Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Erik Karlsson

Injury Notes: Marner, Senators, Johnson

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Maple Leafs escaped with two points last night against Winnipeg despite having to kill an Auston Matthews penalty in overtime, and got some more good news this morning. Though practice was cancelled for the majority of the team, Mitch Marner hit the ice and looked no worse for wear since sustaining a shoulder injury last week. Though coach Mike Babcock says he won’t play tomorrow night against the New York Rangers, he has a chance at playing on Saturday.

That would be a nice boost for the Maple Leafs who are actually just five points out of first place in the Atlantic Division. The continued brilliance of their rookies was on display again last night as Matthews recorded three assists in the victory.

  • The Leafs will be without Connor Carrick however, who suffered an upper-body injury when he collided awkwardly with Mathieu Perreault and left the game. Alexey Marchenko will slot into the lineup in his place for the first time since being acquired off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings earlier this month. Carrick’s timeline for return is unknown.
  • Pierre Dorion told the Ottawa Citizen that both Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone could play as early as Sunday, which is extremely important news for the Ottawa Senators. Getting the two wingers back would be a boost to a group that had trouble scoring last night in a 2-1 victory. The team generated just 23 shots on goal and needed Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson—their two remaining offensive options—to each light the lamp in the win.
  • Erik Johnson will return to the Colorado Avalanche lineup on Saturday according to Terry Frei of the Denver Post. The big defenseman has been out since the beginning of December and is finally skating without the non-contact jersey. As the Avalanche prepare for a busy trade deadline, Johnson looks like he’ll remain in Denver for the time being. His long contract and partial no-trade clause would make him difficult to move in-season even if there were people impressed enough by his return.
  • Ryan Callahan had another surgery on his hip yesterday, and is out indefinitely for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Callahan only played in 18 games for the club this season and now sounds like he might be out for the remainder of the year. While he’s not an integral part of their offense, losing a player of his experience is never a good thing. About to turn 32, Callahan is signed for another three seasons in Tampa Bay at a cap-hit of $5.8MM. Steve Yzerman said just a few days ago that he was operating under the assumption that Callahan and Steven Stamkos would be back at some point along with their cap-hits, and perhaps this clears that up.

Expansion Draft Issues At The Trade Deadline: Forwards

at CDT | by 1 Comment

This trade season is one like never before. The addition of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18 and the Expansion Draft that goes along with it add a whole other layer to trade-making this year. With each and every transaction, the expansion draft protection formula can change. Even in 2000, when the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets were welcomed into the league, the expansion rules were not a strict and general managers did not have to be as paranoid about their moves. This time around, everything is different. What does it all mean? For fans, there is a real possibility that this could be the quietest Trade Deadline in recent memory. Buyers interested in impending free agent rentals may not have to worry about the draft implications, but the sellers potentially taking back roster players with term certainly do. Trading is hard enough, especially in a season with very few teams significantly out of the playoff race, and expansion will only increase those barriers. Luckily, there are several teams that need to make moves prior to the deadline or they could risk being in very sticky situations when the Knights get ready to make their selections. With teams like the Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Anaheim Ducks, who have so much talented, veteran depth at multiple positions, there is really not much that they can do; they’re going to lose a good player. For others, a sensible contract extension can solve all of their problems. However, for these teams, making a trade before it’s too late may be exactly what they need. We’ve looked at the defense conundrums of the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and the goaltending scenario of the Philadelphia Flyers, but there a quite a few more teams with problems up front that need solving:

Chicago Blackhawks

Luckily for the Blackhawks, it’s hard to remember a deadline where GM Stan Bowman didn’t add a veteran forward. This year they may really need one though, regardless of their Cup run condition, to protect young scorer Ryan Hartman. The 22-year-old winger has 13 goals and 10 assists in his first full season with Chicago, and if nothing changes it would likely be his last season in Chicago. In setting their protected list for the Expansion Draft, the Blackhawks must protect Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Artem Anisimov due to their no-movement clauses. They would, of course, have protected those four anyway, but other than that group, the team has only two other players that meet the draft criteria of having two unprotected forwards that have played in 40 games this season or 70 games over the past two seasons and have term remaining on their contract: Marcus Kruger and Hartman. Kruger is not a great loss, but retaining Hartman is a major priority as the deadline approaches. The ‘Hawks could simply re-sign 30-year-old Andrew Desjardins or 34-year-old Jordin Tootoo, who both hit the 40/70 benchmark, but are impending free agents. However, the pair have combined for one point in 63 man-games this season and may not strike Bowman as players worth keeping, since they are nearly guaranteed to not be selected by Vegas. Richard Panik and Dennis Rasmussen are both restricted free agents who would also qualify if given an extension, but the team might think twice about exposing either player when they don’t have to. If push comes to shove, Chicago would surely rather lose Rasmussen or have to re-sign Desjardins if it means that Hartman is safe, but acquiring an affordable, serviceable forward with years remaining on his contract prior to the deadline may be the easier move for Bowman and company.

