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Jamie Benn

Stars Place Jamie Benn On IR

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The Dallas Stars announced today that captain Jamie Benn is headed to the injured reserve. While no one player can quite make up for his absence, they activated Antoine Roussel from the IR to assist with the efforts. Roussel has missed the past four games with an upper body injury and remains a game-time decision for tonight’s match-up against the Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile, Benn was considered just day-to-day with a foot injury and there were hopes that he could play tonight, but now it appears as if he could be out much longer.

Over the past three years, few players have dominated the NHL like Benn has. The Star winger has 255 points over the last three seasons, including his league-leading Art Ross-worthy 87-point campaign in 2014-15 and a career high 41 goals in 2015-16. However, over the past six months, Benn has also proven that he is not invincible. He spent most of the summer recuperating from a core muscle injury sustained in the 2016 playoffs, a process that took longer than expected and kept Benn out of the World Cup of Hockey and threatened his Opening Night availability. Now he has a lower body injury, and a expected short-term, day-to-day diagnosis has instead landed him on the injured reserve. An offense that is built around so few core weapons – Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp – has had it’s fair share of struggles this season as all have dealt with injuries and missed considerable time. With Benn now on IR and out for an unknown amount of time, the pressure is again on the supporting cast to pick up the slack. The Stars are tied with both the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets in fifth place in the Central Division this year, and stand almost no chance of defending their division crown in 2016-17. If they even want to return to the playoffs, Dallas needs to get healthy and get their offense going.

Roussel’s return will at least add another able body to the top nine to make up for the loss of Benn. Once exclusively just an agitator and checker, Roussel has begun to evolve his game into something more well-rounded. The 27-year-old French forward has been trending toward a 30+ point season for a few years, but has just missed his mark. With five goals and 12 assists thus far, Roussel may just hit a career high in points this season. It’s good timing too, as the Stars’ 18th ranked scoring is a far cry from their high-flying offense of a year ago. They need more goals than grit right now from Roussel if they want to right the ship.

Snapshots: Pedan, Benn, Auvitu

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The Vancouver Canucks have decided that Andrey Pedan might have a better chance of realizing his potential if he actually plays. The team has sent him back to the AHL to join the Utica Comets. Pedan has spent multiple periods with the Canucks this season, but has yet to get into a single game. Like Frank Corrado in Toronto, he’ll go back to the AHL to get some game time in.

The 23-year old has had trouble with his defensive game since coming over from the Islanders organization, but is a physical presence and can chip in offensively when he’s playing well. He’s played 19 games this season for the Comets, registering three points and 30 penalty minutes.

  • Jamie Benn is listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury for the Dallas Stars, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. The captain will hopefully be able to play in the team’s next game, which thankfully isn’t until Wednesday. Benn has 34 points in 38 games this season, though his 10 goals is a far cry from the 41 he put up a year ago.
  • The Devils have sent Yohann Auvitu to Albany to make room for their recent waiver claim, Reid Boucher. In welcoming back the former Devil, Auvitu will head back to the AHL after playing 24 games this season with the NHL club. The French-born defenseman has four points (two goals, two assists) in those 24 games this season.
  • Arizona, the other team who made a waiver claim today, has moved Ryan White to injured reserve to make room. White hasn’t played since December 21st due to a lower-body injury, and has five points in 30 games this season. Likely back soon, the team will have to make a move to accommodate him when he does return.

Ryan O’Reilly Has Emergency Appendectomy, Out Indefinitely (Updated)

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(Update) 2:30pm: The Sabres announced via Twitter that O’Reilly will need “roughly 10 – 14 days of rest and recovery.”

10:34am: According to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, Sabres alternate captain Ryan O’Reilly had an appendectomy on Christmas Day and is out indefinitely. While this isn’t a long-term issue, Buffalo has been struck with injuries all season and won’t get a break any time soon.

The team is at 12-13-8 and has missed O’Reilly, Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, Jack Eichel and others for lengthy periods already. While the team hoped to have competed for a playoff spot this season after signing Kyle Okposo to a big offseason contract and pursuing several other big-name free agents, they’ve been snake-bitten all year and have fallen further and further behind. Their 32 points puts them dead last in the Atlantic Division, tied with the New York Islanders for last in the conference.

O’Reilly, who missed time with back spasms earlier this year, has been one of their most effective forwards when healthy with 18 points in 27 games. The 25-year old is in the first year of his long-term extension signed in 2015. While his cap hit will be $7.5MM for the next seven seasons, he’ll actually earn $11MM in salary (including signing bonuses) this year.

All Buffalo fans can do is shake their head at this point and hope that a quick return is in the cards for O’Reilly. As Harrington reports, other players like Max Pacioretty, Jamie Benn and Corey Crawford have returned within a few weeks of their surgery.

*Glen Miller contributed to this post.

