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Evgeni Malkin

NHL Names Top 100 Players Of All Time

January 28, 2017 at 9:46 am CDT | by natebrown 2 Comments

Last night on the NBC Sports Network, the NHL released the top 100 players of all time and the debate, which has raged long before this was released, will continue on. Hosted by actor Jon Hamm, the ceremony honored players by decade, and categorized them by goalies, defensemen, and forwards.

The first thirty-three were released on New Years Day during the Centennial Classic in Toronto. The players named in the first thirty-three were active between 1917-1966. The rest, named last night, have played from 1967 to the present day.

There were a number of story lines:

  • Jonas Siegel of the Canadian Press wrote that Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, and Wayne Gretzky agree that Gordie Howe is the greatest hockey player of all time. Gretzky added that while Sidney Crosby is the greatest in the game today, Connor McDavid is making the case to “chase him” as the next in line.
  • Speaking of Crosby’s generation, the selection of the more recent players to the top 100 caused quite the debate around the hockey world. The arguments boil down into a couple ways: either include more current players by subtracting players from other decades or be more selective in the current generation. The six on the current list were Jaromir Jagr, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Crosby, and Alex Ovechkin.
  • The Score’s Sean O’Leary thinks that Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla, and Joe Thornton should have “cracked” the list. O’Leary believes that Malkin is a lock for the top 100, while Iginla, though never winning a Cup, was a dominant force in the league, scoring 617 goals in his long (and still active) career.
  • Curtis Pashelka also wonders why Joe Thornton isn’t included on the list. His stats alone seem to qualify him for the top 100, but the lack of a Stanley Cup makes Pashelka think that it kept Thornton out of the illustrious club.
  • Finally, Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshynski includes his list of snubs which name the aforementioned Iginla, Malkin, and Thornton. But Wyshysnki also lists Zdeno Chara, Ed Belfour, Dale Hawerchuk, and Pierre Pilote as players deserving of inclusion.

 

NHL| NLA| Players| Uncategorized Alex Ovechkin| Connor McDavid| Duncan Keith| Evgeni Malkin| Jarome Iginla| Jaromir Jagr| Joe Thornton| Jonathan Toews| Mario Lemieux| Patrick Kane| Sidney Crosby| Wayne Gretzky| Zdeno Chara

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Minor Transactions: 1/27/2017

January 27, 2017 at 5:15 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

As is customary over the NHL’s All-Star weekend, many teams have begun the day with sending waivers-exempt players down to the minors for some salary cap savings over the next few days. No team has been as enthusiastic to move some bodies as the New Jersey Devils, who announced that nearly half of their defensive corps will take a short trip to Albany to visit the AHL Devils. Joining the recently demoted Yohann Auvitu this weekend will be Steve Santini, Seth Helgeson, and Karl Stollery. Although the trio has only played in a combined 26 games in 2016-17, Santini and Stollery have formed the bottom pair for the Devils of late with Auvitu, Andy Greene, and John Moore sidelined with injuries. Helgeson has generally been the seventh defenseman this season, spending most games in the press box, but getting to see the ice in five contests. The 29-year-old journeyman Stollery has played in just eight games, but is already having the best season of his NHL career, recording his first big-league points and playing about 16 minutes per night.The rookie Santini has shown promise so far in the first half, skating in 13 games and scoring two goals and three assists while playing a sound defensive game as well. Expect Santini and at least one of Stollery and Helgeson to be back up in New Jersey after a brief break.

Elsewhere in minor moves:

