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Henrik Zetterberg

East Notes: Zetterberg, Brassard, Popugayev

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Although the NHL believes Detroit’s classification of Henrik Zetterberg’s back injury being a career-ender is legitimate, the league plans to investigate to make sure of its validity, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required).  This shouldn’t be construed as concerning for the Red Wings as the same thing happened last season with Joffrey Lupul and Marian Hossa with the NHL’s independent doctor reaching the same conclusion that their respective team doctors came to.

Daly also noted that they’re satisfied that there was no side deal in place that Zetterberg didn’t intend to fulfill the final few years of his contract (which are much cheaper in terms of salary relative to his cap hit of just under $6.1MM).  Interestingly enough, the veteran himself suggested last year that the final two years of the 12-year pact were added on simply to lower the AAV of the deal.  Despite that, there won’t be any penalties for the Red Wings although Zetterberg won’t formally be able to retire until his contract expires to avoid any salary cap recapture.

Elsewhere out East:

  • Penguins forward Derick Brassard skated with the team for the first time in training camp today as he works his way back from a lung infection, notes Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He’s hopeful to make his preseason debut this weekend.  Brassard is expected to spend some time on the wing in the exhibition season in an effort to give him more playing time in offensive situations than he would receive if he stayed at his natural position down the middle.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him play in most of their remaining games once he gets the green light to play.
  • Devils prospect Nikita Popugayev is on the move as his KHL rights were dealt from CSKA Moscow to Amur Khabarovsk, per a team release from the Tigers (link in Russian). The 19-year-old was the 98th overall pick of New Jersey back in 2017 but spent most of last year (and the first three games of this season) at the lower levels in Russia but he now is expected to get a shot at the KHL level.

Back Injury Ends Henrik Zetterberg’s Career

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Though he won’t officially retire for several years, Henrik Zetterberg’s hockey playing career is over. Today at Detroit Red Wings training camp, GM Ken Holland announced that due to the chronic back injury that Zetterberg has dealt with, he will not play again. The Red Wings captain was unable to train at all this offseason and recently consulted with the doctor who originally completed his back surgery. The decision was made that he cannot continue.

Zetterberg, 37, has three years left on his contract that will likely be placed on long-term injured reserve in the coming weeks. The decision of when exactly to make that transaction depends on who the Red Wings decide to take on the roster, and how they want to work their salary cap for this season. His $6.083MM cap hit will give the team added flexibility going forward, but there isn’t a single player or fan in Detroit who was rooting for this outcome.

Despite dealing with crippling pain at points during last season that kept him from practicing with the team, Zetterberg played in all 82 games for the Red Wings. Though his goal total fell to the lowest mark of his career in a full season, he still recorded 56 points to come second on the team behind only Dylan Larkin. Combine that offensive production with the fact that Zetterberg has long been one of the most defensively responsible forwards in the league and he was still arguably the Red Wings most important player.

That importance was evident right from the moment Zetterberg made his debut in 2002. Scoring his first goal by being in the perfect position, that would be become a motif throughout his career. Always in the right place at the right time, Zetterberg would score 21 more goals in that rookie season and 393 more in his Detroit career. 57 of those came in the playoffs, where he took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2008 when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.

Zetterberg will almost certainly wait out his contract before officially announcing his retirement like so many others, which also will avoid any cap recapture penalty for the Red Wings. Some will draw immediate comparisons to the Marian Hossa situation, given that Zetterberg’s actual salary was set to drop to just $5.35MM over the next three seasons combined. The player himself once explained that the last two seasons—in which he would earn just $1MM in salary annually—were just added to the end of the deal to keep the cap hit low and were never expected to fulfilled. While Zetterberg walked back those comments quickly by saying he would obviously play if physically possible, this injury obviously still comes with conspicuous timing.

Regardless of the intent, the NHL will lose one of the very best to play the game this season when Zetterberg fails to suit up for the Red Wings. With 1,082 games played, 960 points, a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe, there could very well be a trip to the Hall of Fame down the line for the Detroit captain.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Red Wings Re-Sign Matt Puempel To Two-Year Deal

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There is one less restricted free agent remaining unsigned. With training camp opening up next week, the Detroit Red Wings have re-signed their lone remaining free agent, forward Matt Puempel. The team announced a two-year deal with Puempel, which will make the 25-year-old an unrestricted free agent when the contract expires after the 2019-20 season. No salary details have been disclosed.

