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Ivan Barbashev

Carl Gunnarsson Out For Season

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The St. Louis Blues have announced another long-term injury, this time to defenseman Carl Gunnarsson. The veteran will miss the rest of the season with a right knee injury sustained in the Blues’ recent game against the Los Angeles Kings. He is still being evaluated to determine the full extent of the injury. The team also announced that Ivan Barbashev underwent successful surgery on his ankle and will be re-evaluated in six weeks, as reported previously.

Gunnarsson, 34, has been a quiet soldier for the blues the last several seasons, rarely getting into the lineup but being ready whenever he does. A veteran of 629 regular season NHL games, he has just 73 since the start of the 2018-19 season. An injury like this, if it is as serious as originally feared, could potentially end that long career, given Gunnarsson is an unrestricted free agent in the offseason and will turn 35 just after the next season starts.

If it is the end, at least in St. Louis, he’ll leave with the respect of his teammates. Brayden Schenn called Gunnarsson an “absolute warrior” and a “hell of a teammate” after last night’s game. The depth defenseman played in 19 games on the Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup run, actually scoring the winning goal in overtime of game two against the Boston Bruins. That goal led to one of the most hilarious anecdotes of the playoffs, as Gunnarsson explained after the game he called his shot while standing next to head coach Craig Berube at the urinal during intermission.

For now, he’ll face a long rehab. But he’ll always be a Stanley Cup champion.

Ivan Barbashev Out At Least Six Weeks

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The St. Louis Blues will be without Ivan Barbashev for at least six weeks after he suffered a left ankle injury in last night’s game. The team says he will be re-evaluated at that time, meaning it could be even longer. In a corresponding move, the Blues have recalled Nathan Walker from the AHL and moved Barbashev to injured reserve.

The 25-year-old forward had six points in 17 games on the season and was being used more and more by head coach Craig Berube of late. Versatile and talented, he’ll be a tough player to replace even for the West-leading Blues. Six weeks means he’ll miss close to 20 games, more than a third of the shortened season.

Not only does that remove a piece of the Blues lineup as they try to secure their position, but for Barbashev, it means this injury could cost him real dollars too. The young forward is scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the year and still hasn’t experienced much of an offensive breakout. With just 83 points in 249 games so far in his career, his arbitration case won’t be very strong. That’s a silver lining for the Blues, but they would obviously want him in the lineup instead of rehabbing an injured ankle.

Snapshots: Montour, Barbashev, Coyotes

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The Buffalo Sabres have a new GM and need a new identity for their team, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be throwing away assets this offseason. Speculation has run rampant lately that the team will leave Brandon Montour unqualified after the defenseman’s up-and-down start with the organization, but when GM Kevyn Adams was asked about it today he told reporters including Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News “that’s definitely not something we’ve talked about.”

The 26-year old defenseman will require a $3.525MM qualifying offer in order for the Sabres to retain his rights as a restricted free agent and is eligible to argue for an even bigger raise in arbitration. Montour has 28 points in 74 games since coming to Buffalo in 2019 but hasn’t quite turned into the top-pairing option they were hoping for. Remember that if Montour opts for arbitration, he can force his way to UFA status in 2021 with a one-year contract award.

  • The St. Louis Blues lost Vladimir Tarasenko when he left the bubble today, but are getting back one of their important bottom-six names. Ivan Barbashev has cleared the quarantine protocols after returning from the birth of his first child, meaning he can be inserted back into the lineup by head coach Craig Berube. The Blues were able to tie their series against the Vancouver Canucks, but have been noticeably missing the physical presence that Barbashev provided last year when he led all players with 87 hits in the postseason.
  • The Arizona Coyotes are holding onto the postseason by a thread after being dismantled by the Colorado Avalanche last night, but could still be missing two of their most important forwards when they start game five. Head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters including Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider that Conor Garland didn’t practice today and is “uncertain” for tomorrow’s match. The same can be said about Nick Schmaltz, who is still recovering from the hit he took in the exhibition from Ryan Reaves. Schmaltz, the team’s leading scorer during the regular season, hasn’t played a single game in the postseason.