  • Another Metropolitan team has moved a majority of one position down to the AHL, but it should come as welcome news to the fans. The Carolina Hurricanes announced that, after a long hiatus dealing with concussion symptoms, goalie Eddie Lack has been activated from the injured reserve and has been assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers for a rehab stint. With Cam Ward having played in 41 of 48 games for the ’Canes, including 22 of the last 24, he, the organization, and the fans will be happy to have Lack back in the fold as soon as possible. Joining him in the minors will be his recent replacement, veteran Michael Leighton, whose demotion could be more of the permanent variety this time around. However, Leighton, who is the AHL’s all-time leading goalie in games played, will at least get to participate in the AHL All-Star Game upon his return.
  • The Washington Capitals have reassigned forward Chandler Stephenson to the Hershey Bears of the AHL for the time being. Unlike his last call-up to the Caps, Stephenson got to see some game action during this last trip. Though the young center was held scoreless and is still looking for his first NHL point through 11 games, Stephenson played confidently in the past two contests and has earned another promotion in the near future.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have again returned forward Markus Hannikainen to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. The big Finnish winger, playing in just his second season in North America, scored his first NHL goal in the Jackets’ 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes last Saturday, his only game action on this trip to Columbus.
  • The Buffalo Sabres announced that defenseman Casey Nelson has been assigned to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Nelson has done his best to help Buffalo out with their rash of blue line injuries this season, but has struggled to make much of a difference in nine scoreless games.
  • After his recent NHL debut and first career goal, the Arizona Coyotes’ Christian Fischer gets to continue his highlight-reel week by heading to the AHL All-Star Game. The Coyotes announced his demotion, but more than anything the move allows the AHL to honor the league’s top rookie in the first half of the season before he likely heads back to the NHL for the second half.
  • In addition to placing Michael Bournival and Gabriel Dumont on waivers, the Tampa Bay Lightning have demoted forward Erik Condra to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, which has become common this season. The bottom-six groupings are set to change drastically following the All-Star break.
  • The Ottawa Senators have activated Andrew Hammond from the injured reserve, and in a corresponding move and have sent down Chris Driedger to the Binghampton Senators of the AHL. However, this only partially helps the Sens’ logjam in net. Mike Condon has taken over as the starter with Hammond out and Craig Anderson on leave since early December, but with both soon back in the fold, Ottawa will still be carrying three goalies. Expect another move sooner rather than later.
  • The San Jose Sharks are using All-Star weekend to get a whole group of guys some play time. The team announced that Barclay Goodrow, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, and Tim Heed have all be reassigned to the AHL Barracuda and will join the team in Michigan tonight for a game against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
  • After just recalling Ivan Barbashev to replace the injured Kyle Brodziak, the St. Louis Blues have returns the AHL All-Star to the Chicago Wolves for this weekend. Expect he, or fellow All-Star Kenny Agostino, or possibly both, to be right back with the Blue after the break.
  • The Boston Bruins have recalled goalie Anton Khudobin from the Providence Bruins and reassigned rookie keeper Zane McIntyre to the AHL. While McIntyre’s demotion was expected, as he has been the best goalie in the AHL this year and a highlight of the AHL All-Star Game, the subsequent recall of Khudobin could signal that the Bruins are ready to return to the veteran as their backup to begin the second half of the season.
  • The Winnipeg Jets returned Brian Strait to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, one day after recalling the six-year veteran defenseman from the minors, the team announced via Twitter. Strait was a healthy scratch last night as the Jets took a 5-3 decision from Chicago. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound blue liner has yet to see action in the NHL this season but has appeared in 182 regular season contests over parts of six seasons with the Pittsburgh and New York Islanders organizations.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets continue to flip-flop backup goalies, sending Joonas Korpisalo to Cleveland of the AHL and recalling Anton Forsberg from the same affiliate. The team announced the corresponding transactions via Twitter. Forsberg has made just one appearance this season for Columbus, allowing four goals on 27 shots in a 5-3 loss to Carolina. Korpisalo has won two of his three starts and has appeared in four games overall.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Carter Rowney back to the AHL after just a day with the big club. The forward came up last night with Evgeni Malkin out, but didn’t make it into the game against the Boston Bruins. Rowney will need to wait for his next shot with the big club.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have signed some depth between the pipes, inking ECHL netminder Ryan Faragher to a one-year deal. The 26-year old Faragher has been in their system since 2014, but wasn’t under a pro-deal until now. He’ll earn $575K if he should ever make it to the NHL (which he most likely will not, unless something drastic happens in Anaheim) and $50K in the AHL.

