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Injury Updates: Makar, Dubois, Thornton, Backlund

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While Colorado is back in action today for the first time in 12 days, they’re doing so without the services of their top offensive threat from the back end as Cale Makar is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters, including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, that he’s not quite sure how the injury happened.  Makar participated in three practices with the Avalanche this week as they worked their way up to today’s game but Bednar allowed for the possibility that the injury occurred away from the rink as well.  Makar is averaging just over a point per game this season and was on a five-game point streak before their schedule was paused and he will have to wait a little while longer to try to extend it.

More injury news from around the league:

  • The Jets aren’t expected to have center Pierre-Luc Dubois in the lineup on Monday against Edmonton, reports Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link). He missed Saturday’s contest versus Ottawa due to a lower-body injury and it appears it will cost him a second game as well.  Head coach Paul Maurice indicated that Dubois will travel with the team which suggests they expect him back at some point on this four-game road trip.
  • The Maple Leafs are expected to welcome back Joe Thornton for their opener against Ottawa on Monday, relays Postmedia’s Lance Hornby. The 41-year-old suffered a fractured rib in Toronto’s fifth game of the season and was immediately placed on LTIR.  Assuming he is able to play tomorrow, he’ll wind up missing just the minimum amount of time.  Thornton has a goal and an assist so far this season which has mostly been spent on the left wing of their top line after playing down the middle for the last two decades.
  • While Flames center Mikael Backlund left Saturday’s game against Vancouver early with a lower-body injury, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be out for long. Head coach Geoff Ward told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link), that Backlund is already feeling better today and will be re-evaluated on Monday.  Calgary is back in action for the fourth and final game of this stint versus Vancouver on Monday night.

Injury Notes: Mrazek, Letang, Thornton

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The Carolina Hurricanes are going to be without starting goaltender Petr Mrazek for longer than initially thought. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour said today that the injury suffered against the Dallas Stars on Saturday is “more serious” than they originally believed and Mrazek may even require surgery. That’s terrible news for a goaltender who was leading the league with a .955 save percentage and 0.99 goals-against average through his first four appearances. Mrazek had already recorded two shutouts on the year and looked to be playing at an entirely different level in the early going.

For the Hurricanes, it means James Reimer will take most of the load, while minor league netminder Alex Nedeljkovic will get a chance to serve as the primary backup. The 25-year-old Nedeljkovic was placed on waivers earlier this season but the Hurricanes managed to hold onto him. He has just six appearances at the NHL level but won the AHL Goaltender of the Year award in 2019, leading the Charlotte Checkers to a Calder Cup.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t have Kris Letang in the lineup tonight as the star defenseman continues to be evaluated for an injury he suffered on Saturday night. The Penguins have lost almost all of their defensive depth to injury this season, but at least one silver lining continues to grow. Pierre-Olivier Joseph has been a shining light for the team in the early going and logged nearly 26 minutes against the New York Rangers on Saturday in just his fifth NHL game. He’ll be asked to carry a heavy load if Letang is out long-term, given the lack of offensive upside many of the other options possess.
  • Joe Thornton and Nicholas Robertson were both on the ice for the Toronto Maple Leafs today as they continue to work their way back from injury. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN that nothing has changed in the recovery timelines originally given, which were a minimum of four weeks. The Maple Leafs have a few days off before resuming the grind of the condensed season on Thursday in the first of three straight games against the Vancouver Canucks.

Joe Thornton Out With Fractured Rib

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2:00pm: Thornton has been moved to long-term injured reserve, meaning he must miss at least ten games and 24 days. It will give the Maple Leafs some added cap flexibility in his absence but certainly won’t excite many fans that were holding out hope for a quick comeback.

9:45am: The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without the services of Joe Thornton for at least the next month, as head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN this morning that the veteran forward suffered a fractured rib in Wednesday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. For at least one game, Toronto will actually be missing two-thirds of their top line as Auston Matthews is also listed as day-to-day with upper-body soreness and will not play tonight. Pierre Engvall, Alexander Barabanov, and Adam Brooks will be inserted into the lineup.

