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Jared Spurgeon

Central Notes: Borowiecki, Lankinen, Spurgeon, Jets

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Nashville’s list of players in COVID protocol continues to grow as the team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Mark Borowiecki along with another member of their travelling party have been placed in COVID protocol.  The blueliner becomes the eighth active Predators player on the list of those unavailable to play while five other staff members – including their coaching staff – aren’t with the team at the moment either.  Despite that, they are not among the teams that have had games postponed yet with the Preds taking on Chicago tonight.

More from the Central Division:

  • Although the Blackhawks have just one goaltender under contract for next season (prospect Arvid Soderblom), the team has not yet engaged in extension discussions with either Kevin Lankinen or Marc-Andre Fleury, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription link). While Fleury is understandable – there’s no word on whether or not he’d be open to the idea and that needs to be determined before starting talks – the fact that they haven’t discussed anything with Lankinen’s camp is a bit surprising.  His numbers are down a bit from last season but with his limited NHL experience (just 47 career games), he’s someone that should be cheaper than several veteran backups to keep around.  With several key players needing new deals for next season, securing at least one goalie should be fairly high on interim GM Kyle Davidson’s list over the coming weeks.
  • Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon re-aggravated his lower-body injury and had already been ruled out of Saturday’s game against Florida before it was postponed earlier today, relays Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Speaking after the game, head coach Dean Evason had a rather grim comment about his captain’s health, simply saying “It’s not good” which suggests Spurgeon could be out a little longer than just a game or two.
  • The Jets are the latest team to have to cut their capacity, announcing (Twitter link) that their capacity will be cut to 50% for four of their upcoming games beginning on Tuesday. Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal have all had their capacity cut in recent days in accordance with provincial health guidelines.

Jared Spurgeon Out Week-To-Week

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The Minnesota Wild are still sitting in first place in the Central Division, but they’re going to have to hold onto that spot without their captain for a while. Jared Spurgeon is considered week-to-week according to head coach Dean Evason, who spoke with reporters including Sarah McLellan of the Star Tribune.

Spurgeon left the team’s game against the Florida Panthers early with a lower-body injury and missed Sunday’s contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Wild lost both of those games (the latter in a shootout) and are now just one point ahead of both the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets in the Central race.

The 31-year-old Spurgeon meanwhile was having another strong season, with eight points through his first 16 games while averaging more than 21 minutes a game. He left the match against the Panthers after just three minutes of ice time and now appears to be on the shelf for the next little while.

In his place, the team has young Calen Addison back up with the NHL group, but put Jordie Benn into the lineup for just the second time this season. Matt Dumba and Jonas Brodin ended up carrying a huge load, each playing more than 25 minutes (with Dumba eclipsing 28!) in the loss to Tampa Bay.

Wild Notes: Dumba, Parise, First Round Picks

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Although the Minnesota Wild played well in their seven-game first round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, losing with dignity to one of the best teams in the NHL this season, their loss has already fired the rumor mill back up, reports Sarah MacLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. At the center of the speculation yet again is defenseman Matt Dumba. Despite another strong season for the 26-year-old blue liner, capped off by a postseason in which he tied for the team lead in points, there is still speculation over Dumba’s future in Minnesota stemming from the impending NHL Expansion Draft. The Wild can only protect three defensemen and seven forwards or instead eight skaters total from selection by the Seattle Kraken. With Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin all carrying No-Movement Clauses, the trio all must be protected. The only way that the team can use the 7-3 format and also protect Dumba would be fore one those three to waive their NMC and allow themselves to be exposed. Otherwise, the Wild will have to protect eight skaters, but with Zach Parise and Mats Zuccarello also with No-Movement Clauses, this would mean Minnesota would have to leave multiple promising young forwards exposed in order to make room for Dumba, including at least one of Joel Eriksson Ek or Jordan Greenway. One thing that is certain is that Minnesota will not let Dumba be taken for free by future Western Conference rival Seattle. If the team cannot convince a veteran to waive their NMC and decide the 7-3 protection scheme is their best choice, Dumba will be traded before the Expansion Draft – hence the abundant speculation. Dumba has stated many times that he would like to remain with the Wild, so the organization is obviously doing all they can to make it work.