AHL| Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Carolina Hurricanes| Columbus Blue Jackets| NHL| New Jersey Devils| New York Islanders| Ottawa Senators| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| San Jose Sharks| St. Louis Blues| Tampa Bay Lightning| Transactions| Utah Mammoth| Waivers| Washington Capitals| Winnipeg Jets Andrew Hammond| Andy Greene| Anton Forsberg| Anton Khudobin| Cam Ward| Chandler Stephenson| Craig Anderson| Eddie Lack| Erik Condra| Evgeni Malkin| John Moore| Joonas Korpisalo| Kyle Brodziak| Markus Hannikainen| Michael Leighton| Mike Condon| Salary Cap

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Metro Division Notes: Atkinson, Penguins-Capitals, Devils

January 26, 2017 at 3:05 pm CDT | by Brett Barrett Leave a Comment

After a tough 2015-16 season, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been one of the feel-good stories of the year.

That positivity continued today, as Cam Atkinson was named to the NHL All-Star Game, according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. He’ll join teammates Seth Jones and Sergei Bobrovsky on the Metropolitan Division team. Atkinson is replacing Penguins star Evgeni Malkin, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

The 27-year-old Atkinson told the Blue Jackets website that being named to the All-Star Game is “obviously very special and very humbling. To be playing with the best players in the world, it’s going to be fun. I’m going to take it all in and really enjoy the moment.”

Atkinson has 24 goals and 46 points in 47 games to lead the Blue Jackets in scoring. He’s just three goals and seven points shy of his career-high, set last season in 81 games played.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins are preparing to go for back-to-back Stanley Cups for the first time since Detroit won in 1997 and 1998. GM Jim Rutherford told Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he has yet to identify any specific area of his team’s roster to improve by the deadline. Rutherford once again stated that having two legitimate starting goaltenders in Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray “doesn’t work ideally.” With the upcoming expansion draft, Rutherford will have to make a goaltending move eventually, but he doesn’t feel pressure to make a move until an offer makes sense to improve the roster or clear up the goaltending situation. The Penguins currently have zero dollars of cap space.
  • Moving to D.C. and the Penguins’ biggest rival, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told TSN and ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun that he’s content with his team going forward. MacLellan feels that everything is running smoothly, so he’s “more inclined to do nothing” before March 1. However, that’s not to say the team won’t “go through the process of [asking], ’Can we upgrade on guys?'” The President’s Trophy-winning Capitals were eliminated in six games by the Penguins last season, and will be looking for revenge. LeBrun writes that the two teams will be preparing for an early matchup, perhaps even in the first round.
  • Continuing the trend of NHL teams moving their AHL affiliates, the New Jersey Devils will be moving their AAA squad from Albany to Binghamton, New York. Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the Baby Devils will be replacing the Binghamton Senators, who are moving to Belleville, Ontario. Albany ranks last in the AHL with regards to attendance; Binghamton is second-last, but gets nearly 20 per cent more people per game. The Devils organization reportedly ate a seven-figure loss in 2015-16, but still signed a new three-year contract with the Times Union Center. Dougherty reports that the organization will likely be making use of an out-clause. The move will be officially ratified at the AHL’s board of governors meeting on Sunday.

PHR’s Glen Miller also contributed to this post.

AHL| Columbus Blue Jackets| New Jersey Devils| Pittsburgh Penguins| Snapshots| Washington Capitals Cam Atkinson| Evgeni Malkin| Salary Cap

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Minor Transactions: 1/26/2017

January 26, 2017 at 12:00 pm CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

PHR is monitoring all of the day’s roster transactions and will update this post throughout the day:

