Morning Notes: Krueger, Bernier, Coyotes
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet woke the hockey world up this morning with some news on the Vancouver Canucks head coaching vacancy. When he reached out to Ralph Krueger about the rumored interest, the former Edmonton Oilers head coach replied “I have had some interesting chats these past weeks, but my focus remains fully on the Saints for now.” The Saints of course is referring to the Southampton Football Club with which Krueger holds the chairman role and has since his 2014 exit from hockey.
Krueger of course coached the European team at this fall’s World Cup of Hockey, ushering them all the way to the final game against Team Canada. Kruger held the Edmonton job for just one season before being dismissed, but many around the hockey world believe he could easily step behind an NHL bench once again. His players at the World Cup praised him tremendously, and there have been rumors since his exit that he would eventually make his return to the sport.
- It wasn’t just an overtime winner that thrilled Maple Leafs fans last night, but a goalie switch for the Anaheim Ducks. Jonathan Bernier came on in relief of John Gibson last night, and helped the Ducks claw their way back from a 4-1 deficit. While it’s not clear if that would ever warrant a start from the former Leaf, their fan base would clearly welcome it. The Maple Leafs would receive a draft pick if the Ducks made it to the Finals with Bernier starting more than half the games; a second-rounder if they were to win it all, and a third should they lose in the final series. Gibson allowed four goals on 16 shots, but will likely get back in the net with the Ducks up 3-0 in the series.
- The Arizona Coyotes are hoping the Minnesota Wild can claw back from their own 3-0 deficit to the St. Louis Blues. When the Coyotes traded Martin Hanzal to Minnesota at the deadline, they agreed to a condition that would see them receive a draft pick based on how many series the Wild win in the playoffs. Should the Wild be eliminated by the Blues, Arizona will get a 2019 fourth-rounder, but if they somehow climb back it could move all the way to the second round with two series victories.
Morning Notes: Flames Burn Out, Toronto’s Unlikely Hero, Looking Ahead
Saturday April 15th was a riveting evening of hockey for any fan of the sport. The Blackhawks were dominated 5-0 by the Predators in Game 2, but the other three games were all nail-biters. The Flames looked to take the lead after climbing out of a 2 goal deficit in the 2nd period, but the call on the ice of goalie interference against John Gibson kept the game tied. The Ducks would go on to get a bizarre ricochet goal from the stick of Ryan Getzlaf with just 4:46 remaining in regulation to secure an ugly win, and go up 2-0 in the series.
- The Leafs’ Kasperi Kapanen has not been in the spotlight – the likes of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Auston Matthews have been so phenomenal that he is easily forgotten in the mix. The promising young crafty forward was the centerpiece of the Phil Kessel deal, which until now, had undoubtedly looked to favor the Penguins. Serving 4th-line duty, the forward had only scored one goal in his 8 games up with big squad this season. In the second overtime of Saturday’s Game 2 versus the Capitals, the forward crept in to the back post as Brian Boyle used his lanky frame to fool the netminder into sealing the near post in anticipation. The result was a gorgeous finish to a game where an unlikely hero was desperately needed. If the forward can build on this huge goal, perhaps he can become an X-factor in a series where they are the underdogs. He seems to be confident in the team’s chances.
- The Senators would not go down quietly. Down 2 goals through 40 minutes, the squad rallied to tie the game with tallies from Chris Wideman and Derick Brassard. As mentioned in an earlier post, Chara’s late regulation delay-of-game penalty proved quite costly, as the Senators capitalized on the powerplay’s momentum and ended the overtime quickly. Dion Phaneuf hammered one home after the team had hit two posts previously in quick succession. The series has been incredibly tight, but surely Bruins fans will lament the lost opportunity, especially in light of their badly bruised defensive squad.
- Four games will take place this Sunday. The Wild will try to avoid going down 3-0 in hostile territory, the Blue Jackets will hope to dodge a similar fate with cannons firing, and the Sharks and Rangers look to go up at home after splitting the first two on the road.
Anaheim Ducks Re-Assign Jhonas Enroth To San Diego
In what is one of the best things an Anaheim Ducks fan can hear—though not because of anything he has done wrong—Jhonas Enroth has been sent back to the AHL. The goaltender didn’t play, but has been with the team for two weeks as John Gibson rehabbed from his latest lower-body injury. The move signals that Gibson is at least healthy enough to backup Jonathan Bernier, giving the Ducks two capable goaltenders.