  • Another player who would like to stay in Minnesota is Parise. The 36-year-old is coming off of a down year and was even benched for the first three games of the Wild’s first round series. However, he impressed in the remainder of the series once activated. Parise can still play at a high level, but not commensurate to his $7.5MM+ cap hit over four more years. The Wild have tried to move the contract in the past and may do so again this summer, but Parise hopes they don’t. He told Dane Mizutani of TwinCities.com that he “[doesn’t] want to play anywhere else” but for his hometown team. As Mizutani points out, he shouldn’t be too worried given his albatross of a contract. Ironically though, one way that Parise could prove his loyalty to the club would be to waive his NMC for the Expansion Draft, allowing Minnesota to protect all of Dumba, Eriksson Ek, and Greenway in an 8-skater format. There is no way that Seattle would touch Parise’s contract, so it could be a win-win for both sides.
  • While the Wild are certainly not looking forward to the Expansion Draft – even if Dumba, Eriksson Ek, and Greenway are safe, the team will still lose a good player like Carson Soucy or Marcus Foligno – they are definitely excited for the NHL Entry Draft. With the Pittsburgh Penguins opting to send their 2021 first-round pick rather than their 2020 for last year’s Jason Zucker trade, the Wild will now have two picks in the top 32 this year. Not only that, but they will have two picks very close together as well. Minnesota’s own pick is locked in at No. 22 overall, but if the Tampa Bay Lightning advance to the next round, Pittsburgh’s pick will be No. 25, allowing the Wild to control the board with two picks out of four selections. They could also look to package the two picks to potentially move up into the top half of the first round. With a pipeline that is already well-stocked, Minnesota has put themselves in position to stay competitive for a long time with a strong roster and deep system after adding two first-rounders this year, as well as all of their own picks and another Pittsburgh pick in the third round.

2020-21 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues its daily revealing of award finalists and today’s is the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.  The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”.  The finalists for the award are Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, and Wild blueliner Jared Spurgeon.

Matthews led the league in goals this season with 41, picking up his first career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy along the way.  He logged plenty of ice time, finishing fifth among NHL forwards in ATOI at 21:33 per game and despite that, he only collected ten penalty minutes over his 50 games this season.  Among the top 25 scorers in the league, only Rangers winger Artemi Panarin had fewer penalty minutes (six) although he also played in eight fewer games.  It’s the second straight season that Matthews is a finalist for the award after finishing second in balloting last year.

Slavin, meanwhile, has been quite disciplined in terms of staying out of the box throughout his six-year NHL career but took that to a whole new level this season.  In 52 games this season, he logged 22:59 per game and had a grand total of one minor penalty.  That infraction was for delay of game.  Through his 429-game career, Slavin has a total of 60 penalty minutes.  It’s his first time being a finalist for this award (he was fourth in voting in 2020) but at the rate he’s going, it won’t be his last.

As for Spurgeon, he has recorded no more than 20 penalty minutes in a single season in his 11-year career and was only called for three minor penalties in 2020-21 despite averaging over 22 minutes a game; the only player to play that much and spend less time in the sin bin was Slavin.  This is also Spurgeon’s first time as a finalist for the award although he has received a vote in each of the previous six years.

The award winners will be revealed throughout the final two rounds of the playoffs with the dates and order of announcements still to be determined.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/13/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. On a positive note, no new players have been put on the list, but quite a few have been removed from the list. The Los Angeles Kings list is being put together now, but there has been a report from John Hoven that both Blake Lizotte and Andreas Athanasiou are both off the list:

Arizona – John Hayden
Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Detroit – Calvin Pickard
Los Angeles – TBA
Minnesota –  Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Brad Hunt, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Dmitry Kulikov, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Morgan Frost, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Jakub Voracek, Scott Laughton, Oskar Lindblom*
Tampa Bay – Steven Stamkos
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Taylor Hall (Sabres), Ryan Carpenter (Chicago), Andreas Johnsson (Devils), Janne Kuokkanen (Devils), Michael McLeod (Devils), Kyle Palmieri (Devils), Pavel Zacha (Devils); Anthony Duclair (Panthers), Jesse Puljujarvi (Oilers), , Marcus Johansson (Wild), Jared Spurgeon (Wild), Joel Eriksson Ek (Wild), Nick Bjugstad (Wild)

Four Minnesota Wild Players Return From COVID Protocol List

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The Minnesota Wild were cleared a couple days ago to return to team activities and look ready to resume their season on Tuesday against Los Angeles. Now the team announced that it has gotten back four of its players off the COVID protocol list, including forwards Nick Bjugstad, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson as well as defenseman Jared Spurgeon.

All four players were on the list since Feb. 3. The team had 13 players on the list as of two days ago, so the team needed some of them back soon if they want to have a competitive team. The Wild last played on Feb. 2, falling to Colorado in a 2-1 loss.

Eriksson Ek finally looks to have turned a corner in his fourth full season with the Wild. He posted career highs a year go with eight goals and 29 points, but it looks like he’s figured things out with five goals and nine points in nine games so far this year. Bjugstad, acquired for a conditional seventh-round pick at a bargain rate from Pittsburgh during the offseason, has found a full-time role with the team, playing in 11 games and scoring two goals and three points in a bottom-six role. Johansson, also acquired this offseason in a swap with Buffalo for Eric Staal, has two goals and three points in nine games.

