Snapshots: Murray, Sceviour, Plager
Matt Murray is finally going to make his 2016-17 debut, it might just have to wait a few more days. Even though the goaltender has been “going full-speed now for almost two weeks” he won’t start this Saturday versus the Philadelphia Flyers. Instead, according to Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Murray will get one of the west coast back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday. The Penguins visit the Ducks and then the Kings in some inter-conference action.
Murray is coming back from a broken hand he suffered during the World Cup when he backstopped the young guns (Team North America) in the tournament. While the Penguins claimed Mike Condon off waivers earlier in the season to replace Murray, they’re hesitant to lose any of the three solid pieces they have in net. They view them all as considerable assets, and don’t want to lose any for nothing.
- Colton Sceviour will be moved up in the lineup according to George Richards of the Miami Herald. After getting a season-high 15 minutes in the Panthers latest loss at the hands of the Maple Leafs on Thursday night, the former Dallas Star will replace Kyle Rau on the second line. The Panthers are without Jonathan Huberdeau, Nick Bjugstad and Jussi Jokinen due to various injuries and have had to move pieces in and out of their top-six in recent games. While Jon Marchessault is thriving on the top line, the unit of Rau-Trocheck-Smith weren’t as effective against the Maple Leafs.
- The St. Louis Blues will retire number 5 in honor of Bob Plager this season. Plager has been with the club for almost 50 years since his addition as a player on June 6th, 1967, holding almost every position possible: player, head coach, director of scouting, director of player development and others. Plager’s #5 will join Al MacInnis (#2), Bob Gassoff (#3), Barclay Plager (his brother and #8), Brian Sutter (#11), Brett Hull (#16) and Bernie Federko (#24) among retired numbers for the Blues.
Snapshots: Trocheck, Czarnik, Metropolit
Injuries to LW Jonathan Huberdeau and C Nick Bjugstad have forced Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant to shuffle his forward lines at the start of the season. However, as George Richards of the Miami Herald writes, the one constant Gallant can rely on is the Vincent Trocheck line with Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen on the wings. The trio has combined for two goals – both from Trocheck – and five points through three games.
Gallant initially put the line together last December and the trio “clicked from the start,” notes Richards. Trocheck believes the familiarity from last season is a big reason why the line is off to a good start in 2016-17.
“Last year we got used to each other. We got on a roll. Once you have chemistry with linemates, it’s hard to play with anyone else. You know their tendencies. Jokinen is such a smart player, Smith is so skilled; those two guys make it easy.”
Jokinen shares that belief:
“I bounced around on every line and it was nice to find a home. You feel comfortable when you get to play with guys you have chemistry with. I feel like I can now really use my strengths to help this team because we’re all making each other better. I make them better; they make me better.”
With Huberdeau expected to miss 3 – 4 months, the success of the Trocheck line becomes even more important to the Panthers. The three players combined for 68 goals and 163 points last season and will be counted on to provide consistent offense until Huberdeau and Bjugstad return to the lineup.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
- The Boston Bruins demoted third-line pivot Austin Czarnik to Providence of the AHL so that he may rediscover his game, writes Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com. The 5-foot-9, 160-pound forward made the club out of training camp but as Haggerty notes, since suffering a concussion late in the preseason Czarnik has not played with the energy the team expected. Czarnik was pointless in two games with Boston and posted a -3 plus-minus rating. Last season with Providence, the diminutive center netted 61 points in 68 AHL games and it was hoped he would add some scoring punch to Boston’s bottom-six.
- Glen Metropolit, a veteran of more than 400 NHL games, has agreed to a contract with BC Bolzano of the Austrian Hockey League (EBEL), according to Elite Pro Prospects. Metropolit, 42, has not appeared in the NHL since suiting up for 69 games with Montreal back in 2009-10. He scored 16 goals and 29 points for the Habs. Since departing the NHL, Metropolit has spent four seasons in Switzerland and another two in Germany.
Atlantic Notes: Ristolainen, Callahan, Zetterberg, Huberdeau
Despite defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen being signed for the next six years, the team doesn’t anticipate increasing his workload this season, writes John Vogl of the Buffalo News. If anything, the team may be trying to scale back his ice time slightly.
In 2015-16, Ristolainen saw a significant jump in his playing time, going from an average of 20:37 in his sophomore campaign to 25:17 per night last season. That ranked him tenth in the league in average ice time and after factoring in that he played in every game, his total ice time on the season slotted fifth overall.
Head coach Dan Bylsma is looking for more balance in his blueline pairings, something that should be aided with the addition of Dmitry Kulikov back at the draft in June. The 25 year old has logged over 20 minutes per night in each of the last five seasons which will be useful if Bylsma wants to keep the ice time of pairings relatively close.