Since Gibson’s original injury in late February, Bernier has gone 10-2-1 with a .937 save percentage and created somewhat of a goalie controversy where there had previously been none. With Randy Carlyle’s familiarity with Bernier from their time in Toronto coupled with Gibson’s expected rust after being out for so long, it wouldn’t be unfathomable for the team to go with Bernier to start the playoffs (Maple Leafs fans rejoice, as that is good news for you).
Either way, the demotion of Enroth is good for the Ducks who have recently taken over first place in the Pacific Division and are trying to lock up home ice advantage for the majority of the playoffs. If they can finish first in their division, they’ll still likely have to go through a Pacific rival in the first round, meaning they’ll need all the healthy bodies they can get.
For Enroth, he’ll return to San Diego where he has been spectacular this season, putting up a .944 save percentage since being acquired from the Maple Leafs earlier this year. The Gulls have already locked up a playoff spot and are a real threat for the Calder Cup now that they have their best goaltender back.
Injury Notes: Ferland, Stone, Leivo, Rust
Calgary Flames winger Micheal Ferland has rejoined his teammates in Nashville today after being quarantined for almost a week. The 24-year old had showed signs of the mumps outbreak that had swept through the NHL briefly, but is now symptom free. He’ll be back in on the top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan tonight, according to Kristen Odland of Postmedia.
Here are some other injury notes from around the league:
- Josh Leivo will take the spot of the injured Eric Fehr in tonight’s Maple Leafs lineup according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. With Nikita Soshnikov still on the mend following a big hit from Zdeno Chara, Leivo will look to get back to his scoring ways tonight. The young winger had nine points in a ten game stretch last month when Mitch Marner was dealing with an injury, and has considerable offensive upside. He’ll slot in on the fourth line tonight beside Brian Boyle and Matt Martin.
- Despite skating with the team in a regular jersey this morning, Cedric Paquette will not return to the lineup for Tampa Bay according to Caley Chelios of FOX Sports. The Lightning center will remain out alongside Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson for the time being.
- On Stamkos, he was seen skating again before practice, but admitted to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times that “time is running out” for him to return this season. Stamkos has been skating for weeks as he tries to come back from a meniscus tear in his right knee. The Lightning are currently sitting five points back with ten games to play.
- Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone was back skating this morning, though he won’t play tonight. Stone was out early and stayed late at practice as he works hard to get back into the Senators lineup. The team can smell first place in the Atlantic Division, and getting Stone—arguably their best forward—back before the end of the season could help them wrestle the crown away from the Montreal Canadiens. With a matchup against the fourth Metropolitan team looming in the first round, whether they should really want it is a different story.
- Penguins’ forward Bryan Rust is almost back in the lineup reports Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review after taking part in just about everything at today’s Pittsburgh practice. Though he won’t play tonight, the 24-year old forward will likely be back in a game before the end of the week; the Penguins take on Ottawa tonight, New York (Islanders) tomorrow and Philadelphia on Sunday.
- Three goaltenders were at practice today for the Anaheim Ducks, including John Gibson as he continues to rehab his latest injury. Head coach Randy Carlyle said today that Gibson will definitely play before the end of the regular season, though that still leaves the question of whether he’ll be tested enough to start game one of the playoffs. We’ll see how many games the young netminder gets in before Anaheim has to take on a team like the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames in the first round.
Jonathan Bernier’s Success Could End Up Costing The Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks made a decision in the off-season to trade Frederik Andersen to the Maple Leafs and install John Gibson as the full-time starter. The young netminder had shown an extremely high ceiling in 2015-16, when he finished the year with a .920 save percentage and split the William Jennings trophy with Andersen. The Ducks were hitching their wagons to Gibson, but wanted someone a little more established behind him just in case. They decided to take back Jonathan Bernier from the Leafs, even at a substantial cap-hit so that they would have a backup capable of playing 25-30 games and helping them into the playoffs. 
Bernier was never expected to wrestle the starting job away, but when the young Gibson went down with an injury in late February he was forced into the number 1 role and has flourished ever since. With Gibson returning for one game this month only to re-aggravate his injury, the Ducks will use Bernier down the stretch to get them into the playoffs. Since Gibson went down on February 20th, Bernier has posted a .943 save percentage and is looking like a realistic choice to start the playoffs if his partner isn’t fully healed. Gibson for his part hasn’t returned to practice, though Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports that he has skated on his own.
With ten games left in the Ducks’ season before another playoff appearance, some doubt may now be entering the mind of head coach Randy Carlyle on who will be his starting goaltender in the postseason. Should Gibson miss most of the remaining few weeks, it would be hard to reinsert him into the net for the first round. That is where we (finally) get to the headline and the potential for a lost asset for the Ducks.
