Joonas Korpisalo Sent To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been getting Vezina-type goaltending for the last month, but haven’t even had their presumed starter healthy. Elvis Merzlikins took over the net and is performing at an All-Star level, but now the real All-Star, Joonas Korpisalo, is on his way back. Korpisalo, who hasn’t played since the end of December, has been loaned to the AHL for a conditioning stint as he prepares to return to action.
The 25-year old has missed 22 games with a knee injury, but actually wasn’t placed on injured reserve until today. That allowed the Blue Jackets to send a goaltender down on off days to keep them fresh, while Merzlikins handled almost all of the NHL work.
Before his injury, Korpisalo had been playing extremely well. After a shaky start as the No. 1 goaltender in Columbus, he had posted a .932 save percentage over his last month with a 7-2-3 record. That earned him a nomination to the All-Star Game, though he could not attend. In his place, Merzlikins has kept up that incredible play, posting a .924 save percentage in 29 appearances including five shutouts.
When Korpisalo returns, the Blue Jackets will have a tandem with the ability to be one of the best in the league. Whether they decide to let them share the net is unclear, but after such a frustrating season injury-wise, it will be nice to have some added depth at the position.
Kole Sherwood has also been assigned to the Cleveland Monsters.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Penguins, Miller
The Metropolitan Division is well represented in the NHL’s Three Stars of the Week, as the league announced that the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and the Blue Jackets’ Elvis Merzlikins have been named the first and second stars, respectively. Ovechkin is no stranger to the honor, but was certainly deserving of recognition once again with a whopping eight goals in three games, including back-to-back hat tricks. The 34-year-old trails only David Pastrnak in the NHL goals race right now and is eight goals away from cracking 700 in his career. Meanwhile, Merzlikins is brand new to both the NHL and any sort of league recognition. The young goaltender, who dominated the Swiss ranks for many years, got off to a rocky start this season after signing with Columbus last spring. However, he has performed admirably in the place of injured All-Star Joonas Korpisalo, including winning each of his past four start with three shutouts mixed in. In 20 appearances on the year, Merzlikins is now up to a .928 save percentage and 2.36 GAA in an impressive rookie campaign. The third star of the week belong to another familiar name, Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. Toews shook off a cold spell, recording three goals and nine points in four games this week, extending his point streak to six games. As Toews goes, so do the Blackhawks, who have been surging of late back into the postseason conversation.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are among the top-five NHL teams in man-games lost this season and first in lost production due to injury. However, they have weathered the storm, not just maintaining through their losses, but actually improving. Now, they are getting healthy once again, with Sidney Crosby now back (and red-hot) and defenseman Justin Schultz getting close, per a team report. Schultz was cleared for full participation in practice today and appears ready to go, but stated that he and the team will be “smart” with the decision, especially with the All-Star break approaching and the opportunity for even more rest if they opt not to rush him back this week. Meanwhile, after leaving Sunday’s game, Dominik Simon has avoided any lasting injury, the Penguins The same can’t be said for Dominik Kahun, who suffered a head injury and has entered the concussion protocol. That just seems to be how things have gone for Pittsburgh this year though – for every player back to full strength, there’s another player sidelined.
- One of the Penguins’ biggest rivals for the Eastern Conference title could be getting a somewhat forgotten player back in the mix. The Boston Bruins, after not having an update on defenseman Kevan Miller for some time, surprised the media by stating that he returned to the ice with the team yesterday. Miller has not played a single game this season, nor has he even been part of the active roster. The veteran defenseman has suffered multiple setback in his return to health after a litany of injuries last season. Should he reach the point that he is fully able to return to action, the Bruins would welcome him back, despite their logjam on the blue line, as Miller would bring the physicality and checking ability that the team has been missing too often this year. Of course, his return could pose some cap problems in addition to roster questions, but given Miller’s inability to get healthy this season, that is a bridge that the team will cross if and when they come to it.
Blue Jackets Notes: Recent Surge, Bjorkstrand, Wennberg
No team in the NHL is hotter than the Columbus Blue Jackets in the new year. Columbus is 8-2-0 in their past ten games, which includes three shutouts and a pair of wins against the Boston Bruins. The team has now crept their way into the top wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, jumping ahead of the likes of Philadelphia, Carolina, and Toronto. Even more impressive is that the Blue Jackets have made this run while missing many of their best players: starting goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, top scorer Cam Atkinson and fellow forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand, Josh Anderson, and Alexandre Texier, and defensemen Ryan Murray and Dean Kukan. With those players on their way back to health – Atkinson made his return on Thursday – one would think that Columbus has a chance to not only sustain their success, but possibly even improve upon it.
