Pacific Notes: McDavid, Kane, Coleman
Edmonton Oilers reporter Tony Brar has confirmed that Oilers superstar Connor McDavid will be returning to the lineup tonight against the San Jose Sharks. McDavid has been sidelined since April 6th with a lower-body injury that caused the 27-year-old to miss three games. Despite the absence, McDavid remains in third place in NHL scoring with 31 goals and 99 assists in 74 games. If he can notch one more assist, he would become just the fourth player in NHL history to tally 100 assists in a season and the first since Wayne Gretzky accomplished the feat in 1990-91.
The Oilers trail the Vancouver Canucks by five points for the Pacific Division title and have three games left on the schedule, while the Canucks have two games remaining. It’s unlikely that Edmonton will catch the Canucks for the division title, but it remains an outside possibility.
In other Pacific Division notes:
- Sportsnet is reporting that Oilers forward Evander Kane will not dress tonight for Edmonton when they take on San Jose. Kane will take some time to heal from an undisclosed issue and would likely have played tonight if it were a playoff game according to Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. The 32-year-old Kane has shown no signs of a lingering issue and has been on a bit of a hot streak lately with five points in his last five games, however, he did play less than ten minutes in Edmonton’s victory over the Calgary Flames on April 6th. Kane has posted 24 goals and 20 assists in 77 games this season in what has been one of his least productive offensive seasons of the past decade.
- Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 is reporting that Calgary Flames forward Blake Coleman will not dress tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks due to a lower-body injury. Flames head coach Ryan Huska told reporters he was hopeful that Coleman could return for Calgary’s season finale on Thursday against the Sharks. The 32-year-old has shattered many of his career highs this season, posting 29 goals and 23 assists in 77 games. Coleman had never topped 40 points in a season before this year and has maintained his strong two-way play while finding another gear offensively.
West Notes: Kane, Hill, Hertl, Bogosian
Oilers winger Evander Kane has been fined $5K, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for slashing Flames forward Dryden Hunt in last night’s 4-2 win, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced. The play occurred early into the second period. After Oilers netminder Calvin Pickard stopped a shot from Hunt on a 2-on-1 rush and froze play, Kane checked Hunt away from the crease and then laid a slash across his wrists as the two were circling behind the net after the whistle (video via RDS). It was a night to forget for Kane, who was benched for stretches and played just 9:54 – a season-low, discounting games where he’s sustained injuries. Near the end of the second period, he was on the receiving end of a fiery tirade from teammate Corey Perry as well. The 32-year-old still has solid totals with 23 goals and 41 points in 74 games this season, but he’s been among the Oilers’ worst players defensively and is averaging 16:43 per game, the lowest since his rookie season with the Atlanta Thrashers 14 years ago.
Other notes out of the West:
- Golden Knights starter Adin Hill is nearing a return as he practiced with the team today and will travel on their two-game road trip through Western Canada, head coach Bruce Cassidy said (via Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal). Cassidy also told reporters that forward Tomáš Hertl will “probably” make his Vegas debut tomorrow in Vancouver. Hill has been out since March 24 with a lower-body injury, his second of the season. He also missed two weeks in early December with a lower-body ailment, although it’s unclear if the two are related. It’s been a battle for last year’s Stanley Cup hero to stay healthy this season, but he’s been Vegas’ best and most consistent option when available. He’s started a career-high 32 games, posting an 18-10-2 record with a .914 SV%, 2.62 GAA, two shutouts, and 9.5 goals saved above average. Hertl, meanwhile, has been ramping up in practice over the past few days and is set to play for the first time since undergoing knee surgery as a member of the Sharks shortly after the All-Star break.
- The Wild have depth defenseman Zach Bogosian back in the fold against the Blackhawks today, notes The Athletic’s Joe Smith. The 33-year-old has recently logged top-four minutes alongside Jonas Brodin but missed Minnesota’s last two games, both losses, with an undisclosed injury. The Wild are teetering on the edge of playoff contention and realistically need to win out to sniff a chance at making the postseason. Bogosian has actually been quite good for Minnesota since being picked up from the Lightning in an early-season trade, scoring three goals and adding 10 assists for 13 points in 55 games while averaging 18:06 per game, his highest usage and offensive production since 2018-19 with the Sabres. He’s done so with positive possession metrics, too, logging a 50.7 CF% and +3.3 expected rating.