Full List Of Mandatory-Protection Players In Expansion Draft

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Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston has published the full list of players who, due to no-movement clauses in their current contracts, must be protected in the upcoming expansion draft for the new Vegas Golden Knights. These are players who will count against the protection limits should they choose not to waive their NMC rights prior to the draft.

Each team has the right to protect either:

A) Seven forwards, three defenders, one goaltender

or

B) Eight skaters, one goaltender

These players will count against those numbers, and as Johnston points out, there are some notable inclusions and omissions from this group. Players like Jordan Staal, Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan all had incorrect information spread about their contracts. The former two will now need protection, while the latter will not, due to his deal only having a no-movement to the minors clause.

The Chicago Blackhawks, with eight players listed, will have little flexibility at the draft, with only four forward spots (or one defenseman) left to use. Many others, according to Johnston, including Toronto’s Nathan Horton, are likely to be made exempt if they are still on LTIR as the draft approaches.

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Pacific Division Notes: Sedins, Desjardins, Doan, Flames

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We’ve covered the Canucks awful start, which is largely driven by a poor offense, and how the job of head coach Willie Desjardins has been affected as a result. Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province offers additional insight into the situation, relaying this quote from team president Trevor Linden on Desjardins’ job security from an interview yesterday on TSN 1040:

“We know this topic has been widely covered and it’s definitely not something I, or we, plan to debate publicly.”

On the surface that doesn’t sound particularly ominous but as Botchford pointed out, that was no vote of confidence and in the opinion of the scribe the statement was “ice cold.” In the past Linden has been a vocal supporter of his head coach but there wasn’t much support contained in that brief statement.

Botchford expressed the odds around the league were 50/50 whether Desjardins would be relieved of his duties before their current road trip and evidently, he has done nothing to swing the pendulum in his favor.

Whether or not the team eventually does fire Desjardins, it’s unlikely his replacement would be able to do much better unless the players start performing significantly better.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

  • From the same piece, Botchford ponders whether the team should trade Henrik and Daniel Sedin, even if the team has to retain half of their salaries to do so. He argues that the twins are still far-and-away the team’s best players and subtracting them would leave the Canucks bereft of quality talent. Botchford finds it difficult to fathom the team could recoup anything close to fair value in a trade, particularly since they would certainly require being dealt to the same team. He also points out that the team really has no succession plan in place. While the Canucks have some quality young talent, both on the big league roster and in the system, they don’t have the type of prospects likely to develop into a franchise-type player. Ultimately Botchford posits that the Canucks would accomplish one of two things by trading the Sedins; either they essentially gut the franchise or they finally provide the needed roster and salary cap flexibility to begin a real rebuild of the organization.
  • Craig Morgan, writing for Arizona Sports, delves into Shane Doan’s early struggles and wonders whether it’s a sign that the longtime Coyotes team captain is nearing the end of a terrific career or if it is just another in what has been a fairly long line of slow starts for Doan. Through 13 games, Doan has just one goal and four points after tallying 28 times in 2015-16. For his part Doan doesn’t believe the early season difficulties will be a portend of things to come, saying:  “Not in my mind, it doesn’t. That really hasn’t been something that I’ve even thought too much about. I’m more than capable of being better than I’ve been.” His coach, Dave Tippett agrees: “He’s probably a little like our whole group: up and down a little bit. He just has high expectations for himself. I remember last November he was struggling a little bit and then he scored 28 goals. Some guys just have that make-up where they need to get up and going and it takes a little while.” Morgan points out Doan is seeing less ice time this season, averaging almost two minutes less per game, and that might play a part in the captain’s lack of production.
  • After addressing their goaltending situation in the offseason and adding veteran winger Troy Brouwer as a free agent, the Calgary Flames were expected to contend for a playoff spot this year. However a sluggish start suggests the team lacks an identity and needs to find theirs quickly if they want to avoid postseason elimination, writes Eric Francis of Sportsnet. First-year bench boss Glen Gulutzan believes the team is playing well at times but can’t find a way to win games: “We’re finding ways to lose. There are certain things that we’re doing well, but we’re finding ways to lose. We need somebody now to step up and find a way to win, and stop playing the victim.” Francis points to the Flames special teams as a culprit with the team’s penalty-killing unit ranking 29th in the NHL and the man-advantage failing to score a goal at home this season. Both played a role in the team’s latest loss, a 4 – 2 defeat at the hands of Dallas. Dallas’ Jamie Benn potted the go-ahead goal early in the third period while the Flames power play failed to convert a late advantage to tie the contest. It’s not too late for the Flames to find themselves but they’d better get it going soon before it’s too late.

