Garnet Hathaway, Marc Staal Enter COVID Protocol
The Washington Capitals have lost a third player, as Garnet Hathaway finds himself in the league’s COVID protocol. The 30-year-old forward is expected to be unavailable for tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Hathaway joins Trevor van Riemsdyk and Nic Dowd in the protocol and on the sidelines as the team prepares for action. In Saturday’s win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hathaway played more than 16 minutes, something that is becoming routine lately as the Capitals deal with injuries and illnesses. With seven goals in 25 games, he’s also off to the best start of his career and could quickly eclipse the 11 goal total that stands as his career-high.
The team has not confirmed whether or not Hathaway has tested positive for coronavirus, but if he has and is experiencing any symptoms, he’ll be away from the club for a minimum of ten days. Hopefully, this outbreak stops there and the Capitals don’t lose any other players in the near future.
The Detroit Red Wings have also announced a player absence, indicating that Marc Staal has been added to the COVID protocol. Staal played nearly 19 minutes on Saturday against the New York Islanders and has actually been a relatively solid contributor for the Red Wings this season. His absence–which has not been confirmed as a positive test–would open the door for Danny DeKeyser‘s return to the lineup after exiting the protocol in recent days.
Should Staal miss ten days after a positive test, he’d be out for the team’s next five games at least.
Department Of Player Safety Fines Derick Brassard For Unsportsmanlike Conduct
The NHL Department of Player Safety today fined Philadelphia Flyers forward Derick Brassard $2,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct toward the Washington Capitals’ Garnet Hathaway during a game Saturday night, as announced today.
The play in question involved Brassard delivering a punch to Hathaway’s face while standing on the Flyers bench. Hathaway was on the ice. Brassard was given an interference penalty on the play.
Brassard has stepped up in a big way for the Flyers this season, scoring two goals and five assists for seven points in 10 games during his first season as a Flyer. Brassard has seen an elevated role in the absence of the injured Kevin Hayes, centering the team’s second line between Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson.
The 34-year-old joined the team by signing a one-year, $825,000 contract on August 25. The Flyers are his sixth different team during the past four seasons. Brassard spent last season with the Arizona Coyotes, scoring just eight goals and 20 points, his lowest totals since his rookie season in 2007-08.
2021 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced
The NHL has announced the 31 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild.
Each team submits one nominee. This year’s are:
Anaheim: Cam Fowler
Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Boston: Charlie Coyle
Buffalo: Jack Eichel
Calgary: Mikael Backlund
Carolina: Jordan Staal
Chicago: Connor Murphy
Colorado: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Columbus: Cam Atkinson
Dallas: Esa Lindell
Detroit: Dylan Larkin
Edmonton: Kyle Turris
Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky
Los Angeles: Trevor Moore
Minnesota: Mats Zuccarello
Montreal: Jonathan Drouin
Nashville: Pekka Rinne
New Jersey: P.K. Subban
NY Islanders: Anders Lee
NY Rangers: Chris Kreider
Ottawa: Thomas Chabot
Philadelphia: Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby
San Jose: Kurtis Gabriel
St. Louis: Ryan O’Reilly
Tampa Bay: Alex Killorn
Toronto: John Tavares
Vancouver: Tyler Motte
Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury
Washington: Garnet Hathaway
Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler
2020 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced
The NHL has announced the 31 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Jason Zucker of the Minnesota Wild.
Each team submits one nominee. This year’s are:
Anaheim: Cam Fowler
Arizona: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Boston: Patrice Bergeron
Buffalo: Jack Eichel
Calgary: Travis Hamonic
Carolina: Jordan Staal
Chicago: Jonathan Toews
Colorado: Gabriel Landeskog
Columbus: Cam Atkinson
Dallas: Tyler Seguin
Detroit: Justin Abdelkader
Edmonton: Leon Draisaitl
Florida: Sergei Bobrovsky
Los Angeles: Trevor Lewis
Minnesota: Matt Dumba
Montreal: Carey Price
Nashville: Pekka Rinne
New Jersey: P.K. Subban
NY Islanders: Matt Martin
NY Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist
Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk
Philadelphia: Kevin Hayes
Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby
San Jose: Evander Kane
St. Louis: Ryan O’Reilly
Tampa Bay: Alex Killorn
Toronto: Mitch Marner
Vancouver: Alexander Edler
Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury
Washington: Garnet Hathaway
Winnipeg: Blake Wheeler
Garnet Hathaway Suspended Three Games
The ruling is in, and the Washington Capitals have lost Garnet Hathaway for three games. The forward has been given a three-game suspension for the spitting incident on Monday night, which also earned him a match penalty. Hathaway spat towards Anaheim Ducks defenseman Erik Gudbranson while officials tried to separate them.