Buffalo’s back end is relatively healthy heading into tonight’s season opener against Montreal although Kulikov isn’t expected to play. The same can’t be said for their forwards as they will be without Jack Eichel who injured his ankle on Wednesday and will miss at least a month. Newcomer Kyle Okposo (bruised knee) also won’t play while Ryan O’Reilly (back) is questionable to suit up although he did participate in the morning skate.
Other Atlantic news and notes:
- Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper is hopeful that Ryan Callahan should be able to return to the lineup by the beginning of November, notes Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times. Callahan underwent hip surgery back in June and was expected to be out until mid-late November. The 31 year old had 28 points in 73 games last season, the lowest full season output of his career but was slowed in the back half last year because of the hip problems.
- Despite knee problems creeping up and tiring as the season went on last year, Detroit left winger Henrik Zetterberg still expects to play out the remaining five years of his contract, reports Gregg Krupa of the Detroit News. Zetterberg played in all 82 games last year for the first time in four seasons but is only two years removed from missing nearly half the season with injury concerns. The 36 year old will carry a cap hit of just under $6.1MM through the 2020-21 season and if he were to retire early, the team would be subject to salary cap recapture due to the significant decrease in his salary in the final three years of the deal.
- Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has undergone surgery to repair an Achilles tendon, George Richards of the Miami Herald notes (Twitter link). There is no change to the expected timetable for his return which should be in the next three to four months.
- The Red Wings returned goaltender Eddie Pasquale to Grand Rapids of the AHL, the team announced on their team Twitter page. Pasquale had cleared waivers and was originally sent down last Wednesday but had been recalled on Tuesday afternoon.
Week In Review: 10/3/16 – 10/9/16
It’s officially the last week of the offseason with the first games of the new regular season slated for Wednesday. Obviously roster pare downs dominated the headlines this week but there were a few other transactions of note as well as a handful of injuries that might prompt teams to see what’s available on the open market. Without further ado, here is the roundup of this week’s top hockey stories.
Key Free Agent Signings:
- Kris Russell – Edmonton (one year, $3.1MM): It’s probably not the lucrative deal Russell was looking for at the outset of free agency but the veteran shot-blocker finally did secure a contract for 2016-17. Perhaps with a solid performance for the Oil, Russell will be in better position to pursue a multi-year pact next summer.
- Tobias Rieder – Arizona (two years, $4.45MM): It looks like the Coyotes got the player at the price they wanted. It had been reported that Rieder was looking for $5MM over two years while the club was offering $4.4MM. Clearly the 23-year-old forward gave more than he got, presumably because he wanted to get back on the ice.
- Jakub Nakladal – Carolina (one year, $600K): It will be interesting to see how the 28-year-old Nakladal fits with the Hurricanes current crop of talented blue liners. Not including Nakladal, Carolina has seven NHL-caliber defensemen on the roster, only one of whom is older than 24.
Added on Waivers:
- Martin Frk – Carolina: Carolina wasn’t the only team that put a claim in on Frk but the Hurricanes were awarded the young Czech RW. He potted 27 goals for Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids in 2015-16 and it was mildly surprising to see the Wings risk losing him by placing him on waivers but clearly they felt the roster spot was best committed elsewhere.
Trades:
- Edmonton trades RW Nail Yakupov to St. Louis in exchange for Zach Pochiro and a conditional draft choice (a third in 2017 can become a second in 2018 if Yakupov scores 15 or more goals).
- Montreal deals Tim Bozon to Florida for D Jonathan Racine in an exchange of minor leaguers.
Injury Report:
- Jonathan Huberdeau is expected to miss 3 – 4 months with what is being called a lower-body-injury. It will be interesting to see if Panthers management looks outside the organization in an attempt to fill the void as Huberdeau was the team’s top scorer on the LW. The team does have around $10MM in cap space if they did choose to go that route.
- Nick Bjugstad will be out for four weeks due to a broken hand. The Panthers third-line pivot tallied 34 points in 67 games last season.
- Michael Del Zotto is set to miss the next 4 – 5 weeks with the dreaded lower-body-injury.
- Again with the lower-body-injury, the Flyers will also be without C Scott Laughton for three to our weeks.
- Devils defenseman Jon Merrill is out four weeks with a broken index finger.
- Penalty-killing specialist Matt Hendricks will miss significant time, once more due to a lower-body-injury. Oilers head coach Todd McLellan indicated it would be “weeks” before Hendricks would be able to return.
