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Snapshots: Bozak, World Championships, Fast

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The Vancouver Canucks received some financial certainty today, when Henrik and Daniel Sedin confirmed their intention to retire at the end of the season. With their decision comes the fact that the Canucks have $14MM coming off the books, and should have ample room to make a splash in free agency if they choose.

Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 notes that he’s hear Tyler Bozak’s name as a player the Canucks could have interest in, should he go unsigned by Toronto and reach free agency. Bozak, 32, isn’t a top-line player anymore (if he ever was) but should still command a multi-year deal as one of the better center options on the open market. Where he fits into a Canucks rebuild isn’t clear, but the Vancouver front office has been clear that they aren’t willing to turn the entire franchise over to the young guns, and want some experience to help guide them through the next few years.

  • The World Championships are coming fast, and several players indicated their intentions today over whether to play in it or not. Matt Duchene told media that he wouldn’t play for Team Canada in the upcoming tournament, while Ryan O’Reilly confirmed to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that he would be. O’Reilly has competed five times previously, including being named an alternate captain last year. With two golds and one silver, he will be a welcome addition to a team that looks like it could be a powerhouse.
  • Jesper Fast will likely not play again for the New York Rangers this season, after suffering a groin injury that should keep him out the rest of the year. That ends what has been a career year for the 26-year old, with 33 points in 71 games. The Rangers will hope that progression can continue over the next two years of his current contract, as he’ll be relied upon as a key forward while the team rebuilds with their eyes on contention down the road.

Snapshots: Matthews, Fast, Glendening, Team Canada

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Auston Matthews admitted to reporters today that he had experienced “regular concussion symptoms” while he was held out of the lineup recently, confirming the suspected injury. Matthews collided with teammate Morgan Rielly late in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this month, but actually returned to finish the match. He’s been out since with an “upper-body injury” but was back on the ice with teammates for today’s Toronto Maple Leafs practice.

Matthews’ return will be a welcome sight for Toronto, as the team has scored just 14 goals in the six games without him. Eight of those came in the matinee against the Carolina Hurricanes earlier this week, while the team has gone 2-4 and almost completely lost their lead on the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division. A decision still hasn’t been made on whether the young superstar will play tomorrow night in New York.

  • Speaking of the Rangers, the team announced today that Jesper Fast has a quadriceps strain and will be out of the lineup for two to three weeks. Boo Nieves is expected to take Fast’s spot in the lineup against the Maple Leafs, though the injury will once again test their forward depth. The Rangers are right in the middle of a dogfight in the Metropolitan Division, with all eight teams separated by just eight points. Fast was off to a good start this season with 16 points in 30 games and well on his way to setting a career-high in scoring.
  • Luke Glendening in Detroit will be out at least four weeks according to head coach Jeff Blashill, which could open the door for Tyler Bertuzzi to stay a little longer with the NHL club. Detroit is falling out of contention in the Atlantic with a recent slide, and could use any spark they can get from a young player entering the lineup.
  • The Canadian Women’s Olympic team was announced today, with 23 players on their way to Pyeongchang in February. Among them is Meghan Agosta, who won her first of three Olympic gold medals in 2006 and is a legendary player on the international stage. Agosta is also an officer with the Vancouver Police Department, a balancing act that was recently profiled by Mike Brophy of CBC Sports. The Canadian women will be one of the favorites again this year, as they look for their fourth-straight gold medal.

NHL Snapshots: Rangers Offense, Ekholm, Sanheim

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The New York Rangers’s offense has lived on their power play and their top line of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich. They have dominated the early season on offense, while the rest of the team is quiet. However, after a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators today, it’s quite obvious that a new line is starting to step in Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast and Jimmy Vesey.

The trio haven’t been together too long as Fast has only been back from injury for the last four games. However, they seem to have a connection, according to Steve Zipay of Newsday. Hayes, who scored the game-winner today, has had three goals and an assist in the last five games. Vesey recently picked up his first goal and assist of the season, while Fast scored the first goal in today’s game and has a goal and an assist in four games.