Yet, the question then becomes whether the team can really buy in to this season after the events of 2018-19. Last year, the Blue Jackets went all in, trading away Anthony Duclair, two top forward prospects, a first-round pick, two second-round picks, and three additional picks to load up with rentals Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid, and Keith Kinkaid. The team also opted not to move their own impending free agents in Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky. Although Columbus stunned the Tampa Bay Lightning with a first-round sweep, the first playoff series win in franchise history, they fell in the second round and lost each of those six free agents in the off-season. If the Blue Jackets are again in a position only to battle for a wild card spot down the stretch, can the team risk another season of lost prospects and draft capital? Only time will tell how long the team can continue this dominant stretch and what position they may be in by late next month, but another active trade deadline would be a difficult hit to the team’s pipeline.
- Columbus’ best bet may be to depend on their internal options to get healthy and play to the best of their abilities. The team announced a step in the right direction today, as Bjorkstrand has been activated from the injured reserve and will return to action for the first time since December 22. Bjorkstrand is actually returning earlier than his expected four-to-six week timeline, healing quickly from broken ribs. Bjorkstrand was on pace for a career year prior to his injury, with 23 points in his first 36 games. The 24-year-old winger was embracing his increased responsibility and Columbus has to hope that he can continue to excel in his elevated role the rest of the year. With Bjorkstrand back, Kevin Stenlund is the odd man out, reassigned to the AHL.
- If the Blue Jackets are to lean on their existing roster this season for a playoff run, another intriguing situation will be the trade status of Alexander Wennberg. Wennberg has been on the trade block since early last season and in the minds of many hockey pundits remains a player that Columbus would like to move. The young center has not lived up to the long-term extension the team signed him to back in 2017, which carries a $4.9MM cap hit for three more years beyond this season. However, as opposed to last season when Wennberg recorded only 25 points and was scratched a handful of games, Wennberg too has embraced his increased role in the wake of free agent departures and injuries this year. The 25-year-old has played in all but one game for the Blue Jackets, recording 20 points. This puts him on pace for 34 points on the year, a sharp uptick from last season. It also makes him a top-six scoring forward for the team so far this year. Can Columbus afford to move out a player in such an important role this year for only salary cap purposes when they are trying to make it back to the postseason?
Kris Letang, Tristan Jarry Named To Metropolitan All-Star Team
The NHL’s 2020 All-Star roster announcement on December 30th was poor timing when it came to the Metropolitan Division squad. The following day, it was announced that Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo had undergone surgery on his right knee following an injury in his previous game and would require a four-to-six week recovery period, all but ruling him out for All-Star festivities. Within hours, it was reported that his would be All-Star teammate, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel, would require surgery on his shoulder for an injury that he too had just suffered in his last game would miss four-to-six months. Neither player would be available in St. Louis and the Metropolitan team would need replacements.
With Guentzel out, the Pittsburgh Penguins – who have missed more man-games than any team in the NHL this season – were without an All-Star representative. The NHL has now rectified that situation. The league has announced that breakout goaltender Tristan Jarry and veteran defenseman Kris Letang have been named the substitutes for Guentzel and Korpisalo at the All-Star Game and Skills Competition.
Jarry, who made just two NHL appearances last year and has less than 50 games to his credit through five pro seasons, is nevertheless worthy of an All-Star nod in recognition of his play this season. Jarry has been dominant by any measure through 20 games with the Penguins, to the point that he has supplanted incumbent Matt Murray as the team’s starter. At this point in time, Jarry holds the league’s best numbers across the board with a .935 save percentage, a stunning 1.99 GAA, and three shutouts to boot. Jarry looks to be developing into the real deal and this may end up being the first of many All-Star appearances for the young netminder.
Letang, a five-time All-Star, is a good choice for recognition any year, but has really stepped up offensively in the wake of many injuries for the Penguins, including long absences for both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Letang is on pace for a career-high 22 goals to go along with 57 points, despite the fact that he too missed eight games due to injury. Letang is as dynamic a talent on the back end as any defenseman in the league and will be a major asset for the Metropolitan squad in both skills contests and 3-on-3.
Joonas Korpisalo Undergoes Surgery
John Tortorella won’t be happy. The Columbus Blue Jackets announced today that All-Star goaltender Joonas Korpisalo underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee and will be out four to six weeks.
Korpisalo was injured in a shootout against the Chicago Blackhawks, one that Tortorella believed shouldn’t have even happened thanks to a time clock mistake at the end of overtime. Whether he’s right in that belief or not, he’ll have to deal with the fact that his starting goaltender is now out for at least a month.
