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Hampus Lindholm

Afternoon Notes: Duchene, Chabot, Lindholm, Vatanen

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While Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene remains with the team despite the constant trade rumors that have hounded the 26-year-old center all offseason and entering the preseason. In fact, despite earlier reports that general manager Joe Sakic still has high trade demands for Duchene, there are others who look at the situation differently. Long-time Avalanche great Peter Forsberg was a guest in-studio analyst for a Swedish of the Avalanche-New Jersey Devils game said the team needs to “bench and trade” the disgruntled center, according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post.

Duchene, who has reportedly been visibly unhappy to still be with the Avalanche and has said very little to the press, was a target for Forsberg during that broadcast, who believes that while putting up points might be important to raise his value, the center is not going go all-out to help his team.

“Doubtful that he should be allowed to play (with Colorado),” Forsberg, whose words were translated by Expression reporter Robin LIndgren, said in the Swedish broadcast. “Put him in the stands. If I were playing with a player that I know doesn’t even want to be in the team, it’s not like he is going to throw himself on the ice and block shots with his head. It is mostly difficult to have a player like that in the team, although he is skillful and is doing his best. I would rather play with someone that wants to be there. I would put him on the bench and trade him.”

  • CBS Sports reports that Ottawa Senators have recalled top defensive prospect Thomas Chabot Sunday to help fill in for their many defensive injuries. The team is currently without Erik Karlsson, who is still out after foot surgery this offseason, as well as Johnny Oduya, who is out with a lower-body injury. The team attempted to fulfil their defensive needs a couple days ago when they promoted Ben Harpur, who has two years of AHL experience, unlike Chabot who has just two games of AHL experience, but Harpur suffered an upper-body injury in last night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. The 20-year-old Chabot had a goal and an assist in his first two games with the Belleville Senators. The 2015 first-rounder was one of the team’s final cuts, which surprised many, but he was held responsible for a poor preseason performance, a 9-2 drubbing to the Montreal Canadiens, in which he finished the game with a plus/minus rating of -5.
  • Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register tweeted that Anaheim Ducks’ injured defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen were both full participants in practice today, suggesting the team may eventually be getting back their top defenders. They are not that close to returning, however, as they are both on LTIR, which requires them to miss 24 days and 10 games. Both required shoulder surgery at the end of last season.

West Notes: Duchene, Ducks, Steen, Juolevi

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With the start of the regular season now less than a week away, Matt Duchene remains a member of the Avalanche and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested to 630 CHED in Edmonton (audio link) that things are currently pretty quiet on the trade front with Colorado.  GM Joe Sakic has set a very high asking price and as of yet, no one has been willing to meet it so it appears there’s a good chance that this will drag out into the season.  Friedman notes that Columbus remains very interested in Duchene’s services while a trio of Western teams, Edmonton, Anaheim, and Nashville have been in and out of talks at times as well.  Duchene has two years left on his contract with a $6MM cap hit but aside from the Ducks, the other three teams all have the cap room to take him on without sending any money the other way.

More from the West:

  • Ducks defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen are progressing well from their respective offseason shoulder surgeries, head coach Randy Carlyle told Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. Both players have been skating in recent days, albeit in non-contact jerseys.  Both rearguards are expected to miss all of October but have set a target to return to Anaheim’s lineup on November 1st.
  • While Alex Steen’s hand injury will keep him out for the first week of the regular season, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the issue isn’t expected to keep him out too long beyond that. Steen is going to be counted on to play a big role when he returns, especially with long-term injuries to center Patrik Berglund (out until December) and winger Robby Fabbri, whose season is over before it even started due to a torn ACL.
  • The Canucks have not yet decided where to assign defenseman Olli Juolevi. His agent Markus Lehto told Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 (Twitter link) that a team in Europe could be a possible landing spot.  The OHL’s London Knights – where he has spent the past two seasons – seems to remain the likeliest destination for the 19-year-old for now.

Injury Notes: Lindholm, Stolarz, Dubinsky

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While many pundits and fans alike are picking the Anaheim Ducks to push for one of the top spots in the Western Conference once again this year, one of the biggest question marks heading into the season was the health of top defenders Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen. Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register gives us an update on the former, talking to Lindholm about his recovery and where he’ll be for the start of the season.