Ivan Barbashev Leaves Bubble

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Aug 11: Baby Barbashev arrived last night, but Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the forward is not expected back in Edmonton until “around August 14.” At that point he would still need to finish his four-day quarantine, meaning Barabashev may not be ready to return until game five of the Blues’ series against the Vancouver Canucks.

Aug 4: As expected, Ivan Barbashev has left the bubble in Edmonton for the birth of his first child. The St. Louis Blues forward has returned home to be with his wife, meaning he’ll have to go through several protocols when he is able to return. The Blues were in full support of the decision, with GM Doug Armstrong releasing the following statement:

We felt it was important for Ivan to be with us for the first two games of the restart and we were prepared for him leaving to go back to St. Louis to be with Ksenia. We wish them both the best and look forward to seeing Ivan back in Edmonton during the first round of the playoffs.

Barbashev will be required to quarantine in his hotel room for four days after returning to Edmonton, while also receiving four negative COVID-19 tests before returning to practice.

The Blues play Thursday and Sunday to complete their round-robin, both games that Barbashev is expected to miss.

Ivan Barbashev To Leave Blue Bubble During Round-Robin

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The St. Louis Blues will have Ivan Barbashev in the lineup when they start their round-robin games in Edmonton, but will be losing him soon after. Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Barbashev will be leaving after one or two games for the birth of his child. Barbashev will have to test negative for COVID-19 four times in four days upon returning to the bubble, meaning he could potentially miss the start of the first round depending on timing.

Barbashev, 24, recorded six points in 25 playoff games for the Blues last season en route to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. He played a key role physically for the team, recording 87 hits as St. Louis pounded teams into submission with a grueling, grinding playstyle. This season he picked up right where he left off, punishing defenders with 144 hits in 69 games, but also was producing offensively at the highest rate of his young career. In 69 games he put up 11 goals and 26 points while averaging just over 13 minutes a game.

Head coach Craig Berube was clear that when Barbashev returns he will re-enter the lineup, but he’s also preparing MacKenzie MacEachern for playing time.

The Blues, as one of the top teams in the Western Conference, get the advantage of playing this round-robin to determine playoff seeding. Had they been one of the teams in the qualification round, Barbashev could be missing the team’s chance to advance. Instead, like Lars Eller who will also be leaving the bubble at some point to attend the birth of a child, Barbashev may only end up missing a few tune-up games.

Snapshots: Tanev, Miele, Barbashev

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Chris Tanev expected that by this point in the summer, his free agent fate would have already been decided. However, with the league on pause and his Vancouver Canucks still set to take on an expanded playoff field before he becomes a UFA in November, Tanev is using the time to continue expressing just how much he would like to remain with the team. Speaking to NHL.com, Tanev stated that he would “love” to re-sign with Vancouver, the only team he has ever known. An unlikely NHLer who signed with the Canucks after his freshman year at RIT in 2009-10, the 30-year-old has grown into a solid pro defenseman who has been a pivotal presence for Vancouver when healthy and a locker room leader as well. This season, he took on the role of mentor as well and found instant chemistry with star rookie Quinn Hughes. Tanev states that part of his excitement to stay with the Canucks is to keep playing alongside Hughes, who has also expressed a similar sentiment about Tanev. While Tanev is not the only key free agent in need of a new contract from the cap-strapped Canucks, with Jacob Markstrom and Tyler Toffoli in line as well, his tie to the franchise’s new cornerstone defenseman certainly helps his case. Tanev also stands a chance of boosting his stock in the upcoming postseason. He and Alexander Edler are the only holdovers from Vancouver’s 2011 Stanley Cup Final run and could provide valuable experience that fuels another run for the team. Regardless of what happens, Tanev has made it clear that he does not want this to be his last season with the Canucks and it is up to the team to decide what happens next.

