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J.T. Compher

Nazem Kadri Expected To Return For Game 4

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After a disheartening 6-2 loss in Game 3, the Colorado Avalanche could get a huge momentum swing back in their favor tonight in the Stanley Cup Final. The Athletic’s Peter Baugh reports that, as of practice this morning, the team plans for center Nazem Kadri to return to the lineup for Game 4. Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater adds separately that Kadri is “definitely” playing tonight.

Per Baugh, Kadri skated with the regulars at practice this morning while right wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel skated with the healthy scratches. Barring any setbacks for Kadri during warmups, Aube-Kubel will likely draw out for Kadri to return.

Kadri hasn’t played since suffering a hand injury just 37 seconds into his first shift of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final. The hit by Edmonton Oilers winger Evander Kane, which forced Kadri’s hand awkwardly into the endboards, sidelined the Avalanche forward for two and a half weeks. Kane earned a one-game suspension on the play as the Avalanche completed their four-game sweep of the Oilers without either Kane or Kadri on the ice.

Despite the injury and the time missed, Kadri remains tied for fifth in playoff scoring on the Avalanche with six goals, eight assists, and 14 points in 13 games. It’s a repeat of his previous playoff success in an Avalanche uniform, as he tallied 18 points in 15 games during the team’s time in the 2020 playoff bubble.

Not only does Kadri’s return provide a gigantic boost to the Colorado offense on its own, it also causes a positive cascading effect on the team’s depth. J.T. Compher, who’s been an excellent energy forward for the team in recent games, will likely return to a bottom-six role, bolstering their ability to counterstrike against Tampa’s stellar veteran depth.

Poll: Who Wins The 2022 Stanley Cup Final?

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With the only multi-day break in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final occurring between Games 1 and 2, both the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning have plenty of time to process the events of a tight first game and adjust for the rest of the series. The Colorado Avalanche took a crucial overtime win at home to kick off the series, but both teams had their own flashes of brilliance to open the series.

As the Lightning have shown so far in these playoffs, though, no series lead against them is safe. One thing they can count on is the improvement of two important players: Brayden Point and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Point had an assist in 17:59 of ice time in Game 1, his first game in over a month and first game since the First Round. As he gets back to game speed, his ice time and compete level will only go up throughout the series, making the matchups tougher for the Avalanche and Jared Bednar. Vasilevskiy was also noticeably off his game at points on Wednesday, having issues tracking some pucks early in the game. He settled in, though, and as he has throughout these playoffs, will only get better as the series goes on.

The Avalanche are still waiting on Nazem Kadri to return to the lineup, who continues to practice and improve as he battles a thumb injury. Even if/when Kadri returns, he won’t be at 100%, and with how well the unit of Valeri Nichushkin, J.T. Compher, and Andre Burakovsky performed in Game 1, it might be better to try Kadri in a more limited role regardless. That would surely help the matchup game for Bednar, who would suddenly have a huge weapon to throw out with his depth forwards. Andrew Cogliano was also a full participant in today’s practice and could return for Game 2 on Saturday.

The question remains: will the Avalanche be able to hold onto their series lead and end the Tampa Bay run of championships despite their injuries and disadvantage in the crease? We ask you, PHR readers, to give us your take. Vote who you think will win the 2022 Stanley Cup Final in the poll below.

[Mobile users, click here to vote!]

Andre Burakovsky, J.T. Compher Enter COVID Protocol

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A day of additions to the league’s COVID protocol list continues. Per The Denver Post’s Mike Chambers, Colorado Avalanche forwards Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher entered the NHL’s COVID protocol today.

They join defenseman Devon Toews on the list. He was added two days ago.

Due to salary cap restraints, the Avalanche will play a skater short tonight (11 forwards, 6 defensemen) against the Nashville Predators, who are dealing with a COVID outbreak of their own.

Both Burakovsky and Compher are giant parts of Colorado’s scoring depth this season. They’re both scoring at rates higher than 0.70 points per game, with Compher netting 11 points in 15 games and Burakovsy netting 21 in 25.