When they took Bernier from the Maple Leafs, it was for a draft pick with conditions that seemed so unlikely to trigger that they didn’t look like they would have to send anything to Toronto at all. Those conditions are based on Bernier playing in at least 50% of the Ducks playoff games, and the team getting to the Stanley Cup Final; they’ll give up a second-round pick should they win it all, while surrendering a third-rounder if they fall in the final series. With Gibson ready to take over that seemed like a far fetched condition and one that Bernier showed little capability of fulfilling during his final season in Toronto. But now, as he looks like the goaltender everyone thought he would become in Los Angeles, it doesn’t seem as insane as it once did.
After all, he doesn’t necessarily need to get them the entire way. He could play just the first two rounds before Gibson returns, and still qualify for the condition. Sure, some may say it’s worth it if the Ducks are going to go to the Finals anyway, but that shouldn’t reduce the value of the pick being lost. Ducks fans should be hoping even more that Gibson is ready to go next month, while Maple Leafs fans are praying that their old teammate can give them one last gift before hitting free agency this summer.
West Notes: Jets, Shore, Gibson
The Jets are likely to be without defenseman Jacob Trouba on Thursday night despite the fact he was able to practice with the team today, suggests Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. Trouba missed Monday’s game with an upper body injury (and would have sat out Tuesday had that game not been postponed due to weather); it’s believed the injury was sustained during a fight over the weekend against Calgary in which five stitches were required just above his eye.
Winnipeg may also be without left winger Shawn Matthias who missed practice with an undisclosed injury and is listed as questionable for Thursday. Left winger Nic Petan would likely take his place although he may be in the lineup regardless of whether or not Matthias is available. Leading scorer Mark Scheifele (illness) didn’t practice but is expected to suit up against the Islanders.
Elsewhere in the West:
- Winger Drew Shore had offers from other NHL teams before deciding to join Vancouver for the rest of the season, reports Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Province. GM Jim Benning admitted that with the team as far as they are out of the playoff race, they’re likely to start giving their younger players more playing time which should bode well for Shore among others. Benning also noted that part of the rationale for signing Shore was that he’d like to avoid calling anyone else up from their minor league affiliate in Utica, who are in a tight race for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division.
- The Ducks are monitoring goalie John Gibson daily after some of the lingering soreness from his lower body injury resurfaced on Friday, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. There’s no timetable for when he’ll make his next start but head coach Randy Carlyle doesn’t think he’ll need that much time to be ready as soon as he’s cleared to return to practice. In the meantime, Jonathan Bernier will remain as the starter, a role he has handled fairly well as of late, going 5-2 with a 2.17 GAA and a .933 SV% in his last seven outings.
Evening Snapshots: Spooner, Gibson, Enroth
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- The Boston Bruins announced that forward Ryan Spooner will not play tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks. Spooner suffered a concussion last Monday in a tilt with the Ottawa Senators. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy stated that Spooner is progressing well through the concussion protocol. Spooner has 11G and 23A in 65 games for the Bruins, and the Bruins hope to get his offense back as soon as possible. The team holds down the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division by only two points, and a bad stretch could have the Bruins on the outside looking in.
- The Anaheim Ducks announced that goaltender John Gibson will not play tonight against the Washington Capitals. Gibson is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Gibson missed time with a lower body injury before returning on Friday against the St. Louis Blues, but heappears to have aggravated something and will take more time off. So far this season Gibson has earned a .921 SV% and a 2.28 GAA in 49 games. Expect back up goaltender Jonathan Bernier to make the start tonight.
- To deal with Gibson’s injury, the Anaheim Ducks have recalled goaltender Jhonas Enroth from the San Diego Gulls, the team announced this evening. Enroth was sent down on March 10th to make room for Gibson, but Gibson’s injury necessitated that Enroth return and back up goaltender Jonathan Bernier. With only 13 games remaining after tonight’s match, the Ducks are comfortably in a playoff spot, but are on the brink of becoming a wild card team and playing a much tougher opponent.
Playoff Puzzle: Western Goaltending Experience
Corey Crawford must feel like an old man these days. When the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender looks around at the creases of his main rivals in the Western Conference, one thing is constant: inexperience. He knows it well, from when he took on the Vancouver Canucks in 2011 as a rookie. At the other end of the rink was a 31-year old Roberto Luongo, who had already been through three playoff runs and was about to win the Jennings trophy for dominating in the regular season.