  • The New York Rangers have announced via their official Twitter account that they have reassigned goaltender Magnus Hellberg to Hartford of the AHL. Hellberg was called up 10 days ago to serve as the backup to #1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist after Antti Raanta suffered a lower-body injury in his last appearance on January 14th. Hellberg appeared in one game in relief of Lundqvist, stopping all four shots faced. The reassignment indicates Raanta will be ready to go after the All Star break.
  • St. Louis Blues center Kyle Brodziak has been placed on IR with a right foot injury and will be out at least five weeks, according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. Korac adds in a separate tweet that the team has recalled Ivan Barbashev. Brodziak has tallied six goals and 10 points in 47 contests this season for St. Louis. Barbashev was a second-round pick of the Blues in the 2014 entry draft. He is in his second professional campaign and has registered 19 goals and 37 points for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. The Moscow native could make his NHL debut tonight.
  • With Evgeni Malkin sidelined with a lower-body injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Carter Rowney from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, tweets Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rowney, who has yet to appear in an NHL game, has tallied 10 goals and 21 points in 24 AHL games for the baby Pens.
  • Jim O’Brien and Spencer Martin have been reassigned by the Colorado Avalanche to their AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, the club announced via Twitter. O’Brien was called up Tuesday but didn’t dress for the team’s game last night against Vancouver. Colorado doesn’t play again until next week Tuesday and obviously won’t need a backup goalie. The move will allow the team to bank some cap space and give Martin a chance to see some game action in the minors.
  • Steve Oleksy, placed on waivers yesterday, has cleared, reports Pierre LeBrun of ESPN. At this point it appears he will remain with the team though he can be reassigned to the AHL at any point in the next 30 days without again being subject to the waivers process. Update (1:25pm): Oleksy has indeed been sent down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
  • The San Jose Sharks have activated center Tomas Hertl from IR and also recalled forwards Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier from the AHL, according to Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area. Hertl last appeared for San Jose on November 17th and has missed the last 32 games. Labanc and Meier both were reassigned to the San Jose Barracuda yesterday in what was essentially a procedural move designed to allow the Sharks to bank a little extra salary cap space.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have announced that they have reassigned blue liner Shea Theodore and forward Kalle Kossila to San Diego of the AHL. Theodore has been a frequent mention in these posts as he’s been recalled by the club eight times this season, only to be returned to the Gulls each time. Kossila, meanwhile, was called up yesterday and made his NHL debut last night. He didn’t register a point but played 6:54 in the Ducks 4 – 0 loss to Edmonton.

AHL| Colorado Avalanche| Injury| NHL| New York Rangers| Pittsburgh Penguins| San Jose Sharks| St. Louis Blues| Transactions| Waivers Antti Raanta| Evgeni Malkin| Henrik Lundqvist| Kyle Brodziak| Salary Cap| Timo Meier| Tomas Hertl

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Penguins, Capitals Combine For Nine Goals In A Period

January 16, 2017 at 9:13 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

Is there a better rivalry in the NHL right now than the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals? The teams opened their seasons against each other back in October with a wild game that needed a shootout to decide the winner. In November, the Caps shocked the world with a 7-1 win over the defending champs and then just last week put an end to the Penguins’ five-game winning streak with a 5-2 result. Tonight, it’s almost as if the two sides colluded to produce the best result for our entertainment in their final (regular season) match-up of the year. After going up 2-0 in the first period, Washington allowed six goals in the second while scoring three of their own for a total of nine goals in just twenty minutes. Then, two goals for the Capitals and another for the Penguins tied it up at 7-7 and took the game to overtime. A goal by Conor Sheary in overtime clinched it for Pittsburgh, as unfortunately one team had to come out on top and the game had to come to an end, but only after 15 goals.

The OT goal was Crosby’s third assist of the game, to go along with a goal, but he was just one of the game’s many amazing performances. Fellow Pittsburgh superstar Evgeni Malkin put together a hat trick, all in the second period to lead both teams in goals. Sheary had two goals and an assist for the Penguins, and defensemen Justin Schultz and Trevor Daley combined for seven assists. On the Washington side, T.J. Oshie had a goal and two assists, while Lars Eller added two goals, including the game-tying tally late in the third. On the other hand, it was clearly a night to forget for all of the goaltenders involved.

Unbelievably, the nine goals in a period were not the league record and neither was the Penguins’ six by themselves. However, the six goals scored in the second is the most scored by the Penguins in a game since 2000, when they scored that many in a match-up against the New York Islanders.

The season series between these two teams ends tied at two games apiece and also snaps the Capital’s nine-game winning streak. All hockey fans can hope for now is that these two teams meet up in the playoffs, which could end up being one of the most anticipated series of all time.

Pittsburgh Penguins| Washington Capitals Conor Sheary| Evgeni Malkin| Lars Eller| Sidney Crosby| T.J. Oshie

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Full List Of Mandatory-Protection Players In Expansion Draft

November 23, 2016 at 3:41 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston has published the full list of players who, due to no-movement clauses in their current contracts, must be protected in the upcoming expansion draft for the new Vegas Golden Knights. These are players who will count against the protection limits should they choose not to waive their NMC rights prior to the draft.