With Kurtis MacDermid moving up to play forward for tonight’s game, their defense will be stretched thin. Jordan Gross will be making his Avalanche debut, and young Justin Barron will play in just his second career NHL game.

J.T. Compher Out A Month With Upper-Body Injury

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One of the early success stories from this season is J.T. Compher, who has gone from depth center to first-line forward for the Colorado Avalanche thanks to injuries and illnesses. The 26-year-old was averaging nearly 20 minutes a night through his first 11 games, with five goals and nine points in that span.

Unfortunately, in that 12th game, Compher suffered an upper-body injury and left early, playing fewer than six minutes before exiting. Now, head coach Jared Bednar told reporters today that Compher will miss approximately a month with the injury.

In his place on the top line, Mikko Rantanen is going to move to the middle of the ice and play between captain Gabriel Landeskog and Logan O’Connor. That’s certainly not the group the Avalanche expected before the season began, but with Nathan MacKinnon on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, the team will have to deal with what they have.

A second-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2013, Compher has been a regular for the Avalanche but never a star to this point. His career-highs of 15 goals and 32 points came in 2018-19, numbers he was easily on track to shatter with his strong early performance. He’ll now have to work his way back from injury and when he comes back, there likely won’t be room on that top unit for him any longer.

It’s a disappointing loss for the team, but also a missed opportunity for Compher, who is on track for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2023. He’ll be only 28 when he is scheduled to hit the open market and could have potentially parlayed a big offensive year into a few more dollars down the road.

Expansion Draft Issues: Several Teams Have Moves To Make Before July 17

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The trade deadline may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more trades over the courses of the remainder of the league year. The NHL Expansion Draft is right around the corner, with protection lists due on July 17, ahead of the draft on July 21. By that time, all 30 participating teams must be able to submit a protection list that complies with the exposure requirements of the draft. As a reminder, teams may protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie or eight skaters and a goalie. However, they must also expose two forwards and one defenseman signed beyond this season and who have played in 27 NHL games this season or 54 games over the past two seasons, as well as a goaltender under team control beyond this season.

For many teams, this is easier said than done though. Long-term forwards and defensemen with considerable games played who are also deemed expendable are not all that common. With the trade deadline completed, teams are stuck with the group that they have unless they decide to make a trade in the time between their regular season end or postseason elimination and the week of the draft. Some can solve their problems internally, while others may be more hard pressed. Based on their most likely protection scheme, here are the teams with work to do:

Calgary Flames

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: The Flames may be having a difficult season, but they have a talented top-six who are all signed long-term. Except, that’s where the term forwards end. If Calgary cannot convince Milan Lucic to waive his No-Movement Clause, the team will be missing both of their required forwards for exposure by protecting Looch and the top-six. Even if Lucic does waive, the team will need to make another forward available to Seattle. RFA Dillon Dube meets the games played criteria, but the team is likely to protect the young forward or, if not, will not do anything to make him more attractive to the Kraken. That leaves fellow RFA Dominik Simon and impending UFA’s Derek Ryan, Josh Leivo, and Joakim Nordstrom, as well as Brett Ritchie with six more games played, as other names who could earn extensions due to otherwise meeting the exposure criteria.

Likelihood of a Trade: Medium. With so many affordable, bottom-six role players that the team could hand new one-year deals, the Flames have options. However, if Lucic does not waive and the team feels pressured to re-sign two of those players, they may look for outside help rather than bring back too much of a forward corps that has underachieved this year.

Colorado Avalanche

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: As one of the top scoring team’s in the NHL, the Avalanche will want to keep as much of their forward corps as they can and with the likes of Gabriel Landeskog and Brandon Saad heading to free agency and not in need of protection, the team can do just that. However, if Colorado does protect their top nine scoring forwards minus Landeskog and Saad, that leaves them with, at best, one forward to expose and zero if they choose to protect both Valeri Nichushkin and J.T. Compher. If the Avs do choose to protect the duo, that should leave RFA Tyson Jost unprotected, who they could extend in order to meet the exposure requirement. However, Jost has arbitration rights and may not rush into a new deal. Other candidates to re-sign would be UFA’s Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Carl Soderberg, or Matt Calvert. Fortunately, the Avalanche have an even easier internal fix and that is simply playing Logan O’Connor five more times before the end of the season.