Puempel came to Detroit early last season in a trade from the New York Rangers, a one-for-one swap for defenseman – and current free agent – Ryan Sproul. Although Puempel never suited up for Detroit in 2017-18, he still had an impressive season. The hard-working winger was an AHL All-Star and scored at nearly a point-per-game pace, with 57 points in 62 games. Among forwards with 60+ games played, Puempel had the sixth-best scoring rate in the league. The 2011 first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators has not panned out as expected, and likely won’t, but showed some impressive ability last year and can be a strong depth option for the Red Wings.

Of course, the question raised by any Detroit signing is how it impacts the salary cap. Most likely, Puempel has signed a two-way deal since he did not log and NHL game last season. The bigger question is his salary at the NHL level and whether or not it is a comfortable fit within the Red Wings’ cap crunch. Detroit’s payroll for a 22-man roster, which doesn’t include a seventh defenseman, is currently projected to be $82.77MM, almost $3.5MM over the salary cap. The team will gain cap space when Johan Franzen and likely Henrik Zetterberg are placed on long-term injured reserve, but after a defenseman and at least one replacement forward are added, much of that space will be used up. Whether or not Puempel can then fit into the roster remains to be seen.

Snapshots: Reinhart, Zetterberg, Hadfield

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Sam Reinhart still doesn’t have a contract, but that doesn’t mean he can’t practice with the Buffalo Sabres as training camp approaches. While the team awaits for the official practices to start, Jourdon LaBarber of NHL.com reports that Reinhart joined teammates on the ice today for an informal skate. The 22-year old forward seems extremely confident that a contract will be signed in the coming weeks, telling LaBarber that he’s approaching the season like normal because “that’s the way it’s going to turn out to be.”

Excitement is up around the Sabres this season after they drafted Rasmus Dahlin with the first overall pick and made several trades to address their lack of depth. When it comes to success up front, Reinhart may fall just behind Jack Eichel in terms of expectations this season as he tries to improve on his 25-goal 2017-18 campaign. The second-overall pick in 2014, Reinhart still hasn’t really shown he can dominate the league on his own and needs to take another big step forward in his development if the Sabres want to make the playoffs.

  • It seems inevitable that Henrik Zetterberg won’t be playing for the Detroit Red Wings this season, but he’s at least heading for another opinion in the coming days. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that Zetterberg will see Dr. Frank Cammisa—the doctor who performed his 2014 back surgery—soon to see what he has to say. Zetterberg hasn’t been able to train this offseason at all given his back injury, and will at least miss the beginning of the season. It’s starting to look like the Detroit captain could be headed for a much more permanent designation, but we’ll have to wait and see what comes of the Cammisa visit.
  • The New York Rangers will finally raise Vic Hadfield’s #11 sweater to the rafters on December 2nd, honoring one of their most beloved former players. Hadfield, a famous member of the GAG line alongside Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert, scored 50 goals and 106 points in 1971-72 but lost out in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins. A Rangers captain during those days, he’ll join Ratelle and Gilbert above the Madison Square Garden rink as one of the ten players to have their numbers retired by the team.
  • The Rangers also announced the hiring of Steve Konowalchuk as an Amateur Scout, adding him to the organization after his year of coaching with the Anaheim Ducks. Konowalchuk was also formerly the head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds, and led them to a WHL Championship in 2017. The long-time NHL forward played 790 regular season games and scored 396 points. He’ll use his familiarity with the WHL to bring the next wave of talent to the Rangers organization.

Henrik Zetterberg Confirmed To Miss Regular Season Games

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While updates on Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg and his injury struggles have been frequent all off-season long, most of it has been fueled by vague comments and speculation. However, the wait if finally over for an actual timeline on his recovery, if he returns to the game at all. Zetterberg himself confirmed to Swedish news source Sport Bladet that he is set to miss training camp and the start of the season.