Each team has the right to protect either:

A) Seven forwards, three defenders, one goaltender

or

B) Eight skaters, one goaltender

These players will count against those numbers, and as Johnston points out, there are some notable inclusions and omissions from this group. Players like Jordan Staal, Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan all had incorrect information spread about their contracts. The former two will now need protection, while the latter will not, due to his deal only having a no-movement to the minors clause.

The Chicago Blackhawks, with eight players listed, will have little flexibility at the draft, with only four forward spots (or one defenseman) left to use. Many others, according to Johnston, including Toronto’s Nathan Horton, are likely to be made exempt if they are still on LTIR as the draft approaches.

Read more

Anaheim (4)
Kevin Bieksa
Ryan Getzlaf
Ryan Kesler
Corey Perry

Arizona (1)
Alex Goligoski

Boston (4)
David Backes
Patrice Bergeron
Zdeno Chara
David Krejci

Buffalo (1)
Kyle Okposo

Carolina (1)
Jordan Staal

Columbus (5)
Sergei Bobrovsky
David Clarkson
Brandon Dubinsky
Nick Foligno
Scott Hartnell

Chicago (8)
Artem Anisimov
Corey Crawford
Niklas Hjalmarsson
Marian Hossa
Patrick Kane
Duncan Keith
Brent Seabrook
Jonathan Toews

Colorado (2)
Francois Beauchemin
Erik Johnson

Dallas (2)
Jamie Benn
Jason Spezza

Detroit (1)
Frans Nielsen

Edmonton (3)
Milan Lucic
Andrej Sekera
Cam Talbot

Florida (1)
Keith Yandle

Los Angeles (1)
Anze Kopitar

Minnesota (4)
Mikko Koivu
Zach Parise
Jason Pominville
Ryan Suter

Montreal (2)
Jeff Petry
Carey Price

Nashville (1)
Pekka Rinne

New Jersey (1)
Ryane Clowe

N.Y. Islanders (3)
Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ladd
John Tavares

N.Y. Rangers (4)
Dan Girardi
Henrik Lundqvist
Rick Nash
Marc Staal

Ottawa (1)
Dion Phaneuf

Philadelphia (1)
Claude Giroux

Pittsburgh (5)
Sidney Crosby
Marc-Andre Fleury
Phil Kessel
Kris Letang
Evgeni Malkin

Tampa Bay (4)
Ryan Callahan
Valtteri Filppula
Victor Hedman
Steven Stamkos

Toronto (1)
Nathan Horton

Vancouver (3)
Loui Eriksson
Daniel Sedin
Henrik Sedin

Winnipeg (2)
Dustin Byfuglien
Toby Enstrom

 

Chicago Blackhawks| Expansion| New York Islanders| New York Rangers| Newsstand| Players| Vegas Golden Knights Alex Goligoski| Andrew Ladd| Anze Kopitar| Bobby Ryan| Brandon Dubinsky| Cam Talbot| Carey Price| Corey Crawford| Corey Perry| Dan Girardi| Daniel Sedin| David Backes| David Clarkson| David Krejci| Dion Phaneuf| Duncan Keith| Dustin Byfuglien| Evgeni Malkin| Frans Nielsen| Frans Nielsen| Henrik Lundqvist| Henrik Sedin| Jamie Benn| Jason Pominville| Jason Spezza| John Tavares| Jonathan Toews| Jordan Staal| Keith Yandle| Kris Letang| Kyle Okposo| Loui Eriksson| Marc Staal| Marc-Andre Fleury| Marian Hossa| Mikko Koivu| Milan Lucic| Nathan Horton| Niklas Hjalmarsson| Patrice Bergeron| Patrick Kane| Pekka Rinne| Phil Kessel| Ryan Callahan| Ryan Getzlaf| Ryane Clowe| Scott Hartnell| Sergei Bobrovsky| Sidney Crosby| Steven Stamkos| Valtteri Filppula| Victor Hedman| Zach Parise

2 comments

Patric Hornqvist Suffers Concussion

November 17, 2016 at 2:15 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Patric Hornqvist suffered a concussion last night against the Washington Capitals and is listed as day-to-day. The Penguins’ forward blocked a Brooks Orpik shot with the side of his head in the dying minutes of the second period, which may possibly be the cause of the injury.