Likelihood of a Trade: Low. Between playing O’Connor and exposing one of Nichushkin or Compher, Colorado may not have to make any move at all. If they do, they have options. Who wouldn’t want to re-sign in Colorado right now, even if its only for the purpose of being expansion draft fodder.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: It’s easy to guess six forwards that the Blue Jackets will protect, but the seventh is a bit trickier. Do they expose star Gustav Nyquist, who has missed the whole season due to injury and is on a substantial contract and on the wrong side of 30? Or do they expose Eric Robinson, who has been a hard-working depth presence this season but has limited upside? Well, if they choose to protect either one, it only leave the other as meeting exposure criteria. Only if both are exposed is Columbus good to go and that scenario seems unlikely. However, the only forward currently meeting the requirements other than term is RFA Kevin Stenlund, though UFA Mikhail Grigorenko requires only two more games played (and a new contract).

Likelihood of a Trade: High. The Blue Jackets surely want to bring Stenlund back, but he has arbitration rights and may not be keen to sign quickly just to help with expansion requirements. If a Stenlund deal can’t be reached sooner rather than later, Columbus may not have a choice but to bring someone in from the outside. A Grigorenko extension seems unlikely, as does exposing both Nyquist and Robinson.

Dallas Stars

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Solutions: The Stars’ protection scheme at forward is fairly obvious, as they have seven core forwards who stand out above the rest. However, those seven are also the only regular forwards with term on their contracts. Of all other expansion-draft eligible forwards for Dallas, only Joel L’Esperance has additional time on his current deal and he cannot reach the games played requirement. As a result, the Stars must find two forwards to expose, whereas most of these other problematic teams can at least scrounge up one forward. Among the options to re-sign are veteran UFA’s Blake Comeau and Andrew Cogliano or younger UFA’s Tanner Kero and Justin Dowling. However, it may be easier to re-up an RFA like Jason Dickinson or, with three more games, Nicholas Caamano. 

Likelihood of a Trade: Medium. The Stars have a number of options, many of whom will likely re-sign at some point anyhow or else Dallas will have to rebuild their bottom-six from scratch. However, with two slots to fill there is always a chance that acquiring a player could be easier than negotiating a pair of early extensions.

New Jersey Devils

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Options: A rebuilding Devils team has a number of regular forwards who are ineligible for the draft and many others, protected or not, who are restricted free agents. What they lack is many term forwards, especially of the the expendable variety. While New Jersey could go in a few different direction with their protected list, the reality is simply that they have only five draft-eligible forwards who are signed beyond this season and at least four of those are locks to be protected. The x-factor is Andreas Johnsson. The first-year Devil has fallen well short of expectations and it would not be a surprise to see him exposed, leaving the team with just one spot to fill to meet the quota. However, if they are determined to give Johnsson a second chance and not lose him for nothing, then that becomes two slots that must be filled. The other problem in New Jersey is that the team doesn’t want to give Seattle any added incentive to steal some of their promising young players. Michael McLeod, Janne Kuokkanen, Yegor Sharangovich, and Nathan Bastian would all meet the exposure criteria if extended, but it’s safe to assume that the Devils will protect two or three of that group and may not be too excited to lose any of the others. Nick Merkley, who requires seven more games played and a new deal, could be seen as more expendable and may be okay with accepting a quick extension, even if it just for expansion purposes.

Likelihood of a Trade: High. With the possibility that New Jersey could protect Johnsson and, in any scenario, will want to steer the Kraken away from their young forwards if at all possible, the Devils seem like a prime candidate to bring in some outside help with meeting exposure criteria.

