Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Henrik Lundqvist

Metro Division Injury Updates: Faulk, Lundqvist, Raffl, Couturier

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With teams resuming their normal practice and game-day routines after the three-day holiday break, news and updates regarding several Metro Division players have been released today. Here’s a quick roundup:

  • Justin Faulk, Carolina’s #1 defenseman, is week-to-week with a lower-body injury evidently suffered in the latter half of the team’s recent game against Boston, according to Michael Smith, who covers the team for the Hurricane’s official NHL.com website. Faulk is averaging better than 23 minutes-per-game for Carolina and has tallied seven goals and 16 points in 30 games this season. He currently leads the team’s blue line corps in scoring and is second behind Jaccob Slavin in ice time.
  • The New York Rangers have recalled goalie Brandon Halverson from Hartford to backup Antti Raanta tonight as the Rangers host the Ottawa Senators at MSG, according to this tweet from the team’s official Twitter account. New York’s starter, Henrik Lundqvist is battling the flu and has been ruled out for the game. Though unlikely, should Halverson see any action tonight, it would qualify as the 20-year-old netminder’s NHL debut.
  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com has several developments after the Flyers practiced today. With Michael Raffl expected to miss up to two weeks with an upper-body injury suffered against New Jersey last Thursday night, rookie winger Taylor Leier is likely to fill in on the team’s top line. Leier scored his first NHL goal on December 17th and has two points in eight games this season.
  • Meanwhile, Flyers GM Ron Hextall is hopeful that center Sean Couturier will be back in the lineup for the first time since November 22nd. Couturier has missed the last 16 games with a knee injury.
  • Michal Neuvirth is nearing a return to the team after practicing with the team today, though he is not expected to play during the Flyers upcoming three-game road trip. Neuvirth has not played for Philadelphia since November 12th because of a knee injury. In his absence, Anthony Stolarz has given the Flyers two quality starts, winning both and posting a GAA of 1.84 and a Save % of 0.932.

Snapshots: Three Stars, World Junior Captains, Iginla

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The NHL has named Artemi Panarin, Henrik Lundqvist, and Eric Staal as its Three Stars of the Week.

Panarin had three goals and seven assists for 10 points in four games. He bookended two thee-point performances with a pair of two-point nights as the Blackhawks continued their five-game winning streak. Panarin now has 34 points in 34 games this season

This week marks the second consecutive week with a New York Rangers goaltender as the second star. Last week, Antti Raanta was the second star as he temporarily took over the starting role from Lundqvist, but now the man they call The King has taken back over. Lundqvist went 3-0-0 and allowed just three goals to go with his 0.967 SV%. He and Raanta combined for a shutout when Lundqvist was forced to leave a game after being run over by Cody Eakin (for which he was suspended).

Staal had four goals and five points in three games as part of a 3-0-0 week. The Wild have now won seven straight and Staal is leading the team in goals, assists, and points; he has 24 points in 30 games in his first year in Minnesota.

  • Hockey Canada has named its leadership core for the upcoming World Junior Championships. Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Strome will wear the C for Canada, while Mathew Barzal and Thomas Chabot will serve as alternate captains. All three players played for Canada at last year’s tournament and appeared in the NHL at the start of the season. While they combined for just 10 games and one assist in the NHL, all three are 2015 first-round picks and dominant CHL players. Strome has 295 points in 191 games with the Erie Otters; Islanders sixteenth-overall pick Barzal has 281 points in 174 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds; Chabot, a defenseman picked eighteenth overall by Ottawa, has 128 points in 182 games with the Saint John Sea Dogs.
  • The Vancouver Canucks most recent first-round pick, Olli Juolevi has been named captain of Team Finland. Juolevi had nine assists in seven games in last year’s tournament, as Finland won gold. So far, Juolevi has 21 points in 26 games with the London Knights.
  • Today marks 21 years since the Calgary Flames acquired Jarome Iginla from the Dallas Stars for Joe Nieuwendyk. The trade worked out pretty well for both teams: the Stars won the Stanley Cup four years later with Nieuwendyk playing a key role, and Iginla became the face of the Flames franchise. Nieuwendyk was in the prime of his career, while Iginla was an eleventh-overall pick playing for the Kamloops Blazers. Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com tweeted that Iginla initially thought he had been traded to the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. After turning pro, Iginla scored 1095 points in 16 years with the Flames, leading them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. He’s bounced around between Pittsburgh, Boston, and Colorado in the four years since he was traded. Iginla could be on the move again this year, as the Avalanche are one of the worst teams in the NHL and he could want to go to a contender for the end of his career.

