Metro Notes: Guentzel, Blueger, Leonsis
The Pittsburgh Penguins have started the season off extremely well, collecting three wins and four games. A major contributor to that early-season success has been winger Jake Guentzel, who is tied for second on the team with three goals and five points. The Penguins are getting ready to begin a five-game road trip, and they may be without Guentzel for some of that period.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told the media today, as relayed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey, that Guentzel missed practice and is being evaluated for an upper-body injury. Guentzel was hit by a Kris Letang shot late in last night’s win over the Los Angeles Kings and also suffered a collision with Kings forward Brendan Lemieux. In Guentzel’s absence, Danton Heinen was elevated to the Penguins’ top line, while Brock McGinn took Heinen’s slot on the team’s third line.
Some other Metropolitan Division notes:
- If Guentzel does indeed miss time with an upper-body injury, the Penguins could be forced to use seven defensemen until he returns. Injured forward Teddy Blueger is still wearing a non-contact jersey in practice, and as Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports notes, the Penguins don’t have the cap space to recall a forward. Coach Sullivan is no stranger to guiding the Penguins through injury troubles, though, and he’ll definitely have his hands full as he looks to sustain the Penguins’ hot start.
- Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis is leading a group that is reportedly the front-runner to purchase Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals, per reporting from The Athletic’s David Aldridge, Brittany Ghiroli, and Ken Rosenthal. Leonsis has been the owner of the Capitals since 1999 and would become just the second owner of teams in three of the four major U.S. professional men’s sports leagues. For more information on Leonsis’ potential purchase, we refer you to the more extensive coverage over at MLB Trade Rumors.
NHL Announces Player Assignments For Skills Competition
The NHL All-Star Skills competition will take place tomorrow night in Las Vegas, and the league has announced ahead of time which players will participate in which events. The player assignments for the seven events are as follows:
Fastest Skater
Chris Kreider, NYR
Adrian Kempe, LAK
Kyle Connor, WPG
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
Jordan Kyrou, STL
Dylan Larkin, DET
Cale Makar, COL
Connor McDavid, EDM
Save Streak
Jack Campbell, TOR
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL
Frederik Andersen, CAR
Tristan Jarry, PIT
Cam Talbot, MIN
Juuse Saros, NSH
Thatcher Demko, VAN
John Gibson, ANA
Fountain Face-Off
Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA
Claude Giroux, PHI
Jordan Eberle, SEA
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson
Roman Josi, NSH
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Zach Werenski, CBJ
Mark Stone, VGK
Hardest Shot
Adam Pelech, NYI
Timo Meier, SJS
Victor Hedman, TBL
Tom Wilson, WSH
Breakaway Challenge
Goalies: Manon Rhéaume & Wyatt Russell
Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
Trevor Zegras, ANA
Jack Hughes, NJD
Alex DeBrincat, CHI
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK
Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22
Nazem Kadri, COL
Auston Matthews, TOR
Joe Pavelski, DAL
Steven Stamkos, TBL
Brady Tkachuk, OTT
Accuracy Shooting
Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Clayton Keller, ARI
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF
Sebastian Aho, CAR
Jake Guentzel, PIT
Troy Terry, ANA
Johnny Gaudreau, CGY
Patrice Bergeron, BOS
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK
Two new events, the Fountain Face-Off and 21 in ’22 will be held outside in the Bellagio fountain and Las Vegas strip respectively. Individual winners of each event will earn $30,000.
NHL Announces 2022 All-Star “Last Men In”
The NHL All-Star rosters were revealed a few days ago, with one final spot open for each division. Those spots were filled by the “Last Men In” today following a fan vote.
For the Atlantic Division, the last man in is Steven Stamkos, captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the team’s third All-Star. He’ll join Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy at the event, which will be held on the weekend of February 4-5. Stamkos is having a brilliant bounce-back season with 18 goals and 46 points in 39 games.
In the Metro, Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers was the vote-in choice, but due to personal reasons, he will not be attending. Instead, Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins will take his place. While refusing an All-Star appearance is normally a one-game suspension, that does not appear to be the case for Zibanejad. Guentzel is certainly a worthwhile replacement, as he is currently tied for seven in the league with 20 goals and has scored them in just 32 games.
For the Central, the obvious choice was Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri and the fans did not disappoint. Fifth in the league with 49 points this season, Kadri is having a career year and arguably deserved the All-Star bid ahead of teammate Nathan MacKinnon, who will also be there (along with Cale Makar, making it three for the Avalanche).