Selected to the All-Star game as one of the Metropolitan Division goaltenders, Korpisalo has been as hot as any netminder in the league of late. The 25-year old took over for the departed Sergei Bobrovsky this season and has posted a .913 save percentage in 32 appearances. He will most likely miss that All-Star appearance now, giving an opportunity to someone like Tristan Jarry or Semyon Varlamov as a replacement.
NHL All-Star Selections Announced
Although it took some time, with each individual team rolling out their own selections, the final rosters for All-Star Weekend have come into focus. Below are each of the four divisional team, set to face off in the Skills Competition on Friday, January 24th and the All-Star Game on Saturday, January 25th:
Atlantic Division
G Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
G Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
D Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
F Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings
F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
F Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
F Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
F Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins (C)
Metropolitan Division
G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
G Joonas Korpisalo, Columbus Blue Jackets
D John Carlson, Washington Capitals
D Dougie Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes
D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
F Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
F Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
F Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils
F Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
Central Division
G Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche (C)
F Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
F Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
F Eric Staal, Minnesota Wild
Pacific Division
G Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
G Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes
D Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
F Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
F Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (C)
F Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
F Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks
F Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames
Additionally, each divisional squad will have one more addition as decided by the Last Men In fan vote. Voting opens on January 1st and closes on the 10th. Here are the candidates:
Atlantic Division – Patrice Bergeron, Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Larkin Aleksander Barkov, Max Domi, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Steven Stamkos, Mitch Marner
Metropolitan Division – Teuvo Teravainen, Nick Foligno, Nico Hischier, Brock Nelson, Mika Zibanejad, Claude Giroux, Kris Letang, T.J. Oshie
Central Division – Jonathan Toews, Cale Makar, Jamie Benn, Ryan Suter, Matt Duchene, David Perron Patrik Laine
Pacific Division – Ryan Getzlaf, Clayton Keller, Johnny Gaudreau, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Drew Doughty, Tomas Hertl, Quinn Hughes, Max Pacioretty
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Matiss Kivlenieks
12:30pm: Korpisalo will be out “weeks” according to Tortorella, who also admitted to Hedger that his comments were undisciplined.
9:12am: After Joonas Korpisalo was injured in last night’s game, the Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Matiss Kivlenieks under emergency conditions. Korpisalo was injured in a shootout that head coach John Tortorella believes should never have even happened, after a clock issue late in overtime. Tortorella may be facing some discipline for his remarks, as NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that the comments were “unprofessional along with unacceptable.”
The focus now however is on Korpisalo, who has been excellent for the Blue Jackets lately and has them back on the playoff bubble in the Eastern Conference. While they still sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division, Columbus’ 42 points are just six shy of Carolina for the final playoff spot.
Kivlenieks meanwhile is having an inconsistent season with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL in his third full professional campaign. The 23-year old goaltender carries an .894 save percentage in 15 appearances, well behind his partner Veini Vehvilainen. If Korpisalo misses any length of time, you can bet Elvis Merzlikins will get the first chance to take the NHL net.
Morning Notes: Three Stars, Wildcats, Czechs
The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, with a new name gracing the top spot. Florida Panthers forward Noel Acciari has been given the honor after scoring back-to-back hat tricks and seven total goals in three games. The 28-year old had never scored a hat trick in the NHL previously, making this quite the week.
Second place went to a familiar name in Roman Josi after his six-goal week from the Nashville Predators blueline, but third was another new face. Joonas Korpisalo of the Columbus Blue Jackets put up the best week of his short career, going 4-0 with a .939 save percentage and showing that he may be capable of handling the starting role going forward. The 25-year old goaltender is 16-10-3 on the season after the Blue Jackets watched veteran starter Sergei Bobrovsky leave via free agency.
- According to Mikael Lalancette of TVA Sports, the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL have a new head coach. Daniel Lacroix, a former enforcer and long time NHL assistant coach has taken the job, returning to the team that he worked with for several years after retirement. Lacroix actually served as head coach for a short time in the 2004-05 season but will now get a chance to really take control of the squad after they parted ways with John Torchetti earlier this month.
- The Czech Republic World Junior team has been finalized, after they cut five players earlier today. Jaroslav Broz, Filip Koffer, Martin Lang, Miroslav Kukla, and Jan Bednar have all been sent home. Bednar is just 17 and will likely be back at the tournament next season, given his status as a top goaltending prospect for the 2020 draft.