I feel real good but it’s up to [the medical staff] to say when I’ll be ready to go out there and play a hockey game. As I said, I’m feeling really good out there. Feeling really good in the gym. Strength is coming back real quick. But we’ll have to talk to each other and discuss when they think I can be back.

The Ducks went out and added depth in the form of recently bought-out defenseman Francois Beauchemin this summer, bringing the veteran back to the place his career really took off. While Beauchemin isn’t the defense horse he once was, he’ll have to weather some tough minutes until Lindholm and Vatanen return at some point during the season.

  • Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Anthony Stolarz underwent meniscus surgery on his left knee yesterday and will be out indefinitely. The operation explains why the Lehigh Valley Phantoms signed another goaltender last week, inking Leland Irving to an AHL deal. Stolarz, who has flashed huge amounts of potential but has been unable to stay healthy, will now have to work his way back from an injury that can take quite some time to recover from. For the time being, Alex Lyon will take the starter’s duties in the AHL, something he’s more than capable of.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky was back on the ice doing some puck drills this week, a little over three months since he underwent wrist surgery. Tom Reed of The Athletic spoke with Dubinsky, who explained the injury has bothered him since 2015-16. He’s not sure if he’ll be ready for the start of the season, which would give even more of a chance to youngsters like Pierre-Luc Dubois and Sonny Milano, depending on how coach John Tortorella decides to deploy his other forwards. An interesting thing to watch will be how Dubinsky’s faceoffs are affected, as wrist surgery often hurts a player’s efficiency in the dot after his return. The 31-year old has long been one of the better faceoff men in the league, never losing more draws than he’s won in a season.

Anaheim Ducks Extend Korbinian Holzer

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While the Anaheim Ducks escaped the Expansion Draft with a relatively unscathed blue line, considering they could have lost a top-four defenseman in either Sami Vatanen or Josh Manson, the fact remains that they lost depth to the Vegas Golden Knights in young Shea Theodore and veteran Clayton Stoner. They also bought out the contract of Simon Despres recently as well. While Vatanen, Manson, Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, Brandon Montour, Kevin Bieksa, and prospect Jacob Larsson still represent one of the strongest and deepest defensive groups in the NHL, it never hurts to have back-up.

As such, the Ducks today re-signed serviceable defenseman Korbinian Holzer to a two-year, $1.8MM deal. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reported the extension that, while sensible, is somewhat of a surprise. Rumors earlier this off-season indicated that teams in the DEL, the highest level of hockey in Holzer’s home country of Germany, were trying to woo the blue liner back across the Atlantic. It was never an overly-convincing rumor, as the DEL is not one of the better pro leagues in Europe and counts over-aged NHL castoffs Steven Reinprecht and Keith Aucoin as two of it’s better players. However, given the 28-year-old Holzer’s limited usage in the NHL, having never played more than 34 games in his four NHL seasons, it seemed possible that Holzer had resigned to the possibility that he could simply return to Germany and be a star instead of watching games from the press box for much of each season in the NHL.

However, Holzer has seemingly decided to push on with his NHL aspirations. The Ducks see value in the stay-at-home defender and he appears to be comfortable with his role on the team going forward. Holzer had a career-high seven points in 2016-17 and registered more than two hits per game in a shutdown role when called upon. It seems unlikely that Holzer’s game will change much in Anaheim – he’s no longer the up-and-coming defenseman he was in Toronto – but at $900K per year, the Ducks can enjoy a player that is able to step in and play a competent defensive game when called upon without needing to play much to stay fresh. When injury strikes, Holzer has been a dependable spot starter and Anaheim hopes he will remain so for the next two years. Holzer may not bring much offense or puck movement, but mistake-free defensive hockey still counts for something in the NHL.

Expansion Primer: Anaheim Ducks

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We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

The expansion scenario for the Anaheim Ducks is one of the more fascinating stories of this off-season. Ever since the rules of the Expansion Draft were announced, fans have been wondering how the Ducks could traverse such a difficult process for teams with depth at all positions. That was even before Anaheim marched to a Pacific Division title and Western Conference championship appearance behind career-best seasons for Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, Cam Fowler, and Josh Manson. Neither the 7-3 scheme nor the 8-skater scheme offer the Ducks enough protection to emerge June 21st unscathed and they have been desperately looking for trade help since they were eliminated from the postseason. Will they find it? Or will the best player on the division rival Vegas Golden Knights be a former Duck?