The Maple Leafs’ forward depth has already been an issue this season, with Thornton, Barabanov, Jimmy Vesey, Wayne Simmonds, Ilya Mikheyev, Jason Spezza, and Nick Robertson combining for just two goals and five points through the first five games. That’s a total of 27 games played from the depth forwards without much to show for it, as Toronto has relied heavily on their top guns to carry the offensive load. Now with Matthews—who was averaging more than 23 minutes a game through the early part of the season—out, the team will need someone else to step up and put the puck in the net.

For Thornton, missing a month in a condensed season is much more concerning. The 41-year-old legend could miss a quarter of the 56-game schedule, meaning his spot on the top line will have to be filled with someone else as he works to get back into the lineup. It’s hard to know how long he’ll take to get back up to speed and whether he’ll be able to contribute at the level he is used to.

Snapshots: Ullmark, Tryamkin, Thornton

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The Buffalo Sabres have been taking the ice without Linus Ullmark for the last two games and this morning the goaltender explained why. After Monday’s morning skate, Ullmark received news that his father had passed away in Sweden. Carter Hutton took the net that evening, but captain Jack Eichel awarded Ullmark with the game puck after a 6-1 victory. He expressed his gratitude towards the whole organization for how they’ve come to his support in the days since.

Ullmark plans on traveling with the team to Washington and could be available for Friday’s game against the Capitals. Hutton meanwhile will not be on the trip as he deals with an injury and is listed as day-to-day.

  • The Vancouver Canucks have a very interesting relationship with Russian defenseman Nikita Tryamkin, who is still playing in the KHL despite a long negotiation last year. The 26-year-old defender is still technically a restricted free agent and can only sign with the Canucks if he chooses to return to the NHL. Now, Rick Dhaliwal of TSN gives an update on the situation and spoke with Yekaterinburg executive Maxim Ryabkov, who expressed how much Tryamkin has improved in the last year, even calling him “one of the best defensemen in the KHL.” The 6’7″ behemoth pairs incredible size with excellent skating ability to shut down rushes and move the puck quickly. If he is not signed this offseason, Tryamkin can actually become an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs had the blender out at practice today following a loss to the Edmonton Oilers that included Joe Thornton’s early exit with an injury. Thornton will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury but is expected to miss some time. Interestingly, Auston Matthews also left practice just before it began, though all head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including Kristen Shilton of TSN that the star center “wasn’t feeling great.” Adam Brooks, Pierre Engvall, and Alexander Barabanov were all skating with the main group as the Maple Leafs try to figure out their lines moving forward.

Snapshots: Stuetzle, Thornton, Duclair, Spurgeon

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The Ottawa Senators have already been in camp for several days already, but the team will get another big name player into camp soon as 2020 first-round pick Tim Stuetzle arrived in Ottawa Saturday night. The 18-year-old is coming off an impressive performance at the World Junior Championship after he led Team Germany to one of the countries best finishes ever. After a seven-day quarantine, he will join his team and is likely to start his NHL career, according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch.

“I hope I’m going to play in the NHL this season, that’s 100% my goal and I will work very hard for that,” Stuetzle told reporters in Edmonton following Germany’s elimination in the quarterfinals.

Stuetzle finished the World Juniors with five goals and 10 points in five games. The third-overall pick, who signed his entry-level deal last week, is likely going to play wing for the Senators this season.

Joe Thornton Returning To Toronto

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Veteran forward Joe Thornton won’t get to spend the holiday season in Switzerland after all. The 41-year-old has been recalled by the Toronto Maple Leafs and is on his way back to North America to begin his pre-training camp quarantine.

Thornton was signed to a one-year, $700K contract with the Maple Leafs this offseason but had been playing in Switzerland for HC Davos, where his family usually spends the summer. In 12 games for the club, he scored 11 points, a short return for one of the most legendary players in Davos history (despite his relatively low games played totals). Thornton had previously spent the 2004-05 lockout with Davos and had returned for the first half of 2012-13 when the NHL was on hold once again.

