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Team USA Names Fifteen Players To World Championship Squad

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Though some of the names had already been confirmed, USA Hockey has released a full list of the 15 players that have agreed to play in the upcoming World Championships. The team so far is as follows:

Nick Bjugstad (Florida Panthers)
Daniel Brickley (Minnesota State, undrafted)
J.T. Compher (Colorado Avalanche)
Andrew Copp (Winnipeg Jets)
Danny DeKeyser (Detroit Red Wings)
Christian Dvorak (Arizona Coyotes)
Jordan Greenway (Boston University/Minnesota Wild)
Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets)
Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings)
Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
Anders Lee (New York Islanders)
Connor Murphy (Arizona Coyotes)
Brock Nelson (New York Islanders)
Cal Petersen (Notre Dame/Buffalo Sabres)
Jacob Trouba (Winnipeg Jets)

Among the expected NHL names are three college player, Brickley, Greenway and Petersen who are interesting additions to the squad. Greenway, for instance, played in the World Juniors just a few months ago and is still just 20-years old. This shows how much the hockey world believes that he’s ready for the NHL, as he already has the size and strength to compete with fully grown men. Petersen’s inclusion as the third goalie is very interesting, as though he won’t be expected to get much playing time it is an excellent experience for the youngster. A prospect of the Buffalo Sabres, Petersen had another outstanding season for the Fighting Irish and is currently in negotiations with the team to turn pro.

Brickley on the other hand is currently a free agent, though he intends on returning to Minnesota State for his junior season. The undrafted defenseman just finished a point-per-game sophomore year which had him turning heads across the country. If he decides to turn pro after next year, he’ll have teams lined up to bid on his services. A good showing in the World Championships could increase his profile even further.

The Red Wings are well represented, and should be since Jeff Blashill will be the head coach of the team. Jack Capuano, Rand Pecknold and Seth Appert will join him as assistants. Larkin, Howard and DeKeyser should all play important roles on the team. Capuano will obviously be very familiar with the Lee-Nelson duo, though it may be a bit awkward after his firing earlier this season.

Snapshots: Devils, Blackhawks, Red Wings

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • The New Jersey Devils face lineup uncertainties before tomorrow night’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. Andrew Gross of the NJ Record reports that backup goalie Keith Kinkaid may not be ready to dress tomorrow night, and that goaltender Ken Appleby will stay with the team as insurance. Kinkaid suffered a right knee injury in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Appleby—an undrafted free agent—has a 2.44 GAA and a .909 SV%  in 27 games with the AHL Albany Devils this year.
  • Staying with the Devils, Andrew Gross also reports that forward Miles Wood should play in tomorrow’s game despite crashing into the board today in practice. Wood is having a decent rookie season—though he did dress for one game last season—scoring 8G and 7A in 47 games. The Buffalo, NY native was taken in the 4th round of the 2013 NHL draft.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks will sit defensemen Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, but Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus reports that coach Joel Quenneville is resting the pair rather than holding them out for injury concerns. Tonight’s game is the second game of a back-to-back, and the second of three in four nights. As the playoffs get closer, it is common for coaches to rest their veteran players in anticipation of a gruelling post-season. The Blackhawks known better than any other team the value of maintaining fuel for a long playoff run. The team has a reputation for not playing in its highest gear until the playoffs start.
  • Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard returns from a long absence tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. Howard sprained his knee on December 20th against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and then suffered a setback in February on a conditioning stint in the AHL. Howard’s injury came at a grossly unfortunate time as he was posting career-best numbers. In 17 games before his injury Howard had a .934 SV% and a 1.96 GAA. The presumptive backup to start the season, Howard made life difficult for coach Jeff Blashill by outplaying fellow goaltender Petr Mrazek. The Red Wings have to protect one of the two goaltenders, and Howard’s stellar play so far has complicated that decision for management. He will start tonight against Chicago.

Red Wings Notes: Mantha, Howard, Russo

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The Detroit Red Wings are firmly in the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and losers of four straight games. They’ll look to shake things up tonight when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks for the last time in the Joe Louis Arena. Anthony Mantha is being held out of the lineup according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, and he was extremely frustrated when he first heard the news. After a few hours to settle down though, Mantha is taking it as a learning experience.

Last few games, I haven’t really played the game I wanted. Winning a few battles one-on-one and being more intense in general, I think I can do that. That’s the message he’s sending me right now. I need to prove him wrong and be better the next few games.

Mantha has been a nice bright spot for the Red Wings in this otherwise gloomy season, with 33 points in 50 games and showing at times the immense potential that made him a first-round pick. At just 22-years old, he looks like a building block for the rebuilding Red Wings and a core piece of their top-six for the foreseeable future.