  • A Pacific Division peer who does not seem to be sticking around is Arizona Coyotes forward Andy Miele. The veteran returned from the KHL this season, signing a two-year deal with Arizona, but played exclusively with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. It appears that he plans to have the second year of his contract terminated, as Russian source Championat reports that he has signed a one-year deal to return to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Miele was one of the most productive players for Torpedo in 2018-19 and found the same success with Tucson this year, but it did not turn into any NHL opportunities and has prompted a return to the KHL.
  • Heading the other direction from Russia to North America is talented young forward Maxim Barbashev. The 16-year-old younger brother of the St. Louis Blues’ Ivan Barbashev, Barbashev has been highly touted out of Russia’s youth ranks, scoring at better than a point-per-game rate this year at the U-17 and U-18 levels combined. Now he will take his talents to Canadian juniors, joining the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. Agent Dan Milstein announced that a deal was done between the Wildcats and their first-round pick in 2020 CHL Import Draft. Barbashev will follow in his brother’s footsteps, as Ivan starred for Moncton for three years himself, and hopes that he might even surpass his No. 33 overall NHL Draft slot in a couple of years.

Blues’ Jake Allen Promised Trade Protection

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Even after winning the Stanley Cup, many expected that the St. Louis Blues would be active on the trade market this summer. The team seemingly lacked the salary cap space to re-sign a vast number of restricted free agents, including goaltender Jordan Binnington, defenseman Joel Edmundson, and forwards Oskar Sundqvist, Ivan Barbashev, Zach Sanford, and Robby Fabbri. Somehow, GM Doug Armstrong did manage to get all of his young RFA’s back under contract, although it took time and left the Blues with very little cap flexibility heading into the new season. Unsurprisingly, that meant that trade rumors persisted throughout the off-season.

A quick look at the defending champs’ roster reveals that there is really only one obvious piece that St. Louis could be expected to try to move on from: starting goaltender turned overpriced backup Jake Allen. Allen’s name popped up throughout the summer and he tells Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was well aware of the rumors. However, he also informed Thomas that he knew better than to get caught up in the hype. Allen states that Armstrong and company assured him that he would not be traded this past summer:

I knew internally all along this summer that I wasn’t getting dealt. They had told me that. You know, people talk and things like that, but I knew that they don’t want to get rid of me, so it was good to be reassured that way. I knew that I was coming back. So just put my mind at ease and get really focused on being the best Blue I can. There was a lot of chatter obviously with the way the summer went and the run that Binner went on. But internally I knew I was coming back, so I wasn’t worried about it at all.

The language used by Allen paints a pretty clear picture of where his head is at entering the 2019-20 campaign. The 29-year-old is confident that the Blues want him in the mix and calls the play of 26-year-old rookie Binnington “a run”. In reality, Binnington greatly outperformed Allen in the second half of the year and earned the lion’s share of starts. He finished the season with a GAA nearly one whole goal better than Allen and save percentage more than 20 points better. It wasn’t close between the two and was actually the second poor season in a row for Allen. Yet, he still believes that this is an open competition and the contract figures may support his claim.

If the Blues did in fact promise not to trade Allen – albeit a handshake agreement as he has no trade protection in his contract – it does stand to reason that they see the next two years as an open competition to see which keeper, if either, is deserving of an extension. Even after his Calder Trophy finalist-caliber year, Binnington only received a two-year, $8.7MM contract. Both his and Allen’s contracts will expire following the 2020-21 season and in the meantime, Allen will still be making $50K more as the supposed backup. The scenario provides hope for the veteran netminder and that’s all he needs to get excited for the challenge of a new season: “There’s one net out there, and I’m gonna go after it. No question.”

