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Evgeni Malkin

Evgeni Malkin Receives One-Game Suspension

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Though he didn’t think any supplementary discipline was warranted, Evgeni Malkin has been suspended one game for his high stick last night. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward struck Michael Raffl in the head. As the accompanying video from the Department of Player Safety explains:

It is important to note that while we understand Malkin’s contention that his stick only made glancing contact with Raffl, this does not excuse his actions. In fact, NHL stick fouls do not require that contact actually be made for discipline to be assessed. Under rule 60.4, a match penalty for high-sticking is to be assessed ’when in the opinion of the referee, a player attempts to or deliberately injures an opponent while carrying or holding any part of his stick above the shoulders of the opponent.’

We agree with the on-ice officials that assessed the match penalty. This is not a reckless play where a spinning player loses some amount of control over his stick. This is an intentional stick swing directed at an opponent with force, at a dangerous height and for the purposes of retaliation. 

Malkin has a history of fines in his career and has been involved in several dangerous incidents, but has never served a suspension before. That likely was taken into account in determining the length of this ban, along with the fact that he made only glancing contact.

The Penguins face the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night and will be without one of their superstars, though he should be back for their matchup with the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. Malkin is not expected to appeal the suspension.

Pittsburgh Penguins Hoping To Not Be Involved On Deadline Day

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Jim Rutherford isn’t one to wait around. The GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins is notorious for making moves well before the NHL trade deadline, opting out of all fuss as the time ticks down. This year has been more of the same, as Rutherford made his biggest trade of the year a week ago by bringing in Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann while finding a home for Derick Brassard. Now, as the deadline approaches the Penguins might just be happy to sit still.

In a new interview with Mike Zeisberger of NHLcom, Rutherford explains that the hope for the Penguins is that they don’t have to make another trade. With Evgeni Malkin and Justin Schultz both expected back from injury soon, the legendary GM hopes that the team plays well enough for him to avoid any additional moves:

As long as our team is playing the right way and at a high level, I don’t feel pressure to do anything on trade deadline day.

Now that isn’t to say Rutherford will definitely avoid the market on February 25th, and he was sure to explain that. But if Malkin and Schultz can impact the lineup like usual, the Penguins should be able to climb out of the hole they’ve dug themselves over the last few games and contend for the Metropolitan Division crown once again. After three straight losses, the team sits five points behind the division leading New York Islanders.

If Pittsburgh does take themselves out of the running at the deadline, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the division reacts. The Blue Jackets, tied with Pittsburgh at the moment for third in the Metropolitan, may have to trade away two of their best players in Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky. The Capitals, sitting in second place, don’t have a lot of room to make moves anyway. But the Islanders are a different story entirely. They too have several high profile players scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency, but all of them have expressed an interest in re-signing in New York if possible. The team also has a ton of cap space to bring those players back, or even add several more at the deadline this season.

Several of this year’s top trade deadline targets have been linked to the Penguins, but perhaps the recent acquisitions have cooled any interest. Pittsburgh will be a team to watch over their next eight games, as a stumble could send Rutherford back to the phones to try and improve his team for another Stanley Cup run.

Metropolitan Notes: Holtby, Bjugstad, Niederreiter

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The Washington Capitals finally broke their seven-game losing streak, but there still is plenty of concern on whether the Stanley Cup champions can re-establish themselves as top candidates to re-capture the title this season. While many point to fatigue as the team played a lot of extra games in the playoffs last season, there are even bigger concerns, including the goaltending.

Perhaps one of the biggest area of concern, according to The Athletic’s Scott Burnside (subscription required) is the play of their goaltending, most particularly the play of Braden Holtby, who is posting another disappointing regular season. Despite an impressive Stanley Cup championship run during the playoffs, Holtby struggled during the regular season with a 2.99 GAA and a .907 save percentage. This year has been even more disappointing as the veteran has a 3.10 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He ranks 19th, among goalies with 20 or more appearances, at even-strength save percentage with a .918.

“The goalies have just lost it here,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “They’re flailing away at it, letting in bad goals at bad times, stuff like that.”