While it doesn’t sound like Hornqvist will be out for a great deal of time, this comes just after the publication of a Boston Globe article with Marc Savard and his fight with concussions. In it, Savard talks about seeing nothing but black even though his eyes were open, and describes in detail his battle which includes once being labeled as suicidal at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Between this article, and the recent piece by Gabriel Landeskog at the Players’ Tribune, the spotlight has never been greater on brain injuries and concussions in hockey. Just last night, fellow Penguin Matt Murray was forced out of the game by spotters in the arena after his helmet was knocked off by teammate Evgeni Malkin.

The Savard piece is a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of the game, or youth hockey. Obviously, the game isn’t going to eliminate contact entirely, but hearing first-hand about the horrors Savard had to endure is a hard, but important thing for everyone involved in the game.

Injury| Newsstand| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| Washington Capitals Evgeni Malkin| Gabriel Landeskog| Matt Murray (b. 1994)

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Penguins Notes: Murray, Sheary, Hagelin

November 5, 2016 at 3:40 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Pittsburgh Penguins will take on the San Jose Sharks tonight in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final from last season, and there will be a familiar face in net. Matt Murray will make his second start of the season after allowing just a single goal in his debut against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Even though Marc-Andre Fleury has played exceptionally well to start the year, head coach Mike Sullivan says both netminders will continue to play, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

We’re fortunate. We have two really good goaltenders that we know are going to give us a chance to win. We’re going to do our best to keep them both in the mix. We’ll go from there. These situations always have a way to work themselves out. Inevitably performance is always the dictator.

Mackey expects that Murray’s play tonight will factor large in the decision of who to start on Tuesday at home, though it’s up in the air from that point. The team doesn’t have another back-to-back situation until November 18th and 19th.

  • The Penguins will get some help up front to try and score some goals for Murray, as Conor Sheary will return from a seven game absence to play tonight. Sheary suffered an eye injury last month in Montreal and has been itching to get back into game action.  According to Mackey, he’ll start on the fourth line with Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr, though he could quickly ascend back up the lineup. Sheary has one goal and two assists on the season in just four games.
  • The ’HBK’ line (Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel) is officially broken up, according to Adam Gretz of NBC. The trio that was so dominant in the playoffs is now spread out over the Penguins top three units, with Hagelin skating alongside Sidney Crosby and Patrick Hornqvist.  As Gretz notes, Hagelin brings a lot of the same aspects that Pascal Dupuis added so effectively to Crosby’s wing over the years. Hopefully it will spark something in the speedy winger, as he only has two points on the season so far.  Kessel on the other hand is off to a great start this season and now finds himself skating alongside Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz. #81’s ten points this year trails only Malkin on the Penguins, and he leads the team in assists.

Anaheim Ducks| Injury| Pittsburgh Penguins| San Jose Sharks Conor Sheary| Evgeni Malkin| Marc-Andre Fleury| Matt Cullen| Matt Murray (b. 1994)| Pascal Dupuis| Phil Kessel| Sidney Crosby

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Rookie Notes: Laine, Werenski, Marner

November 4, 2016 at 8:10 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

After writing yesterday about the incredible group of teenagers that inhabit the NHL right now, they continued to show why they deserve to have ink spilled every night about them. Patrik Laine, playing in his 12th NHL game scored his seventh goal (while seemingly practicing his golf game) which is the fastest since it took Evgeni Malkin just six games in 2006. The Finnish sniper now has 9 points in those 12 games, and is showing why he was drafted so high.

The Jets are obviously pretty high on Laine, as he’s averaging over 19 minutes a night which leads all rookie forwards this season. As fans watch him play, they must be reminded of another Finnish scoring winger that made an impact as a rookie once upon a time – Teemu Selanne’s amazing rookie season started with 11 goals in his first 12 games, and ended with 76.

  • The idea that defensemen take longer to develop than forwards is being thrown out the window in Columbus, as Zach Werenski continues to dominate in his rookie season. The Blue Jackets are currently tearing the Montreal Canadiens apart (8-0 as this article is written), and Werenski is a big part of it. Though he has just one assist tonight, he’s also the quarterback of an effective powerplay that has gone 4/5 in the game. This 19-year old blueliner was drafted eighth overall in 2015 and is providing huge dividends already for the Blue Jackets; they’ll be 5-3-1 after tonight, with Werenski scoring (at least) nine points.
  • Though Mitch Marner wasn’t included in the original post, he probably should have been.  His start with the Maple Leafs has been overshadowed slightly by Auston Matthews, but the former fourth-overall pick has played extremely well in his own right. Two goals last night led the Maple Leafs to victory in Buffalo, a place they’ve had trouble winning in for years. Though Marner now has eight points in eleven contests, it’s his defensive play that is repeatedly mentioned by head coach Mike Babcock. The diminutive winger has nine blocked shots on the season, which leads all Toronto forwards.