Dallas Stars

Despite their performance this season, the Stars are very much built like a team trying to make one last run at a Stanley Cup. Only five players on Dallas and on the AHL’s Texas Stars have both two years of professional play under their belt and term remaining on those contracts. The rest of the team is composed of impending unrestricted free agents and the AHL squad is mostly restricted free agents.  Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza have no-movement clauses and are obviously safe, as is All-Star Tyler Seguin. However, without any further moves, Dallas would have to leave 25-year-old center Cody Eakin and team enforcer Antoine Roussel exposed in the draft. With the likes of Radek Faksa, Brett Ritchie and (probably) Valeri Nichushkin needing to be protected as well, the Star’s may have to leave one or the other on the table, but certainly not both. Roussel is having a career year, on pace to beat his career-high 29 points while also skating a career-best 15 minutes per game. Eakin, who missed time earlier this year and has been held to just six points in 33 games, is regardless coming off of three straight seasons of 35+ points and is just entering his prime. If they want to protect one or both, moves need to be made. Dallas is not short on extension options, with UFA’s Patrick Sharp, Patrick Eaves, Jiri Hudler, Lauri Korpikoski, Adam Cracknell and even the injured Ales Hemsky meeting the 40/70 criterion. However, if the Stars want to make up for their disappointing season, trading several of those players for picks and prospects at the deadline seems likely may eliminate some choices. In the process of moving out that trade capital, it may simply be easier for GM Jim Nill to add one or two qualifying forwards along the way.

Read more

2017 Prospect Update: Patrick, Liljegren, Hischier

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Amazingly, the 2017 NHL entry draft is now less than five months away, and teams are starting to really dig into their draft boards to find that next superstar talent. The draft is an odd one this year, since the top two players have faced injury and inconsistency and didn’t take part in the World Juniors at all.

Nolan Patrick is still the consensus top talent and should go first overall, but has missed a huge chunk of his season due to injury. He make a triumphant comeback in early January with a four-point night, and is about to take part in the top prospects game tomorrow. The centerman from Winnipeg has 17 points in 11 games this season for the Brandon Wheat Kings, and will have front offices drooling over him come this summer.

An interesting connection is that of Kelly McCrimmon, who is now the assistant general manager in Vegas and was the GM in Brandon when Patrick made his debut. The Golden Knights have a chance in the lottery equal to that of the third-last place team, giving them a real chance to make him their franchise’s first selection. While his season hasn’t gone the way one had hoped, his stock hasn’t fallen nearly enough for him to be challenged for the top spot – yet.

That second spot is becoming a bit more contested though, with Timothy Liljegren not being the lock he once was thought as. The Swedish defenseman that some say has a ceiling as high as Erik Karlsson struggled in the first division before being loaned down to Timra. While this by no means hinders his development, with the explosion of a few other names it’s no guarantee that he goes second. Like Jesse Puljujarvi last season, if a team believes they have a bigger need a different position Liljegren may drop a spot. Anyone that gets him will be excited, as he can do everything on the ice and should be a star in the league for a long time.

With the top two prospects out of the World Junior’s, the stage was open for other names to impress scouts and perhaps vault themselves into the discussion at the tops of draft boards. Nico Hischier did just that, showing the world that he should be considered as one of the very top prospects in the world. Some draft boards likely already have him ahead of Liljegren, and his play for the Halifax Mooseheads hasn’t changed that. With 68 points in 40 games as a rookie, Hischier only turned 18 three weeks ago and is already a dominant centerman. He’ll undoubtedly set the record as the highest-drafted Swiss player ever, topping Nino Niederreiter’s fifth-overall selection.