Metropolitan Notes: Flyers’ Offense, Hornqvist, Tanev, Merzlikins
With a modest 10-6-4 record, the Philadelphia Flyers sit in tied for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. One thing holding the team back is their lack of scoring, far behind teams like the Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes and the injury-riddled Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sam Carchidi of Philly.com suggests that one of the biggest problem is the lack of production from some of their top-six players, including Kevin Hayes, James van Riemsdyk and Jakub Voracek. It’s been even worse in the last 10 games, even though Philadelphia has gone 5-2-3 in that span. Regardless, Philadelphia has scored just 25 goals, for an average of just 2.5 goals per game in their last 10.
Hayes, who signed a seven-year, $50MM deal this offseason, has score zero goals and is minus-eight in his last 10 games. Van Riemsdyk has just one goal in his last 11 games, while Voracek also has failed to score in his last 10 games.
“We’re working on getting better as a group,” head coach Alain Vigneault said. “We’re not where I think we can get to, but we are working extremely hard and we’ve got a lot of faith that we’ll be able to get there.”
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Matt Vensel reports that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist participated at practice for the first time since he suffered his lower-body injury on Nov. 2. The 32-year-old worked on his own before the Penguins practiced and wore a gray, non-contact jersey during the light practice. With the practiced focused mainly on the power play, Hornqvist did not participate in those drills. “He’s making significant progress. Obviously, the fact that he joined the team in a non-contact jersey is an indication of that,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “With the limited time I had an opportunity to watch him … I thought he looked pretty good.”
- The Athletic’s Josh Yohe (subscription required) wonders if the Penguins should consider moving fourth-line forward Brandon Tanev up in the lineup permanently. The team’s free-agent acquisition was moved up in the lineup recently due to the Penguins’ rash of injuries and has played well. His performance Saturday against Toronto was impressive two as the 27-year-old had two assists, four hits and a plus-two and made a positive impact.
- NHL.com’s Jeff Svoboda notes that while Joonas Korpisalo has received the majority of appearances for the Columbus Blue Jackets in net, that may change. Backup Elvis Merzlikins may be seeing more time soon. Their stats lately have been almost identical. Korpisalo in his last five games has a 2.40 GAA and a .919 save percentage, while backup Merzlikins has a 2.45 GAA and a .919 save percentage. “Elvis is improving,” head coach John Tortorella said. “That comes into some decision making for me as we go through here because I have to monitor everything with those two guys because of just the situation we’re in. We’ll see where it goes.”
Metropolitan Notes: Crosby, Korpisalo, Wahlstrom
The Pittsburgh Penguins got another injury scare — something the team is starting to get used to. This time, it was Sidney Crosby who left the third period of Saturday’s game against Chicago with 18:51 remaining in the game with an undisclosed injury. TribLive’s Seth Rorabaugh reports that there has been no report on Crosby’s status with the next update likely to come on Monday.
A team that is already with defensive star Kris Letang, the team would not want to be without Crosby, the team’s leading scorer who has 17 points in 17 games this season and a vital cog to the team’s success.
- After Columbus Blue Jackets’ goaltender Joonas Korpisalo received a warning from head coach John Tortorella on Oct. 26 when he attacked a goalpost with his stick in a rage after allowing a key goal. Tortorella replied to the press that it wouldn’t happen again. However, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) writes that Kopisalo was at it again Saturday night after giving up a goal to Nazem Kadri to give Colorado a 4-2 lead with 2:06 remaining in the game. The 25-year-old immediately slashed at the goalpost with his stick and then fished out the puck and sent it down the ice in another angered rage, something that likely didn’t please Tortorella at all. Coincidentally, the Blue Jackets recalled Elvis Merzlikins Sunday in response, despite the fact that the young goalie was expected to spend more time in Cleveland to work on his game. He only made one appearance with the Monsters so far. According to reports, Merzlikins has a good chance at getting the starting nod against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
- When some speculation that the New York Islanders might have seen the last of prospect forward Oliver Wahlstrom for the rest of the season, that may in fact be the case, according to comments made by head coach Barry Trotz. Wahlstrom was assigned to the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers Friday after he had reached his ninth game with the NHL squad, meaning if he appeared in one more game, he would burn the first year of his entry-level contract. Wahlstrom didn’t necessarily make the most of his chances as he averaged just 10:17 of ATOI and failed to register a point for the team. Trotz confirmed that Wahlstrom must continue to work on his game, according to Newsday’s Andrew Gross. “He’s a young player who’s got loads of skill and he’s gotten this far on loads of skill. Now he’s got to learn the game,” said Trotz. “At every level he’s been a talent, he’s been the biggest, strongest sort of the most talented guy. Well, no one has really taught him the game for the most part.”