“It’s a real hardworking line,” said coach Alain Vigneault. “Simple, north-south, get it in deep, work the corners, work on the forecheck . . . Kevin, with his size and hockey smarts, fits in real well.”

  • Adam Vingan of the Tennessean writes that Mattias Ekholm has really established himself as the leader on defense. Already on a defense with many big names like P.K. Subban, Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis, it’s Ekholm who leads the team in even strength ice time at 19:03, which is 75 seconds more than any other player on the team. Combined with special teams play, Ekholm is currently averaging 25:52 of total ice time and after scoring a goal today, has one goal and two assists so far this year. Vingan writes that with more responsibility ever since the team traded away Seth Jones and now an injury to Ellis, Ekholm has thrived.
  • Kurt Rohrbeck of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that for the second straight game, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim is getting minutes equal to that of a top-four defenseman. Rohrbeck writes that Sanheim’s performance was a mixed bag. Sanheim, who sat out as a healthy scratch often in the first few games of the season, often struggled in the defensive zone, as the scribe points to a moment in the first period in which he allowed Edmonton’s Brad Malone to steal the puck from him and almost score. However, the scribe writes the 21-year-old made up for those rookie mistakes by showing quite a bit of offensive skill, getting off two legitimate shots that could have been scoring chances.

Eastern Notes: Fast, Bruins, Koekkoek, Morin

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The New York Rangers tweeted that head coach Alain Vigneault announced injured forward Jesper Fast will play tonight vs. the New Jersey Devils. Fast, who had hip surgery on June 5, missed all of training camp and the first five games of the season so far this year. He was cleared for contact last week, and completed on-ice skills testing before practice and had the fourth-highest score. The 25-year-old wing scored six goals and 15 assists in 68 games last year, which was disappointing after a promising second-season in which he put up a 30-point campaign. Regardless, his work as a bottom-six player has been missed. The Rangers have come out of the gate slowly this year, as the team has started with a 1-4 record and have lost two straight.

  • Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports writes that the Bruins, who have struggled both offensively and defensively to start the year and find themselves as 1-2, are attempting to simplify their offense for their game tonight against the Arizona Coyotes. Haggerty writes the team had the most success recently in the third period against Colorado when they posted two goals in that period. “The third period [in Colorado] we scored two goals and I don’t think we did anything spectacular other than win pucks, go to the net and be belligerent there. If that’s what it takes to get going, that’s what it takes sometimes to score goals in this league,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.
  • Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith writes that despite the Lightning’s logjam of eight defenders on the roster, the team is slowly giving more playing time to Slater Koekkoek. After he received two healthy scratches and playing in only 3:09 in his season debut Monday, Koekkoek got 9:44 in playing time on Thursday’s game, rewarding Tampa Bay with two goals. Despite playing under 10 minutes, Koekkoek still got more playing time than Mikhail Sergachev (5:22) and is starting to earn the coaching staff’s trust and could see another increase in time tonight when they play the St. Louis Blues.
  • The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor breaks down (subscription required), why Philadelphia Flyers rookie Samuel Morin was sent down to Lehigh Valley. Many people were upset that Morin was sent down, because they feel he is NHL-ready now. The scribe breaks down some of the criteria of whether he belongs in the NHL, pointing out that he is physically ready for the NHL at 6-foot-6, 202 pounds and he has had success in the AHL so far with two solid seasons there. He then looks whether Morin showed off enough skill in training camp to deserve a spot before finally analyzing whether he is better than another defenseman on the roster, which is where O’Connor points out the problem. He writes that while Morin is right there, he didn’t prove to be better than the other two rookies in Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim and is not ready to beat out veterans like Radko Gudas or Andrew MacDonald.

