenn – Schenn and the Flyers agreed to a four-year deal worth $5.125MM AAV.
Jordan Weal – Acquired by the Flyers in the Vincent Lecavalier trade, Weal signed a one-year, two-way, $650K contract the day the arbitration schedule was released.
St. Louis Blues
Jaden Schwartz – The Blues signed their young star to a five-year, $5.5MM contract last week.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Alex Killorn – The clutch playoff performer signed a long-term extension over the weekend, agreeing to $4.45MM per year for seven seasons.
Vladislav Namestnikov – World Cup-bound forward signed a two-year deal worth $1.9375MM on July 26th, three days before arbitration hearing.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Frank Corrado – Toronto signed Corrado to a one-year, one-way deal worth $600K on July 25.
Peter Holland – Holland signed a one-year deal worth $1.3MM on July 25.
Martin Marincin – The promising young shut-down defenseman is scheduled for arbitration on August 2.
Washington Capitals
Marcus Johansson – Johansson agreed to a three-year, $4.58MM contract just minutes before his hearing was set to begin.
CLUB ELECTED FILINGS:
Detroit Red Wings
Petr Mrazek – Just before his hearing on July 27th, Mrazek and the Red Wings inked a two-year, $8MM deal. With Jimmy Howard still earning $5.3MM for next season, the duo is one of the more expensive in the league.
We’ve previously explained the arbitration process as part of our Capology 101 series. Check out our Mike Furlano’s articles on eligibility and the arbitration process.