One more name to keep an eye on is Owen Tippett. The young forward is currently second in the OHL with 36 goals and has elite scoring senses from anywhere in the offensive zone. He is flying up draft boards and may even make it into the top five by the year’s end. Though he plays the wing, he may even jump over center ice prospects like Casey Mittlestadt and Gabriel Vilardi, both of whom are projected for the top-10.

Remembering The Early Trades From 2015-16

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The month between the All-Star game and the NHL trade deadline is an interesting one. While most of the action happens right at the end, even sometimes extending past the official deadline due to trade calls, sometimes big moves happen early in February.

Last season, 33 trades happened in the last few days (from February 26-29) before the deadline,  but there were also seven deals that happened in the weeks immediately after the All-Star break. Those deals were just as important to the futures of their teams as any made on the day itself. Let’s look back at the seven deals made between February 9th and 25th last season.

February 9th: Toronto trades Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert and Cody Donaghey to Ottawa for Jared Cowen, Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Tobias Lindberg and a 2017 2nd-round pick.

Starting with a whopper, the Maple Leafs continued their drastic tear-down by trading their current captain and highest paid player to a cross-province and divisional rival. The Senators had been looking for another big-minute defenseman and thought Phaneuf could become that player for them.

While it hasn’t worked out perfectly for the Senators, Phaneuf has logged over 23 minutes a night since coming over and is having a fine if unspectacular season offensively this year. While his massive looks like an albatross on their books – he’ll have a cap-hit of $7MM (more than Erik Karlsson) until 2020-21 – the actual salary is much lower. The team also rid themselves of dead money in Cowen, Greening and Michalek and only had to pay the price of a middling prospect in Lindberg and what looks like a fairly late second-round pick.

Lou Lamoriello and the Maple Leafs worked some accounting magic, and have effectively rid themselves of the cap-hits for all three players, burying Greening and Michalek in the AHL and buying out Cowen after a lengthy dispute. Moving Phaneuf was an integral part of the plan going forward, and both teams are fighting for playoff spots a year later.

Read more

Department Of Player Safety Hands Down Suspensions

at CDT | by 1 Comment

It’s been a busy day for the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman and Dallas’ Cody Eakin both had scheduled meetings with the DoPS today—Hoffman for a cross-check to the back of Logan Couture’s head and Eakin for running heavily into Henrik Lundqvist – and the two have each received their penalties.

According to John Shannon of Sportsnet, Hoffman received a two-game ban for his infraction and will forfeit $57.6K in salary. Meanwhile, Eakin has been suspended for the next four contests, according to Mark Stepneski, who covers the Stars for NHL.com. Eakin’s suspension will cost the six-year veteran more than $85K in forfeited salary.

Additionally, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was fined $5K, the maximum allowed under terms of the CBA, for spearing Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson. Vlasic speared Karlsson in the second period of the same game where Hoffman crosschecked Logan Couture.

How Will The Expansion Draft Impact Canadian Teams?

at CDT | by 8 Comments

Continuing our look at different expansion draft angles,  CBC’s Amy Cleveland examines how the draft will affect the seven teams in Canada. Laying out the rules for the draft, Cleveland looks further and prognosticates who she sees as “potentially protected” versus those players who would be “intriguing” in being exposed. She further writes that all seven Canadian teams will be able to protect the bulk of their important players. The Flames sit prettiest without any non-movement clauses in contracts while the Leafs and Senators have only one player with an NMC (Nathan Horton, and Dion Phaneuf respectively).

Below are Cleveland’s picks for each team. Going to CBC’s page with the story includes in depth reasoning behind each of Cleveland’s choices.

Calgary Flames
NMC protected players: None.

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

Edmonton Oilers
NMC protected players: Milan Lucic (F), Andrej Sekera (D), Cam Talbot (G)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

Montreal Canadiens
NMC protected players: Carey Price (G), Jeff Petry (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed: 

Ottawa Senators
NMC protected players: Dion Phaneuf (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed: 

Toronto Maple Leafs
NMC protected players: Nathan Horton (F)

Potentially protected: 

Vancouver Canucks
NMC protected players: Loui Eriksson (F), Daniel Sedin (F), Henrik Sedin (F)

Potentially protected: 

​Intriguing exposed: 

Winnipeg Jets
NMC protected players: Dustin Byfuglien (D), Toby Enstrom (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

 

San Jose Sharks Snapshots: Burns, Labanc

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Brent Burns and his potential free agency next summer is already a hot topic and will only continue to grow more popular as the season progresses with no contract extension between the blue liner and the San Jose Sharks. There is no doubt Burns is set to cash in whether he re-signs with the Sharks or heads to the open market and as Adam Gretz of FanRag Sports Network argues, Burns will be well worth every penny on his next contract.

