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Johnny Gaudreau

Snapshots: Laviolette, Gaudreau, Capitals

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With the first coaching change of the season in the books, speculation has quickly turned to which team will be the next to make a move.  A popular speculative choice has been Nashville as the Predators have won just two of their last ten games and are only two points ahead of last place Los Angeles in the Western Conference.

However, head Peter Laviolette told reporters, including Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean, that he hasn’t been given any indication from management that his job could be on the line or that he feels any extra pressure at all to turn things around.  Considering that the Predators are built to win now though, that could change if their struggles continue and GM David Poile isn’t able to swing a trade to try to shake up the roster first.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Johnny Gaudreau’s struggles have led some to suggest that the Flames should consider moving the winger. Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic details (subscription required) the reasons why they shouldn’t be doing so, highlighted by the fact that making an in-season deal of that type of magnitude is extremely difficult to pull off while still getting full value in return.  After scoring three times in his first five games, he has just two in 20 contests since then.  Nonetheless, he still sits second on the team in scoring despite his struggles.
  • The Capitals have had to turn to some extreme measures to stay cap-compliant in the early going this season. Eventually, they will need to free up a bit of salary room as they won’t be able to just rely on LTIR the rest of the way.  However, it’s going to be easier said than done.  J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington highlights winger Richard Panik and defenseman Nick Jensen as possible candidates given their contracts but also points out the complications for moving both of them.  Panik’s contract (four years at $2.75MM) is a tough one given his lack of production while Jensen would leave them with a hole on the right side of their back end that they can’t fill internally.  Accordingly, whether it’s one of them or someone else, GM Brian MacLellan is going to have a tough decision to make once Carl Hagelin comes off LTIR early next month.

Calgary Flames Not Looking At Coaching Changes

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The Calgary Flames are mired in a six-game losing streak and are now only ahead of the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division. That’s a far cry from the team that won the Western Conference last season by six points, going 50-25-7. Still, even though the team has faced adversity this season and some are speculating about big changes, GM Brad Treliving isn’t considering one. On Sportsnet radio today, Treliving put his faith in the current group:

This is a good group that is underperforming. We’ve got to find a way to get back to a being a good group that is performing. It starts with myself. I believe fully in this coaching staff. I don’t stay in tune to the social media world, but the last couple of days I’ve been asked about changes.

The coaches aren’t going anywhere. Our top players aren’t going anywhere. While the outside world wants to—and rightly so—count us out, this is when you bunker in and get into the foxhole and try to make your team better.

Not only has there been speculation about the coaching staff, but the top players on Calgary have taken their fair share of criticism. Johnny Gaudreau has 18 points through 25 games but just one assist in his last six, while Sean Monahan has scored just five goals all season. This statement from Treliving should calm the trade speculation waters, but there is still a lot of work to be done in Calgary to get them back to contending.

It is interesting that he specified the “top players” aren’t going anywhere, which will leave room for some continued talk about other names like Travis Hamonic. The defenseman is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and has shut down any extension talks, making his a tricky situation to navigate. If the team is not contending for a playoff spot by the deadline, it might make sense to cash in an asset like Hamonic to improve their future.

Treliving also announced that T.J. Brodie would be rejoining the team on their current road trip, but he is still not cleared to play since his collapse at practice recently.

Flames’ Exit Provides Boost For Team USA

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The Calgary Flames weren’t able to create enough offense against the Colorado Avalanche in their first round series and hit the showers early, but not all of them will be heading to the golf course right away. Johnny Gaudreau, Derek Ryan and Noah Hanifin were all announced as the newest additions to Team USA for the upcoming IIHF World Championship.

The trio joins a group that already included stars like Patrick Kane, Jack Eichel, Dylan Larkin, Ryan Suter and Alex DeBrincat, making them quite the formidable group heading into the tournament. The US has not won a gold medal at the tournament for nearly 60 years, but did win bronze in 2018 with Gaudreau and Ryan on the team.

The full roster now sits at 20 players:

G Thatcher Demko
G Cayden Primeau
G Cory Schneider

D Quinn Hughes
D Alec Martinez
D Brady Skjei
D Ryan Suter
D Noah Hanifin

F Alex DeBrincat
F Jack Eichel
F Luke Glendening
F Patrick Kane
F Clayton Keller
F Chris Kreider
F Dylan Larkin
F James van Riemsdyk
F Frank Vatrano
F Colin White
F Johnny Gaudreau
F Derek Ryan

USA Hockey will be allowed to add five more skaters before the tournament starts on May 10th. One of those may be Jack Hughes when he is finished with the U18 World Championship, which will wrap up this weekend. The potential first-overall pick has 16 points in five games this season, giving him 28 total at the tournament which breaks the previous American record of 26 set by Phil Kessel. In fact, Hughes is within striking distance of the overall records both in a single tournament—Nikita Kucherov’s 21-point performance in 2011—and career, set by Alex Ovechkin at 31 points.