Weekend Milestones: Meier, Zaitsev, Lundqvist

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

It’s finally #TimoTime. After fans have been calling for him since the start of the season, the San Jose Sharks finally brought up prized prospect Timo Meier to the NHL after Logan Couture suffered an injury. The former top-ten pick showed his physical play early on, scoring a goal on his first NHL shot, a loose puck in front of Carey Price midway through the first period. Meier basically caught a shot from David Schlemko with his stick inches from the blue paint, then tucked it around the Montreal netminder on his backhand.

Though the 20-year old winger played just 10 minutes, he recorded three shots and two hits and flew around the ice.  His power-forward style is a perfect fit for a Sharks team that loves to forecheck and possess the puck as much as possible down low. If Meier can continue to put up points in limited minutes, perhaps he’ll move up the lineup as the season progresses. For now, he’ll just soak in every second of being in the NHL – even if it is coming easy to him thus far.

  • In Toronto on Saturday night, another player recorded his first NHL goal, though it is by no means his first professional one. Nikita Zaitsev, a Maple Leafs rookie who has played seven seasons in the KHL, notched his first in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zaitsev only turned 25 a month ago, having played in the Russian professional league since he was 17. Skating alongside Morgan Rielly for the majority of his icetime, Zaitsev has 11 points in 30 games and has garnered high praise from head coach Mike Babcock. His best season in Russia was in 2014-15 when the Moscow native scored 32 points in 57 games for his hometown team. Logging 22 minutes a night, he’ll look to provide that kind of impact for the Maple Leafs this season. He’s a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
  • For one of the most well-respected goaltenders in the history of the game, Saturday night was just another win. In reality it put Henrik Lundqvist needs just one win away from tying Dominik Hasek as the leader all-time among European-born goaltenders. As Dan Rosen reports, Lundvist now has 388 wins in 708 games, while it took Hasek 735 to amass his 389. Passsing Hasek would put Lundqvist 12th all-time, and within striking distance of the top 10. The play of Antti Raanta may have caused some to question who the best goaltender in New York is currently, but if you ask people about the best in Rangers history, you’ll be sure to get a lot of ’King Henrik’ answers.
  • One of the most polarizing figures in hockey for his entire career has been John Tortorella. Always in the headlines for something he’s said or a new coaching method, he often wears out his welcome in cities sooner than later.  You can’t exactly argue with his resume though, with a Stanley Cup victory and Jack Adams award with his name on it. Not only does he have the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets in a playoff spot currently (and way ahead of their pace from last year) he’ll go for his 500th career win Sunday against Vancouver, the team that fired him in 2014 after just a single (disastrous) season. Only 23 other coaches have ever reached the mark, and at 58 he still has many years left. While he’ll never reach the all-time mark set by Scotty Bowman (1244 wins is still more than 400 more than second place, Joel Quenneville), he’ll likely end up somewhere in the top-20. If Columbus continues their current pace and development of young players, maybe he’ll go down as the first coach to take the franchise past the first round.

Department Of Player Safety Hands Down Suspensions

at CDT | by 1 Comment

It’s been a busy day for the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman and Dallas’ Cody Eakin both had scheduled meetings with the DoPS today—Hoffman for a cross-check to the back of Logan Couture’s head and Eakin for running heavily into Henrik Lundqvist – and the two have each received their penalties.

According to John Shannon of Sportsnet, Hoffman received a two-game ban for his infraction and will forfeit $57.6K in salary. Meanwhile, Eakin has been suspended for the next four contests, according to Mark Stepneski, who covers the Stars for NHL.com. Eakin’s suspension will cost the six-year veteran more than $85K in forfeited salary.

Additionally, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was fined $5K, the maximum allowed under terms of the CBA, for spearing Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson. Vlasic speared Karlsson in the second period of the same game where Hoffman crosschecked Logan Couture.

Stars’ Eakin To Meet With Player Safety

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Dallas Stars center Cody Eakin will be meeting with NHL Player Safety on Friday afternoon.