Missing that amount of time is all but definite, but that may be a best case scenario for the Red Wings. Zetterberg has insinuated for some time that he may not be able to play anymore. Chronic back pain is the source of his doubts and states in the interview that he has not managed to work though it at all this summer. Zetterberg continues to live in Detroit and work on his rehab, but the outlook is reportedly “bleak”. Zetterberg describes how the pains set in last February, leading to him sitting out most practices, but it didn’t help. The veteran center is no longer willing to take that shortcut approach either, stating that he will “not play NHL matches without being well prepared, especially not at my age.”

When last we heard about Zetterberg’s state, it was a report from head coach Jeff Blashill just a few days ago claiming that he didn’t expect Zetterberg to be ready for the start of training camp. Yet, now that this news has emerged from the player himself, it is another one of Blashill’s comments that stands out. The Red Wings’ bench boss speculated that if Zetterberg was not able to take part in training camp at all, that he was unlikely to play at all in the coming season. Since the respected veteran feels he will not be ready until well past the beginning of the season, that would indicate that he is most likely going to be shut down for the entire 2018-19 campaign. A comeback after that would be unlikely. Even though Zetterberg still has three years remaining on his contract, it is starting to feel like he has played his last game in the NHL.

Snapshots: Zetterberg, Brodeur, Nash

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Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill provided an update on the condition of Henrik Zetterberg to reporters, including MLive’s Ansar Khan and the prognosis isn’t a good one.  He noted that as things stand, he doesn’t expect the veteran to be ready to play in training camp and that if that is indeed the case, it’s doubtful that he will play at all in 2018-19.  Zetterberg dealt with lingering back issues last season and the pain doesn’t appear to be going away.  Detroit will be eligible to place his $6.083MM contract on LTIR if he is deemed unable to play during his physical at training camp next month.

Blashill also stated that Andreas Athanasiou is the most likely candidate to shift to center if Zetterberg is indeed out for the season.  While Darren Helm is also a natural center, he has spent the bulk of the last few years on the wing but the coach believes the continuity of keeping him there is preferable for the Red Wings.

More from around the league:

  • The contract for Martin Brodeur as the assistant GM in St. Louis expired back in June and although he was expected to return, that is no longer the case, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription required). He spent the past three years in that capacity while also spending a year split between playing and being a special advisor with the Blues.  Rutherford notes that his next destination is not yet known but it’s believed that he would like to return to the Devils at some point where he spent the majority of his Hall of Fame career.
  • With training camps set to start within the next couple of weeks, Rick Nash remains the most prominent unrestricted free agent left on the market. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy told Mark Divver of the Providence Journal (Twitter link) that he has yet to hear anything regarding the winger’s intentions for 2018-19.  Boston acquired him just before the trade deadline to fill a role in their top-six and have yet to really fill that vacancy over the summer.  If Nash does decide at some point to play, a return to Boston on a one-year pact would certainly be an option; he had stated back in May that he’d be open to returning there.

“A Lot Of Doubt” Still Surrounds Henrik Zetterberg’s Future

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Reports have surfaced every few weeks this summer that Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg may not play in the 2018-19 season due to a lingering back injury, and last week GM Ken Holland muddied the water even further. Holland called Zetterberg an “unknown” when speaking to reporters, and indicated he would know more in September. That timeline is what head coach Jeff Blashill repeated to Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, but seemed even less confident in Zetterberg’s ability to play this season:

He’s had a hard summer and I don’t think his back is reacting great. Certainly we’ll know more in a month, but as of today, there’s a lot of doubt as to whether his back will be healthy enough to play.

If Zetterberg does sit out the year, the Red Wings could put his $6.08MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve to create some more cap flexibility. The actual salary of his deal drops to just $3.35MM this season, and the contract will pay him just $1MM in each of the next two years. That seems like quite the coincidence given that Zetterberg hasn’t missed a regular season game in three straight seasons, but Blashill was quick to point out that his captain was also forced to stop practicing entirely for the last two months of the 2017-18 season.

From 1990-91 to 2015-16 the Red Wings never missed the postseason, and Zetterberg played a crucial role in many of those seasons. He, Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom formed the core of a powerhouse team for years, until the latter’s retirement in 2012. Now having missed the postseason in back to back years, the Red Wings will try to form a new young core of players like Dylan Larkin, Filip Zadina and Anthony Mantha to get them back to the promised land and compete for the Stanley Cup once again. It never seemed like Zetterberg could be a real part of that, even without a career-threatening injury popping up. The 37-year old has seen his offensive numbers decline in recent years, to the point of just scoring 11 goals last season. That was the lowest full-season total of his career, and one that the team should be able to replace.

