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Henrik Lundqvist

East Notes: Lundqvist, Hischier, Johnston, Devils

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While veteran Henrik Lundqvist was hoping to return to the NHL for the playoffs, the 39-year-old veteran announced via Twitter that those hopes will not be possible. The goaltender, who signed with the Washington Capitals in the offseason only to have to sit out the year after learning that he required open-heart surgery to fix issues with his heart, has been back on the ice for almost a month in hopes of joining Washington. However, he announced that inflammation around his heart requires more time for rest and recovery.

“Last week’s checkup showed some inflammation around the heart that now requires a few months more of rest and steady recovery,” wrote Lundqvist. “While it’s not what I hoped for, I know this is all part of the process of getting back to 100%.”

While a return to the NHL this season seemed highly unlikely, it’s disappointing for Lundqvist, the Capitals and fans who would have loved to see the veteran back on the ice.

  • The New Jersey Devils could be close to getting back their No. 1 center as head coach Lindy Ruff said that Nico Hischier is “very close to playing, he’s closing in on that date,” according to NHL.com’s Amanda Stein. The 22-year-old has struggled staying in the lineup due to injuries. He was forced to sit out for the first month of the season with a leg injury and after appearing in five games, he suffered a facial fracture that required surgery. He practiced with the team Sunday, working with the penalty killing unit and is expected to rejoin the team’s No. 1 power play once he returns.
  • The New York Islanders have placed forward Ross Johnston on injured reserve due to an undisclosed injury, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. That will allow the team to recall Oliver Wahlstrom from the taxi squad. The 27-year-old Johnston hasn’t seen too much time with the Islanders this season, appearing in just nine games. He has no points, but has 35 penalty minutes. Wahlstrom will likely have to battle with Leo Komarov for playing time.
  • Chris Ryan of NJ.com reports that the third-round pick sent to the Washington Capitals for Jonas Siegenthaler is technically still conditional. The Devils sent the Arizona Coyotes’ third-round pick to Washington, which was acquired in the Taylor Hall trade. However, there was a condition to the deal in which New Jersey would actually get Arizona’s second-round pick if Hall re-signs with the Coyotes. Of course, that condition is extremely unlikely considering that Hall is now in Buffalo. Unless the Sabres trade him to Arizona and Hall signs an extension with them before the draft, that condition wouldn’t happen. However, in the unlikely circumstances that did happen, the Devils would then opt to send their own third-rounder to Washington for Siegenthaler.

East Notes: Lundqvist, Ovechkin, Cozens, Senyshyn

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When Henrik Lundqvist was told he required open-heart surgery late last year, he was understandably ruled out for the season.  Last month, he resumed on-ice activities and thoughts of a possible return started to trickle in.  Speaking with reporters yesterday including Samantha Pell of the Washington Post, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan acknowledged that he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the 39-year-old coming back though he qualified his statement by noting that Lundqvist playing remains “highly unlikely”.

With the Capitals using youngsters Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov this season, the idea of adding a veteran third goalie (even with Craig Anderson on the taxi squad) has come up.  While Lundqvist is still months away from making a decision about whether or not he could return, it’s now an option that can’t be ruled out entirely.  Even at that, that’s great news for him and just possibly for Washington eventually as well.

More from the East Division:

  • Also from Pell’s piece, MacLellan didn’t provide much of an update on the status of extension talks for captain Alex Ovechkin. He did express optimism that a deal will eventually get done with both sides needing to find the “sweet spot” that they can agree on.  Ovechkin is off to a bit of a slower start by his standards with nine goals in 22 games although he’s only one off the Capitals lead in that department.
  • Sabres forward Dylan Cozens is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The rookie is being evaluated to determine the severity of the issue, one that occurred early in the third period on Thursday against Pittsburgh.  The 20-year-old has just five points in 20 games this season as he adapts to NHL action but had been subbing as the top center for Jack Eichel the last couple of games.
  • Zach Senyshyn’s season debut with the Bruins on Thursday will be his last NHL contest for a bit. Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty notes that the winger suffered an upper-body injury in that game with head coach Bruce Cassidy stating that “he’s going to miss some time”.  The 23-year-old was a first-round pick in 2015 but has been limited to just seven games at the top level so far.

Injury Notes: Lundqvist, Teravainen, Merzlikins

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Henrik Lundqvist underwent heart surgery last month, at the very least pausing his legendary NHL career for the moment. Earlier this month he let his fans know that things were going well in his recovery and today tweeted that he’s back on the ice. An attached video has him in full Washington Capitals gear, still an odd sight after spending his entire career to this point with the New York Rangers.