NHL Announces All-Star Skills Competitors

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The NHL All-Star Skills Competition is scheduled for this evening, and though Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon have both pulled out due to illness and injury there are still an incredible amount of talented players taking part. Most notable however may be the final entrant in the fastest skater competition: Kendall Coyne. A member of the US Women’s National Team, Coyne will take MacKinnon’s place after the Colorado Avalanche forward suffered a foot injury this week. The Olympic gold medalist is known for her speed and posted a 14.226 yesterday during event testing according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN. Though that wouldn’t have been enough to dethrone Connor McDavid last year, it would have put her ahead of Zach Werenski, Noah Hanifin and Josh Bailey in the competition. We’ll see what Coyne can do tonight, along with the rest of the competitors:

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PHWA Announces 2018-19 Midseason Awards

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Though they have no bearing on the eventual winners, last season the Professional Hockey Writers Association brought back their Midseason Awards to give fans an idea of who was leading the charge around the NHL at the halfway point. Today those ballots have been tallied and the midseason trophies were given out:

Hart Trophy – Most valuable player

1. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
3. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Norris Trophy – Best defenseman

1. Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
2. Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

Selke Trophy – Best defensive forward

1. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
2. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
3. Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators

Calder Trophy – Best rookie

1. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
2. Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
3. Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars

Lady Byng Trophy – Sportsmanship & gentlemanly conduct

1. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
2. Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames

Vezina Trophy – Best goaltender

1. John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
2. Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
3. Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs

Jack Adams Award – Best coach

1. Barry Trotz, New York Islanders
2. Bill Peters, Calgary Flames
3. Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning

GM of the Year Award

1. Brad Treliving, Calgary Flames
2. Doug Wilson, San Jose Sharks
3. Lou Lamoriello, New York Islanders

Rod Langway Award – Best defensive defenseman

1. Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators
2. Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
3. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning

Comeback Player of the Year Award

1. Robin Lehner, New York Islanders
2. Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres
3. Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild

Snapshots: Trade Bait, Three Stars, Dobson

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The NHL trade season is upon us with only seven weeks until the deadline and teams falling out of the playoff race. With that, Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) broke down his list of 20 players who could be on the move before February 25th. At the top of the list is Artemi Panarin, who is still without a contract extension as we head into the second half of the season. The Columbus Blue Jackets are trying to make a deep Stanley Cup run and have perhaps the toughest decisions in the league with Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky set to hit unrestricted free agency.

Deeper down the list though Custance provides some details on asking prices, explaining that a deal to acquire Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings would need to start with a first-round pick while Alec Martinez might cost just a second-round pick and a good prospect. The Kings still sit at the bottom of the Pacific Division and are the only NHL team to have scored fewer than 100 goals this season. There are changes coming for Los Angeles, but in a “strong buyers market” it will be interesting to see how much they really get back for some of their trade assets.

  • Last week’s Three Stars have been revealed by the NHL, with Johnny Gaudreau taking home the top honors. Gaudreau recorded 11 points in four games and has led the Calgary Flames all season. Brent Burns takes home the second star, but most interesting might be Robin Lehner in the third position. Lehner looked to be on the brink of losing his NHL career when he went unqualified by the Buffalo Sabres, but has turned things around dramatically this season with the New York Islanders. With a .927 save percentage there is good reason to believe that Lehner could be one of the top goaltending options on the market this summer after his one-year deal expires, unless the Islanders can lock him up over the next few months.
  • Noah Dobson might be best known to many hockey fans for his stick exploding in overtime for Canada in the recent World Junior Championship, but he’s also a dominant defenseman and leader in the QMJHL. The Islanders prospect is on the move thanks to a junior deadline deal that will send him to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for the remainder of the season. The Huskies sent three first-round picks and a second-round pick for the right to acquire Dobson, who will give them another huge weapon on their quest for a Memorial Cup berth. The trade deadline for the OHL and WHL meanwhile passes on Thursday, meaning many more top prospects will be on the move.

2019 All-Star Rosters Announced

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The NHL has announced the four rosters for the 2019 All-Star Game today, scheduled to be held on January 26th in San Jose. Earlier today, Alex Ovechkin, who was elected captain of Metropolitan Division squad, told the league that he wouldn’t be attending and will accept the punishment of missing one game either before or after the break. Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Auston Matthews will represent the Pacific, Central and Atlantic respectively, as the other captains. A replacement Metropolitan captain for Ovechkin has yet to be named.