Pacific Notes: Golden Knights, Ferraro, Flames, Amadio, Kane
Earlier this week, news coming out of the Board of Governors meetings indicated a sizeable increase in the salary cap for next season, with most estimations projecting a $4.2MM increase, the largest increase in the last five seasons. One team that will benefit most from this salary cap increase will undoubtedly be the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights, who are pressed tightly against the cap.
Heading into next summer, the Golden Knights have four players set to hit restricted free agency, and another six hitting unrestricted free agency, including Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, and Alec Martinez. If the cap were to remain flat next year, Vegas would have only around $18.39MM to retain 10 players, but will now have around $22.59MM, giving them much more breathing room to keep their core.
In an article in The Athletic by Jesse Granger, Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon was quoted saying, “We are hopeful with a bump in the salary cap that we’ll be able to keep this core together. We like our team a lot.” For the core specifically, it is reasonable to expect raises given to both Marchessault and Stephenson given their production over the last several seasons, however, Vegas may even have the financial flexibility to improve their team next offseason.
Other notes:
- With only three months away from the 2023-24 NHL trade deadline, the league is quickly separating itself into buyers and sellers. One seller, the San Jose Sharks, has been receiving plenty of interest in defenseman Mario Ferraro, as reported last week. However, in an article published today by Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, Ferraro gave indication he has no desire to leave San Jose, saying, “I feel like I have unfinished business here. This organization has done so much for me, right? I feel like I still owe them and the fans.“
- Per a team announcement, the Calgary Flames announced that forwards Martin Pospisil and Walker Duehr were out of the lineup tonight with both suffering from the flu. Inching their way back into the playoff conversation, Pospisil and Duehr have been effective depth forward options for the Flames this season, scoring five points and four points in 15 games, respectively.
- A notable missing piece from the Golden Knights lineup tonight was forward, Michael Amadio, who is out due to personal reasons (X Link). Typically, a bottom-six forward is not a large missing piece in any lineup, but with five goals and 15 points in 27 games this season, Amadio sits sixth on Vegas in scoring, while sitting 19th in ATOI.
- After his hit last night on Jonas Brodin of the Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers’ forward Evander Kane was given a warning by the Department of Player Safety (X Link). It as an interesting decision by the league, as replay evidence shows that Kane finished his check on Brodin even with Brodin’s back turned to him.
2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)
The Conn Smythe winner with the 2019 Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues is off the board at third overall, becoming the first player taken outside of the first round to appear in our redraft. Notably, he does stay with the team that took him on Day 2 of the 2009 NHL Draft – the Colorado Avalanche, who used their second pick of the draft on O’Reilly after selecting Matt Duchene with the third overall pick. Both players have gone on to produce good offensive totals near the top of the class, although O’Reilly’s taken home more in terms of award hardware with a championship, a Conn Smythe and a Selke Trophy all under his belt. O’Reilly won with 48% of our polling, while Duchene finished second in third-overall voting with just 13% of the vote.
Next up on the draft board is the Atlanta Thrashers at fourth overall. This was their second straight top-five selection after using the third overall pick on defenseman Zach Bogosian in 2008.
This year, however, their big prospect add was forward Evander Kane out of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. While it wasn’t a bad pick at all if you look at his point production throughout his career and his ability to consistently play a top-six role, Kane has had a multitude of off-ice incidents throughout his career, including having his contract terminated by the San Jose Sharks in 2022 for breaching COVID protocols.
Nonetheless, Kane was a solid player for the Thrashers (and Winnipeg Jets) for parts of six seasons until he was moved to the Buffalo Sabres in 2015. He was widely viewed as the best pick available at the time – after all, he had just posted 96 points in 61 games with the Giants while recording 89 penalty minutes to boot, and he’d recorded six points in six games for Canada at that year’s World Junior Championships.
He signed his entry-level contract with Atlanta just weeks after the draft and made the NHL full-time out of the gate in a middle-six role. As an 18-year-old, he recorded 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 66 games, finishing tied in Calder Trophy voting with Hedman that year. By the time the 2012-13 partial lockout rolled around, Kane had a 30-goal season under his belt and was averaging over 20 minutes per game.
After later career stops with the Sabres, Sharks and now Edmonton Oilers, Kane has some well-documented defensive weaknesses but still brings an intriguing blend of shooting ability and physicality to the table. In 853 games, he’s scored 302 goals – third among the 2009 class behind Tavares and Duchene. His 573 career points are sixth in the class.