The former San Jose Sharks captain will start a new chapter of his hockey career in Toronto, the club that his father cheered for and one just a few hours up the road from his St. Thomas childhood home. While some may snicker at the idea that Thornton would chase a Stanley Cup in Toronto—a team that hasn’t won in more than 50 years—there’s no doubting the team is loaded with talent. Whether the addition of a grizzled veteran will take them over the top is still to be determined, though detractors will point out that Thornton himself has never sipped from the Cup.

Another thing that isn’t quite so certain yet is whether Thornton even has any game left. His point totals dropped off a cliff last season for the Sharks and though he has told the media he feels refreshed after the long break, 41 is 41.

Pacific Notes: Fischer, Sharks, Bowey

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With the deadline for players to accept their qualifying offers having passed earlier today, Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan reports that the Coyotes are still working on a deal for restricted free agent forward Christian Fischer, even though there is no word on whether they requested an extension from the league. The forward does not have arbitration rights.

Fischer struggled significantly last season, seeing his playing time reduced by more than two minutes, going from 13:10 ATOI to 11:01 this season) and scored just six goals and nine points in 56 games. The 23-year-old just wrapped up his entry-level deal where he made $1.08MM.

  • The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that the loss of center Joe Thornton will have a significant effect on the team. While his offense should be able to be replaced, the bigger effect is how the team will fare without his presence in the locker room, where the veterans had quite an effect over the years. Now with Thornton and Joe Pavelski gone, much of the leadership will fall on the shoulders of second-year captain Logan Couture, who will tough shoes to fill in the Sharks’ locker room. “You have to have a whole leadership group,” general manager Doug Wilson said. “It’s on a whole group of players, it’s not a one-person leadership mentality. … Yes, you’ve got some of the veterans that certainly know it’s their responsibility, but some of the younger guys, too — Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc. It’s their time. They need to step up to the next level. We have to be the sum of all our parts.”
  • With Matt Benning gone and prospects Evan Bouchard and Philip Broberg still developing, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins writes that one player that the Oilers may consider adding is former Detroit Red Wings blueliner Madison Bowey. The Red Wings opted not to give the 25-year-old a qualifying offer, making him a free-agent. However, Oilers general manager Ken Holland is familiar with Bowey, who he traded for back when he was with the Red Wings and it could be a good fit. The 6-foot-2 blueliner averaged 17:54 last season in 53 games with Detroit, posting three goals and 17 points.

Joe Thornton Signs With Toronto Maple Leafs

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Joe Thornton to a one-year contract worth the league minimum of $700K. The deal does not include any performance bonuses but Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic does confirm that it includes a no-movement clause.

It’s been a long courtship of Thornton in Toronto. The team made a real pitch to bring him to the Maple Leafs back in 2017 alongside former teammate Patrick Marleau, but the San Jose Sharks legend returned to California instead. Three years later and the team has landed their man, though he certainly won’t be a centerpiece of the roster this time around.

Now 41, there’s no question that Thornton isn’t the player that won the Hart Trophy in 2006 or even the one that scored 51 points in 2018-19. He had just seven goals and 31 points last season for the Sharks, his lowest total since a 1997-98 rookie campaign. But Toronto isn’t bringing in Thornton to be the focus of the offense, but a veteran leader to add another voice in the dressing room and a little more responsibility on the bench.

If there is anyone who can understand the pain of failing playoff expectations, it’s Thornton. After 1,636 regular season games and 179 more playoff contests, the future Hall of Famer forward has still not sipped from Lord Stanley’s Cup. Ninth all-time in games played, seventh in assists, and 14th in points, Thornton will be joining only the third NHL team of his long career.

Currently playing in Switzerland for the club team in his offseason home, Thornton’s fit in Toronto isn’t even exactly clear at this point. The team already re-signed Jason Spezza to serve on the fourth line and brought in names like Wayne Simmonds, Jimmy Vesey and Travis Boyd to battle for spots in the bottom-six. If Thornton is to be penciled into that group, it seems likely that there could be another body—perhaps Pierre Engvall, who is still waiver-exempt—headed back to the minor leagues.