Hathaway will miss the next three contests and is eligible to return on November 29th against the Tampa Bay Lightning. His absence forced the team to make several transactions earlier today and when combined with injuries to Carl Hagelin, Nic Dowd and Nicklas Backstrom, tests the Capitals’ depth.
It is important to note that this suspension was not handed down by the Department of Player Safety. As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports, any appeal of the ban would go to the commissioner himself, not an independent arbitrator because it is fewer than six games.
Washington Capitals Make Several Roster Moves
With Garnet Hathaway expected to get some sort of suspension for his spitting incident, the Washington Capitals needed to make some roster moves. Today, the team has recalled Beck Malenstyn, Michael Sgarbossa, Tyler Lewington and Ilya Samsonov while returning Vitek Vanecek to the minor leagues. These moves are designed to give them depth options and maximize the amount of salary cap relief available when they placed Carl Hagelin on long-term injured reserve. Nic Dowd, who was also a potential candidate for the LTIR list, has been placed on regular injured reserve.
With Nicklas Backstrom also set to miss tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, the Capitals will likely be without four of their regular forwards should Hathaway get suspended. That leaves quite the opening for some of these younger players to get an opportunity.
This is one of the biggest problems with spending right up to the cap, as Washington has to deal with tricky CBA machinations just to fill their roster each night. Injuries and suspensions only complicate the matter further. Hagelin will now be out until at least December 2nd.
Snapshots: Hathaway, Zykov, Kovalchuk
It’s not clear what punishment if any Garnet Hathaway will receive from the league for spitting at Erik Gudbranson last night, but Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told reporters including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that a suspension is possible. (Update: Hathaway will have a hearing on Wednesday morning) The Capitals are preparing to make some roster moves to accommodate the potential discipline.
Hathaway was involved in a fight with several Anaheim Ducks players after Brendan Leipsic landed a big hit, and ended up spitting at Gudbranson while the officials separated them. The incident came with a match penalty that includes an automatic review of the situation and potential suspension. For a team like the Capitals that are pushed right up against the salary cap ceiling, even losing a player like Hathaway (who carries a $1.5MM cap hit) creates a tricky situation.
- There was a familiar face at the Vegas Golden Knights morning skate today, as Valentin Zykov re-joined the group after serving the first part of his suspension. Zykov was suspended 20 games for testing positive for a banned substance, but is allowed to return to practice ten days before the end of it. He is eligible to return to game action on November 29th against the Arizona Coyotes.
- It has been widely reported that Ilya Kovalchuk is due a portion of his signing bonus on December 15th, and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic clarifies exactly how much will be paid out. Kovalchuk will earn another $2.65MM that day, at which point there will be less than $5MM total remaining on his $18.75MM contract.
Garnet Hathaway Signs With Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals have signed another depth forward to a multi-year deal, inking Garnet Hathaway to a four-year $6MM deal according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
It took quite a while for Hathaway to become an NHL regular after four years at Brown University. They 27-year-old finally become an NHL regular in the 2017-18 season, but took his game to another level this season, posting a career-high 11 goals and 19 points, while providing the necessary grit and grind while playing on Calgary’s fourth line. He also finished with a career-high 200 hits last season.
It’s that energy and physicality that prompted the Capitals to add the forward to their team. Washington had already agreed to a deal with Richard Panik to fill the third-line role that was vacated when they traded winger Andre Burakovsky to Colorado a couple of days ago. Now Hathaway should fill a need on their fourth line as he likely will supplant either Travis Boyd or Chandler Stephenson there. The bump up in pay shouldn’t hurt either as he made just $850K last season with the Flames.