There’s an argument to be made that the Thrashers made the right pick, but Duchene could have also been a more intriguing option had he been available for the Thrashers to select at fourth overall. They don’t have very long to decide, though, as Atlanta is now on the clock – who should they select with the fourth-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft? Make your voice heard below:
If you can’t access the built-in poll, click here to vote.
League Notes: Three Stars, Cut-Resistant Equipment, Challenges
This week’s Three Stars are in, courtesy of the NHL, and it contains a trio of high-octane forwards. Arizona Coyotes winger Clayton Keller earned first-star honors after he led the NHL with nine points in four games last week, helping the Coyotes earn a four-game point streak. Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby took home the second star, while Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner was awarded the third.
Not only has Keller held his own, producing over a point per game on a team near the bottom of the league, but his presence has finally helped crack the offensive game of 2018 fifth-overall pick Barrett Hayton, who now has eight points in his last four games. Crosby’s strong play this week has once again helped keep the Penguins safer in the playoff picture, while Marner recorded six points in two games against two of the league’s best teams in New Jersey and Edmonton.
Some other league notes to begin the week:
- NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told reporters, including NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston, that the league “would like to get to a point where cut-resistant equipment is mandated for all new players.” Daly notes that talks remain ongoing with the NHLPA on creating said regulation. The issue has come to the forefront in recent years in light of some scary injuries, especially incidents of skate cuts on wrists. Notably, players such as Evander Kane and Ilya Mikheyev have missed significant time in the past few seasons.
- TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that NHL general managers have discussed expanding the grounds of coaches’ challenges to include puck-over-glass penalties, as well as two-minute high-sticking infractions. With challenges becoming increasingly rare as the penalties for getting them wrong evolve, the danger of slowing the game down with too many reviews is also decreasing. The managers’ annual meeting is this week.
Tyler Seguin Leaves Game With Cut On Leg
The Dallas Stars have announced that forward Tyler Seguin won’t be returning to tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Seguin left the game with what TSN is reporting as a laceration above his knee after he was cut by a skate.
Seguin becomes the third high profile NHLer to suffer a severe cut this season after Ryan Johansen was cut by a blade on his ankle, and Evander Kane had a frightening scene when he had wrist cut against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With the NHL GM meetings set to take place next week, one has to wonder if the issue of cuts from skate blades will make its way onto the docket. The horrific Kane injury is one that most people will not forget. Player safety is always an issue and with this recent trend it could make for interesting dialogue should changes be discussed.
If Seguin is out long term, it would be a big blow to a Dallas Stars team that is leading the Central Division. Seguin has 17 goals and 42 points in 64 games this season and has been playing much more of a 200-foot game for head coach Peter DeBoer. Should the 31-year-old miss substantial time it would likely mean moving youngster Ty Dellandrea onto the third line to play wing next to newcomer Max Domi.
Injury Updates: Landeskog, Makar, Kane
The Colorado Avalanche could be getting a significant player back from a long-term injury. The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando reports that Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has arrived in Denver and plans to skate individually tomorrow, indicating that a return from the knee injury that has kept him off the ice all season is getting closer. Landeskog has not played this season, and in his absence the Avalanche have struggled to return to the level of dominance they often displayed last season.
Getting Landeskog back into the lineup in time for a stretch run of the season will be a major win for Colorado. Landeskog scored 59 points in 51 games last season and has hovered at about the point-per-game mark since the 2018-19 season. He would give coach Jared Bednar the opportunity to put the dynamite Landeskog-Nathan MacKinnon–Mikko Rantanen line back together or could opt to balance his top-six with that trio alongside Artturi Lehkonen, J.T. Compher, and Valeri Nichushkin in some sort of combination. While he may not be a full participant or ready to return in the immediate day-to-day future, it appears Landeskog’s return is within sight.
Some other injury updates:
- Just as the Avalanche prepare to get a difference-maker back into the lineup, they lose one. As relayed by The Athletic’s Peter Baugh, franchise defenseman Cale Makar is out with an upper-body injury. While it’s not known whether this is a head-related injury, Baugh did note that there is the possibility that this injury is related to contact made with his head/face area, and concussion-related symptoms, but that is not confirmed at this time.
- The Edmonton Oilers have announced that Evander Kane will not play in this afternoon’s game due to an upper-body injury. Per the announcement, his status is to be considered day-to-day. That’s not a great development for Edmonton, as Kane has already dealt with a major injury this season and is one of the team’s most important offensive difference-makers. Kane has scored 19 points in 24 games this season and scored 13 goals in 15 playoff games last season. As the Oilers hope to establish their position in the Western Conference’s playoff race, the health status of Kane will be something of major importance to monitor.