Stars Notes: Sharp, Lineup Changes, Goaltending

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The Dallas Stars have been without Patrick Sharp for almost three weeks now after the veteran forward experienced concussion-like symptoms. The problems arose after Sharp took a devastating hit from Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings on October 20th, and initially there was no timetable for his return. Sharp skated with the team today, and according to head coach Lindy Ruff (via Mark Stepneski) doesn’t sound too far away:

It’s a step in the right direction and some light at the end of the tunnel for him. He’s feeling better. Hopefully we can get him two or three practices and he can be ready possibly for Sunday.

Sharp, one of the most consistent goal scoring wingers in the league over the past decade had a successful first season with the Stars last year after being traded there last summer. He provided another 20-goal season and recorded 55 points mostly skating alongside Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.  His return to the lineup would help deepen a Stars forward group that is really struggling to score goals. With Jason Spezza, Cody Eakin, Jiri Hudler and Ales Hemsky all missing time for various injuries this season, Sharp would be a sight for sore eyes for Ruff and the Dallas coaching staff.

  • Following three straight losses, the Stars will make some lineup changes for tonight. Justin Dowling and Jamie Oleksiak will both get back into the lineup, while Patrik Nemeth and Esa Lindell will visit the press box. Oleksiak is set to skate on the third pairing with Jordie Benn, while Dowling will center the fourth line between Gemel Smith and Adam Cracknell. Both newcomers have played just two games for the Stars this season.
  • Kari Lehtonen will be in net tonight against the Calgary Flames for his third start in a row despite being pulled in his last game. The 32-year old netminder was relieved after giving up four goals on eleven shots against the Jets on Tuesday. Antti Niemi didn’t fare much better though, as he gave up four goals as well on twenty shots. The Stars are now 4-6-3 and off to a terrible start in many facets of the game.

West Notes: Benn, Pearson, Boyle

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Dallas center Jamie Benn has been one of the top players in the NHL in recent years but at one point was strong considering baseball, he told Jonas Siegel of the Canadian Press.  Before the Stars selected him in the fifth round back in 2007, he had an NCAA commitment to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks where he would have played both sports.  However, after being drafted, he agreed to play in the WHL, thereby foregoing his college eligibility.

On the diamond, Benn spent his time at center field and first base while also pitching from time to time.  One of his former coaches called him the second best hitter to come out of Victoria, B.C., behind only Michael Saunders of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Benn’s commitment to both sports may have played a role in him dropping as far as he did in the draft as his hockey conditioning and skills weren’t as sharp as many other junior aged players at that time.

It’s hard to say the selection hasn’t panned out for the Stars, who picked four players ahead of Benn that year with only one actually playing in the NHL (Colton Sceviour, who signed with Florida this summer).  The 27 year old – who suited up in his first preseason game this week and appears to be on track to start the season – has put up three straight seasons of 79 points or more.  Although he may very well have been a successful baseball player had he opted to make that his primary choice, it’s safe to say that the decision to stick with hockey has served the Stars’ captain well.

Other news from out West:

  • Los Angeles left winger Tanner Pearson has been suspended for the remainder of the preseason plus the first two games of the regular season for an illegal check to the head on Edmonton defenseman Brandon Davidson, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced. Pearson had received a match penalty on the play originally.  He will forfeit just over $15.5K in salary to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund and will be eligible to return on October 18th against Minnesota.
  • Veteran defenseman Dan Boyle officially announced his retirement at a press conference today in San Jose. The 40 year old played in 1,093 games over a 17 year career, suiting up for the Panthers, Lightning, Sharks, and Rangers and won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004.  With 605 points to his name, Boyle ranks 35th in scoring amongst blueliners in NHL history.

Snapshots: Capitals, Matthews, Benn

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News and notes from around the NHL this morning:

  • The Washington Capitals have released two more players from camp this morning. Goalies Adam Carlson and Drew MacIntyre were both released back to Washington’s AHL affiliate Hershey Bears. Drew MacIntyre was the more seasoned of the two, playing professionally since 2003-04. MacIntyre last played for Chicago’s AHL Rockford IceHogs, going 2-3-2 in eight games with a 3.03 GAA and an .895SV%. Neither goalie was expected to make the team—both were brought in to temporarily cover for World Cup playing Braden Holtby and Philipp Grubauer.
  • 2016 first overall draft pick Auston Matthews is set to make his NHL debut tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs have high expectations for Matthews after his impressive performance for Team North America in the World Cup of Hockey. He scored 2G and 1A in 3 games and teamed up with last year’s number one pick Connor McDavid for highlight reel plays. Matthews is expected to center a line with William Nylander and Zach Hyman, reports the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan.
  • Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn is expected to play the rest of the preseason, reports Mark Stepneski of the Dallas Stars’ official website. Benn underwent surgery this offseason to repair core muscles, and skipped the World Cup of Hockey to properly recuperate. He’s be at training camp this fall but has not played a preseason game yet. The Stars will be watching the game intently to gauge Benn’s recovery—he is the team’s most expensive asset after Benn signed an eight-year deal worth $9.5MM a year this summer.