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards
Corey Perry (NMC), Ryan Getzlaf (NMC), Ryan Kesler (NMC), Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, Andrew Cogliano, Antoine Vermette, Jared Boll, Logan Shaw, Sam Carrick, Chris Wagner, Corey Tropp, Emerson Etem, Nicolas Kerdiles

Defense
Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, Kevin Bieksa (NMC), Simon Despres, Clayton Stoner, Josh Manson, Jaycob Megna

Goaltender
John Gibson, Dustin Tokarski

Notable Exemptions

Nick Ritchie, Ondrej Kase, Shea Theodore, Brandon Montour, Jacob Larsson

Key Decisions

The first decision the Ducks really need to make is what scheme they want to use. Many at first thought that the Anaheim would have to use the 8-skater format to protect four defenseman: centerpieces Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, and Kevin Bieksa, who has a No-Movement clause. However, as the season went on, that decision became even more difficult. Bieksa fell out of favor under head coach Randy Carlyle and will almost surely waive his clause or, if he refuses, be bought out. Yet, young Josh Manson has developed into a shutdown defender like no other in Anaheim. While puck-movers like Lindholm, Vatanen, or Fowler could be replaced by up-and-coming prospects Shea Theodore, Brandon Montour, and Jacob Larsson or a healthy Simon Despres, the Ducks would be hard-pressed to replace the skill set of Manson.

So, the Ducks could go eight skaters and protect Lindholm, Vatanen, Fowler and Manson. The problem with that is then Anaheim would lose a young impact forward. Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Ryan Kesler have No-Movement clauses, but would be locks to be protected regardless. That would leave just one slot left and two budding stars, Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg, in need of protection, not to mention iron man Andrew Cogliano. Vegas fans were salivating at the though of either Rakell or Silfverberg lining up on the Knight’s first line next year, but after the seasons they had, that seems next to impossible. The Ducks are in win-now mode and can ill-afford to lose one of their vital top-six forwards, especially in such a weak free agent market.

Instead, Anaheim will likely choose to go seven forwards and three defenseman as their protection scheme. Perry, Getzlaf, Kesler, Rakell, Silfverberg, and Cogliano will all be safe, as will three of the Ducks’ top four defenseman. Rather than lose the fourth for nothing, Anaheim has recently boosted its efforts to trade Vatanen. If they cannot, they will have to make a call between he and Manson, as Lindholm and Fowler have separated themselves from the pack as the team’s top two defenders.

The Ducks will also have to make a call about their seventh and final forward. Other noteworthy top-nine regulars like Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase are exempt from the draft, so the decision will probably come down to veteran Antoine Vermette or youngster Logan Shaw or Nicolas Kerdiles. Either way, Anaheim is in good shape with meeting the two-forward quota with the likes of Jared Boll and Chris Wagner both qualifying while not really in the conversation for protection. Vermette had a good first season in Anaheim, but he is 34 years old and has lost a step on his famous two-way game. The 25-year-old Shaw plays a physical game and contributed 10 points in 55 games in 2016-17, but was only given limited ice time and doesn’t have the ceiling of a player like Kerdiles. Yet, Kerdiles only played in one regular season game and four playoff games, notching just one assist. His AHL numbers suggest that he could do much more if given the chance though.

Projected Protection List

Scheme: 7F/3D/1G

Forwards

Corey Perry (NMC)
Ryan Getzlaf (NMC)
Ryan Kesler (NMC)
Rickard Rakell
Jakob Silfverberg
Andrew Cogliano
Nicolas Kerdiles

Defensemen

Cam Fowler
Hampus Lindholm
Sami Vatanen

Goalie

John Gibson

If the Ducks are unsuccessful in trading Sami Vatanen, Josh Manson could be the prize of the draft for the Golden Knights. The 25-year-old righty has the makings of top-pair defensive blue-liner who could anchor an entire defense. However, he just simply hasn’t reached that level yet, while Vatanen is an elite puck-mover.

If the Ducks do trade Vatanen, Manson is safe and Vegas won’t touch Kevin Bieksa, nor would would they likely take a chance on the injury-riddled Simon Despres. Minor league-caliber keeper Dustin Tokarski won’t generate any interest either. At this point, that decision on the final forward becomes key. Vegas will be on the lookout to get as much upside as possible in the Expansion Draft, and that is what Kerdiles provides. Anaheim can best protect their forward corps by retaining the young winger’s services. Vegas may have interest in Antoine Vermette as a veteran leader, but it’s doubtful. By default, Shaw could be the pick, but it wouldn’t be a major loss for the Ducks.