Gretz speculates that given what similar defenseman have received, Burns should have no trouble finding a deal worth anywhere between $7MM and $8MM annually. That would place him easily among the highest paid blue liners in the game as only P.K. Subban has a contract with an AAV in excess of $8MM. But as Gretz points out, since becoming a full-time blue liner in 2014-15, Burns has more goals than anyone else at the position with 50.

Further, Burns ranks behind only Erik Karlsson in points with 149 and has more shots on goal than any other defender with 673.

Of course it’s easy to rationalize paying Burns or any other defenseman $8MM-a-year based on his current production level; the real question is how he is going to fare the longer his contract runs.

At 31, Burns is likely to get the seven-year max contract – eight if he re-signs with San Jose – which will take him well into his late 30’s. Naturally, Burns’ performance will decline as he ages and whoever signs the 6-foot-5, 230-pound defenseman will have to hope it’s a slow decline rather than a sudden one.

Assuming Burns finishes the current campaign strong he has a strong chance to join an accomplished group of defenders who have averaged 0.80-points-per-game or better between their age 29 and 31 seasons. According to Gretz, just 16 others have done that and many of those played during the 1980’s when scoring was significantly higher than it was in any other era. Gretz takes it further, noting that those blue liners saw on average a 19% decrease in point production over the four years following that stretch between 29 and 31. If Burns follows that same trend he would still be a 50-point scorer in year four of his next contract.

Granted, Gretz’s analysis does leave open the likelihood that Burns’ performance will decline further in years five through seven. In fact, he may well not be worth what he will be paid during those seasons but that’s a risk every team that signs a big money, long-term deal accepts. The hope is to get enough surplus value in the first half of the pact to offset the losses likely to be seen in the back half.

In other San Jose Sharks news:

  • An unlikely top prospect, Brooklyn-born Kevin Labanc, who was selected by the Sharks in the sixth round of the 2014 entry draft, made his NHL debut last week. In five contests since joining San Jose, Labanc only has one point. But the rookie winger had his best game so far, as Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area reports, playing on a line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski in Thursday’s loss to St. Louis. Labanc notched his first NHL goal and nearly had another later in the game. The Sharks are going to need more games like that from the youngster as they may be without the services of Tomas Hertl for a while.

Senators Notes: Claesson, Anderson, Injuries

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

After being called up two weeks ago, Fredrik Claesson will be sent back to Binghamton of the AHL according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. The team, facing a handful of nagging injuries up front, needs the roster spot to bring up another forward for tomorrow’s game. Claesson got into six games with the big club this year, barely playing  much at all as Erik Karlsson continues to log huge minutes (27 per game).

A fifth-round pick, Claesson has progressed nicely into a solid depth defenseman for the club. Recently, GM Pierre Dorion specifically mentioned him as impressive in his development, saying he doesn’t really need to go out and get another blueliner now.

  • Craig Anderson will again be in net tomorrow night after returning to the club.  His season-long battle continues as he pops in and out of the dressing room whenever he can. Two nights ago marked Hockey Fights Cancer night in the NHL, where players and teams around the league donned lavender sweaters and the names of loved ones for warm up. Multiple players wore the name of Anderson’s wife Nicholle, honoring their peer in the only way they could. Today, the Anderson’s announced through a Sens press release that Nicholle has been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
  • The team is fighting a number of small injuries, as Garrioch reports. Bobby Ryan, Mike Hoffman and Chris Neil are all day-to-day and will be game-time decisions for tomorrow night’s matchup. The team will have to call up replacements for each of them if they miss, as they’re currently only carrying one extra forward.

Atlantic Notes: Canadiens, Senators, Lightning, Red Wings

at CDT | by 1 Comment

How are the top four teams in the Atlantic Division really doing?  There have been some surprises like Montreal’s red-hot start doused by a 10-0 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Ottawa Senators have played great defensively. And the Detroit Red Wings will need a lot more effort wise should they want to make a 26th consecutive playoff appearance. For now, let’s take a closer look at the top four teams in the division.