San Jose Sharks

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Options: Much like the Stars, the Sharks are not an elite team right now, but possess a solid group of top-six forwards who will all be protected. Also like Dallas though, the team has complete lack of long-term commitment to any forward outside of that group. The only other eligible forward signed beyond this season is Jayden Halbgewachs, who has not played a single NHL game, nevertheless enough to meet the requirement. There is not a great list of internal options to re-sign either. Of the players who would meet exposure criteria with an extension, Patrick Marleau is likely to retire, Marcus Sorensen seems to need a fresh start in free agency, and one of Rudolfs Balcers and Dylan Gambrell is likely to be the seventh forward protected. That really leaves UFA Matt Nieto as the lynchpin. If the Sharks can re-up Nieto and whoever they don’t protect between Balcers and Gambrell, they are good to go. If Nieto isn’t keen to re-sign and if Balcers or Gambrell wish to pursue arbitration, the Sharks will be stuck without any forwards to expose.

Likelihood of a Trade: High. The Sharks are in as tough a position as any team on this list. If left exposed, Washington native Gambrell seems like a very likely pick by Seattle, but San Jose needs to meet the exposure quota all the same. That could involve bringing in one if not two forwards before the draft. There simply aren’t many other options on the roster.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Problem Area: Forward OR Defense (Scheme-Dependent)

Internal Options: It should come as no surprise that a team build entirely on a small, expensive core group and veterans on affordable, one-year deals is not well-prepared for the expansion draft. Of the ten Toronto skaters who currently meet the exposure criteria, four are forwards that will be protected in any scenario and three are defensemen that will be protected in any scenario. This leaves Alex Kerfoot at forward and Justin Holl on defense(with Pierre Engvall as the odd man out will likely be exposed regardless); only one can be protected and the other is the most likely Leaf to be selected. If the Maple Leafs value Holl more than Kerfoot, they will go with eight skaters in their protection list. In this scenario, they will not have any defensemen who meet the exposure criteria. Fortunately, any of RFA Travis Dermott or UFA’s Zach Bogosian or Ben Hutton could re-sign and fill that role. Alternatively, if the team values Kerfoot more than Holl, they will go with the standard 7-3 protection scheme. This would allow them to protect Kerfoot as well as extend and protect others like Zach Hyman, Joe Thornton, or Jason Spezza. Those three would all meet exposure requirements as well with a new deal, but Toronto will not offer them up to Seattle. Wayne Simmonds, Riley Nash, or Alex Galchenyuk could be more likely though. Unfortunately, these are all unrestricted free agents and not as easy to re-sign before the off-season as a restricted free agent. The Leafs could find themselves in a bind as a result.

Likelihood of a Trade: Low. There is still so much to be determined about the Leafs’ approach to the draft and they have options either way and player who would likely be eager to re-sign. It’s not a straightforward situation by any means, but they should be able to figure it out without taking the risk of adding salary that they can’t spare by making a trade.

Winnipeg Jets

Problem Area: Forward

Internal Options: The Jets are known for their depth at forward and eight of their top-nine meet the exposure criteria as a result, with RFA Andrew Copp not fitting the bill but almost certain to be protected anyway. The decision for the seventh and final protection slot is likely between the recently-extended Adam Lowry and upstart Mason Appleton. Whoever isn’t protected fills one of the two exposure roles. However, no one else is currently eligible. Extension candidates include UFA’s Mathieu Perreault, Trevor Lewis, and Nate Thompson, but Winnipeg may not necessarily want to commit further to any of those three. The solution: Jansen Harkins is signed through next season and requires just four more games to meet exposure level.

Likelihood of Trade: Low. Just play Harkins and move on. The list of teams in trouble is already long enough.

 

NHL Announces Player Gaming Challenge

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The NHL is trying desperately to stay relevant even as their season sits in limbo and have today announced a new feature for fans to tune into. The NHL Player Gaming Challenge will be a tournament of EA SPORTS NHL 20 games featuring players from each of the 32 organizations. The tournament will go for four weeks starting on April 30th. The league and EA will donate a combined $100,000 in support of COVID-19 relief.

Because the Seattle expansion franchise doesn’t have any players to represent them at this point, Luke Willson from the Seattle Seahawks of the NHL will carry the torch.