  • Seth Rorabaugh of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the impressive play of Pittsburgh Penguins’ newly acquired center Nick Bjugstad could eventually bring about head coach Mike Sullivan’s dream of spreading out Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel over three lines. The belief is that the additions of Bjugstad as well as Jared McCann should open up multiple possibilities on offense which neither Derick Brassard or Riley Sheahan did. “Nick Bjugstad is a guy that’s shown an ability to score in this league,” Sullivan said of a player whose career season of 2014-15 saw him score 24 goals and 43 points in 72 games. “He’s a 45- to 50-point guy. He has more upside, he’s still young. He brings more size to our team and a whole lot of skill.”
  • News & Observer’s Chip Alexander asks the question ’What was Paul Fenton thinking?’ when referring to what so far looks to be a steal of a trade when the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Nino Niederreiter from Fenton and the Minnesota Wild for Victor Rask. Niederreiter has sparked the team with five goals in five games as the team has gone 3-1-1 in that span, including a big victory over Vegas Friday, while Rask has just one assist in Minnesota over four games. Niederreiter seems to have found a home on the team’s first line next to Sebastian Aho and veteran Justin Williams.

Snapshots: Outdoor Game, Penguins, Patrick

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The 2019 NHL Winter Classic is still more than a month away and the 2019 NHL Stadium Series game even further, but that hasn’t stopped discussions about where the league could turn next for an outdoor game. Today, BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater reports that the Colorado Avalanche are likely to be an outdoor game host “sooner rather than later.” In talking with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Dater learned that the league is very interested in placing a game at the nearby Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where Falcon Stadium normally plays host to the Air Force football team and a capacity crowd of close to 47,000. Given the success of the NHL’s last foray into an outdoor game in Colorado – the 2016 showdown at Coors Field in Denver – and their special interest in games played at American military institutions, such as last year’s game at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, not to mention the successful Division I hockey program at Air Force, the school seems like a great fit to host a gme.  For now though, the league remains focused on their next contest at a college football venue, when the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks square off at Notre Dame on New Year’s Day.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins hope that their team is in much better shape when they take part in their outdoor game later this season, a match-up with the rival Flyers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on February 23rd. The team continues to struggle and, even after his acquisition of forward Tanner Pearson, GM Jim Rutherford remains open for business per numerous sources. However, the next move might not be just a simple one-for-one to land a role player. TSN’s Bob McKenzie raised the stakes on the latest “Insider Trading” segment, stating that “anything and everything is on the table” in Pittsburgh. McKenzie says that the Penguins’ list of untouchables is rather short – just Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. McKenzie believes that anyone else could be move, perhaps adding fuel to the fire of recent rumors that Phil Kessel, Derick Brassard, Olli Maatta, and Matt Murray are among the names that could be on the move if things don’t improve.
  • The Penguins did make a noteworthy move today, announcing that legendary executive Craig Patrick has re-joined the team as a pro scout. The 72-year-old Hall of Famer served as Pittsburgh’s GM for 17 years, from 1989 to 2006. Patrick was the architect of the 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup-winning Penguins teams and much of the 2009 championship team and beyond were the products of Patrick’s regime, including Crosby and Malkin. Many will also recognize Patrick as an assistant coach to Herb Brooks on the famed “Miracle” 1980 U.S. Olympic team, while he also served as both coach and GM for the New York Rangers over a nine-year span in the 80’s. The extent of Patrick’s role is unclear, but particularly in the midst of a difficult season, this is a great hire by the Penguins if only for the wisdom and guidance of an experienced hockey guru.

Poll: Early Hart Trophy Favorite?

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It may be the slowest stretch of the off-season, but the odds-makers at Bovada are staying busy. As Sports Illustrated’s Michael Blinn writes, the first odds for the NHL’s MVP Award, the Hart Trophy, for the 2018-19 season are out. Very few could have predicted that the New Jersey Devils’ Taylor Hall would have taken home the title this past season at this point last year. Is next year’s winner even on the board? Or will it be one of the heavy favorites?

To no surprise, Edmonton Oilers phenom Connor McDavid has the best odds to win the Hart for the second time in three years after being crowned in 2017. McDavid has 10/3 odds to win the award and those are actually pretty fair odds. Even last season, when McDavid was not even a finalist for the Hart, he nevertheless was the league’s leading scorer with 108 points, six more than the next-best player. It was the second season in a row that McDavid won the scoring title and that trend seems unlikely to change if he remains healthy. However, there are some who will say that McDavid’s Hart chances are tied to the success of the Oilers. The argument this past season was that he could not truly be the most valuable player in the league when his contributions still left Edmonton far from a playoff spot. With a roster that has been largely unimproved this off-season, another regular season disappointment for the Oilers could make it hard for McDavid to get back on top.