Crawford and the Hawks would lose in seven games, but it was an important step towards their cup win in 2013 when he would post a .932 save percentage—still the best mark of his career. It’s not easy to backstop a team to the Stanley Cup, even if you do have an excellent group in front of you. Just ask Martin Jones, who actually played his best hockey last year in the Finals against Pittsburgh, despite losing. It took a while for him to really find his groove and even then it wasn’t enough.
So when Crawford sees the standings and notices a trend among the biggest contenders, it might make him even more confident heading into this year’s tournament. Perhaps even if he is a bit older, that experience will pay off in the toughest two months of any sport.
Snapshots: Canadiens, Ducks, Flames
The Montreal Canadiens are cruising, winners of six straight games and leading the Atlantic by six points. They’ll have to continue to play short handed for a while though, as Alexander Radulov, Tomas Plekanec and Brian Flynn are all likely out for tomorrow’s matchup against the Calgary Flames. None of the three practiced this morning due to varying injuries, but the Canadiens are carrying enough players to fill their role should they be held out.
Radulov and Plekanec were both absent yesterday when the team slipped by the Vancouver Canucks in overtime, and Flynn was injured during the first period and did not return. In their absence, Andrew Shaw led the forwards in ice time with over 22 minutes, seven more than his average this season. They’ll likely ask Shaw to step up again tomorrow if all three are out, though perhaps Micheal McCarron will draw back in and take some of that weight.
- John Gibson has been out since February 20th for the Anaheim Ducks, but Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports that he is with the team on their current road trip. The Ducks will face the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues on back to back nights starting tomorrow, and could definitely use Gibson in one of the games. In his absence Jonathan Bernier has shouldered the load admirably, but saw a slip last night against Nashville. Asking him to play back to backs would be extreme, and would likely turn to Jhonas Enroth against the Blues if Gibson isn’t ready.
- The Calgary Flames have seen a rejuvenated Micheal Ferland since moving him onto a line with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau and now they’ll insert him periodically onto the first powerplay unit as well according to Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet. The young winger has continued to compete physically all over the ice and has five goals in his last seven games. Trailing only Troy Brouwer in hits on the club despite playing more than five minutes less a game than him, Ferland can create space for skilled players just by being on the ice with them.
- Jannik Hansen finally showed up in San Jose after dealing with visa issues since his trade from the Vancouver Canucks. He was immediately rewarded with time on the first line according to Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. It looks like he’ll skate alongside Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski for his first game tomorrow night. With Kevin Labanc sent down, an opening was created beside the Sharks top duo and Hansen will get a crack at it to begin his San Jose career.
Minor Transactions: 02/23/17
There are six games on tap in the National Hockey League tonight, including a big matchup between the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens that both teams need desperately to keep pace with the rest of the surging conference. There will be quite a few roster moves as teams get closer to the trade deadline, and we’ll have them all right here for you. Keep checking back as it will be updated throughout the day.
- A move that actually happened last night, the Anaheim Ducks called up Jhonas Enroth to backup Jonathan Bernier‘s amazing performance. John Gibson couldn’t go due to a lower-body injury—that is only listed as day-to-day—and thus the hottest goalie in the AHL was called up in reserve. We spoke about Enroth in the Ducks deadline preview, and how he could supplant Bernier if the team could find a buyer for him this week.
- The Washington Capitals have sent Travis Boyd back down after their game in Philadelphia last night. He was just there for insurance against an injury just before game time and now will return to Hershey for the time being.
- Jeff Glass apparently has done enough for the Chicago Blackhawks to keep him around. The former third-round pick that has played hockey all over the world signed a two-year deal today to stay in the Hawks’ system. The Blackhawks didn’t have a goaltender to expose in the upcoming expansion draft, as both Scott Darling (UFA) and Mac Carruth (RFA) are free agents this summer.
- Jeff Zatkoff has cleared waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That does not mean that he has been reassigned to the Ontario Reign however, as the Kings decide what to do with their goaltending. It sounds like Jonathan Quick is not quite ready to return, but is getting closer each day.
- The Boston Bruins have assigned Austin Czarnik to the AHL and sent down Joe Morrow on a conditioning stint. The baby Bruins also lost Zac Rinaldo for the rest of the season according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. He will have surgery on his wrist and will not play again this season.
- The Capitals have also recalled Riley Barber and Aaron Ness today, following the news that Matt Niskanen is likely out for tomorrow night’s game. To make room, the team has moved Andre Burakovsky to injured reserve.