From potentially losing Jakob Silvferberg, Rickard Rakell, or Manson, if the Ducks can trade Vatanen and get Bieksa to waive his No-Movement clause, they could in fact leave Vegas with very little to choose from and could escape expansion with largely the same team that nearly made the Stanley Cup Final this season.

Randy Carlyle Inks Extension In Anaheim

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Head coach Randy Carlyle has been extended as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, per the team’s twitter. The contract is good through 2018-19, with an option for 2019-20. Trent Yawney and Rich Preston will be returning for at least one season, with Todd Marchant returning as Head of Player Development.

The organization is opting to stay the course in what many anticipated could be a tumultuous summer. With Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry getting another playoff older, and Randy Carlyle in the midst of his second tour of duty in Orange County, those central figures all look to remain locked in place for the foreseeable future. Although familiarity is often a good thing, there was a subsection of the Anaheim fanbase hoping for greater change. All three were present when the Ducks won their first and only Stanley Cup 10 years ago. Carlyle had been let go in 2011 before returning this season. His stint in Toronto was the topic of great scrutiny league-wide, but his all-time coaching record remains a sterling 410-283-93.

It’s hard to argue with his relative success this year, however. If the Ducks had lost to the upstart Oilers in the second round, perhaps this extension wouldn’t sit quite as well with fans. These Ducks had a fantastic regular season performance with Carlyle at the reigns, finishing 46-23-13. Their resilience in the post-season (exemplified by a 3-goal comeback late to win Game 5 against Edmonton) was the marvel of the league. Captain Getzlaf looked totally rejuvenated and ready to lead his team back to Finals contention, while youngsters such as Rickard Rakell and Cam Fowler made great strides in their game. Carlyle’s hard-nosed brand of hockey was adopted by this team, which got them to Game 6 of a Conference Final. Whether or not his old school mentality will lead to success long-term remains to be seen. GM Bob Murray doesn’t seem concerned, and stated his unequivocal confidence in the bench boss.

Marchant has done quite well in his front office role since he retired as a skater to don a suit back in 2011. In those 6 years, Marchant has played a large part in the successful ascendance and development of young draftees Fowler (2010), Rakell (2011), John Gibson (2011), Josh Manson (2011), Hampus Lindholm (2012), Frederik Andersen (2012), Shea Theodore (2013), Nick Ritchie (2014), and Brandon Montour (2014). His familiarity with the last two years’ draft picks will be invaluable as well, as Jacob Larsson (27th OV 2015), Julius Nattinen (59th OA 2015), and Max Jones (24th OA 2016) try to build pro careers. Assistant Trent Yawney was promoted from the Norfolk Admirals 3 seasons ago, after his head coaching career in Chicago ended in disastrous results back in 2007. Rich Preston has served has an assistant coach for multiple teams dating back to the 1990s, with a successful return to coach his hometown Regina Pats that ended in 2013.

Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen Require Shoulder Surgery, Out At Least Four Months

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According to Ducks GM Bob Murray, both Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen have torn labrums and require shoulder surgery. Lindholm’s recovery period is deemed four to five months, while Vatanen will need even longer. The GM also noted that Nate Thompson was playing with a hairline fracture in his ankle, while Jared Boll had a back injury during the playoffs. Kevin Bieksa told reporters earlier today that he played with a torn MCL.

Obviously, the repercussions for the Ducks are immense when it comes to Lindholm and Vatanen, two of their top three defenders. A minimum of four months puts them ready at the end of September after much of training camp, while anything longer will delay the start of their season. As Anaheim goes into the summer—and especially the expansion draft—looking to sort out their overflow at defense, injuries of this magnitude could easily change the appetite for them around the league. Vatanen in particular has been rumored to be available, as the Ducks prepare a contract extension for Cam Fowler. At 25 and locked into a reasonable deal for the next three seasons, Vatanen may have been the one dangled in front of potential trade partners.

The Ducks will have an issue with protection, as Bieksa still currently holds a no-movement clause and the team can’t really afford to go the eight skaters route. Even if Bieksa waived his clause, and the Ducks were able to protect all four of their young defensemen (including Josh Manson, who currently projects to be left exposed) it would mean exposing Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano up front, both players the team would rather not lose for nothing. Moving a defenseman has been expected, but with the start of the season now in doubt for two of them it gets even harder.