Lundqvist is still not expected to play this season, but his contract was not actually terminated and these updates at least open the door a crack for his playing career to continue at some point. Even if it doesn’t, it’s still great to see him healthy enough to get back on the ice.

More injury updates from around the league:

  • The Carolina Hurricanes announced that Teuvo Teravainen has been diagnosed with a concussion, likely from a Nikita Zadorov hit on February 19. The star forward has already missed a pair of games and it is not clear when he’ll be cleared to return. If you haven’t been paying attention to Carolina, you might have missed that Teravainen has turned into one of the most consistent offensive performers in the NHL over the last few seasons. After breaking out with 64 points in 2017-18, he has scored 148 points in his last 162 regular season games, including nine this year. The 26-year-old is only in the second season of a five-year deal signed with Carolina in 2019.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed Elvis Merzlikins on injured reserve for the second time this season, this time retroactive to February 20. He suffered an upper-body injury in that game and is considered week-to-week. Matiss Kivlenieks has been promoted from the taxi squad to serve as the backup for Joonas Korpisalo, but this will once again test the goaltending depth of the organization. Korpisalo hasn’t been good this year, registering an .889 save percentage in his 13 appearances, and Kivlenieks has just six games of NHL experience.

Snapshots: Quarantine, Lundqvist, Hoffman

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A lot of the focus for trade watchers right now is on Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Montreal Canadiens, but Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports pours some cold water on the wild speculation today, noting how difficult it will be for trades to be completed in-season. If Dubois—or anyone on a U.S.-based team for that matter—were to be acquired by the Canadiens, he’d face at minimum a 14-day quarantine. That means missing seven or eight games, a huge amount in a shortened 56-game schedule.

Still, for a player like Dubois who would be a core piece for the next several years, missing seven games doesn’t seem like it should really matter that much. If he does get traded midseason (which is far from a sure thing), dropping out of the bidding because of a two-week quarantine would probably be a mistake.

  • Henrik Lundqvist left the hospital yesterday after his open-heart procedure, tweeting out how happy he was to head home to his kids. The veteran goaltender will not play this season and instead is focusing on his health, though has not officially retired from playing yet. The Washington Capitals signed Craig Anderson this week and are using him instead as the third goaltender this season, while Lundqvist recovers from surgery. His one-year contract expires at the end of the season.
  • After getting his work visa issues dealt with, Mike Hoffman will be in the lineup for the St. Louis Blues this evening. He’ll be on the second line with Jaden Schwartz and Robert Thomas where he spent most of training camp. Sammy Blais, who is serving a two-game suspension, will come out of the lineup. Hoffman comes to St. Louis on a one-year deal to reset his free agent market after waiting nearly the entire offseason to sign.

Henrik Lundqvist Will Not Play This Season

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Dec 28: Lundqvist announced on Twitter that he will undergo open-heart surgery to try and fix his health issues. The procedure will include an aortic valve, aortic root, and ascending aortic replacement.

Dec 17: The Washington Capitals’ big offseason acquisition won’t actually get to play for them this season. Henrik Lundqvist announced in an emotional tweet that he will not be able to suit up for the Capitals due to a heart condition. The full letter to fans:

It breaks my heart (literally) to share this news: I will not be joining the Capitals this upcoming season. After many weeks of tests and conversations with specialists around the country, it’s been determined that a heart condition will prevent me from taking the ice. Together, we have decided that the risk of playing before remedying my condition is too high, so I will spend the coming months figuring out the best course of action.

For the past two months I’ve been so inspired by the opportunity to play in DC and committed to my game, spending every day at the rink to prepare for the upcoming season. The news was very difficult to process but after the last test result earlier this week we knew there was only one way to go from here.

I want to thank the entire Capitals organization for not only giving me this opportunity but also for their support throughout this challenging time. I will take the next few weeks to be with my family and I’ll be back to share the next steps. 

This is such disappointing news for one of the great players of the last generation. Lundqvist, who will turn 39 in March, sits sixth on the all-time wins list with 459, every one of them recorded with the New York Rangers. That era came to an end when the veteran goaltender signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Capitals in October to replace Braden Holtby as the new backup for phenom Ilya Samsonov.

Often considered among the greatest players to never win the Stanley Cup, Lundqvist finished at least sixth in Vezina Trophy voting in each of his first ten seasons, winning the award in 2012 when he posted a .930 save percentage in 62 games. While he hasn’t actually won the thing, Lundqvist’s playoff performances have been among legend, with a .921 through 130 postseason appearances. In Sweden, perhaps he is even better known for his international exploits, which include Olympic and World Championship gold and silver medals.