They won’t as easily replace his leadership though, which will put even more pressure on Larkin to develop into a true first-line center. Without that the Red Wings could be in for a tough season, given their cap problems and lack of real elite talent throughout the lineup.

If it is the end for Zetterberg, he would be leaving the game with 960 career points in 1,082 regular season games. The veteran forward has been in Selke contention for nearly his entire career as one of the better defensive forwards in the league, and took home a Conn Smythe trophy during the Red Wings 2008 Stanley Cup run. Undoubtedly one of the most well-respected and beloved Red Wings players in history, this would be a tough way to see his career come to an end.

Over The Cap: Detroit Red Wings

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Although the St. Louis Blues are dangerously close to the salary cap ceiling and the defending Stanley Cup champs of the past three years, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, are within an uncomfortable distance, the Detroit Red Wings are the only team who have surpassed the NHL’s $79.5MM limit at this point in time. When the team re-signed franchise center Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM contract last week, his $6.1MM  salary boosted Detroit’s payroll for the coming season to $82.772MM for just 21 players. The Red Wings currently sit more than $3.2MM over the salary cap with a roster that contains just six defenseman. While the NHL CBA allows teams to surpass the cap by 10% in the off-season – up to $87.45MM – the Red Wings must clear enough space to begin the season under the cap.

Once the season is underway, the salary cap is unlikely to be much of an issue. Johan Franzen, who last played in October of 2015, has been sidelined with post-concussion symptoms for the past three seasons and is almost surely not going to return to the Detroit lineup. His $3.955MM contract on the long-term injured reserve will wipe out all of the Red Wings’ cap overages. Additionally, it remains a very real possibility that captain Henrik Zetterberg may also be on the shelf this year and possibly done with his hockey career altogether, with a nagging back injury reportedly making his availability over the final two years of his contract an “unknown”.  If Zetterberg doesn’t play, his $6MM cap hit added to Franzen’s on LTIR would give the Wings more than enough space.

However, injured reserve transactions cannot be made until after the official start of the NHL season. This has previously caused teams to trade away players unlikely to ever play again due to health, with the Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa as the latest example, even though their cap hits can be absorbed. A team tight against the cap, like Detroit, may struggle to manipulate their roster enough to fit those injured players under the cap on day one. As such, the easiest way that the team could get under the cap prior to the start of the season would be to find a taker for Franzen’s contract. The Wings would have to part with a pick or prospect, but may be able to unload the deal to a team far from the cap ceiling. If Detroit is certain that Zetterberg is also done, they could do the same with his contract, although a higher cap hit means parting with greater trade capital.

Barring an injured player salary dump, the Red Wings are likely left with the reality that they must trade a roster player in the next two months. The team may be able to sneak players like Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski through waivers before the season begins, but it would not result in enough savings to make a difference. Detroit would be unlikely to expose anyone else to waivers simply to clear space briefly. As such, it appears as if someone must go. While Red Wings fans and leadership alike might like the idea of shipping an aging defenseman like Niklas Kronwall or Jonathan Ericsson away or trying to sweet talk some team into taking on the behemoth contract of Frans Nielsen or Justin Abdelkader, it would be a surprise to see any team with interest in that foursome. The likes of Danny DeKeyser and Trevor Daley may also be immovable for a team rife with poor contracts. Instead, impending free agent Gustav Nyquist or two-way center Darren Helm are the most likely candidates, while a player like Luke Glendening heading elsewhere paired with some clever waiver action could do the trick. There is also a chance that, if he proves to be healthy, some team might be interested in Zetterberg.

It’s never a great situation for a team to be forced into trading away assets simply to become cap compliant for one day, but trading away an older player would nevertheless be a step in the right direction for a team that has never truly embraced a rebuild. Opening up salary with a trade, as well as an LTIR placement for Franzen, would allow the Red Wings some flexibility to test out some young players this season while building around their established young core, headlined by Larkin. The salary cap crunch could prove to be their ally long-term, but in the short-term the team is left with little option but to make a move and hope for the best.