Snapshots: Boeser, Wild, Fast

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Canucks rookie winger Brock Boeser appears likely to make his season debut on Thursday night after being a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season, notes Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province.  The 20-year-old made an impact late last season after joining Vancouver after his college season ended, collecting four goals and an assist in just nine games.  Even if Boeser fares well, it appears that he will be scratched with some regularity as head coach Travis Green suggested to Kuzma earlier this week that Boeser and fellow youngster Jake Virtanen may only play 50-60 games each in an effort to help them acclimate to the rigors of a full NHL schedule.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • The salary cap is already creating some challenges in Minnesota whose situation has them planning to dress just 11 forwards for their next game, writes Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. The Wild are missing Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise until sometime next week but with just over $200K in cap room, they aren’t able to bring anyone up from the minors without going over the cap.  They could choose to send waiver-exempt defenseman Mike Reilly down which would then free up enough money to recall another forward but head coach Bruce Boudreau said that’s not an option that has been considered.
  • Following practice on Wednesday, Rangers winger Jesper Fast acknowledged to Laura Albanese of Newsday that he feels close to fully healed from the hip surgery that he had back in June. While his original return to the lineup wasn’t expected until late October or early November, head coach Alain Vigneault suggested that Fast could be back in the lineup within the next seven-to-ten days.  Once he’s green-lit to return, Fast will likely supplant one of Paul Carey or recent waiver wire pickup Adam Cracknell in New York’s lineup.

Snapshots: Khudobin, Fast, Hanzal

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One of the battles in Boston’s training camp is for the backup goalie position.  Veteran Anton Khudobin is the incumbent but is coming off an inconsistent season that saw him post just a .904 save percentage, well below the league average in 2016-17.  Accordingly, some have wondered if youngster Zane McIntyre could push for the number two job with the Bruins but head coach Bruce Cassidy told CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty that Khudobin remains the favorite for the job.

“He’s in very good shape and he’s practiced well, so he’s got a leg up on the other [goalies] based on his experience.  We know that going in, but he’s going to get pushed. Zane was good in a game, and Malcolm [Subban] let in a couple where he could have been more aggressive. But it was a first game, so right now they all look good. That’s a good problem to have if they all push each other, but to get direct to the point Anton has done nothing to lose that backup spot.”

If McIntyre isn’t able to supplant Khudobin for the backup role with the Bruins, he will be able to go down to Providence without going through waivers as he’s exempt for this season.  The same can’t be said for Malcolm Subban, who would have to hit the wire before heading to the AHL.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Rangers winger Jesper Fast is progressing well in his recovery from offseason hip surgery, notes Matt Calamia on the Rangers’ team site. Head coach Alain Vigneault said that the team is targeting late October for his return to the lineup which would actually put him ahead of schedule from the five months he was expected to miss when he went under the knife in early June.  The 25-year-old has six goals and 15 assists in 68 games with New York last season and will push for a bottom-six role when he returns to the lineup.
  • Stars center Martin Hanzal is expected to start skating with the Stars on Saturday, reports Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge. The 30-year-old has been out since the start of training camp with an ankle injury.  While Dallas has a surplus of centers, head coach Ken Hitchcock suggested earlier this month that it won’t be Hanzal who shifts positions and that it might be Jason Spezza who spends time on the wing instead.

Snapshots: Ratelle, Butcher, Lehner

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After the Philadelphia Flyers announced this morning that Eric Lindros would see his number retired to the rafters this season, the New York Rangers are also making plans to honor one of their greatest players. Jean Ratelle’s #19 will be retired in February, joining Ed Giacomin (#1), Brian Leetch (#2), Harry Howell (#3), Rod Gilbert (#7), Adam Graves and Andy Bathgate (#9), Mark Messier (#11), and Mike Richter (#35) in the rafters of Madison Square Garden.

Ratelle played 16 seasons for the Rangers during his career, scoring 817 points in 862 games for the franchise. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985 and has been waiting a long time to see his number retired in New York. Jesper Fast, who wore the number last season, will have to change for 2017-18. The ceremony is scheduled for February 25th, before a game against the Detroit Red Wings that will be deemed “Jean Ratelle Night.”