Next up is two-time Hart winner Sidney Crosby at 13/5. The face of the Pittsburgh Penguins dynasty has long been considered the best player on the planet. Yet, one would think that Crosby might actually have more than two MVP titles. Crosby has scored between 84 and 120 points in every healthy season of his career, but his impressive supporting cast detracts from the impact of those unbelievable numbers. Especially last season, when Crosby was narrowly outscored by both Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, it would have been close to impossible for him to win the Hart. Malkin (18/1 odds) and Kessel (75/1 odds) are still Penguins and barring injuries to one or both, Crosby would have to take his game to an even higher level to get back into Hart consideration.

Maple Leafs centers John Tavares and Auston Matthews both have 10/1 odds to win the Hart, as the odds-makers clearly expect there to be plenty of offense to go around in Toronto next season. Injuries held Matthews to 63 points last season, outside the top 50 in scoring, while a healthy Tavares only managed to tie for sixteenth with 84 points for the New York Islanders. Both players will greatly need to improve their production to be Hart – and it is certainly possible now that they are playing together – yet an improvement by both could land them in Crosby/Malkin territory where they cancel each other out in the Hart race.

Reigning Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe, and Maurice Richard winner Alex Ovechkin also has 10/1 odds to take home the Hart. Ovechkin has done it three times before, more than any other active player in the league. However, Ovechkin’s 49 goals last year only came with 38 assists, as his 87 points kept him outside the top ten in scoring. At 33 years old this season, the Washington Capitals captain will have to fight both the aging process and a potential Cup hangover to improve his production if he wants a fourth Hart. Ovechkin’s 10/1 odds seem like a stretch.

At 15/1 are both the 2018 winner Hall and finalist Nathan MacKinnon, as well as Nikita Kucherov and Mark Scheifele. This is where the value lies in these early odds. The former duo greatly benefited from both excellent seasons – 97 points for MacKinnon and 93 points for Hall – but also being far and away the best players on the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche respectively. Both should again lead the way for their clubs and if they match their previous output and again sneak into the postseason, it would be no surprise to see them both back in consideration next year. As for Kucherov, he was the favorite to win the Hart for a long stretch last season as he led the league in scoring. Although his production tailed off as the season closed out, the dynamic Tampa Bay Lightning winger still managed to finish third with 100 points. Tampa will be top contenders again and promise to light up the score board with Kucherov leading the way. Perhaps this time he can seal the deal on the Hart. Scheifele is a dark horse candidate who could be the breakout star of the coming season like Hall and MacKinnon last year. The Winnipeg Jets franchise center played in only 60 games last year, but scored 60 points and continues to show flashes of brilliance. He could be a savvy pick to take home the hardware.

Among the rest of the field are some very interesting options. Los Angeles Kings star Anze Kopitar, a Hart finalist last season, has 18/1 odds and new weapon to play with in Ilya Kovalchuk (50/1 odds). Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux has 25/1 odds despite finishing second only to McDavid at the top of the scoring charts last season with 102 points. Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand, also 25/1 odds, was arguably the most dangerous scorer in the league last season when on the ice, finishing 13th overall in scoring with 85 points in just 68 games – the only player in the top 50 to play in less than 70 games. Bargain odds belong to Artemi Panarin at 50/1. The Columbus Blue Jackets dynamo gets better each year since coming over to the NHL and could toy with 100 points in his second year with the team. That would make for an interesting off-season, as Panarin is slated for free agency next summer.

What do you think? Does Bovada have the right names at the top? Or will the Hart winner be another unpredictable upset like Hall?

Poll: Can Connor McDavid Win The Art Ross Trophy For A Third-Straight Year?

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The Edmonton Oilers went from a top performing playoff team in 2016-17 to a struggling franchise that didn’t even come close to earning a playoff spot last year. Quite a difference in years. Yet among all that went wrong last season, the team got the most out of their star player Connor McDavid, who captured the Art Ross Trophy for a second year in a row.

McDavid, who enters his fourth NHL season and first as the highest paid player in the league, posted 30 goals and 70 assists in the 2016-17 season for 100 points. He easily walked away with the Art Ross Trophy as the next closest were Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby with 89 points. Behind them was Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom with 86, as well as Boston’s Brad Marchand and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov who both had 85 points.

In 2017-18, despite a lesser team that struggled, McDavid’s numbers only got better as he posted 41 goals, 67 assists and 108 points, but the competition only increased as two other players broke the 100-point barrier, including Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux who had 102 points and Kucherov who went from 85 points to 100. Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin (98 points) and Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (97 points) rounded out the top five. However, while five players in 2016-17 had 85 points or more, that number altered quite a bit last year as 15 players had 85 points or more, giving McDavid even more competition.