This comes after he took a run at New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on Thursday night in Dallas. Eakin was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct, while Lundqvist briefly left the game. Despite the fact that Lundqvist was out of the net, the NHL rules clearly state that “a goalkeeper is not ’fair game’ just because he is out of the goal crease area.”

It’s a similar incident to the infamous Milan Lucic–Ryan Miller incident from five years ago. Lucic, then with the Bruins, skated right through the Sabres netminder. Miller, who was out of the net to play the puck, was sent flying. Lucic got a two-minute penalty for charging but did not face any supplemental discipline for the hit.

Eakin has just one assist in 14 games this season, but is coming off three seasons of 35-40 points. He’s working on getting back into game form after injury, but it seems like that may be delayed by a suspension. Lundqvist, meanwhile, returned to the game and finished with 27 saves in a 2-0 win. While he won’t get credit for a shutout because he didn’t play the whole game, it’s still a great return for The King, who had been temporarily displaced by the hot hand of Antti Raanta. Raanta started four straight, with just three goals allowed and two shutouts in the 3-1-0 stretch.

Eakin isn’t the only one who will be meeting with Patrick Burke and Player Safety, as Senators winger Mike Hoffman will also have a disciplinary hearing for cross-checking San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture in the head on Wednesday night.

Snapshots: Raanta, Blackhawks, Player Safety Meetings

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

New York Rangers backup Antti Raanta will make his third straight start in favor or Henrik Lundqvist on Sunday afternoon.

Raanta has won two straight, allowing just one goal. He beat the Jets 2-1 before shutting out his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks 1-0 on Friday. He’s made 43 saves in those two games.

Raanta’s two game streak comes just as Lundqvist is hitting a dry streak. He’s lost two of his last three appearances, which included an ugly goal from center ice against the Sabres; he’s allowed 10 goals in those three games.

While there’s no danger of Raanta permanently displacing Lundqvist in the Rangers net, he’s certainly picked a good time to get hot. The Rangers brought in Raanta to replace current Oilers starting goalie Cam Talbot in 2015. After a disappointing early playoff exit in which he was torched for 15 goals in five games, the Rangers appear to be giving Lundqvist more rest throughout the regular season to keep the 34-year-old fresh for the playoffs.

  • Despite being ruled out of tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews returned to the ice 0n Sunday morning, according to Tracey Meyers of CSN Chicago. Toews hadn’t skated in a week before this morning’s optional skate, and has missed the previous eight games. NHL.com writer Brian Hedger reported that Toews was first on the ice and last man off.
  • Another couple injured Blackhawks are inching closer to their returns as well. Defenseman Brent Seabrook missed Friday’s 1-0 overtime loss against the Rangers, and will also be out of the lineup tonight. However, Seabrook told Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune that he plans on going on the Blackhawks upcoming road trip.
  • Goaltender Corey Crawford, who has been out since an appendectomy on December 2, is also making progress in his recovery. Coach Joel Quenneville told Meyers that Crawford is “doing all right,” but that it will take some time to “get him back to square one.” The initial diagnosis was around three weeks, which would mean Crawford will be out until just after Christmas.
  • Meanwhile, Mark Stepneski reports that Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak will be meeting with NHL Player Safety later today to discuss his high hit on the Flyers’ Chris Vande Velde during Saturday afternoon’s game. Oleksiak was not penalized on the play. Fellow defenseman Mark Borowiecki will also have a hearing today after the Senators defenseman boarded Kings winger Tyler Toffoli. Borowiecki received a major penalty for the hit.

Metro Division Snapshots: Raanta, Calvert, Capitals

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

New York Rangers backup net minder Antti Raanta is 5 – 0 – 0 in six starts this season after besting the Penguins 5 – 2 Monday night and since joining the Blueshirts in 2015, the Finnish goalie 16 – 6 – 2 with a GAA of 2.20 and a Save % of 92.4%. While he isn’t a threat to the job of longtime Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist, his superb play at the bargain basement price of $1M this year and next does give the Blueshirts one of the best backup bargains in the league, writes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post.