The Maple Leafs also still need to sign arbitration-eligible Ilya Mikheyev, who has a hearing later this month, as well as restricted free agent defenseman, Travis Dermott. All that without any actual cap space, though every time they add a $700K forward they can theoretically add some cap space by sending someone else down or trading them to another team.

There’s likely still more maneuvering for GM Kyle Dubas, but the Maple Leafs have landed one of their targets. Whether that target has any game left is still to be seen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Joe Thornton Joins HC Davos

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While he prepares for the 2020-21 NHL season, Joe Thornton will be playing at home. His home in Switzerland that is, where he is spending the offseason with his family. Thornton will suit up for HC Davos in the Swiss NLA for the time being, even as rumors swirl about his future in North America.

Thornton has twice played for the European club in the past. In 2004-05 he spent the entire season there while the NHL was locked out, meeting his future wife and leading Davos to the league title. Thornton was awarded the NLA MVP that season and even led the Swiss club team to a Spengler Cup title, actually over Team Canada who he normally suited up for internationally. He has spoken fondly of that season in Switzerland, where he lined up with Rick Nash and Niklas Hagman to dominate the league.

Then, in 2012-13 when the league was dealing with another partial lockout, Thornton returned to Davos and once again was a dominant presence in the NLA. Nash would join him again for a time, though the club was unable to secure the league title thanks to the NHL resuming play partway through the season.

Now, with everyone talking about whether Thornton will return to the San Jose Sharks or try out a new home with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he’ll get back on the ice to prepare.

Joe Thornton Linked To Toronto Maple Leafs

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Oct 14: Not that Johnston and Mirtle needed backup, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have both now reported interest between the Maple Leafs and Thornton. Friedman notes that several core players for Toronto have pitched the veteran forward, while LeBrun tweets that both head coach Sheldon Keefe and GM Kyle Dubas have spoken with him.

Oct 13: Once again, smoke is building around Joe Thornton and the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the veteran forward was linked to the team in the 2017 offseason (when teammate Patrick Marleau signed a three-year deal with Toronto), there has been a lingering notion that he could consider a return to Ontario at some point.

On a recent Steve Dangle Podcast, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston implied that the two sides have had mutual interest, and now James Mirtle of The Athletic has written something similar:

These talks are in the beginning stages. It sounds like there’s some mutual interest. The Leafs, as they did during free agency in 2017, have let Thornton know he’s wanted. And Thornton is listening, from his offseason home in Switzerland, where he’s been training with a top-league club.

For a while, there has been a belief that Thornton would take his time with any decision on his NHL future. The 2020-21 season is still completely shrouded in uncertainty, with no concrete date for the start of training camp or the regular season. But if the 41-year-old center does want to come back, it’s no longer a slam dunk that he will be returning to the San Jose Sharks.

While the Sharks did just bring back Marleau to chase Gordie Howe’s games played record and are obviously still a contender should Thornton return, the situation feels different this summer. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic tweeted as much earlier this month, saying that though it felt inevitable that Thornton would return to the Sharks when he became a free agent in 2019, he has “gotten no indications that he’s a sure thing to return” this time around.

The Maple Leafs have already made sweeping changes to their bottom-six forward group for next season, moving out Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Frederik Gauthier while bringing in Wayne Simmonds, Jimmy Vesey, Joey Anderson, and Travis Boyd. They currently still have Alexander Kerfoot penciled into the third-line center role, but the team is barely under the cap and could need to make additional moves if they are looking at any other free agent upgrades.

Thornton, meanwhile, is coming off his worst season in two decades. The Sharks legend scored just seven goals and 31 points in 2019-20, his lowest total since that 1997-98 rookie campaign. He was frustrated when the Sharks didn’t move him to a contender at the deadline, telling reporters that “it would have been nice to at least have a chance” at the Stanley Cup, a prize that has eluded him over a 22-year career.

Mirtle and Johnston both were clear to point out that things are very preliminary between the Maple Leafs and Thornton, to the point where it may be just an expressed interest, not even negotiations. But the two sides have certainly flirted before.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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