The full list of participants:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler

Arizona Coyotes: Conor Garland, Clayton Keller

Boston Bruins: Jake Debrusk, Charlie McAvoy

Buffalo Sabres: Brandon Montour

Calgary Flames: Noah Hanifin, Matthew Tkachuk

Carolina Hurricanes: Warren Foegele

Chicago Blackhawks: Drake Caggiula, Alex DeBrincat

Columbus Blue Jackets: Elvis Merzlikins, Zach Werenski

Colorado Avalanche: J.T. Compher

Dallas Stars: Stephen Johns, Jamie Oleksiak

Detroit Redwings: Madison Bowey, Anthony Mantha

Edmonton Oilers: Caleb Jones, Darnell Nurse

Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau

Los Angeles Kings: Michael Amadio, Blake Lizotte

Minnesota Wild: Devan Dubnyk, Jordan Greenway

Montreal Canadiens: Victor Mete, Nick Suzuki

Nashville Predators: Filip Forsberg

New Jersey Devils: MacKenzie Blackwood

New York Islanders: Matt Martin

New York Rangers: Chris Kreider

NHL Seattle: Luke Willson, Seattle Seahawks (NFL)

Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk, Chris Tierney

Philadelphia Flyers: James van Riemsdyk

Pittsburgh Penguins: Zach Aston-Reese, Bryan Rust

San Jose Sharks: Evander Kane, Marcus Sorensen

St Louis Blues: Colton Parayko, Robert Thomas

Tampa Bay Lightning: Tyler Johnson

Toronto Maple Leafs: Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks: Thatcher Demko, Adam Gaudette

Vegas Golden Knights: Ryan Reaves, Alex Tuch

Washington Capitals: Evgeny Kuznetsov

Winnipeg Jets: Anthony Bitetto, Kyle Connor

Select games can be seen on NBC Sports and Sportsnet ONE. All matches will also air within NHL Network’s on-air programming or its Twitch channel.

Colorado’s Nazem Kadri Out “Weeks”

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The surging Colorado Avalanche have suffered a setback in their pursuit to overtake the St. Louis Blues for the lead in the Central Division and Western Conference. Head coach Jared Bednar revealed to the media on Tuesday that center Nazem Kadri has suffered a lower-body injury and is set to miss “weeks, not days.” Kadri was injured in the second period on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild and return for just one shift in the third period before exiting the game.

Kadri, 29, has played an integral role for the Avalanche this season after coming over from the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer. In a campaign that has featured lengthy absences from the likes of Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, Kadri has been a steady secondary scorer for Colorado, recording 19 goals – second only to Nathan MacKinnon – and 36 points. Had Kadri stayed healthy, he would have been on pace for the second-best season of his career. He has also been far and away the team’s best face-off man and among the leading forwards in power play time and hits.

Kadri’s absence, especially as the Avs are in the midst of a 7-1-2 run a rolling on all cylinders, is a stroke of bad luck for player and team. The good news is that the injury occurred prior to the trade deadline, with enough time to react and refocus their trade pursuits. Colorado was already considered a top buyer at the deadline, given their position in the standings and considerable cap space, but now they have even more incentive to add depth up front. It’s fair to consider the Avalanche players for nearly every top name on the market. In the meantime, the team will have to lean more heavily on their other secondary scorers, particularly centers J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost, and hope that slumping star Landeskog can rediscover his game. Colorado will need help in some way, shape, or form as they await a return from Kadri, likely not until next month.

Minor Transactions: 10/16/19

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If you’re a hockey fan in Nova Scotia, tonight’s NHL action must feel like the Stanley Cup Final as provincial heroes and good friends Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon square off in Pittsburgh. The two superstar centers are off to great starts this season with the former taking the full weight of the Penguins on his back after Evgeni Malkin suffered an injury and the latter leading his Colorado Avalanche to a perfect 5-0 record so far. That’s one of six games on the schedule for this evening, and as teams prepare for action we’ll be right here to keep track of all the minor moves.

  • The Avalanche have returned Kevin Connauton to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL, activating J.T. Compher from injured reserve in the process. The Avalanche have so many NHL defensemen that they’re going to scratch Nikita Zadorov tonight, meaning it would have been tough for Connauton to get into the lineup.
  • The Chicago Wolves have released Brett McKenzie from his professional tryout after just a single game with the team. McKenzie, 22, was a seventh-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2016 but spent almost all of last season with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL. McKenzie will return to the Fort Wayne Komets, where he’ll continue to try and show he is good enough to move up to the AHL.