Raanta was acquired from Chicago in the summer of 2015 in exchange for minor league forward Ryan Haggerty to replace Cam Talbot as Lundqvist’s understudy. He spent two seasons with the Blackhawks and saw action in 39 games. Raanta was originally inked by Chicago as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

Even though “King” Henrik is the unquestioned starter in New York, the plan is for the Rangers to limit his usage somewhat in order to keep him fresh for the playoffs. As such, Raanta is expected to see action in around 25 games this season. His stellar play means there is little to no drop off  from Lundqvist when Raanta is in goal.

Even though Raanta is under contract for one more season, it’s quite possible he won’t be with the Rangers beyond the 2016-17 campaign. With the Rangers required to protect Lundqvist in the expansion draft, the new Vegas Golden Knights franchise will have the option of selecting the 27-year-old Raanta. At the very least he would be an excellent #2 goalie at an inexpensive price for the Golden Knights in their inaugural season.

More from the Metro Division:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets announced via their official Twitter account that Matt Calvert would miss tonight’s game against Calgary with an upper-body-injury. To take his place the team recalled forward Markus Hannikainen from Cleveland of the AHL. Calvert, who was hit by a shot in a recent game against the Rangers which ultimately required 36 stitches to his forehead, has two goals in 17 games this season. Hannikainen, 23, made his NHL debut tonight and was held scoreless in 9:47 of ice itme. He has five goals and eight points in 14 games for the Monsters.
  • With just more than $700K in salary cap space, the Washington Capitals have had to be creative managing their roster as injuries have begun to pile up, as Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post writes. After forward Paul Carey was reassigned to the AHL following Sunday’s game, the Caps were left with just 11 healthy forwards. Subsequently, reserve defenseman Nate Schmidt skated as a forward at practice. It’s an option head coach Barry Trotz may need to employ in an actual game should the situation warrant it. The piece gives an interesting insight into the complexities of roster management in the salary cap era. Every day the Capitals can avoid having to call up a minor league player such as Carey adds to the amount of salary cap space the team banks for use later in the campaign. While they may need to recall a player to play in a game, there is no sense carrying him on the roster during breaks in the schedule.

 

Full List Of Mandatory-Protection Players In Expansion Draft

at CDT | by 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

Snapshots: Olympics, Vanek, Kane

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The NHL is using the Olympic dream to play hardball with the Players Association, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

As we’ve previously reported, the NHL is offering Olympic participation in exchange for a three-year extension of the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA). But the NHLPA isn’t likely to accept that proposal due to their unhappiness with the escrow agreement.

Brooks compared the escrow situation to a classic Seinfeld quote, “the players are angry, my friends, like old men trying to send back soup in a deli.”

The players are not happy with losing 15% of their yearly salary. And they’re furious, according to Brooks, that the NHL is holding the Olympics over their head to increase the CBA’s length. Originally, the NHL said they needed the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to cover player costs, which President René Fasel ultimately agreed to. But then NHL decided it needed more from the players in order to go to the Olympics. As Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist put it, “it sounds like they’re pretty happy at the league with what they have, doesn’t it?”

Brooks writes that this could be the issue that finally unites the Players Association for the first time since they fractured during the 2004-05 lockout as different parts fought for and against the implementation of a hard salary cap. They could fight for a hard cap on escrow, like the NBA has.

With the NHL publicly open to extending the current CBA, it would be “an Olympian task” for them to lock out the players for a fourth time under Gary Bettman.

 

  • The Detroit Red Wings will have some scoring help when they face the Calgary Flames on Sunday as Thomas Vanek is set to return to the lineup. Vanek has missed 11 games, in which the Red Wings had a paltry record of 3-7-1. They’ve had trouble scoring just 18 goals in those 11 games. Vanek has four goals and eight points in seven games played, and should boost the Red Wings. He’ll play on the top line with Frans Nielsen and Dylan Larkin against the Flames, according to George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press.
  • On Friday, we reported that the Vancouver Canucks were no longer interested in pursuing hometown boy Evander Kane. On Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Sabres’ asking price was too high for the Canucks, and that’s what lead to the breakdown of talks. Puck Daddy’s Greg Wyshnyski wrote that the two would have been a poor fit, as the Canucks are rebuilding and Kane averages “a police investigation per season and can’t stay healthy.” Wyshnyski said he doubts Kane would be able to stay on his “best behaviour during a prolonged rebuild,” and concluded “thank God for high asking prices.”