  • Will Butcher held a conference call with reporters today to explain why he chose the New Jersey Devils, and spoke mostly about his new head coach John Hynes and the effect he had even in just a short meeting. Butcher explained that his final four teams were indeed Vegas, Los Angeles, Buffalo and New Jersey, before eventually settling on the Devils. Butcher could step right into an NHL role in New Jersey, and he has the confidence if nothing else; he compared himself to Duncan Keith in terms of style of play.
  • Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat has a great piece on the thought process of Robin Lehner in this summer’s contract negotiations with the Sabres, writing that Lehner wanted a long-term deal even though his agents disagreed. Even though his representatives explained that with a one-year deal he could set himself up for a big raise in what will be his final summer of restricted free agency, Lehner wanted to sign long-term in Buffalo. Hoppe writes that former Sabres GM Tim Murray may have been open to that, but the new regime wasn’t. Lehner has had extreme ups and downs since coming to Buffalo, but clearly has the talent to be one of the very best goaltenders in the league. In a year where almost everything went wrong for the Sabres, Lehner made a career-high 58 starts and maintained an excellent .920 save percentage. Next summer any long-term contract will be buying out almost exclusively UFA seasons, and will push much higher than the $4MM salary he’ll earn this season.

Jesper Fast Signs Three-Year Deal With New York Rangers

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The New York Rangers have locked up Jesper Fast for a few more years, signing him today to a three-year $5.55MM contract. Fast was eligible to file for arbitration before today’s deadline. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the contract’s conclusion. The $1.85MM average salary is a $900K raise over his last deal. Jesper Fast

Fast played 68 games for the Rangers last season, again cracking the 20-point mark despite a limited role. That role may increase slightly next season, as Fast continues to show that he can produce at both ends of the rink. If given the chance, 40 points doesn’t seem out of the question in his prime years though he also has excellent value in a checking role.

For a team that has lost Oscar Lindberg and Derek Stepan already this summer, getting Fast back under contract for a reasonable contract was imperative. It is interesting that they didn’t get him signed for longer, but with cap space dwindling and a new deal for Mika Zibanejad still needed, the Rangers likely couldn’t afford to buy out many free agent years.

Instead, Fast will be on the open market at 28 in the summer of 2020. If he can continue his performance for the next few seasons, and even show a little more offense he’ll be highly sought-after in free agency. Not bad for a sixth-round pick.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images

Metropolitan Division Offers Vegas Multiple Goalies, Project Players

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The Metropolitan Division was undoubtedly the most competitive last season, with 3 of the league’s top 5 points finishers within it, including the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Penguins. Some teams in the Metro have prepared poorly, while others look to take a minor hit and move on from expansion relatively unscathed. No major surprises exist outside of Brooklyn, where the Islanders took the crown for the most unorthodox and confounding strategy.

The Penguins seem to have known for quite some time that Marc-Andre Fleury was Vegas bound. GM Jim Rutherford balked at trade offers last off-season despite the goalie’s no-movement clause potentially complicating matters further down the line. The organization finally asked him to waive his clause in February, and both parties seem willing to move on. Rutherford did seem to be leaning toward the 7-3-1 model originally, but eventually opted to go with the 4-4 route to protect both Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz. If for whatever reason Fleury is not chosen, playoff performer Bryan Rust is almost certainly the claim. Columbus’ list is about what we expected, but it still seems strange to see Josh Anderson and Jack Johnson are left exposed. If there is a deal in place for a 1st round pick, as reported earlier by the Columbus Dispatch, Johnson is the likely selection. He’s still got a lot of talent, and with all his international experience, he could be a great leader for younger players in Vegas.

The Philadelphia Flyers made one of the smarter (if unexpected) decisions of the day and opted to protect Scott Laughton over assistant captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and the streaky Michael Raffl. Jordan Weal is still left exposed, and theoretically any of the three could be headed to Vegas. The Washington Capitals are absolutely going to lose a solid player, and it’s destined to be either the very promising defenseman Nate Schmidt or standout goalie Philipp Grubauer. The Capitals knew this was coming for a long time, but it can’t hurt any less to lose assets in this fashion. A possible scenario to watch out for is whether Vegas will pursue T.J. Oshie as a free agent in the short-term. They have first dibs on negotiations if they want to open that conversation, and he’s considered by many to be the top available UFA. The team doesn’t really need another goaltender, and their defense would survive without Schmidt, even with his incredible talent.