  • Jimmy Howard will be back in net for Detroit for the first time since December 20th as he works his way back to full strength. The former all-star netminder was off to the best start of his career before getting injured and needing almost three months to return. Several setbacks and a team struggling to make an impact in the playoff race let the medical staff and Howard be slow and steady with his return, and he’ll now have at least a handful of games to prove he can still compete at this level. The Wings will almost assuredly shop the goaltender around this summer, looking for a taker for him and his nearly $5.3MM cap-hit for the next two seasons.
  • Despite coming into a tough situation, Robbie Russo is showing that he should be in the plans for next year’s NHL team. The 24-year old defender hasn’t looked out of place on the Red Wings’ blueline, and has had good possession numbers through his first two games. Obviously more of a sample is needed to determine his future with the club, but after racking up points in the AHL the last two seasons he looks ready for the next challenge.
  • The fact that the salary cap is in fact increasing next season will be a big one for the Red Wings, who currently only projected to have about $6MM to spend next year. That wouldn’t go very far after raises to Tomas Tatar and Andreas Athanasiou, not even considering their other restricted free agents. If they can move Howard, and perhaps move out Mike Green for a package of picks or prospects, they could be in fine shape this summer.

Atlantic Notes: Filppula, Coreau, DiDomenico

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When Valtteri Filppula’s name started to come up in trade talks between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, he received a phone call from Mike Babcock. That’s what Chris Johnston of Sportsnet writes in his newest article, detailing everything that went on behind the scenes on deadline day surrounding Filppula. He ended up talking with Babcock for a while, before ultimately choosing not to waive his no-trade clause. It was “nothing against Toronto” as the veteran center turned down the chance to go play for his former coach; the two spent years together in Detroit, even winning the Stanley Cup in 2008.

Filppula ended up going to Philadelphia, for whom he will suit up against the Maple Leafs tonight. He just wanted to stick with the list he’d created before the season, and as Johnston notes, likely saw the treatment of other veteran players since heading to Toronto. Brooks Laich, Colin Greening and Milan Michalek have all been buried in the minors this season, with Eric Fehr not getting into a game since coming over from Pittsburgh.

  • The Detroit Red Wings have sent Jared Coreau back down to the AHL after activating Jimmy Howard yesterday. The young netminder was shelled last night against Boston, playing just 13:32 of the game before getting the hook. In 14 games for the Red Wings this season, Coreau has just an .887 save percentage. He does however have two shutouts during his time in the NHL, and will look to build off that next season should Howard be moved this summer.
  • Chris DiDomenico will make his NHL debut tonight for the Ottawa Senators after signing just over a week ago. The 28-year old forward that has dominated the Swiss leagues for the past few years is ready to make his mark on North American ice. A former sixth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he hasn’t played on this continent since 2012. The Senators had gone with seven defensemen last night, but with Mark Borowiecki injured, they’ll insert DiDomenico in his place.

Jimmy Howard Recalled From Conditioning Stint

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The Detroit Red Wings today announced the recall of Jimmy Howard from his latest conditioning stint with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Howard had been sent down on March 4th and played two games for the AHL squad, allowing just two goals on 54 shots including a shutout of the San Antonio Rampage last night. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that Jared Coreau, up in Howard’s absence will return to the AHL on Thursday or Friday.

Howard hasn’t played in an NHL contest since December 20th thanks to several setbacks during his rehab of a lower-body injury. Before the injury, the 32-year old netminder was off to the best start of his career, carrying a .934 save percentage through his first 17 games of the season. Despite seemingly losing the number one job to Petr Mrazek last season, Howard looked re-energized and ready to prove he could still be a starter in the NHL. Now he’ll have another handful of games to prove it again.

The goaltender’s $5.29MM cap-hit is a tough price to pay for the Red Wings as they turn to Mrazek in the crease, meaning Howard will likely be available again this summer. Whether any team wants to take on that much is still unknown, though once the season is over the Red Wings could retain part of his salary going forward. Despite being last in the Eastern conference, Detroit is actually in quite a tight cap situation as they head into next season. With Tomas Tatar and Andreas Athanasiou both needing substantial raises, they will have almost no room to add anything to help the squad.

While the cap is set to go up slightly for next season, Detroit is a long way from being a contender with their current roster and will likely have to re-think how they’ve built their forward group. While they sold off any expiring assets at the deadline this year, it wasn’t really enough to hit a full reset button. Showcasing Howard for a possible trade in the offseason would be a big part of starting their rebuild.

Red Wings Assign Jimmy Howard On Conditioning Stint

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The Detroit Red Wings have assigned goaltender Jimmy Howard to their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids for a conditioning stint, the team announced on Saturday.