Morgan’s Latest: Rangers, Montoya, Yakupov

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Craig Morgan tackled a variety of topics today in his latest “Craig’s List” column on Today’s Slapshots. Among them, Morgan questions whether the New York Rangers’ hot start is sustainable. He cites the home-heavy early schedule that has seen the Rangers play eight of their first 12 games at MSG as one reason to doubt that the Blueshirts can maintain their level of play.

Additionally, as Morgan also notes, the team has received a lot of production from unexpected sources. Michael Grabner, for instance, already has seven goals and 10 points through 12 contests for the Rangers. Last season in Toronto, Grabner tallied just nine times in 80 games and has failed to crack the 20-goal mark in four years. It’s certainly unlikely Grabner will continue his torrid pace.

Morgan also singles out rookie winger Jimmy Vesey, who has six goals for the Blueshirts, as another player whose production is almost sure to fall off as the season wears on. Vesey never played more than 37 games in a single season while at Harvard and at some point will hit the proverbial “rookie wall.”

Finally, Morgan writes that the Rangers PDO (a combination of team’s shooting and save percentages) is likely set for regression. New York currently owns the 4th highest five-on-five PDO in the league at 104.29, buoyed in large part by a ridiculous 11.72% shooting percentage, tops in the league. However, it should be noted the Rangers also led the NHL in shooting percentage in 2015-16, converting 9% of their shots on goal at five-on-five into goals. Even if the Blueshirts shooting percentage regressed to that 9% figure, they’d still be among the highest scoring teams in the league.

Plus, while Morgan highlights several players whose production is probably unsustainable over the course of a full season, there are a few Rangers who have yet to play up to their potential. Derek Stepan, who has averaged 0.25 goals/game throughout his career, has just one through 12 to start this season. Mika Zibanejad is averaging nearly three shots on goal per contest but only two have found their way into the back of the net. His career shooting percentage is 10.6% suggesting if he was converting at his normal rate he’d have more goals on his ledger.

Naturally the Rangers should not be expected to win three out of every four games but this is a team that plays fast and has four lines that can score. Add to that one of the best goalies in the game in Henrik Lundqvist, and this Rangers team has the look of Stanley Cup contender. The question is, will they look like one next spring.

More from Morgan:

  • Apparently, leaving Al Montoya in for all 10 goals in Montreal’s 10 – 0 loss Thursday night was not well received within the goalie community. Not surprisingly, no active tender expressed his opinion publicly but former NHL netminder Corey Hirsch was not shy about his feelings: “I just thought it was disrespectful to Montoya. It’s basically saying we care about Carey Price. We really don’t care what happens to you. It’s not like they’re scratching for their playoffs lives. It’s October, they were 9-0-1 and this is a guy who helped get them there when Price was out at the start of the year. For me, it took away from the team concept you try to build. If I’m a teammate, I’m looking around and saying ‘I guess he’s not afraid to throw one person to the wolves. Maybe I’m next.’” According to Morgan, several other former NHL goalies agreed with Hirsch’s sentiments though none wished to be quoted on the subject. Of course Montreal is no stranger to this type of controversy. Back in 1995, then Canadiens bench boss Mario Tremblay allowed Patrick Roy to remain in a game against Detroit in which the Hall of Fame goalie would eventually allow nine goals before being removed. As he stormed off the ice, Roy told team president Ronald Corey that he had played his final game for Montreal. He was dealt a few days later to Colorado and the rest is history.
  • When the St. Louis Blues acquired Nail Yakupov from Edmonton it was expected they would be patient with the enigmatic but talented winger. That patience may already be starting to wear thin, however, as Morgan notes Yakupov was a healthy scratch Saturday night. Head coach Ken Hitchcock tried to deflect that line of thinking by pointing out the team has 14 forwards on the roster and he was just trying to get everyone in. “We’ve got lots of choices. We’ve got 14 forwards and everybody is going to play this weekend, so we’ll just figure it out from there. If he doesn’t play (Saturday), he’ll be back in (Sunday), so it’s not a big deal.” Evidently Hitchcock changed his mind as Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted earlier that the Blues were going with the same lineup as Saturday night with Yakupov and Ty Rattie scratched. Perhaps it’s a sign that Yakupov is falling out of favor already in St. Louis or maybe it’s just a tactic to try to motivate the former top overall draft pick.

 

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top