The New Jersey Devils arguably have the weakest roster on paper at the moment, and it shows with the potential selections Vegas need to consider. Mike Cammalleri is unproductive and overpaid, Beau Bennett has all but busted when he isn’t injured, Jacob Josefson scored one goal last season, and Devante Smith-Pelly is with his third club in as many years. The New York Rangers couldn’t move Antti Raanta and now it seems probable that Vegas will take advantage. Other options would include Jesper Fast and the very productive (27 goals) Michael Grabner, neither of whom is good enough to justify passing on the solid Raanta. No surprises here, but management certainly waited until the final hour to buyout Dan Girardi – which allowed them to utilize that 7-3-1 strategy effectively. Carolina will offer up one of the worst prizes to the Golden Knights, and Lee Stempniak is the only name that truly jumps out. Long-time goalie Cam Ward finds himself on the outs, as does Eddie Lack, but when the team moved for Scott Darling this fate was very foreseeable. Perhaps management will try to entice Vegas to claim one of the keepers and help their logjam along.

The New York Islanders seem to have botched their efforts today, but there may be machinations behind the scenes which could justify such a bizarre strategy. GM Garth Snow opted to protect only 3 forwards and 5 defensemen – the only team to do so. Even worse, one of the defenseman left unprotected was Calvin de Haan. Assuming there is no deal to take a blueliner in the works, Vegas could choose de Haan or their favorite from a large selection of intriguing forwards. Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson, and Ryan Strome are all available, and each provides a different skillset. McPhee could even take one of the league’s toughest bottom sixers in Casey Cizikas or a crafty, veteran Nikolai Kulemin. He has loads of options, and none of them are any good for an Islanders team who survive off their depth. Why Adam Pelech, with his 12 career points and 46.6% Corsi For in 2016-17, was worth protection over any of those names will surely be one of the draft’s greatest quandaries.

Vegas will get an opportunity to draft their starting two goaltenders from the Metro, and will have a wide assortment of options elsewhere. The Washington situation should be fun to speculate on, and trying to find a worthwhile pick in New Jersey could be an adventure for the Knights. Snow’s Islanders are just an incredible anomaly, and that list may draw some serious criticism.

Expansion Primer: New York Rangers

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We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Until today, the Expansion Draft plan for GM Jeff Gorton and the New York Rangers remained unclear. The time had come and gone to ask overpaid blueliners Marc Staal and Dan Girardi or the underachieving Rick Nash to waive their No-Movement clauses and the team declined. They were also cutting it close should they choose to extend one of their impending free agent forwards and make their expansion decisions easier, with protection lists due on Saturday. New York has one of the deepest groups of forwards in the NHL, even with rookies Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich draft-exempt, yet the team had not taken any steps to protect their core. At least not until this morning…

The Rangers announced two moves earlier today, the first being an extension for impending restricted free agent forward Matt Puempel. With term now on his contract, Puempel meets all the criteria to be one of two mandatory forwards exposed in the Expansion Draft, saving them from otherwise having to expose a core forward. The second announcement was the long-awaited end to the Girardi era, as the stated their plans to buy out the veteran tomorrow, opening up a slot on the blue line for them to protect the underrated Nick Holden.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards
Rick Nash (NMC), Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast, Daniel Catenacci, Matt Puempel, Oscar Lindberg, Nicklas Jensen, Brandon Pirri

Defense
Marc Staal (NMC), Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Klein, Nick Holden, Steven Kampfer, Michael Paliotta, Adam Clendening

Goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Raanta, Mackenzie Skapski

Notable Exemptions

Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich, Cristoval Nieves

Key Decisions

With Rick Nash holding on to his No-Movement clause, the Rangers have just six spots left to protect a large group of impact forwards: Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, and restricted free agent Mika Zibanejad. Despite a unexpected outburst of 40 points in his first season in New York, Grabner is the easy target to point at as not like the rest of the Rangers’ young and mostly homegrown talents. Many Ranger fans wouldn’t have minded holding on to Grabner, at $1.65MM next year, over Nash, who will make $7.8MM again in 2017-18 after recording less than 40 points in three of the past four seasons.