For those wondering how this affects the Capitals salary cap situation, the team’s best course of action would likely be to place Lundqvist on unconditional waivers and terminate the deal. Though 35-plus contracts usually count regardless of what happens, that is only in the case of multi-year agreements, which Lundqvist was obviously not. If his contract is terminated, it will come off the books completely.

Regardless, the focus now should be on Lundqvist’s health and future. Here’s hoping we haven’t seen the last of the King on an NHL ice surface.

Washington Capitals Sign Craig Anderson To Professional Tryout

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With rumors that the team might be looking for a veteran netminder after the team lost veteran Henrik Lundqvist to injury, the Washington Capitals announced they have signed longtime Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson to a professional tryout.

Washington had high expectations for their goaltending when they signed Lundqvist to help share the workload with young phenom Ilya Samsonov. However, when Lundqvist backed out due to a heart condition, the team was left with very little cap room and two AHL goaltenders, Vitek Vanecek and Pheonix Copley, to fill that void.

That prompted the team to bring in the 39-year-old Anderson to see whether he can fill the void in net for Lundqvist and give the two AHL goaltenders another season to develop. Anderson, who spent the last 10 years in Ottawa, has struggled the last few years with the Senators, albeit behind a terrible defense. He finished last season with a 11-17-2 record with a 3.25 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

His biggest competition will likely be Vancek, who many people feel is ready to take on the backup job after two impressive seasons with the Hershey Bears, including one as an AHL all-star. The 24-year-old Vanecek, however, has no NHL experience (despite being Braden Holtby’s backup in the bubble last year) and with the expectation of many back-to-back games coming this season, it could be a tough situation to put an untested goalie in. However, Anderson will have to prove that he still has it after Ottawa informed the veteran that it wanted to move on from him after his contract expired this past offseason and no other team came calling until now.

East Notes: Nilsson, Lundqvist, Blue Jackets

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Senators goaltender Anders Nilsson missed the end of last season with post-concussion syndrome and while the team was hoping he’d be good to go when the puck drops on the 2020-21 campaign, it doesn’t appear as if that will happen.  Goalie coach Pierre Groulx told Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch that the netminder is still dealing with the lingering issues and his availability for next season remains in question.  It has now been just over 11 months since Nilsson sustained the concussion and Ottawa seemingly prepared for him not being available next season when they added Matt Murray from Pittsburgh at the draft.  As things stand, barring a quick and surprising recovery from Nilsson, Marcus Hogberg will serve as the backup goaltender to start the season.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Henrik Lundqvist’s time with the Rangers as a player came to an end when they bought him out earlier this offseason and he quickly signed with Washington. However, it appears as if there will be another chapter for him in New York.  Mollie Walker of the New York Post relays some comments from an interview Lundqvist did with the Goteborgs-Posten in Sweden where the 38-year-old indicated that the plan is for him to work for the Rangers in a yet-to-be-determined capacity when he retires.  He added that the role will ultimately be determined by New York.
  • One team that has been silent in free agency so far is Columbus. Despite moving out some veterans and losing Gustav Nyquist to injury, they haven’t really added to their roster.  However, GM Jarmo Kekalainen told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that they are still looking into the players still available on the open market.  While the Blue Jackets will lose most of their remaining cap space whenever RFA Pierre-Luc Dubois re-signs, both Nyquist and center Brandon Dubinsky are eligible for LTIR so they will certainly have the cap space to make an addition at some point.

Washington Capitals Sign Henrik Lundqvist

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11:50am: Lundqvist has officially signed with the Capitals and will earn $1.5MM this season.

9:15am: There may not be a flurry of signings made official when the free agent market opens up but TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that one move that’s expected to be announced is the Capitals signing goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to a one-year deal.  The contract is expected to be worth $1.5MM which would bring his total compensation for 2020-21 to $4.5MM with the Rangers paying him $3MM from last week’s buyout.

The 38-year-old has spent his entire 15-year NHL career in New York where he holds several franchise records.  However, with Igor Shesterkin impressing in his first NHL action late last season and Alexandar Georgiev still in the fold, there wasn’t much room for Lundqvist and keeping him around at a $8.5MM AAV just wasn’t in the cards.  Last season, he played in 30 games (26 starts), posting a 3.16 GAA with a .905 SV%.

While there wasn’t a fit for him to remain with the Rangers, there certainly is with Washington.  Braden Holtby is set to depart in free agency which leaves the still-untested Ilya Samsonov as their starter.  The 23-year-old has just 26 NHL appearances under his belt and wasn’t able to play in the playoffs due to injury.  Lundqvist should be a good mentor for Samsonov while still being able to take on a notable workload to allow the youngster to ease into the starting role.  The move also means that Pheonix Copley and Vitek Vanecek should remain as their goaltending tandem at AHL Hershey.