It’s been a tough stretch for Howard, who hasn’t played in the NHL since December 20, 2016. He left that game midway after a pileup in his crease. Howard missed several weeks before returning. He appeared in two conditioning games with Grand Rapids, but was injured in the second game and has been out since. He’s eligible to spend two weeks with the Griffins.

Detroit could definitely use Howard back in their lineup. He leads the NHL with a 0.934 SV% and is second with a 1.96 GAA. It’s been a bounce-back year for Howard; this is the first time his numbers have been above league average since 2012-13. That season earned him his current contract, which pays him $5.29MM for two more seasons.

Howard subsequently lost the starters job to Petr Mrazek until this season. Mrazek has struggled with a 0.903 SV% and 2.95 GAA in 39 games. Third-stringer Jared Coreau hasn’t been great either, playing in 13 games with an 0.893 SV% and 3.27 GAA.

The playoffs are out of reach for the Red Wings, but Howard’s return to form could inspire the Vegas Golden Knights to select him in the expansion draft, clearing valuable cap space for the Red Wings to rebuild with. Despite his poor numbers this season, Mrazek is just 24-years-old compared to Howard, who’s 32. Detroit would likely prefer to keep Mrazek and hope he returns to his prior form.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Glass, Nestrasil

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The Arizona Coyotes are in a fight in the standings of their own. Even though the players aren’t giving up, they front office is likely desperately hoping they finish in the bottom two once again and get the chance to select a top prospect. They got some bad (or good, I’m unsure at this point) news today when Dave Vest of NHL.com reported that Kevin Connauton should be considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered last night.

  • Vest also passed along a few choice quotes from Dave Tippett on the future of Anthony Duclair, who will get back into the NHL lineup tonight. “We want him to play to his potential. He set a standard for his play last year that he has to get back to,” said Tippett who is not alone in hoping Duclair gets back to his 2015-16 form. Coyotes fans everywhere were hoping to see more of the 20-goal man that was around last season, instead of the 9-point Duclair they’ve seen this year. Despite being rumored in trades all year, the Coyotes will hang onto the former New York Ranger for at least the rest of the season, hoping he can regain his form. Expect his name to be thrown around plenty at the expansion and entry drafts.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have recalled recently signed goaltender Jeff Glass from the Rockford IceHogs today, and will be the backup tonight against the New York Islanders. Both Corey Crawford and Scott Darling took part in practice today and seemed fine, though apparently Darling will be held out with an upper-body injury of some sort.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have some goalie news of their own, as Ansar Khan of MLive reports that Jimmy Howard will be loaned to Grand Rapids Griffins on a conditioning stint and will start Saturday for the AHL squad. The netminder is trying to work his way back from an injury that has kept him out of NHL action since late December due to multiple setbacks.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned forward Andrej Nestrasil to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL today, after using him in Wednesday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 26-year old forward has played 19 games for the Hurricanes this year, registering five points.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers may have Travis Konecny back sooner than expected, as Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post reports. Konecny says he’s ready to go and that he’s hoping to get back into the lineup on Saturday against the Washington Capitals. Out since February 6th, the 19-year old Konecny has been a revelation for the Flyers this season with 22 points in a 51 games. In any normal year, that would be extremely impressive from a teenager in the NHL.

Minor Transactions: 02/22/17

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It’s not just trades that are completed in the days prior to the deadline, but a lot of roster movement to get team’s ready for the big day. We’ll have all the day’s minor transactions right here, so keep checking back.

  • The Detroit Red Wings have sent Jared Coreau to the minors on a conditioning stint, likely meaning Jimmy Howard is ready to rejoin the team from his latest setback. Coreau has gotten into 13 games for the Red Wings this season, recording an .893 save percentage and 3.27 goals against average. The 25-year old will return to the minors where he has played exceptionally well, with three straight seasons of a save percentage .922 or above.
  • After falling the the Maple Leafs in overtime last night, the Winnipeg Jets have sent Julian Melchiori and Brandon Tanev to the AHL. The Jets start their bye-week today, and with it the usual roster movement so that young players can continue their development. Expect both to be back with the NHL squad in a few days.
  • The New York Islanders have moved Shane Prince to injured reserve, retroactive to February 12th and called up Bracken Kearns on an emergency basis. Kearns is an AHL veteran who has 40 points this season. The 35-year old will likely take a spot of Cal Clutterbuck who exited last night’s game.
  • According to Arthur Staple of Newsday the Islanders have also signed Connor Jones to a two-way deal for the rest of this year. He was on an AHL deal, but this will allow him to be called up if they need him down the stretch.  The deal will pay him the league minimum $575K in the NHL and $75K at the minor league level, per CapFriendly.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have brought up winger Nic Kerdiles from the AHL. He’s spent time with the Ducks before, but has never gotten into an NHL game. Drafted in the second round in 2012, he hasn’t developed into quite the player the Ducks had hoped for and has struggled with a concussion this season. At 23, we’ll see if he makes his debut before the Ducks hit their bye week on Sunday.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have sent Marek Langhamer back to the AHL after just a few days with the NHL club. Louis Domingue is travelling with the club and looks ready to get back into some games for the Coyotes. Langhamer came on in relief of Mike Smith on Monday after the all-star goaltender took a hit to the head and had to leave to go through the concussion protocol.
  • After scoring two goals this morning (yes, morning) against the Toronto Marlies, Cory Conacher is on his way to the NHL. The diminutive forward has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning as insurance for Jonathan Drouin, who was absent from today’s practice. Though it was called a “maintenance day” for Drouin, you can never be too careful. Conacher is an established minor league scorer, and actually has 60 points in the NHL but has never found much consistency at the higher level.