Evander Kane Activated From Long-Term Injured Reserve
As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have activated Evander Kane, allowing him to return just over two months after his scary wrist injury. To make room, the team has moved Kailer Yamamoto and Ryan Murray to long-term injured reserve. Today, the team announced that Yamamoto’s injury would keep him out weeks, while Murray – who has already been out for a while – is still dealing with a long-term absence.
Kane’s return comes at a key time for the Oilers, who are finally playing some consistent hockey and find themselves within striking distance of a divisional playoff spot. The club has won three in a row, including a statement win over the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
One of the biggest critiques of the Oilers this season has been a lack of emotion when things go wrong or players on the other team take liberties with Connor McDavid. While Kane isn’t an enforcer by any means, he does seem to light a fire under his teammates, and never shies away from physical battles. He also has done nothing but score since joining Edmonton, racking up 27 goals and 52 points in 57 regular season games.
It will be interesting to see how much ice time Kane receives in his return, but expect him to approach 20 minutes a night before long. With him in the lineup, the Oilers forward group looks much more imposing, even if it did come at the cost of Yamamoto.
With him and Murray on LTIR, the team actually has enough space to make another recall when necessary. That won’t be the case once he’s eligible to return, at which point some hard decisions will need to be made.
Pacific Notes: Kane, Hayden, Harrington, Martinez
While Oilers winger Evander Kane was believed to be well ahead of schedule, it was still expected that he’d be out a little while longer. However, as team reporter Jamie Umbach relays, the veteran was a full participant in practice today and is hoping to be cleared to return to the lineup on Tuesday against Seattle. Kane has missed the last 31 games after having his wrist sliced by a skate and would be a huge addition to their top six forward group.
However, the Oilers will have to make several roster moves in order to get cap-compliant to be able to activate Kane and his $5.125MM AAV from LTIR including the demotion of several players and the expected transfer of defenseman Ryan Murray to LTIR. Postmedia’s David Staples examines the list of possible candidates to be waived in order to help free up that money and suggests that veteran center Derek Ryan might be the likeliest to hit the waiver wire, a move that would free up $1.125MM on the cap.
More from the Western Conference:
- Late Sunday, the Kraken announced (Twitter link) the recall of forward John Hayden from AHL Coachella Valley. The 27-year-old has impressed in his first taste of minor league action since 2017-18, collecting 13 goals and 12 assists in 34 games for the Firebirds. With Jaden Schwartz listed as day-to-day, Hayden appears to be the insurance policy to ensure that there’s an extra forward available if needed.
- Sharks defenseman Scott Harrington left Wednesday’s game early with an upper-body injury but it appears it won’t keep him out for long. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News notes (Twitter link) that the veteran was back at practice on Sunday. Harrington has a goal and five assists in 16 games this season with San Jose, a decent showing after attending training camp on a PTO. He wasn’t in the lineup today against New Jersey but he should be nearing a return to game action.
- The Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Alec Martinez suffered an undisclosed injury during tonight’s game against Dallas and did not return. Head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t have an update on the veteran following the contest. Martinez has six assists in 40 games so far this season while chipping in with 141 blocked shots.
Edmonton Oilers Reassign Markus Niemelainen
The Edmonton Oilers have sent Markus Niemelainen to the minor leagues, clearing a roster spot for the imminent return of Evander Kane. Speaking with reporters including Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic today, Kane – who was a full participant at practice – explained that he is meeting with doctors later today.
Of course, the Oilers will have to make some other moves to activate Kane from long-term injured reserve. The team currently does not have the cap space to fit him back in, and will need to be rather creative to open it.
One easy way would be moving Kailer Yamamoto to LTIR, though that would require him to miss nearly a month. Yamamoto is still being evaluated, according to head coach Jay Woodcroft, after missing the last couple of games.
They could also just waive a player like Devin Shore, who also wasn’t at practice today. Ryan Murray, who hasn’t played since November, could also be shifted to LTIR depending on what other moves they make.
Either way, it’s the end of Niemelainen for a while, after he was essentially passed on the depth chart by Vincent Desharnais. The last two times Niemelainen appeared, he received just five and six shifts respectively. The 24-year-old defenseman will try to polish his game further in the minor leagues and wait for his next opportunity.