There are several players who could compete with McDavid this year, including Kucherov who continues to improve at 24. Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall finished the season with 93 points, while MacKinnon, who is just 22, is also a young player who can still take his game to the higher level. Or could someone else take that next step?

So the question is, can Connor McDavid lead the league in points again?

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Poll: Who Are The Best Centers In The NHL?

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The NHL Network lit up the hockey world recently when they revealed their list of the Top 20 Centers in the league, ranking Connor McDavid as the best in the league ahead of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The number four slot was occupied by Auston Matthews, which ruffled some feathers, while the reigning Stanley Cup champions Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom were down at 13 and 14 respectively.

The Penguins (Croby, Malkin), Maple Leafs (Matthews, John Tavares), Capitals (Kuznetsov, Backstrom) and Oilers (McDavid, Draisaitl) all had two names on the list, while other potential options like Eric Staal, Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Toews, Brayden Schenn, Brayden Point, Ryan O’Reilly, Sean Monahan and Dylan Larkin were all absent.

Since the NHL Network’s fan vote was so different—Jay Beagle ranked 20th on the list—we thought we’d do our own tally here at PHR. In the poll below we’ve listed many options and are asking you to vote for your top group by selecting 10 names. Does Matthews stay in the top five? Can defensive wizards like Anze Kopitar and Patrice Bergeron climb up the rankings? Does the PHR community believe in William Karlsson? Cast your vote for the top 10 centers in the league and make sure to leave a comment explaining your choices.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*Though Claude Giroux has played center for much of his career, his absence from the NHL Network list means he was likely left off the ballot. We’ve similarly left him out of the poll, along with other part-time centers like Joe Pavelski, Blake Wheeler and Logan Couture. If you feel as though any of them should be included in this group, make sure to leave a comment down below.

Metropolitan Notes: Brassard, Bjorkstrand, Quenneville

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With a sudden logjam at the center position, there was talk that the Pittsburgh Penguins might look to unload someone with the name of Derick Brassard being near the top of the list. However, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the Penguins may now be looking to do something different instead.

The scribe writes that the Penguins intend to experiment with Brassard in hopes of converting the long-time center to the wing and move him up a line. The 30-year-old has played in 716 NHL games and has never played anywhere other than center. However, the belief is that with his skating and shooting skills, Brassard might be a solid wing option for either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin and would free up room for others to fill in the bottom-six center roles.

While Brassard was having a solid season with Ottawa, posting 18 goals in 58 games, he didn’t thrive as well in a lesser role in Pittsburgh, where he went from averaging 18:21 ATOI to 15:12 with the Penguins. However, an increased role in the team’s top-six could be exactly what Brassard and the Penguins both need.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets may be getting close to signing one of their restricted free agents as The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that the Blue Jackets and Oliver Bjorkstrand are closing in on a deal. Portzline follows that up by reporting that his sources say they are not buying out any of his unrestricted free agent years, suggesting it is likely to be a bridge deal, most likely for two or three years. The 23-year-old winger put up a solid season last year for Columbus, posting double-digit goals for the first time in his career, posting 11 goals and 40 points. Bjorkstrand just finished up his entry-level deal and was paid $872K.
  • New Jersey Devils prospect John Quenneville had high expectations coming into the 2017-18 season, but various injuries held him back and the 2013 first-round pick is starting to run out of chances to develop into the highly-touted prospect. In fact, in the team’s exit meeting with Queenville, the team was quite frank with the 22-year-old, telling him to get into shape. The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required) writes that Quenneville has done just that this offseason, working with a sports trainer alongside many athletes, including the New York Islanders’ Johnny Boychuk. He has already got himself to 210 pounds with just 9.3 percent body weight in hopes of finding a regular role in New Jersey. He only played two games for New Jersey and managed just 43 in Binghampton, posting 14 goals and 34 points.

Rutherford Eyeing Trade Market To Improve Penguins

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Changes are coming in Pittsburgh this off-season, but GM Jim Rutherford is “not even really thinking about free agency right now”. Speaking with Josh Yohe of the Athletic, Rutherford admits that “we won’t really have the cap space to do anything anyway. We’re going to re-sign some of our restricted free agents. And at that point, we’re around the cap.” The Penguins need to re-sign RFA’s Bryan Rust, Riley Sheahan, Daniel Sprong, Jamie Oleksiak and more and even with the expected increase to the salary cap limit will only have $8-12MM maximum to work with. The team could make a couple additional minor moves here and there on the unrestricted free agent market, but Rutherford is correct that team is strapped for the cap space to make any significant signings this summer, at least as things stand now.