Another obvious snub when the lists were announced will be rectified as Troy Terry was the Pacific’s last man in, celebrating his breakout season. The 24-year-old forward sits sixth in league scoring with 22 goals in just 38 games, more than doubling his previous career total.
Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust Activated From Injured Reserve
In a day that’s seen a flurry of roster moves from the Pittsburgh Penguins, some good news is coming in the form of the returns of forwards Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. Per the NHL, they were activated today in advance of the Penguins’ game against San Jose.
In corresponding moves, however, the Penguins removed four players from the active roster. Brian Boyle is on a short personal leave of absence after the birth of his daughter, but forwards Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen and goalie Tristan Jarry were also removed, as they entered COVID protocol last week.
Guentzel has been out of the lineup since December 8 with an upper-body injury, but he still remains the team’s leader in points. The 27-year-old has 15 goals and 12 assists through 24 games, a testament to how banged up the Penguins have been this year.
Rust is having a really tough season with injuries, being limited to only 12 games. He missed the entire month of December with his second lower-body injury of the season.
In their returns to the lineup, they’ll likely resume their top-line roles flanking Sidney Crosby.
Pittsburgh Penguins Add Six To COVID Protocol
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Teddy Blueger, Tristan Jarry, John Marino, Mike Matheson, Evan Rodrigues, and Dominik Simon have all been added to the COVID protocol and are currently unavailable. Jake Guentzel will also miss practice with a non-COVID illness.
Losing those six is obviously a huge blow, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom at Penguins practice today. Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin both took the ice in regular black sweaters, indicating they’ve been cleared for full contact and are approaching a return to action.
Pittsburgh is on a seven-game win stream and has climbed their way back into the Metropolitan playoff mix, sitting now just four points out of first place. While they will now have to patchwork a lineup together, the rest of the NHL is in a similar boat. Malkin hasn’t played yet this season after undergoing offseason surgery and should offer a significant boost when he does return to the lineup. Rust, meanwhile, missed all of December and has played in just 12 games so far.
Snapshots: Guentzel, Trade Bait, DeBrusk
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without Jake Guentzel for the next little while, as head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that the sniper will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Guentzel is having another outstanding season with 15 goals and 27 points in just 24 games.
The 27-year-old forward now sits at 136 goals and 284 points through his first 323 career games, even closer to point-per-game production if you include his playoff performances. On a team that has some of the most recognizable players in the league, Guentzel sometimes doesn’t get the credit he deserves as one of the league’s premier offensive players. Losing him, especially just as things are starting to roll for the Penguins, will be a difficult thing to deal with.
- TSN revealed its first Trade Bait board for this season compiled this time by new insider Chris Johnston. Ben Chiarot of the Montreal Canadiens tops the board, as one of the few impact defensemen that will be available at the deadline this year. As Johnston notes, players like Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson were once expected to hit the market this year, but the Anaheim Ducks are playing well enough now that that may not be the case.
- One of the other players on that list is Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk, who was the focus of one of Elliotte Friedman’s latest 32 Thoughts. The Bruins are “definitely willing” to trade DeBrusk according to Friedman and are “unafraid to take a chance” on a younger player in return. They won’t just sell off DeBrusk because of his public trade request.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Toffoli, Jaros
The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, with Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers taking home the top spot. Huberdeau put up nine points in three games and helped the Panthers to the top spot in the entire NHL. Sometimes overlooked when hockey fans consider the top offensive players in the league, Huberdeau is now working on his fourth consecutive season scoring at a better than point-per-game rate.
Second and third place went to Victor Hedman and Jake Guentzel respectively, after their own outstanding performances. The Tampa Bay Lightning star had eight points in four games, jumping him up to top spot among all defensemen in the league. His 26 points in 24 games puts him in the running for the Norris Trophy once again, an award he has been a finalist for (or won), five years in a row. Guentzel, another player who may not get his due credit when discussing the top offensive players in the league, had five goals and six points in three games last week. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward is tied for 21st in the league with 24 points, including 13 goals in 23 games.
- The Montreal Canadiens will be without Tyler Toffoli for the next few weeks. The team announced Toffoli’s absence “could be quite long” as he deals with an upper-body injury. The Canadiens are dealing with several key injuries as they try to turn over the organization from the recently-fired Marc Bergevin to the newly-hired Jeff Gorton.