  • Montreal Canadiens (9-1-1; 19 points; 1st place)

The Habs have benefitted from the return of Carey Price, who has been sparkling between the pipes, registering a 6-0 record, a .964 save percentage, and a goalie point share of 2.3. Al Montoya was fine through Friday night until he surrendered 10 goals in a ghastly game against Columbus. Shea Weber has also been a bright spot, making Marc Bergevin look smart early after the blockbuster trade netted him for P.K. Subban. Weber has ten points (4-6) in 11 games, and leads the Habs in average ice time, logging nearly 26 minutes per night.

  • Ottawa Senators (7-3-0; 14 points; 2nd place)

The Sens have looked strong early, riding a three game winning streak through Friday despite playing a brutal game of musical chairs in net. Craig Anderson has been tending to his wife during a health concern and has been in and out Ottawa, understandably. Andrew Hammond suffered a lower body injury that will keep him out for at least a week. Despite this, the Sens have charged on, and contribution from Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris, and Ryan Dzingel have helped. Though some think they’ll come back to earth, Guy Boucher has done well early on.

  • Tampa Bay Lightning (6-4-1; 13 points; 3rd place)

The Bolts have scored a lot of goals–but they’ve also been fishing the puck out of the net. After jumping out to a 5-1 start, the Lightning have gone 1-3-1 since and suffered from Ben Bishop looking very human with a pedestrian .891 save percentage. Though some of this can be chalked up to struggles and on the blue line, Bishop is in a contract year and isn’t doing enough to help himself–or the Bolts should they look to deal him away instead of losing him for nothing. Steven Stamkos continues to be dominant, putting up 13 points (7-6), while Nikita Kucherov is tied with him (3-10).

  • Detroit Red Wings (6-5-1; 13 points; 4th place)

Sure, they’re fourth, but the Red Wings record is probably the weakest of the any team in the Atlantic. The Bruins have two games in hand, and are only a point behind while the Leafs and Panthers are two points behind, with a game in hand. The Sabres, last in the division, are only three points out of the Wings’ spot. Thomas Vanek was a bright spot until a hip injury sidelined him for 2-3 weeks, but the defense has been abysmal. Worse, the Red Wings are coughing up leads in the third period. Personnel decisions have been questionable, too. The deployment of the OMG line–Steve Ott, Drew Miller and Luke Glendening–has been lampooned by many while younger players, such as Andreas Athanasiou, continue to get limited ice time. The Red Wings can’t afford to sit back should they want to make another playoff appearance. The division–and conference–are much better.

Anderson Triumphant In Courageous Return To Net

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Everyone knew this was coming.

Craig Anderson pitched a 37-save shutout in his return to the crease after his wife Nicholle was diagnosed with cancer. Anderson had taken a personal leave of absence last week, but returned to the team at the behest of his wife after backup Andrew Hammond went down with injury. It was Anderson’s second shutout in a row, with a week in between them.

It wasn’t an easy return to action for Anderson, as the Senators were in Edmonton to face the top team in the Western Conference. Oilers coach Todd McLellan knew what was coming; he was the coach of San Jose when Dominic Moore left the team during the 2012 playoffs to tend to his wife Katie, who had been diagnosed with liver cancer. The Senators were heavily outshot, but the game never seemed in question with Anderson in net.

Senators captain Erik Karlsson told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector afterwards that despite the rivalries, the NHL is a tight league, “I feel like we have a lot of respect for each other… We do a lot of stupid things, but at the end of the day, we all have a life outside of the rink. When things like this happen, you have a lot of human respect for that.”

Anderson was named first star of the game, and the Oilers fans gave the teary-eyed goaltender a loud ovation when he came out to wave to the crowd. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot remained on the bench to clap and show support for his peer.

TSN’s Ray Ferraro and Ryan Rishaug both noted the quiet nature of the Senators locker room after the game (Ferraro on the Senators broadcast, Rishaug on Edmonton radio Monday morning). The visitor’s locker room was empty when the media entered the room; the Senators communications staff brought out select players one-by-one for interviews. Anderson did not speak to the media after the game.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top