Snapshots: Benn, Kings, Broll

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News and notes from around the NHL:

  • Jamie Benn is expected to miss the first few Dallas Stars preseason games as he eases back into game shape. Benn underwent surgery this summer to repair core muscles and missed the World Cup of Hockey as he recuperated. Despite the surgery, however, Benn does not plan on missing any regular season games.
  • The Los Angeles Kings made some cuts Monday morning at training camp, sending six players packing. According to LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen, the Kings first sent forward Miles Koules and goalie Jonah Imoo down to the AHL Ontario Reign’s camp. They then released four players back to their respective Junior teams: defenseman Kale Clague to the Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL), defenseman Jacob Moverare to the Mississauga Steelheads (OHL), and both forward Matt Schmalz and defenseman Jacob Friend to the Owen Sound Attack (OHL). Kyle Clague left camp with a lower-body injury and will miss the first few weeks of Brandon’s season. Matt Schmalz returns to the OHL as an over-ager, and may make the move to the AHL as the season progresses.
  • Former Toronto Maple Leafs player David Broll signed with the ECHL’s Brampton Beast. The Beast are the Montreal Canadiens’ ECHL Affiliate. Broll played for the Syracuse Crunch last season and scored 2G and 6A in 60 games. In his only NHL experience, Broll scored 1A in 5 games with the Maple Leafs in 2013-14.

Snapshots: Seguin, Kucherov, Lundqvist

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Tyler Seguin has tallied better than a point-per-game in each of the last three seasons as the Stars #1 center and has also totaled 107 goals during that time. It would seem foolhardy to move the skilled pivot to any other position but Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News thinks the idea might have some merit.

In a recent chat, Heika fielded a question on Seguin and suggested he will be watching the six-year veteran to see how he plays at RW for Team Canada at the World Cup. With 11 natural pivots on the Canadian roster, several centers obviously will be forced into duty on the wing and it appears Seguin will be among those. Heika feels if Seguin performs well on the wing it might prompt the Stars to move him off the center position and elevate Cody Eakin into a more prominent role.

Eakin scored 16 goals and 35 points in 82 games for the Stars in 2015-16, while averaging nearly 16 1/2 minutes of ice time per contest. It was the third straight campaign Eakin recorded at least 16 goals and 35 points. Jason Spezza, fresh off a 33-goal, 63-point performance, is also likely slated to fill a slot on the top two lines giving the Stars plenty of depth at the center position.

It’s worth noting that Dallas also boasts plenty of offensive talent elsewhere among the forward group, meaning the club has no real need to move Seguin to the wing. The Stars recently inked Jiri Hudler to a one-year deal and he will join Jamie Benn, Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky, Valeri Nichushkin and Mattias Janmark in giving Dallas all kinds of options on the wing. Time will tell, of course, but the ability to role out Seguin, Spezza and Eakin, in that order, gives the Stars a strong group of pivots and one few teams can match in terms of talent. It simply wouldn’t make much sense to break that unit up.

Elsewhere in the NHL:

  • Even though RFA RW Nikita Kucherov remains unsigned, Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman remains confident a deal will get done prior to the 2016-17 season kicking off, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes. There is no understating how critical Kucherov is to the success of the Lightning, particularly given how good he has been in the playoffs. Kucherov has contributed 21 goals and 41 points in 43 postseason games over the last two seasons, helping the Lightning to a Stanley Cup Finals berth in 2014-15 and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance this season. He’s also posted seasons of 66 and 65 points over the last two regular seasons. The Lightning are in a bit of a pinch in terms of the salary cap with just less than $6.3MM in space remaining and only 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies under contract. Smith points out that Filip Forsberg and Vladimir Tarasenko, two players he identifies as possible comparable cases, each signed deals recently that come with annual cap charges of $6MM and $7.5MM respectively. Given the situation, it’s plausible the Lightning will have to make a trade to clear some cap space if that’s the range Kucherov is looking to land in, and Smith singled out Ben Bishop, Valtteri Filppula and Jason Garrison as players the team could look to move if necessary.
  • Despite stories – including this one which is in Swedish, and this one – suggesting New York Rangers superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist had sustained an injury while golfing, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reassures the team’s fans that “the King” is just fine. Brooks tweet does indicate that Lundqvist took a puck to the ribs and is “sore” but it’s nothing to be concerned about. Of course any rumor regarding Lundqvist’s health is sure to grab the attention of Rangers fans everywhere. “Hank,” has been the backbone of the team since he debuted all the way back in the 2005-06 season and the five-time Vezina finalist gives the Blueshirts a chance to compete every year. If he were to miss significant time due to injury, the Rangers playoff chances would drop considerably.

 

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