While every team comes out of the playoffs with terrible injuries—just ask Nashville, the Ducks’ opponent who lost Ryan Johansen to an emergency surgery right after a game—these two are particularly troublesome for the franchise. We’ll have to wait and see how the team deals with the situation, and whether they progress in their rehab quick enough to start the season.

If Bieksa needs surgery, it does complicate the idea some have of a buyout to protect the Ducks in the expansion draft. You can’t buyout injured players, and surely a torn MCL will not be healed by June 15th when the window opens. The buyout would have been a last-ditch solution anyway, as Bieksa is on a 35+ contract and would cause his full $4MM cap-hit regardless. It’s hard to imagine the Ducks eating that just to help them out in the expansion draft.

Potential Buyout Options

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NHL fans are looking ahead to an offseason which will likely see a lot of movement, but will also feature teams tight up against a stagnant cap ceiling. Buyouts are always an option teams will weigh, although certainly an avenue of last resort. Dumping a contract isn’t as simple as taking the player’s salary off the books. They will count as 1/3 or 2/3 of the original cap hit, for twice the remaining years on that contract. So if a 26 year old player has two years remaining at $3 MM, he will cost $1 MM for four years against the team’s cap total. That means a substantial savings of $2 MM, but is a habit GMs will not want to fall into. For players over 26, the 2/3 rule applies, and that same player would count for $2 MM each of the next four seasons. In such a scenario, the savings are rarely worth it. However, teams can be backed into this corner when trade options completely vanish.

For the 2017 offseason, there is an extra component at play – the expansion draft. Players with full No-Movement Clauses must be protected by their team, exposing potentially better, younger, cheaper options to selection by the Vegas Golden Knights. Prior to the expansion draft, on June 15-17th, there will be a buyout window. Consequently, there will most likely be at least one case where a player who otherwise would not have been bought out will be due to a team’s long-term prospects. This certainly isn’t what the NHLPA had hoped for when they agreed to another 20+ players in the league with the expansion of Vegas, but is an unfortunate unforeseen consequence. Here are just some of the players who could be facing the buyout option this summer:

 

Antti Niemi – Dallas Stars

Both Niemi and fellow goalie Kari Lehtonen should be expecting this fate. With Ben Bishop signing a massive six-year contract with Dallas, their time as starters in this league look all but complete. Both are paid an asburd amount of money, but Niemi’s $4.5 MM is the more unpalatable total. His .892 save percentage through 37 games this year was only edged in ineptitude by Michal Neuvirth among tenders who got more than 15 starts. At his pricetag he is virtually unmoveable, and with only one year remaining on his contract, the hit would be worth it for 2 seasons to keep him away from the team.

Kevin Bieksa – Anaheim Ducks

Bieksa might seem an odd inclusion on this list, considering his age, but it should be remembered that he has a No-Movement Clause, meaning he would need to be protected by the Ducks. Needing to also protect Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, and Hampus Lindholm, even under the 8 player protection model, this would likely expose Josh Manson. Considering his play in this post-season, and Bieksa’s complete inability to remain healthy, this is a darkhorse candidate for a last-minute buyout. Bieksa’s Corsi is the worst on the backend for his team and his skating has looked quite problematic of late. The flare of his Vancouver days seems long past and with only one year remaining at $4 MM, he seems an easy target to eliminate.

Scott Hartnell – Columbus Blue Jackets

Hartnell is considered a gutsy character player, a net-front presence, and a veteran leader. However, he has seen his production shift from being that of a decent offensive threat (28 G, 32 A in 2014-15) to an average third liner (13 goals, 24 A in 2016-17). His problems run deeper, though, as his brand of physical hockey has taken its toll on his play. No longer quite the intimidating wrecking-ball of his Philadelphia days, Hartnell is not as effective on the forecheck as he once was. The reason he is included on this list, however, is because Columbus has a lot of young, promising players they will wish to protect in the expansion draft, and Hartnell has a No-Movement Clause. At 34 years old and in a quickly diminishing role, it will be difficult for GM Jarmo Kekalainen to save a space for Hartnell. With toughness adequately filled by hard-nosed forwards in Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner, Nick Foligno, and Brandon Saad, he seems even more superfluous. Assuming Dubinsky (NMC), Brandon Saad, Jenner, Foligno (NMC), Cam Atkinson, and Matt Calvert are protected, Hartnell’s inclusion would sacrifice the 24 year-old William Karlsson. That’s a difficult concession for the Jackets to make, even if the youngster took a step back offensively this season. If they would opt to buy out Hartnell’s contract at $4.75 MM, it would mean $3.16 MM in dead space for 4 more seasons, a hefty pill to swallow.