Atlantic Notes: Red Wings, Krug, Reinhart, Kotkaniemi

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With the last piece of major housekeeping completed in Detroit after the Red Wings signed star Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM deal, the team now has to take a look at their salary cap, which they will be over, even after they move forward Johan Franzen to LTIR. General manager Ken Holland told The Athletic’s Craig Custance, they will likely be “in the neighborhood” of $1MM over the cap.

“We’re very tight,” Holland said on Friday of the cap situation. “With this deal, we’re probably a dribble over. Not a lot, but we’re over. We’re going to have to make some decisions moving forward.”

One possibility would be to bury the contracts of Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski in the minors. However, if the team believes that veteran Henrik Zetterberg could end up missing the season as his injuries haven’t improved this summer, the team could place him on LTIR as well and wouldn’t have anything else to worry about. Custance adds, however, that if Zetterberg does return, that likely would end the chances of 2018 first-round pick Filip Zadina of making the roster out of training camp.

  • In a mailbag series, Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports writes that with eight quality NHL defenseman on the roster, the team will likely make a trade before the season starts. The team has Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, John Moore, Kevan Miller, Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo on the roster. The scribe writes that could mean that the team might be ready to move Krug if the team can get a big return for the blueliner. And they would need to, as Krug is one of the top offensive defensemen in the league as only Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, Brent Burns and John Klingberg have more points over the last two seasons. He has 22 goals and 110 points combined in that time.
  • The Athletic’s Ryan Stimson (subscription required) wonders where restricted free agent Sam Reinhart should play next year in the Buffalo Sabres’ lineup once he signs. The 22-year-old center has been a decent center for the Sabres in the past, but saw his game blossom once he was moved up and played on the wing next to top-line center Jack Eichel. With the team moving on from Ryan O’Reilly and bringing in prospect Casey Mittelstadt, what should the team do with Reinhart? The scribe breaks down Reinhart’s game and wonders if it would be best for the youngster to take over the team’s No. 2 center position and ease Mittelstadt in.
  • The Athletic’s Mitch Brown (subscription required) ranks the Montreal Canadiens’ top five prospects with 2018 third-overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi listed as their top prospect. The young centerman, who flew up the draft boards in the final weeks, anchors a list of prospects that Brown believes is the most exciting in the last five or six years. He has been successful playing in the SM-liiga as an 18-year-old and is expected to fill that long-waited hole in the middle.

Snapshots: Gionta, Larkin, Berestnev

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Brian Gionta is still staying in shape in case a desirable contract falls into his lap, but doesn’t really like the idea of moving his kids around the country at this point in his career. Gionta spoke with Dave Stubbs of NHL.com, and explained that he’s instead looking at “non-playing hockey options” for the 2018-19 season. After captaining the US Olympic team and then signing for the end of the season with the Boston Bruins, Gionta may be finished with a playing career that lasted over 1,000 NHL games.

An extremely consistent two-way player, Gionta had an incredible career at Boston College winning the Hockey East title three times in four years and taking home a National Championship in 2001. His captaincy that season for BC would prepare him for the role he would be given in Montreal and Buffalo later in his career, after winning the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils. A extremely well-respected player around the league, Gionta will likely finish his career with 595 points in 1,026 games and could be in line for a coaching role almost immediately.

  • Speaking of captains, Luke Fox of Sportsnet suggests that the path is now open for Dylan Larkin to be named captain of the Detroit Red Wings. After signing a five-year deal today, Larkin becomes the highest-paid player on the team eclipsing current captain Henrik Zetterberg, who may not even play this season (or ever again). If Larkin were to get a “C” on his sweater, he would follow a run that saw just three Red Wings players hold the honor over the last three decades. Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom and Steve Yzerman have held the position since 1986, creating quite immense footsteps for the young forward to walk in.
  • The Val-d’Or Foreurs of the QMJHL will have super talented Daniil Berestnev on the team in 2018-19, taking one of their international roster spots. Berestnev was the seventh-overall pick in the most recent import draft, and will try to improve his stock for the 2019 Entry Draft with a good showing in North America. The 17-year old winger scored 62 points in just 38 games last season, putting him fourth in the U17 Russian league. Berestnev wasn’t included in the recent Hlinka-Gretzky tournament for Russia, but will get a chance at the CHL level to prove himself.

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