Retirements:
- Defenseman Barret Jackman called it quits after a solid, 14-year NHL career. Jackman was originally chosen in the first-round by St. Louis back in 1999 and played all but one season with the Blues before finishing up in Nashville. He wraps up his career with 186 points more than 1,100 penalty minutes in 876 regular season contests.
- Dan Boyle announced his retirement following 17 seasons in the NHL. Boyle, one of the league’s top offensive blue liners throughout much of his career, recorded at least 39 points eight out of nine seasons from 2002-03 through 2011-12. He would score more than 600 regular season points in nearly 1,100 NHL games. Boyle was a member of the 2003-04 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Lightning and also spent time with Florida and San Jose before wrapping up his career playing two seasons with the New York Rangers.
Jonathan Huberdeau Out 3-4 Months
October 9: Huberdeau will miss 3-4 months with a lower body injury, reports Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-Sentinel.
October 8: A Panthers-themed day continues, but in the worst way for Florida fans. Star winger Jonathan Huberdeau suffered a leg injury in a scuffle along the boards early in tonight’s preseason match-up against the New Jersey Devils. Huberdeau could put no weight on his leg, and had to be helped off the ice and into the locker room.
Examining what occurred, it looked as if the skate of Devils forward Sergey Kalinin came down on Huberdeau’s left ankle. The way he reacted when he first re-planted his leg could indicate, in a worst-case-scenario, a torn or injured Achilles tendon. Such an injury would be devastating for the Panthers, as it is a long road to recovery when there is damage to the Achilles. The best-case-scenario still seems bleak, as any injury that leaves a player unable to get himself off the ice usually leads to an extended absence.
With top center Nick Bjugstad already out for the first month of the season with a broken hand, the injury to first-line left winger Huberdeau would leave the Panthers seriously short-handed to start the 2016-17 season. The left side on offense already stands as Florida’s weakest position, and without 50-plus-point man Huberdeau, they could have a tough time reaching the high ceiling many have set for them in this upcoming year.
Nick Bjugstad Out Four Weeks With Broken Hand
According to George Richards of the Miami Herald, Florida Panthers centerman Nick Bjugstad has broken his hand and will be out at least four weeks. With the season beginning in less than a week, the young Panther will miss at least a few games with the injury.
Bjugstad, 24, is one of the core of young forwards the Panthers have locked up over the past two years, joining Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau and Reilly Smith in signing at least through the 2020-21 season. These five, when joined by the likes of Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle and Jason Demers on the back end, will be the foundation on which the Panthers operate for the future.
After three solid seasons with Florida, Bjugstad is looking to take the next step and move from the 30-40 point two-way center to a legitimate offensive force capable of scoring 25 goals and 50 points each year. While this injury is a setback, he’ll likely only miss around 10 games and should be able to contribute after that.
The Panthers made a few cuts this morning and are now down to 26 (not including Bjugstad) in camp. The team can only take 23 with them when the season begins, meaning there are still a few tough decisions to be made.
Snapshots: Panthers, Girardi, Tlusty
Fresh off a team record 103-point season and just the franchise’s fifth playoff appearance, the Florida Panthers were not content to rest on their laurels. After a surprising front office shakeup highlighted by the promotions of Dale Tallon and Tom Rowe, to president of hockey operations and general manager respectively, the Panthers hit the ground running in the offseason. Looking to add puck-moving and skill to the team’s blue line, Florida dealt veteran stay-at-home defenseman Erik Gudbranson to Vancouver while acquiring Keith Yandle and Mark Pysyk in separate trades. They topped off the summer shopping spree by signing Jason Demers as a free agent.
With Jaromir Jagr, Reilly Smith, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad all returning plus the club’s new additions, expectations have never been higher in the South Florida hockey market, as George Richards of the Miami Herald writes. The Panthers organization, from ownership on down is embracing those expectations.
“We all expect to win, have a winning mentality that has been introduced the past couple of years. Us younger guys have learned it’s not acceptable to miss the playoffs. That has been instilled by our veteran guys, our coaches, our organization. We’re all buying in. Everyone wants to win here, not just the players.”
“We had our best season ever, so the guys are confident and aware. They feel good about themselves and know they can get to the next level.”
- Prior to the 2015-16 campaign, New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi was known to be a reliable and steady defense-first blue liner on a team noted for being among the stingiest defensive clubs. The Blueshirts finished in the top five in goals allowed in each season from 2010-11 through 2014-15. Last season the club ranked 15th overall and the decline in play from Girardi and fellow defenseman Marc Staal attracted much of the blame for the drop-off. The question the Rangers had to ask themselves was whether Girardi’s regression was injury-related – he played much of the season with a cracked knee cap – or the result of years of wear-and-tear finally catching up. The team is banking on the former and Girardi himself is confident he will play at a much higher level in 2016-17, according to Steve Zipay of Newsday. The Rangers will need the 10-year vet to be much better this season if they plan to contend for a Stanley Cup.
- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar (via the team’s Twitter account) broke the news that Jiri Tlusty, recently inked to a PTO to attend camp with the club, had failed his physical. It’s unclear at this point what caused the veteran forward to flunk the physical but it could be related to the wrist surgery he underwent in January. Obviously this is a setback for Tlusty, who coming off a disappointing season in New Jersey was likely facing an uphill battle to make Colorado’s roster. It’s feasible the two parties could look to renew the relationship once Tlusty is healthy or he could look to latch on somewhere else if the opportunity with the Avalanche closes.
Panthers Reach Six-Year Extension With Jonathan Huberdeau
The Florida Panthers have locked up another young forward. The team has come to a six-year extension with Jonathan Huberdeau that will pay him $35.4MM ($5.9MM AAV). Currently under contract for one more season, Huberdeau is earning $3.25MM in 2016-17, and would be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next summer. 
The 23-year old was once the third overall pick by Florida in the 2011 draft, and has done nothing but score in his short NHL career. In 272 career games, the former Saint John Sea Dog has 172 points, including a career-high 59 last season. Skating mostly alongside Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr, the trio formed one of the more dominant lines in the Eastern conference last season, combining for 184 points.
Florida has quickly locked up much of their future this summer, signing extensions with Reilly Smith (Five years, $25MM), Vincent Trocheck (Six years, $28.5MM) and Aaron Ekblad (Eight years, $60MM) while signing free agents Keith Yandle (Seven years, $44.45MM), Jason Demers (Five years, $22.5MM) and James Reimer (Five years, $17MM) to long-term deals.
With it, the team has created cap certainty in a world where that’s very valuable from year to year, and has built a core that is easily a playoff contender every season. With no one cracking $8MM per season (Ekblad comes the closest at $7.5MM) they’ve also ensured that they won’t have too much money tied up in a single player or pair like many of the other cup contenders around the league.
Bob McKenzie of TSN was first to report the sides were close, and Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reported it was done.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Las Vegas Adds Scott Luce To Front Office
Late last night the Las Vegas expansion franchise announced that they had hired another former director of player personnel to their front office, this time in the form of Scott Luce. The former Florida Panther director will now serve in the role of director of amateur scouting for the Vegas franchise, a role which he should excel at.
Luce has spent time as a scout for the Panthers, Lightning and Senators over his hockey career, one that has spanned more than three decades. A goalie in his playing days, Luce made it all the way to the AHL with the Rochester Americans in 1990-91 before calling it a career a year later.
He was fired from the Panthers early this summer when the team decided it needed a shake-up in their front office, despite coming off the most successful season in their history. The team shuffled the chairs and Luce was left without a seat when the music stopped, even though he’d been a huge part of the turnaround in Florida.
Aaron Ekblad, Vincent Trocheck, Erik Gudbranson, Nick Bjugstad, Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau are just a few of the names that Luce had been instrumental in drafting over the past few years, building a young core almost unrivaled among other NHL teams. While no scout has a perfect record, Luce seems to be a well respected judge of talent and will be another strong signing by GM George McPhee and the group in Las Vegas. If the team is to succeed they’ll need strong drafts in their first few years, giving young players for the city to latch onto.
Panthers Notes: MacKenzie, Reimer, Huberdeau
Today marked another long-term extension for the Panthers, as the team locked up 25-year old Reilly Smith for another five seasons. It’s the latest in a series of big moves the Panthers have done as they build their team to compete for the short and long term. In a series of tweets, play-by-play announcer and Fox Sports Florida reporter Steve Goldstein gives us some insight into the rest of their summer:
- Assistant captain Derek MacKenzie is currently an unrestricted free agent but seems destined to head back to Florida at some point. Goldstein describes it as a formality, and expects him to be around for the next few seasons. MacKenzie is regarded highly in the Panther dressing room, and provides some toughness to their bottom six.
- Newly signed goaltender James Reimer may play in as many as 35 games this season even without an injury to starter Roberto Luongo. With Luongo’s advanced age, the team will look to protect him for a long playoff run. Reimer signed for five seasons and is expected to take the reins at some point down the road.
- GM Tom Rowe expects to get a long-term extension done at some point with forward Jonathan Huberdeau. The former third overall pick represents the last of the young group Florida has built, and due to some savvy cap management, the team will have money for him going forward. Huberdeau scored 20 goals and tied for third on the team in points last season with 59.