The biggest return will be the team’s captain in Spurgeon. who is averaging 22:13 of ATOI this season and will be key heading up the team’s blueline. Of course, Spurgeon and Johansson are still dealing with upper-body injuries that could keep them out of the lineup for a few days still, according to Sarah McLellan of the Star Tribune.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/11/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The list is in:

Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Edmonton – Jesse Puljujarvi*
Florida – Anthony Duclair*
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota –  Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brad Hunt, Marcus Johansson, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri*, Pavel Zacha*
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil*
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Morgan Frost*, Jakub Voracek*
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Marcus Foligno, Minnesota Wild; Yegor Sharangovich, New Jersey Devils

With Puljujarvi’s addition, the NHL has pushed back the start time for Edmonton-Montreal to give them more time to process testing. It is not clear yet if the two teams will play. It would be the first postponed game in the North Division should it be pushed back.

Two more Philadelphia players isn’t a great sign for the Flyers, who are now just ten days away from the scheduled Lake Tahoe outdoor game. It is currently still scheduled as planned, as is the Flyers game on February 18 against the Rangers. We’ll have to see whether that changes, but New York has also had a player pop up on the list today in Chytil.

Palmieri and Zacha were only removed from the protocol yesterday but now find themselves back on it (though, Corey Masisak of The Athletic tweets that this was a clerical error). The Devils are currently scheduled to play on February 16, similarly against the Rangers.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/10/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. While Los Angeles is still listed as TBA, the rest of the league is in:

Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota –  Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Brad Hunt, Marcus Johansson, Carson Soucy, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot, Victor Rask*
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Damon Severson, Yegor Sharangovich, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim
Vegas – Tomas Nosek*

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Lucas Wallmark, Chicago Blackhawks; Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils; Pavel Zacha, New Jersey Devils

Nosek has been added today after being removed from the third period of last night’s game against the Ducks. The league has issued a statement regarding the situation:

The National Hockey League announced today that, immediately upon notification that one of its Players had returned a positive test for COVID-19, the Vegas Golden Knights removed forward Tomas Nosek from Tuesday night’s game vs. Anaheim, in precise accordance with the terms of the League’s COVID Protocol. Nosek was immediately isolated from his teammates and close contact tracing was begun, also in accordance with the Protocol.

Tomorrow night’s game in Las Vegas between the Golden Knights and Ducks remains scheduled to be played at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Rapid PCR Point of Care tests will be administered to all Players and staff on both teams in advance of that game (in addition to the daily lab-based PCR testing) and any decision regarding potential postponement will be made by the League’s, NHLPA’s and Clubs’ medical officials, following all COVID Protocols and local and federal regulations.

The Devils had two players removed today, a good sign that they are heading towards a resumption of play eventually. The team is still currently shutdown while they deal with the situation.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/09/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. While Los Angeles is still listed as TBA, the rest of the league is in:

Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Los Angeles – TBA
Minnesota –  Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Brad Hunt, Marcus Johansson, Carson Soucy, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot*, Jonas Brodin*
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Kyle Palmieri, Damon Severson, Yegor Sharangovich, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Pavel Zacha, Travis Zajac
Philadelphia – Travis Sanheim, Justin Braun*, Claude Giroux*

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Victor Rask, Minnesota Wild; Alex Pietrangelo, Vegas Golden Knights; Jakub Vrana, Washington Capitals

The big news today is the addition of Braun and Giroux, leading to the postponement of tonight’s Philadelphia Flyers game. The league is continuing to monitor the situation to see if any further postponements are needed.

Minnesota also has two new additions as the virus continues “creeping through the team.” Their season is still on pause as they sort through this outbreak, which now has a total of 12 players in the protocol.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/08/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. While Edmonton and Pittsburgh are still listed as TBA, the rest of the league is in:

Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Edmonton – TBA
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota –  Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Brad Hunt, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Victor Rask*, Carson Soucy*
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Kyle Palmieri, Damon Severson, Yegor Sharangovich, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Pavel Zacha, Travis Zajac,  Connor Carrick*, Nico Hischier*, Sami Vatanen*
Philadelphia – Travis Sanheim
Pittsburgh – TBA
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Jakub Vrana

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals; Ilya Samsonov, Washington Capitals; Adam Boqvist, Chicago Blackhawks

Dahlin was technically added late last night, joining the rest of the Sabres on the list. More games for Buffalo, New Jersey, and Minnesota were postponed today.

After being removed only yesterday, Vatanen re-appears on the Devils list today. Carrick is also there after previously appearing due to him leaving the league’s protocols to attend the birth of his child. The Devils are now up to 19 players, the largest number by any team this season.

*denotes new addition

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