Assuming the deal is made official, the Capitals will be roughly $4MM under the salary cap with RFA blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler needing a new deal plus Washington having to add a few players to fill out their roster.  If they make any other moves in free agency, expect them to be low-salaried acquisitions as a result.

Goalie Notes: Lundqvist, Calgary, Knight

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The King has hit the court after today’s buyout of Henrik Lundqvist, adding yet another name to the overflowing free agent goaltender market. Of course, there is no guarantee that the former New York Rangers netminder will continue his career in the NHL, given his age and career so far. Lundqvist has only ever played for the Rangers, suiting up more than 1,000 times for the team over 15 years.

His agent Don Meehan told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that Lundqvist’s desire to play elsewhere is  “to be determined” while Craig Custance was told by an NHL source that they had been told the veteran goaltender would be playing “unless the market isn’t there for him.” The 38-year-old will collect $1.5MM in buyout salary from the Rangers each of the next two years.

  • There are a lot of goaltenders available this year and the Calgary Flames have checked in on all of them, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That includes speaking with the Columbus Blue Jackets who have two young goaltenders under contract in the NHL and several more interesting prospects on the way. The Flames have David Rittich under contract for the 2020-21 season at $2.75MM but could use an upgrade at the position if they hope to contend for the Stanley Cup. Not only does Rittich’s .907 save percentage this season not inspire a ton of confidence he’s the answer, but the Flames also may be thinking about the effects of a condensed schedule on the position. Rittich started 48 games in 2019-20, the most of his career, and had an .893 save percentage after Christmas.
  • One team that will hang up if Calgary calls? The Florida Panthers, who have shut down multiple teams asking about top goaltending prospect Spencer Knight. Custance reports that the Panthers have absolutely no desire to move Knight, who they picked 13th overall in 2019 despite the presence of Sergei Bobrovsky (and his long-term contract). Knight, 19, put up a .931 save percentage as a freshman for Boston College and will likely be USA Hockey’s starter once again at this year’s World Juniors.

New York Rangers Buy Out Henrik Lundqvist

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Sep 30: The Rangers have officially announced the buyout. Because of his no-movement clause, there was no need for unconditional waivers. In the press release, Rangers president John Davidson outlined some of the reasons Lundqvist meant so much to the city of New York:

We would like to thank Henrik for his immeasurable contributions to the New York Rangers. From the time I met Henrik when he first came to New York in 2005, he has been the consummate professional. His tireless work ethic, passion for the game, and love of the Rangers and New York City enabled him to become one of the greatest goaltenders in hockey and one of the best players in the history of our franchise. We all wish Henrik and his family the best going forward.

Sep 29: The end of an era is upon us. After 15 years of brilliant play in the New York net, the Rangers and decorated goaltender Henrik Lundqvist are set to part ways. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Rangers will buy out the final year of Lundqvist’s contract, with an announcement expected on Wednesday. At 38, Lundqvist will be an unrestricted free agent for the very first time.

As Dreger explains, this was not an easy decision for New York. Few players have meant as much to a team in NHL history as Lundqvist has to the Rangers since 2005. The potential future Hall of Famer was a Vezina Trophy winner, a First-Team All-Star, and a wins leader, among many other honors in his long career. Lundqvist leads all active goaltenders in career games played, saves, shutouts, and goals saved above average, acting as a workhorse starter for the Blueshirts for much of his career. While he still has a chance to build on this reputation, it won’t be in New York. The team explored all options, but must move forward with young upstart keepers Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev, leaving no room on the roster for Lundqvist, especially at his high cap hit.

With just one year remaining on the seven-year, $59.5MM contract that Lundqvist signed back in 2013, the buyout will only impose penalties against the salary cap for two seasons. CapFriendly projects that Lundqvist’s $4.5MM base salary and $1MM signing bonus in this final year will count toward the salary cap in full for a total hit of $5.5MM in 2020-21. In 2021-22, the penalty will be just $1.5MM. The $3MMM in savings this season for the Rangers will give the team even more flexibility to re-sign their pending restricted free agents while also exploring the free agent market for additional help.

Lundqvist meanwhile will hit a free agent market that is already chock full of goalies, most of whom are not coming off the worst season of their careers. Quickly approaching 40 and in steep decline over the past four or five years, it is hard to imagine Lundqvist getting any more than a small, one-year contract to serve as a backup. However, the decorated netminder already has plenty of money and accolades. All he wants at this point in his career is to sign with a team that give him the one thing he doesn’t have: a Stanley Cup.

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