The full rosters are as follows:

Pacific Division

G John Gibson (ANA)
G Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK)

D Erik Karlsson (SJS)
D Brent Burns (SJS)
D Drew Doughty (LAK)

F Connor McDavid (EDM)*
F Johnny Gaudreau (CGY)
F Joe Pavelski (SJS)
F Elias Pettersson (VAN)
F Clayton Keller (ARI)

Central Division

G Pekka Rinne (NSH)
G Devan Dubnyk (MIN)

D Roman Josi (NSH)
D Miro Heiskanen (DAL)

F Nathan MacKinnon (COL)*
F Mikko Rantanen (COL)
F Blake Wheeler (WPG)
F Patrick Kane (CHI)
F Mark Scheifele (WPG)
F Ryan O’Reilly (STL)

Atlantic Division

G Jimmy Howard (DET)
G Carey Price (MTL)

D Keith Yandle (FLA)
D Thomas Chabot (OTT)

F Auston Matthews (TOR)*
F Nikita Kucherov (TBL)
F Steven Stamkos (TBL)
F John Tavares (TOR)
F David Pastrnak (BOS)
F Jack Eichel (BUF)

Metropolitan Division

G Henrik Lundqvist (NYR)
G Braden Holtby (WAS)

D John Carlson (WSH)
D Seth Jones (CBJ)

F Sidney Crosby (PIT)
F Taylor Hall (NJD)
F Mathew Barzal (NYI)
F Claude Giroux (PHI)
F Cam Atkinson (CBJ)
F Sebastian Aho (CAR)

*Denotes team captain

One final skater spot on each roster has yet to be announced, as it will be determined by the “Last Man In” fan ballot, a concept borrowed from Major League Baseball. The format of the current All-Star Game, which requires one representative from each team on these smaller 3-on-tournament rosters, was bound to cause some confusion with the initial selections. Seven top-twenty scorers were not selected – Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Leon Draisaitl, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, Phil Kessel, and Gabriel Landeskog – and several will inevitably remain out of All-Star participation even after the fan ballot additions. Morgan Rielly, the league’s top-scoring defenseman, and Mark Giordano, enjoying an elite season on both sides of the puck, are two surprising omissions on the blue line. Several of the league’s top goalies are also going to miss out, ineligible for the fan ballot, including Ben Bishop, Frederik Andersen, and Andrei Vasilevskiy. The “Last Man In” will be an intriguing new addition to the All-Star process, with nominees to be named shortly, but more than a few notable names will be left out regardless. Meanwhile, the health of players like Price and Chabot for Team Atlantic and Hall for Team Metropolitan will bear watching, as those players may opt to skip the All-Star festivities, opening up more players to selection.

Snapshots: Keane, Byfuglien, Bruins

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The London Knights must have felt a little thin on defense with Evan Bouchard and Adam Boqvist off playing in the World Junior Championship. The powerhouse OHL organization has added another top option to their blue line, trading for Joey Keane from the Barrie Colts. Keane himself was almost suiting up for Team USA at the tournament, but was one of the final cuts just before Christmas.

After going undrafted in his first year of eligibility, Keane was snapped up in the third round by the New York Rangers in June after putting up a solid season with Barrie. His 44 points in 62 games were impressive, but it’s Keane’s legitimate shutdown ability that intrigued most scouts. While he’s not the biggest or strongest, the Illinois native is a force in his own end with his exceptional reads, and will only strengthen what is already a dominant London blue line. The opportunity he’ll get to compete in the OHL playoffs will only help his development as he tries to jump to the professional ranks down the road.

  • While the Department of Player Safety is looking more closely at a David Backes hit, they’ve already handed out punishment for a different incident last night. Dustin Byfuglien has been fined $2,500 for slashing Johnny Gaudreau in last night’s Winnipeg-Calgary game. When Gaudreau beat Byfuglien at the Calgary blue line and had a clear path for an empty-net goal to seal the win, the Jets defenseman spun and delivered a forceful slash. While he won’t serve any suspension for it, the incident will be taken into account in any future supplementary discipline. Gaudreau practiced today for Calgary.
  • It seems the Boston Bruins can’t possibly have everyone healthy at the same time. After activating Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Jake Debrusk yesterday, the team has placed Charlie McAvoy on injured reserve today in order to get under the 23-man roster limit. McAvoy’s injury is only expected to keep him out a few days, but will definitely keep him out of tomorrow’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Whether he’ll be ready for Tuesday’s Winter Classic at Notre Dame is still undetermined.