 
There are certain to be other candidates for buyouts as well, but these are three that could easily find themselves looking for a new contract come June 18th.

Expansion Notes: Bieksa, Sutter

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The Anaheim Ducks have taken a 3-0 lead in the playoff series with the Calgary Flames, mostly due to the success of its defense (although perhaps not in the first 30 minutes of last night’s game. Los Angeles Times’ writer Helene Elliott praises the play of veteran defenseman Kevin Bieksa, who she says put in one of his best performances of the season.

However, while the 35-year-old blueliner has been playing well leading a young, talented defensive corps, there continue to be issues on how the Ducks will handle their offseason protection list in June.

Bieksa has a no movement clause, which will force the Ducks to use one of their four defensive spots on the veteran. The team already has a bunch of young blueliners who they must protect or potentially lose to the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Even with the team using  the 4-4-1 option in the draft (four forwards, four defensemen and a goalie), the team is likely to protect Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler.

However, because of Bieksa’s no movement clause, they would be forced to expose several young defenders, including Josh Manson. The Ducks may be ready to move on from him next year, but that no movement clause, as well as his $5.0MM cap hit will definitely stand in their way, unless the team can convince him to waive that.

Will Anaheim be able to convince Bieksa to waive his no-trade clause? His recent playoff success might only complicate matters, but no one in Anaheim is complaining at the moment as the Ducks look towards a sweep of the Flames tomorrow in Game 4 in Calgary.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have a similar issue about what to do with center Brandon Sutter, their veteran center. Many feel that Sutter has been a disappointment after a season in which he scored just 17 goals and 17 assists after signing a five-year deal in the offseason. That $4.375MM cap hit over the next four seasons makes many in Vancouver believe that they need to expose the high-priced center in the expansion draft or possibly trade him if that doesn’t work. Fansided Alex Hoegler suggests that the team should consider holding on to him, despite his disappointing first season. Sutter may not be proving to be a top-line center, however, but at age 28, he should be able to provide many 15-20 goals over the next four seasons and provide depth to a young team.

Editor’s Note: This article originally listed Brandon Montour as eligible for expansion. This is incorrect, as his 14 games in the AHL in 2014-15 were played under an amateur tryout and thus do not count towards his professional experience.

Injury Notes: Marincin, Krug, Vatanen

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Toronto’s defenseman Martin Marincin appears to be injured following a hit from Tom Wilson in the second period of Game 3. He took shifts after the hit but didn’t look particularly well, leaving the game in the third period. Marincin had stepped up in a big way since Roman Polak had gone down with  injury. Luckily for Leafs fans, Nikita Zaitsev is back. But the injury parade of the playoffs continues, with Toronto seemingly unable to ice their full squad. Further updates on Marincin are not available at this time.

  • Anaheim’s Sami Vatanen did not take the ice in Game 3, per Ducks’ beat writer Eric Stephens. Vatanen logs over 21 minutes a night, only trailing behind Cam Fowler and Hampus Lindholm. Vatanen has been depended upon by coach Randy Carlyle taking 55% of his starts in the offensive zone while registering 128 blocks on the season. Since Fowler has been sidelined with a knee injury, Vatanen’s role has only been increased. The injury is apparently upper-body related, though specifics are hard to come by. Anaheim will hope to depend upon 23 year-old Brandon Mantour, 21 year-old Shea Theodore, and the 25 year-old Josh Manson to pick up the slack against a desperate Calgary team.
  • Torey Krug has been seen walking on his own in TD Garden, which is good news for Boston fans. Regaining the services of the defenseman would be a huge boon to a team that is held together by duct tape on the backend. Brandon Carlo is also injuried, although he is progressing. Zdeno Chara is pushing the wrong side of 40 and cannot be expected to carry the load for the team, especially with the other injuries. The 19 year-old Charlie McAvoy is being tasked with top-pairing duties, and despite his talent, is being challenged by quite a difficult first outing into NHL playoff hockey. Krug has no official time-table to return.

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