Atlantic Notes: Drouin, Khudobin, Vatrano, Panthers
After a slow start to the season, Lightning left winger Jonathan Drouin has picked up his scoring at the right time, writes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. After a slow start to the season with three goals in his first 17 games, Drouin has scored four times in the last seven contests while picking up a total of eight points over that span.
With injuries to four players up front, Drouin has been thrust into a top role, something he has been craving dating back to last year when he left the team midseason in the hopes of a trade. (Among the injured players, right winger Ryan Callahan is expected to return during their current road trip while left winger Ondrej Palat hasn’t been ruled out of Tuesday’s game in Detroit.)
Drouin is a restricted free agent at the end of the season as he is in the final season of his entry-level deal. His career numbers haven’t been too impressive for a former third overall pick (back in 2013) but if he can keep up this type of production on a more consistent basis, it would go a long way towards helping his case for a long-term contract this offseason.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- The Bruins have not received the type of goaltending they were expected when they brought back Anton Khudobin to back up Tuukka Rask. He has just one win in six starts with a 3.20 GAA and a .886 SV%. In a reader mailbag, CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty suggests that Khudobin may get another start or two to try to turn things around but if he continues to struggle, they should consider bringing back Zane McIntyre before looking outside the organization. McIntyre didn’t have the best of starts to his career in a pair of games earlier this year but has been simply stellar in the minors with a 1.31 GAA and a .953 SV% in nine games, numbers that suggest he’s worthy of another look before too long.
- Still with Boston, the team announced that they have recalled left winger Frank Vatrano from their AHL affiliate in Providence. The 22 year old has yet to play in the NHL this season after undergoing foot surgery in late September. He got into a pair of games in the minors over the weekend, scoring twice. Vatrano had 36 goals in just 36 AHL games last year, leading the league in that category despite playing in less than half the games and is an intriguing addition to a lineup that is looking for some secondary offense.
- With Panthers owner Vinnie Viola being named as Secretary of the Army by U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump, alternate governor Doug Cifu will take over as the chairman and governor for the team, notes George Richards of the Miami Herald. Ownership of the team will remain in the Viola family but will be placed into a trust, subject to the approval of the Board of Governors, the team adds in a press release.
Custance’s Latest: Projecting Those Most Affected By Flat Cap
The NHL’s Board of Governors (BOG) are in the midst of two days of meetings designed to cover several important topics before wrapping up today. Chief among them – and of particular interest to team executives as well as fans of the sport – is an early projection of the 2017-18 salary cap ceiling. Commissioner Gary Bettman advised the BOG to expect a modest increase, perhaps as much as $2MM, if any at all. Specifically, Bettman suggested the salary cap may remain flat. Naturally, that may present problems for several teams already close to the cap ceiling while pending free agents might find their respective markets depressed due to fewer clubs being in position to take on big salaries.
Craig Custance of ESPN.com wrote about a few teams and players who stand to be affected the most should the salary cap ceiling remain flat for the 2017-18 campaign. Among those he listed were Artemi Panarin, who will be a RFA coming off his ELC and in line for a massive raise. As we already know, Chicago is tight up against the cap and have already been forced to deal away key contributors due to a lack of cap space – Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp and Teuvo Teravainen, for instance. They’ll likely have another tough decision to make given the situation.
Tampa Bay and their GM, Steve Yzerman, are two others Custance mentions as being impacted by a flat cap. The Lightning are set to watch Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin and Ondrej Palat become RFAs this summer and with just less than $60MM in cap commitments already on the books for 2017-18, it’s highly unlikely that Yzerman will be able to re-sign all three players.
In addition to those already brought up by Custance, there are several other clubs who will have a difficult time navigating the salary cap if the ceiling remains at or near the $73MM mark. Here are a few of those teams:
- Los Angeles Kings – The Kings already have just more than $60MM committed to the 2017-18 salary cap with forwards Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli slated to become RFAs next summer. Toffoli tallied career highs in goals (31) and points (58) in 2015-16 and while his scoring out put is down some this year, he could still easily command upwards of $4MM annually on a new contract. Pearson, meanwhile recorded 36 points last year and is on pace for about that same total this season. That could well push his salary north of $3MM next year.