UFA Notes: Hathaway, Lindberg, Gibbons, Lehner, Tanev, Chiarot
Garnet Hathaway appears to be on his way out of Calgary. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the winger is looking at a few options in the East. The 27-year-old is coming off a career year with the Flames that saw him go from a depth option to an important piece of their fourth line. He chipped in with 19 points (11-8-19) in 78 games along with a team-high 200 hits. That should be enough to land Hathaway a multi-year deal this summer at a nice raise over the $850K he made last season.
Other UFA notes this morning:
- The Senators aren’t expected to re-sign center Oscar Lindberg and winger Brian Gibbons, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Both players were brought in near the trade deadline and Gibbons in particular finished up quite strong with 14 points in 20 games with Ottawa. Meanwhile, Lindberg didn’t fare so well but as a 27-year-old pivot with a few decent years under his belt, he should have quite a few suitors on the open market.
- Goaltender Robin Lehner declined a two-year, $10MM offer from the Islanders, reports Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest (Twitter link). The netminder had a career season which makes him one of the top goalies available but his struggles in his time with Buffalo are likely playing a role in him only receiving a short-term offer from New York.
- The Jets won’t likely be able to retain defenseman Ben Chiarot or winger Brandon Tanev, notes Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link). He notes that both players are likely to earn significant raises on what they made last season ($1.4MM AAV for Chiarot, $1.15MM for Tanev) which will price them out of what Winnipeg can afford. The 28-year-old Chiarot logged 18:37 per night last season and is one of the more underrated blueliners in free agency while Tanev, 27, had a career season offensively with 29 points (14-15-29) while being among the league leaders in hits with 278.
Pacific Notes: Edler, Burns, Grabner, Veronneau, Hathaway
A week ago, longtime Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler refused to waive his no-trade clause and accommodate a team that was considering moving their veteran defenseman. Edler, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, has made it clear that he wants to remain in Vancouver for the rest of his career. The 32-year-old will be tested as the team will likely expect Edler to take less money after signing a six-year, $30MM contract ($5MM AAV) in 2013, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.
“I’ve been fortunate to have very good contracts with money,” he said. “But there are other things, too. It’s different when you have a family. There are a lot of factors you have to take into consideration. Those things are important.”
With plenty of cap room and the need for a solid veteran defensemen who could continue aiding the play of young future defenseman like Quinn Hughes and Olli Juolevi, the Canucks might want to bring him back too, but with an upcoming expansion draft, the team doesn’t want to be placed in a situation where they will have to protect Edler and lose a more talented young player, which likely could be the key to negotiations.
- Despite rumors that he might miss a game, the Mercury News’ Paul Gackle reports that San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns will play Sunday against Chicago. Burns was rumored to be questionable as he had been suffering from the flu and missed a practice. That means that he won’t jeopardize his iron man status of 454 straight games played.
- The Athletic’s Craig Morgan (subscription required) writes that the Arizona Coyotes may get another player back soon as winger Michael Grabner could be back within the week. Grabner hasn’t played in a game since suffering a serious eye injury on Dec. 1. He has been fitted with a new contact lens, which is helping him eliminate his remaining vision issues, although the scribe adds that his return date could still be altered.
- Mark Divver of the Providence Journal writes that the Los Angeles Kings are considered the frontrunners to sign Princeton University forward Max Veronneau, who will be an unrestricted free agent once his college team is done playing next weekend. Veronneau, a four-year player, has 13 goals and 36 points this season and has tallied 52 goals in his four-year career. Los Angeles has a history of dipping into the college free agent market, grabbing defenseman Daniel Brickley and forward Sheldon Rempal last year, while signing goaltender Calvin Petersen two seasons ago.
- The Athletic’s Michael Russ reports that Calgary Flames forward Garnet Hathaway will not receive any supplementary discipline from the Department of Player Safety for driving Minnesota Wild’s Luke Kunin into the boards Saturday in the second period. Hathaway was given a match penalty and a game misconduct, but the league obviously didn’t feel the hit was intentional.