 

Columbus Blue Jackets| Mike Babcock| Mike Babcock| Montreal Canadiens| NHL| Toronto Maple Leafs| Winnipeg Jets Auston Matthews| Evgeni Malkin| Patrik Laine| Zach Werenski

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Penguins Notes: Crosby, Schultz, Defense

October 30, 2016 at 6:00 pm CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

Sidney Crosby is unquestionably one of, if not the very best player in the game today. Naturally the Penguins would much rather have Crosby in the lineup than out but over the years the team has done surprisingly well without their superstar center. This year was no exception as Pittsburgh went 3 – 2 – 1 with Crosby sidelined due to concussion-related symptoms. However, in the three games since he returned, Crosby has impacted the performance of the power play as much as anything else, as Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes.

With Crosby back in the lineup, the Penguins have cashed in on four of nine opportunities, good for a 44.4% success rate. In 25 chances without Crosby, Pittsburgh tallied five man-advantage goals, still a solid 20% mark. But as head coach Mike Sullivan notes, it isn’t simply the results; it’s that the power play creates a lot more high quality scoring chances with Crosby on the ice.

“One of the things that we like about our power play is the movement. That’s what makes it difficult to defend. We’ve had a lot of movement and that shot mentality, and Sid’s part of that group. He’s got great offensive instincts, so whether he’s beside the net or he’s on the half-wall or he’s in the slot, he’s a dangerous guy, whether he’s passing or shooting.”

In addition to his skills with the biscuit on his stick, Sullivan notes that his franchise pivot excels at gaining possession of the puck due to his ability to win faceoffs.

“It helps us to win that first faceoff so we can establish some zone time. He’s a threat, regardless of where he is on the rink.”

Of course, regardless of his proficiency on the power play, Crosby can affect a game in a multitude and the Penguins are simply a better and more dangerous team when he is healthy and playing.

More on the Penguins:

  • Speaking of the team’s power play success, Justin Schultz has done a fine job for the Penguins on the man advantage in the five games since stalwart defenseman Kris Letang went down with an injury, as Pro Hockey Talk’s Adam Gretz writes. Pittsburgh has been successful on five of 16 chances with Letang sidelined and Schultz has been on the ice for every one of those goals. Sullivan notes it’s Schultz’s willingness to simply fire the puck on goal that is key to this recent run of success: “Sometimes, when we put guys on our first power-play unit, there’s always a tendency to try to want to get the puck to (Sidney) Crosby or (Evgeni) Malkin or (Phil) Kessel when sometimes the right play is to put the puck on the net.” Letang appears to be nearing a return but at least Pittsburgh can breathe a bit easier knowing that Schultz has adequately replaced their best blue liner’s power play production.
  • Finally, in a piece for Today’s Slapshot, Dave Holcomb expresses his belief that the team’s sole weakness remains their blue line. That’s not a surprising position given that the Penguins boast two Stanley Cup winning goalies with Matt Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury along with two of the best players in the world in Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. But as Holcomb notes, while the team is still generating plenty of offense (seventh in the NHL in shots on goal per game), they are also allowing more chances against (second most shots allowed per game). Last season Pittsburgh finished with the second-best Corsi For % at 52.72. So far this season they are at 50%. Of course the team’s blue line was far from a strength last season when the won the Stanley Cup and it should also be noted again that Letang has missed more than half of the season so far. Pittsburgh smartly used the trade market a year ago to boost their defense corps, adding Trevor Daley and Schultz from Chicago and Edmonton respectively. That should serve as a reminder that Pittsburgh is likely to focus once more on improving the blue line as we draw nearer this season’s trade deadline.

Injury| NHL| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players Evgeni Malkin| Justin Schultz| Kris Letang| Marc-Andre Fleury| Matt Murray (b. 1994)

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