- New York Rangers – The Blueshirts might be in a bigger bind than the Kings. They have about $63MM tied up in 2017-18 commitments with top-six center Mika Zibanejad and checking forward Jesper Fast, among several others, scheduled to become RFA’s. On top of that, the team will likely be in the market for a blue line upgrade and unless they can find a way to unload one of Dan Girardi or Marc Staal, the Rangers won’t have enough cap space to make an impact addition in free agency.
- Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings are projected to have less than $5MM in cap space next season with Thomas Vanek hitting free agency. Additionally, five other players will be RFAs, including Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco. It’s hard to imagine the Wings being anything more than a fringe playoff contender next season given their current roster and with virtually no salary cap space available next season, as it’ll be tough for the team to improve through free agency.
Snapshots: Drouin, Fehr, Spengler Cup
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin is expected back in the lineup tonight against the Vancouver Canucks, reports Erik Eriendsson of LightningInsider.com. Drouin has been out since December 4th with an undisclosed injury. The young forward has had decent success this year, scoring 3G and 7A in 19 NHL games.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have scratched forward Eric Fehr for tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers, reports Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Fehr—a former 2003 first round draft pick—is off to a slow start this season with only 3G and 2A in 26 games for the Penguins. He has seen his ice time decrease in the past two games so his scratch should not come as a total surprise.
- Canada’s Spengler Cup Entry—an invitational hockey tournament hosted by the Swiss HC Davos—will have former NHLer Luke Richardson behind the bench, reports TSN’s Lance Hornby. Richardson will be the head coach for the team featuring Canadian players currently playing in Europe. Canada will enter the tournament as the defending champions, so Richardson has a tall task ahead of him.
Injury Updates: Steen, Drouin, Duchene
Injury notes this evening:
- Alex Steen will not play for the St. Louis Blues this evening against the San Jose Sharks, reports the team. Steen left Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres after Josh Gorges shoved his head into the glass. He was not on the ice for the pre-game warmups and will be missed. Steen has 2G and 8A in 10 games, good for third in team scoring.
- Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin returns tonight against the Buffalo Sabres, reports Tampa Bay Times writer Joe Smith. Drouin has been out with an upper-body injury, but travelled with the team on its five-game road trip. Drouin’s return provides temporary relief for Tampa Bay after it lost Steven Stamkos for at least four months due to a meniscus tear.
- Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene will not return tonight for the team’s game against the Dallas Stars, reports Terry Frei of the Denver Post. Duchene has missed the past two games with a concussion, and although he skated with the team today, he did not feel ready to return. Duchene joins Gabriel Landeskog on the sidelines as the latter sits out with a lower-body injury. Coach Bednar stated that Landeskog is “questionable moving forward.” Duchene and Ladeskog are 1st and 2nd in scoring for the Avalanche this season, and their absences are of concern for the struggling team. The Avalanche currently sit last in the Central Division.
Snapshots: Dubinsky, Kovalchuk, Lightning
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without forward Brandon Dubinsky tonight against the Boston Bruins, reports Fox Sports Ohio’s Dave Maetzgold. Dubinsky is still day-to-day with a lower body injury—first reported by Columbus Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline—that forced him to miss Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. The American center has struggled out of the gate, posting 0G and 2A in 10 games for the Blue Jackets. The Jackets, meanwhile, have called up Markus Hannikainen from the Cleveland Monsters to replace Dubinsky in the lineup. The 23 year-old has 4G and 3A in 11 games for the Cleveland Monsters to start the season.
- The Ilya Kovalchuk to the NHL rumors are heating up again. PHR first reported last week that Kovalchuk was mulling a return to the NHL, and the Russian confirmed that in a lengthy interview on the KHL website (link in Russian). Kovalchuk basically states that he would not foreclose the option to return, but he did not affirmatively state that he is seeking a return. Because Kovalchuk is in his final contract year, however, his statements could just be posturing to get a larger contract from SKA St. Petersburg or another KHL team. Kovalchuk is off to a great start this season, scoring 16G and 20A in 28 games, and may look to parlay that into a lucrative contract—KHL or elsewhere.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning have scratched Nikita Nesterov tonight to make room for Valtteri Filppula against the New York Islanders tonight, reports Tampa Bay Lightning beat writer Bryan Burns. Nesterov is currently pointless in ten games for Tampa Bay, while Filppula has 4G and 5A in 12 games. Also missing from warmups is Jonathan Drouin, who suffered a head injury against the same Islanders on November 1st.