Snapshots: “Trade Bait”, Lindholm, Spezza

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The second month of the NHL season is underway and with it comes the first iteration of TSN’s “Trade Bait” board. To no surprise, unsigned Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander tops the list. With the countdown at 28 days until the December 1st deadline for Nylander to sign and play in the NHL this season, the impasse between the two sides is desperately in need of a resolution, and with each day that goes by, a trade looks more and more likely. TSN’s Frank Seravalli notes that it was the first week of November last year when No. 1-ranked trade bait player Matt Duchene was traded away, making it entirely possible that a Nylander trade or other big name move could drop in the next few days. Joining Nylander in the top six of the list are recent rumor mill highlights Kevin Hayes of the New York Rangers and Alec Martinez and Tanner Pearson of the Los Angeles Kings, as well as summer trade bait board holdout Mats Zuccarello, also of the Rangers, and perennial rumor monger Gustav Nyquist of the Detroit Red Wings. Both free agency-bound Columbus Blue Jackets superstars – Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin – feature in the top ten, as does a possible Nylander return piece Brett Pesce of the Carolina Hurricanes. A surprise addition is Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tyler Myers, who seems unlikely to move in the midst of what the Jets hope is a Stanley Cup-caliber season. So too is Wayne Simmonds, who the Philadelphia Flyers seemingly would like to re-sign and keep on as a leader and core contributor, but the Flyers’ success this season will likely determine his availability. The trade board is limited to just 15 names right now, but this initial list certainly features plenty of talent and some names that have already featured prominently in rumors. TSN may have perfect timing, as the NHL trade market seems ready to heat up.

  • One of the off-season’s biggest trades almost went differently, writes Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. Fox talked to new Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters recently, who stated that he expected a different package from a different team entirely in return for defenseman Dougie Hamilton, only to find that his former club, the Carolina Hurricanes, had offered the top package of Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin. Peters (obviously) says that he likes the way the deal turned out. While Hanifin is off to a slow start in Calgary, Lindholm has been an excellent fit next to Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau on the top line and currently sports a 24.3% shooting percentage to go with a team-leading nine goals and total of 14 points.
  • Fox also recently spoke with Dallas Stars center Jason Spezza, who this past week played in his 1,000th NHL game, about how he is approaching a contract year. Spezza was transparent with his answer:

“Not when you’re 35. You don’t care about the contract years… I just want to play the year, have a good year. I want to be back here next year. The money doesn’t matter. I just want to play and make sure I have a good role… It’s different when you’re at this point in my career. I just want to be on a team that has a chance to win. So, no, I can’t say that’s once played into my mind… That time has passed in my career. I’m just looking to play and be on a good team and have a good role and contribute… If you put the work into it, you get rewarded with big contracts. I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever played the game for the money.”

Spezza’s honesty is refreshing, but he also contradicts himself with a scenario that is likely to unfold as the season progresses. Spezza states that he wants to be back in Dallas next season, yet also wants a chance to finally win the Stanley Cup. Those two things may not coincide soon enough for the veteran center. The Stars currently share the 14th-best record in the NHL, but sit sixth out of seven in the powerhouse Central Division and have struggled to score goals early on this season. If Dallas cannot improve over the course of the season, Spezza will become an attractive trade rental candidate, especially since his eight points thus far indicate a bounce-back season compared to a disappointing 2017-18 campaign. Dallas may also be a few years away from really competing with the likes of Nashville and Winnipeg in the Central. A desire to win may make a continued career with the Stars less likely, but would make Spezza’s decision to waive his No-Movement Clause and choices in free agency much easier.

West Notes: Brown, Gaudreau, Oilers, Wild Injuries

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It doesn’t appear as if the Kings will be without Dustin Brown for too much longer.  He’s currently on long-term injured reserve as he works his way back from a broken finger and isn’t eligible to be activated until October 28th at the earliest.  While there was some concern he’d be out longer than that, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider notes that the winger has begun taking part in team drills that don’t involve contact and that he could be activated for their game on the 28th.  The 33-year-old is coming off a career year in 2017-18 that saw him collect 61 points and he could be a boon for a Los Angeles power play that has failed to score so far this season.

More from the West:

  • Although Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau was pulled from Wednesday’s game against Boston by concussion spotters, he is feeling fine which should have him in line to play on Friday night versus Nashville, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Francis (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Francis adds there won’t be any disciplinary action towards Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who delivered the hit on Gaudreau.
  • While there are teams that are keeping tabs on the potential availability of Toronto RFA William Nylander, don’t count the Oilers among that group. TSN’s Darren Dreger noted in an appearance on TSN 1050 (audio link) that Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli is not pursuing the winger although they could certainly benefit from some extra scoring pop up front.  However, given their limited cap room, finding a deal that would keep them under the Upper Limit would be tricky.
  • The Wild will be without center Matt Hendricks for the next two-to-three weeks, head coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters, including Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link). The injury was sustained on Tuesday night against Arizona.  Meanwhile, center Joel Eriksson Ek has been ruled out for their next two games while Boudreau is hopeful that winger Marcus Foligno (illness) will be able to travel with the team to Dallas for their game on Friday.

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