- The New Jersey Devils have activated Christian Jaros from injured reserve, a month after he went on the shelf with a hand injury. Jaros has played just two games this season for the Devils and will likely go back to just a depth role for the team. The 25-year-old defenseman has 85 games of NHL experience and was acquired from the San Jose Sharks last summer.
Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Bryan Rust Off Injured Reserve
The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to slowly work their way back towards full health, activating right wing Bryan Rust from injured reserve today per a team release.
Rust was placed on injured reserve on October 16 after playing in just two games. He’ll undoubtedly return to the team’s top line, which currently consists of Jake Guentzel and Jeff Carter as captain Sidney Crosby remains in COVID-19 protocol.
It’s been a rocky start to the season for Pittsburgh, who have dealt with injuries to every single one of their core players this season. Evgeni Malkin has yet to play, Crosby’s played in just one game, Carter’s played only six, Kris Letang has played five, and Guentzel has missed one game out of a possible nine.
They’ve been buoyed early by a resurgent start from goaltender Tristan Jarry, who’s managed a .930 save percentage in seven games this season.
Dominik Simon, who’s averaged just 10:40 per game this season despite scoring four points in eight games, is a likely candidate to sit in the press box to make room for Rust in the lineup.
Rust returns to full health aiming to score 20 goals for the third straight season as he enters the final season of a four-year deal paying him $3.5MM per season. He’s set to earn a sharp raise on that deal, regardless of his home next season.
Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Trocheck, Backstrom, Rangers
The Penguins had close to a full group at practice today with winger Jake Guentzel returning from COVID-19 protocol while center Sidney Crosby participated once again. However, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, including Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that those two as well as winger Zach Aston-Reese, have all been ruled out for tomorrow’s season-opener. However, Guentzel is a possibility to play on Thursday night while Crosby is unlikely to play on their road trip. An IR placement for him appears likely which could open up a roster spot for the expected signing of veteran Brian Boyle.
More from the Metropolitan:
- While Carolina placed center Vincent Trocheck on IR over the weekend, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes’ team site notes (Twitter link) that the team remains optimistic that he will be available for their season-opener against the Islanders on Thursday. Trocheck had 43 points in 47 games last season while primarily playing on Carolina’s second line, a role he’s likely to reprise in 2021-22.
- Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has been making progress as he works his way back from a hip injury but the team announced (Twitter link) that the veteran has been designated as injured/non-roster on their season-opening roster. Head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters, including NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti (Twitter link) that the 33-year-old has to start skating. As a result, it appears it will be a little while longer before Washington’s top pivot is in the lineup.
- While the Rangers were expected to name a captain before the season started, that is not the case. Instead, the team revealed (Twitter link) that they have named six alternates – defenseman Jacob Trouba plus forwards Barclay Goodrow, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, and Mika Zibanejad.
Injury Notes: Reaves, Bennett, Guentzel
Despite suffering an injury on Wednesday night that forced him to be helped off the ice, New York Rangers free agent addition Ryan Reaves may not miss any regular season time. The grinder has not been practicing since the injury occurred, but head coach Gerard Gallant is optimistic that he could return by opening night. “I think it’s going to be close,” Gallant told Collin Stephenson on Newsday. “When we left the game, I said no, but… the last couple of days it’s going in the right direction… I can’t really say, but I think it’s going to be real close.” The Rangers prioritized adding grit and physicality this summer, adding Reaves, Barclay Goodrow, Sammy Blais, and Patrik Nemeth, so they hope to be able to roll out their full complement of toughness for Opening Night.
- Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett missed the team’s preseason match-up on Saturday night as he has been placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol, the team announced. Depending on the context of Bennett’s absence, the two-way forward could miss more than just one game. The Panthers certainly hope that the physical center is good to go for the start of the season; Bennett was an excellent addition to the Florida roster at the deadline last season, recording 15 points in ten games while averaging a career-high 18:04 time on ice. As the Cats look to compete in the Atlantic Division this year, every game matters and a healthy Bennett is a difference-maker.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins expect to have Jake Guentzel back sooner rather than later from COVID Protocol. Head coach Mike Sullivan told The Athletic’s Rob Rossi that Guentzel is asymptomatic and going through the steps of the protocol. Though he has missed a week of practice, Guentzel will jump right back into the lineup if he is healthy. The 27-year-old has scored at a point-per-game pace over the past three years and will be relied on even more with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin injured.