Injury Updates: Raanta, Compher, Subban, Guhle

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The Coyotes will have goaltender Antti Raanta back on Saturday as he’s slated to make his first start in more than ten months, notes Craig Morgan of The Athletic (via Twitter).  Raanta suffered a lower-body injury in his first preseason game and missed enough time that the team felt that a conditioning stint to start the season would be beneficial.  Now that he’s healthy, Arizona will be carrying three goalies with the recently-extended Darcy Kuemper as well as recent waiver claim Eric Comrie on the roster.  Keeping three goalies is rarely a viable strategy long-term so it will be interesting to see how long they opt to hold onto Comrie as an insurance policy given Raanta’s lengthy injury history.

Other injury news from around the league:

  • J.T. Compher’s time out of the Avalanche lineup appears to be short-lived. Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the center is expected to return on Saturday after missing last night’s game due to a lower-body injury.  The 24-year-old has a goal in two games so far this season.  Colorado didn’t place him on IR so they won’t need to make a corresponding roster move for him to suit up.
  • Although Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban was forced to leave Thursday’s game against Arizona after just one period due to a lower-body injury, head coach Gerard Gallant told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic (Twitter link) that the netminder won’t miss much time. He’s officially listed as day-to-day.  Gallant indicated that Vegas will recall a goalie from AHL Chicago so it appears that Subban will miss at least a game or two.
  • Ducks defenseman Brendan Guhle is dealing with a lower-body injury, notes Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). He has been listed as day-to-day.  Guhle is averaging a career-best 19:07 per game in the early going this season, good for fourth on the team amongst defensemen which is notable considering he spent most of last season at the AHL level.

Snapshots: WJSS Top Performers, Compher, Stralman

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The World Junior Summer Showcase just ended and there were plenty of highlights and impressive performances among all the countries that participated. While there were many top performers, NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman picks out 10 players who stood out at the WJSS, putting quite a bit of emphasis on the play of Montreal Canadiens and U.S. prospect Cole Caufield, who tied for the WJSS lead with four goals and seven points, including three highlight-reel goals in each of his final three games. Early indications might suggest that the Canadiens may have gotten a steal with the 15th pick in this year’s draft after slipping a bit because of his size (5-foot-7).

While a number of first-round picks from both the 2018 and 2019 drafts are mentioned in his top 10, three players from the incoming 2020 draft were also on his list, including projected top pick Alexis Lafreniere as well as Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond, both who are considered potential top-10 picks next season and were considered to be some of the most gifted forwards on Sweden’s team.

The only non-first-rounder mentioned in his top 10 was forward Sampo Ranta, a fourth-round pick in 2018 by the Colorado Avalanche. Raanta was the final player to get cut from last year’s Finnish WJC gold medal team and scored four goals and six points for Finland last week. He will return to the University of Minnesota, but could be a top prospect for the Avalanche to keep an eye on.

  • Speaking of the Avalanche, the Denver Post’s Mike Chambers writes that trainer Ian Mack, who is known for helping Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane last summer have a career-high 110-point season last year, is working with a number of prospects, including Colorado Avalanche forward J.T. Compher. The 24-year-old forward has yet to have that breakout season the team has been waiting for since the team acquired him in the Ryan O’Reilly trade in 2015. A second-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres back in 2013, Compher finished last year with 16 goals, but is hoping that Mack will get him to another level after he signed a four-year, $14MM extension this summer. “I worked out with him for a full month before I got on the ice,” Compher said. “Once I got back on the ice, I felt more explosive and better on my lateral movements — and even better on my edges. I can move quicker.”
  • In a Q&A with new Florida Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that the blueliner claims to be healthy after an injury-plagued year with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season. Stralman, who had surgery in May on both sides to correct a sports hernia injury that he tried to ignore, but was forced to sit out some time at the end of the season last year. Stralman finished the season playing just 47 games last year and only appeared in two games after March 5. He hopes he can make a difference with the Panthers defense after signing a three-year, $16.5MM deal this summer.

 

 

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