As a result, it is the trade market that Rutherford is more interested in. The team has already stated that they don’t plan to buy out any of their current players, but they could look to move them via trade. Atop that list are likely wingers Carl Hagelin and Conor Sheary and defenseman Matt Hunwick. In fact, the blue line appears to be the most likely area for a player to be traded away, as the team enters next season with six veterans under contract and Oleksiak and Frank Corrado as restricted free agents. Rutherford stated to Yohe that defenseman Brian Dumoulin is the most untouchable player on the back end due to his invaluable defensive play, and also expressed his fondness for Oleksiak and Olli Maatta as well. Rutherford said that the front office is optimistic that Kris Letang and Hunwick will perform better next year and were happy with the play of Justin Schultz and Chad Ruhwedel as they made up for Letang’s and Hunwick’s shortcomings respectively this season. However, Rutherford added that his comfort with this group doesn’t mean that won’t make a change.

The goal in making any deal is to improve the depth and youth of the Penguins’ forward corps. This explains why the team was connected to Max Domi recently, before he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens last week. The team is seeking versatility and upside up front and are willing to move substantial assets to get it, but Rutherford wasn’t willing to part with the Alex Galchenyuk-level ask from the Arizona Coyotes for Domi. Rutherford knows that even if he does nothing this summer, Pittsburgh will still be a contender, and as such he does not need to overpay in any trade. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are not going anywhere and Rutherford has already confirmed that he is not shopping Phil Kessel. It’s safe to assume that young winger Jake Guentzel and new acquisition Derick Brassard are also safe. That is already shaping up to be a solid group yet again and the internal addition of younger players should add energy and potential. However, Rutherford’s preference still is to add depth and even more youth if he can to combat the injuries and fatigue that hurt his aging roster last year. Those are the moves he is looking to make this summer and it seems inevitable that at least one such transaction will be made by the expert executive. They may not be three-peat champions, but the Penguins are going to re-stock and be dangerous again in 2018-19.

Snapshots: Offer Sheets, Wideman, Bergevin

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The NHL has restricted free agency for a reason, but instead of it being a way for talent-deprived teams to sign away top young players, offers sheets are ignored and never used. The last offer sheet signed was five years ago when Ryan O’Reilly signed an offer sheet with the Calgary Flames in 2013 and there have only been eight offer sheets signed in the salary cap era.

After all, with a weak unrestricted free agent class this season, teams would benefit if they had an equally good chance at competing for restricted free agents. This year’s restricted free agent class is quite impressive. Led by Vegas’ William Karlsson, Ottawa’s Mark Stone, Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba and Toronto’s William Nylander, teams should be making a move on some of these players.

Sportsnet’s Sean McIndoe writes the main reason for the lack of offer sheets comes down to the compensation that is returned if a team allows a team to leave. The scribe writes that the compensation is not good enough and forces teams to sign their restricted free agents regardless of their cap situation. He points out that the compensation looks impressive when dealing with a player that makes more that $10.15MM per year. A team that signs a restricted free agent in that bracket would receive four first-round picks. Unfortunately, few players are in that salary bracket unless your name is Connor McDavid. If he was a restricted free agent, any team would give up four first-rounders for McDavid.

If the NHL wants to improve on restricted free agency, then they must double the compensation so teams really need to think about whether they would rather have that player or let him go and take the compensation package. Unfortunately right now, no team wants the compensation package.

  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that unrestricted free agent Chris Wideman said that he wants to return to the Ottawa Senators next season, but isn’t sure he’s in the team’s plans for next season. The 28-year-old defenseman said he talked to general manager Pierre Dorion recently and was told that the organization had other matters to attend to before addressing whether they plan to bring him back. Wideman missed most of the season last year after having surgery in December to repair a torn hamstring after Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin fell on him on Nov. 16. Used as a depth defenseman for his three years in Ottawa, he averaged a career-low 11:33 of ATOI in 16 NHL contests, despite putting up eight points in that time period.
  • Stu Cowan of The Montreal Gazette writes that general manager Marc Bergevin said today that the team is willing to trade the No. 3 pick in the NHL Entry Draft. “I’ll listen, I’m open,” Bergevin said. “I’ve told teams if they want to make me an offer, I’ll look at it. But again, sometimes teams don’t want to move up. As much as a team wants to move back or move up, if there’s no takers or buyers then you just sit where you’re at.”

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