Snapshots: Vegas, Howard, Flyers

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As the March 1st trade deadline approaches, so does the start of the Vegas Golden Knights capacity to make deals around the league. While he won’t be able to make any moves for active players, he can start shaping the future of the Golden Knights in just over a week. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune caught up with Vegas GM George McPhee and talked to him about the kind of team he’d like to build.

I’ve built high-flying teams in the past, offensive, entertaining teams and would like to do the same thing. What we do with the expansion draft hasn’t been settled yet because until we see the entire universe of what teams want to do, who they want to protect and expose, we don’t know which way we’re going to go.

Indeed, McPhee did build the high-flying Washington Capitals that featured some of the highest goal totals in recent memory. If he constructs the Vegas team the same way, it will be fun to watch at the very least as it likely struggles through its first few seasons. If McPhee wants speed, perhaps a certain Colorado Avalanche centerman who is on the block would be of interest this summer.

  • Jimmy Howard, out since before Christmas with a sprained MCL was seen taking shots today before practice by Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. Howard—who turns 33 on March 26th—carries a hefty cap hit and two more years on his contract. While the Red Wings would love to move him for some cap relief, he’ll have to get back onto the ice and prove the start of his season wasn’t a fluke.
  • Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tells us that Hall of Fame winger and current Kings’ President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille has taken over as chairman of the board for Eisbären Berlin, a German hockey team that plays in the DEL. While under Robitaille’s leadership, the Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin back in 2011 when the NHL was testing out different markets with regular season games.
  • Sam Cardichi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the Flyers and their quickly sinking ship going into the deadline. After benching Andrew MacDonald in a Sunday night win over the Vancouver Canucks, the team is looking to get Michael Del Zotto more ice-time and are still considering their options for the trade deadline. Cardichi includes he thinks the team will be in sell mode come March 1st.

Red Wings Notes: Vanek, Larkin, Mantha, Holland, Howard

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The Red Wings have had a few discussions with Thomas Vanek’s agent Steve Bartlett regarding a possible contract extension, reports ESPN’s Craig Custance (Insider required).  However, it will take a no-move clause for Vanek to consider signing prior to the trade deadline.

The reason for that is the upcoming expansion draft.  Bartlett wants to avoid a scenario where he signs now and then is left unprotected in that draft, creating the risk that he could wind up with the Golden Knights; a full no-move clause would alleviate that but also force Detroit to leave another forward exposed.  From the Red Wings perspective, that may not be the best move especially considering they appear to be heading towards selling at the deadline.  With that in mind, Custance argues that GM Ken Holland would be wise to move Vanek now even though he has expressed a willingness to remain with the Wings beyond this season.

[Related: Vanek’s trade candidate profile]

Other news and notes from Detroit:

  • Skating is an area of focus for a pair of young players but for entirely different reasons, writes Dana Wakiji of the Wings’ team site. Head coach Jeff Blashill noted that they’ve been working with center Dylan Larkin to stop more often instead of just playing with speed at all times.  While Larkin’s speed was a major weapon early on last season, he has been guilty of trying to play too quickly at times this year which have contributed to some struggles.  On the flip side, Blashill noted that they’re working with winger Anthony Mantha to skate more frequently instead of stopping and watching or slowing the play down.
  • In a reader mailbag, MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that Holland is likely to retain his job beyond this season. With the team set to miss the playoffs for the first time in a quarter-century, some have wondered if the timing would be right to turn the team over for someone else to build; Holland has held the GM title since 1997.  Khan also doesn’t expect a decision to be made regarding Blashill’s future and the rest of Detroit’s coaching staff until after the season.
  • Goalie Jimmy Howard was on the ice today but won’t be available to play before the Wings hit their bye week on February 22nd, reports George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Howard suffered a setback earlier this week as he continues to recover from a sprained MCL.  It’s expected that Howard will return to Grand Rapids of the AHL during the bye week with the hope that he’ll be able to get into another game down there.

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