It’s hard to make a case for any of the other six being offered up instead of Grabner. Zuccarello is the oldest of the group, but he’s still only 29 and has led the team in scoring in three of the past four seasons. Zucarello is almost certainly safe. At just 23 years old, Miller has taken a bigger and bigger role for the Blueshirts with each year and is perhaps the franchise’s best building block. He too is a near guarantee. While both Stepan and Kreider have heard whispers of trade rumors in each of the past two seasons, with Stepan’s growing louder in recent days, both are far too good to give up for free and will likely be protected. After trading away Derick Brassard last off-season to acquire Zibanejad, it seems highly unlikely that the team would risk losing him already, even if his first season in New York was marred by injury. Finally, Hayes, who has done nothing but excel in any role the Rangers have given him since signing with the Rangers out of college three years ago, and it would be a major surprise to see them choose Grabner over him.

Thus, it seems Grabner will likely join Puempel as the Rangers’ unprotected forwards and with the decisions in net and on the blue line pretty clear-cut, the Rangers have gone from a confusing expansion scenario about 24 hours ago to one of the easiest teams to project.

Projected Protection List

Scheme: 7F/3D/1G

Forwards

Rick Nash (NMC)
Mats Zuccarello
J.T. Miller
Derek Stepan
Chris Kreider
Mika Zibanejad
Kevin Hayes

Defensemen

Marc Staal (NMC)
Ryan McDonagh
Nick Holden

Goalie

Henrik Lundqvist

The Rangers barely have any decisions to make in regards to their protection on defense and in net. All-world keeper Henrik Lundqvist is obviously safe, leaving skilled backup Antti Raanta as an intriguing target for the Golden Knights. Vegas GM George McPhee has stated that the team could select many promising goalies in the Expansion Draft and guage who to keep and who to trade away after the fact. Raanta could indeed be one of those picks.

On the blue line, the buy out of Dan Girardi will leave one more spot open to join go to the team’s best defender and captain, Ryan McDonagh, and Marc Staal, who was not asked to waive his No-Movement clause. The only real candidate to fill that spot is Nick Holden. Kevin Klein, who is reportedly mulling retirement, meets the 40/70 criteria to fill the one-defenseman exposure quota, but is not a viable target for Vegas. The only other defenseman under contract for the Rangers is journeyman Steven Kampfer, another player who would be a strange selection for the Golden Knights. Restricted free agent Adam Clendening, despite showing signs of upside in 2016-17, has already been informed that he will not receiving a qualifying offer and will become an unrestricted free agent, like several other Rangers blue liners, and again it is unlikely that the Knights will waste picks on UFA’s.  For all intents and purposes, the Girardi buyout ensures that no further changes will be coming to the New York defense in the coming week.

If Vegas passes on Raanta, they will likely instead turn to offense and, more likely than not, Michael Grabner. After his best season since he nearly won the Calder Trophy in 2010-11, Grabner appears to be back at the top of his game and could be hard to pass up for a Vegas team that will have a hard time finding scoring in the Expansion Draft and this summer’s free agency class. The loss of Grabner would be far greater than that of Jesper Fast or Oscar Lindberg or any other possible player, though don’t rule out the possibility that the Knights simply take youth and upside over established skill.

The situation in New York has gained great clarity today and now they face one of the more predictable expansion situations in the NHL. However, that doesn’t mean that they will escape the draft unscathed. A deep, talented team like the Rangers seems destined to take a hit next week.

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