Blues Re-Sign Ivan Barbashev

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The Blues have re-signed the last of their remaining restricted free agents, announcing that they have signed center Ivan Barbashev to a two-year contract.  The deal will carry an AAV of $1.475MM.  Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports (Twitter link) that Barbashev will receive $1.4MM in 2019-20 and $1.55 in 2020-21; the latter number will represent his qualifying offer in the 2021 offseason.

After being more of a role player through his first two NHL seasons, the 23-year-old became a regular on the fourth line for the Blues and chipped in offensively with 14 goals and 12 assists in 80 games.  He also suited up in all but one of their 26 postseason contests, collecting three goals and three helpers while averaging nearly 3.5 hits per game, more than three times his regular season rate.  He’ll be expected to reprise his role as their fourth line center for the upcoming season.

That had Barbashev seeking what was reported to be a four-year deal at one point this offseason.  However, the two sides had shifted their focus to a bridge contract in recent days after his agent acknowledged that they were looking at overseas options and they were able to find some common ground.

The deal allows the Blues to stay under the $81.5MM salary cap without having to move anyone out although it appears that they’ll be among the teams that will have minimal wiggle room this season.  Meanwhile, Barbashev will be able to take a run at a bigger deal two years from now.  He’ll still be a restricted free agent at that time but he’ll have salary arbitration eligibility at that time, something that wasn’t the case this time around.

Snapshots: PWHPA, Barbashev, Hoglander

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In May, some of the top women’s hockey players in the world announced the formation of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association in their ongoing fight for more resources and support for their sport. The same way that the NHLPA protects players’ rights and fights for larger pieces of the financial pie, the PWHPA was meant as a “a vehicle dedicated to promoting and supporting the creation of a single, viable women’s professional league in North America.”

Today, the PWHPA has announced that Jayna Hefford has been named operations consultant, essentially taking over leadership of the union. The legendary women’s hockey star has been at the forefront of the sport both on the ice and as a former commissioner of the CWHL before it’s dissolution recently. Hefford is one of the most decorated Canadian hockey players of all-time, taking home four Olympic and seven World Championship gold medals over her career. She was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

  • The St. Louis Blues still have some unfinished business this summer with unsigned restricted free agent Ivan Barbashev. Igor Eronko of Sport-Express passes on a report out of Russia that has Barbashev looking for a two-year, $4MM deal with the Blues, while the team has offered just a two-year, $2.6MM contract. A report recently had Barbashev looking at his overseas options, though no decision has been made at this point.
  • Nils Hoglander will spend another season in Sweden according to Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet, who reports that the Vancouver Canucks discussed a contract with the young prospect but won’t sign him this offseason. The 18-year old forward was selected with the 40th pick of the 2019 draft and can continue to develop in the SHL in 2019-20.

Ivan Barbashev Looking At Overseas Options

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The St. Louis Blues have methodically worked their way through a long list of restricted free agents this offseason, bringing each one back for another shot at the Stanley Cup. All but one that is, as Ivan Barbashev is still without a contract. Today, Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic and Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest have both been told that Barbashev is “looking at options on both sides of the ocean” by his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey.

Barbashev, 23, broke out last season with the Blues, scoring 14 goals and 26 points in 80 games and being a regular in the postseason lineup. He was often part of one of the most effective fourth lines in hockey, but also used his versatility to play all over the roster. Earlier reports had contract talks moving towards a four-year deal with a cap hit somewhere around $2MM, but obviously things aren’t settled yet if he is looking at options in the KHL and elsewhere.

As a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, this is one of the only points of leverage Barbashev has in contract negotiations. Other than an offer sheet, he has no real way of forcing a contract in the NHL. As a depth player that is useful but not necessary, a contract holdout would likely not get him much closer to whatever he is looking for either. In considering his options overseas, Barbashev may simply be truly wondering if returning to Russia would provide him with a bigger opportunity. Milstein insisted to Rutherford that it “is not a negotiating ploy.”

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