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Josh Archibald

Injury Notes: Penguins, Archibald, Bunting

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have listed both Casey DeSmith and Rickard Rakell as day-to-day following their exits from last night’s marathon game one, according to Josh Yohe of The Athletic. The team has recalled Alex D’Orio from the minor leagues, giving them another healthy goaltender while Tristan Jarry continues to rehab his own injury.

Notably, D’Orio is the only other healthy goaltender the organization has signed to an NHL contract. Filip Lindberg hasn’t played since sustaining an ankle injury in November (and has just seven games of professional experience) and Tommy Nappier, the other AHL netminder, is on a minor league deal. The team is certainly walking a tightrope at the moment, especially given the 23-year-old D’Orio has never appeared in the NHL and split the year between the AHL and ECHL.

  • While not exactly an injury, there’s been a change in status for Josh Archibald according to Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. One of the few unvaccinated players in the league, Archibald would have been unable to travel with the Oilers for games three and four of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings. Now he can, as Archibald now has a medical exemption due to his myocarditis diagnosis according to Woodcroft, who spoke with reporters including Daniel Nugent-Bowman. The bottom-six forward is expected to enter the lineup tonight as the Oilers go back to a more traditional 12 forwards and six defensemen.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs will get some reinforcements of their own, as Michael Bunting will make his playoff debut this evening. The 26-year-old rookie found instant chemistry on the top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner this season, resulting in an impressive 23-goal, 63-point campaign. He’ll essentially take the spot of Kyle Clifford–who earned a one-game suspension on Monday–but slot in quite a bit higher in the lineup.

Josh Archibald To Be Activated Off LTIR

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After what’s been a season-long doubt with myocarditis, Edmonton Oilers winger is expected to come off long-term injured reserve, per The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. He could be an option to play for the team in the coming days.

In order to make room on the active roster, forward Colton Sceviour and goalie Stuart Skinner were assigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors today, according to Nugent-Bowman.

However, the games he’s legally able to play in after his return could be limited. Archibald is still unvaccinated against COVID-19, and due to border complications and local restrictions, it’s unclear how available Archibald could actually be for the team.

Over the past two seasons, Archibald had played 114 games for the Oilers, tallying 19 goals and 15 assists for 34 points. Now 29, Archibald will have to compete in what’s become a crowded Oilers bottom-six group.

Snapshots: Archibald, Reimer, Mantha

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Josh Archibald has not played a single game at any level this season but is in Edmonton skating after dealing with myocarditis. Mark Spector of Sportsnet sent out a string of tweets today updating the depth forward’s status, including confirming that Archibald is still unvaccinated.

Because of how difficult that makes it for him to play with the Oilers or go on a conditioning loan to the Bakersfield Condors due to cross-border travel, Spector expects Archibald to be traded to a U.S.-based team at some point and suggests his time as an Oiler is effectively over. The 29-year-old forward is a pending unrestricted free agent in the second season of a two-year contract that carries a $1.5MM cap hit. He scored seven goals and 13 points in 52 games last season.

  • James Reimer is considered out week-to-week according to head coach Bob Boughner, who spoke with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Reimer’s injury further explains why the San Jose Sharks traded for–and subsequently recalled from the AHL–Alex Stalock. Adin Hill is still out with an injury, though Boughner explained that the goaltender “felt good” this morning. Losing Reimer is a pretty hefty blow to the Sharks’ fortunes, as the veteran netminder was having a nice bounce-back season and has a .916 save percentage in 34 appearances.
  • Peter Laviolette wouldn’t confirm whether the Washington Capitals would have Anthony Mantha back in the lineup tonight, but he has been activated from injured reserve. Should he play, it would be his first game since leaving a match against the Florida Panthers on November 4 and just his 11th of the season. The 6’5″ forward had six points in his first ten games before going down and could be a trade deadline-like addition for the scuffling Capitals.

Pacific Notes: Gaudreau, Archibald, Golden Knights

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Earlier this week, Flames assistant GM Craig Conroy expressed confidence that the team would be able to re-sign pending UFA winger Johnny Gaudreau in an interview on Sportsnet 960 (audio link), going as far as saying “Oh, that’s a done deal. We’re going to get that done”.   However, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli notes that there haven’t been any substantive conversations of late between the two sides, suggesting a new contract isn’t as close as Conroy’s comments might infer.  Gaudreau is on pace for a career year offensively with 20 goals and 44 assists in 50 games which has him well-positioned to land a sizable raise on his current $6.75MM AAV as he will be one of the top players to hit the UFA market if he remains unsigned into mid-July.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • Oilers winger Josh Archibald has been given a clean bill of health from doctors after his bout with myocarditis, reports Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. However, it’s still believed that his COVID vaccination status would limit his usefulness to Edmonton as he’d basically be restricted to Canadian-based games only.  Accordingly, the pending UFA – who carries a $1.5MM cap hit – may be more useful on a team based out of the United States although his trade value would certainly be limited.  Archibald is currently quarantining and will need some time to get into playing condition so he can remain on LTIR for the time being.
  • The Golden Knights have activated defenseman Zach Whitecloud from injured reserve, notes Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 25-year-old had missed the last six games due to a broken foot and has become an important part of their back end, logging more than 19 minutes a game.  While Whitecloud returns, Vegas has also transferred goaltender Robin Lehner and forward Nolan Patrick to injured reserve.

Edmonton Oilers’ Josh Archibald Diagnosed With Myocarditis

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TSN’s Ryan Rishaug reports that Edmonton Oilers forward Josh Archibald has been diagnosed with myocarditis and is out indefinitely. The diagnosis comes after it was revealed Archibald contracted COVID-19 over the summer.

It was revealed last month by general manager Ken Holland that Archibald entered training camp as the only unvaccinated member of the Oilers. Just days ago, head coach Dave Tippett announced that Archibald was being held out of camp, saying he “[wasn’t] feeling like he should be.”

The 28-year-old right wing carries a cap hit of $1.5MM. Due to the nature of the condition, he’ll likely be placed on long-term injured reserve and could very well miss the entire season.

Archibald’s spent the last two seasons in a depth role for the Oilers, playing on the third and fourth lines for the most part. He’s tallied 19 goals and 34 points in 114 games as an Oiler.

Over the course of his career, the sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011 has bounced around the league, now on his third team after making a stop with the Arizona Coyotes in between. He currently sits with 39 goals and 70 points in 235 games.

Archibald becomes the third player under NHL contract to miss time due to a COVID-related heart condition. Oilers netminder Alex Stalock will miss the entire campaign this year after contracting COVID-19 during last season, while the Wild’s Marco Rossi is returning to play after missing an entire year due to the condition.

Josh Archibald Dealing With Medical Issue

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The Edmonton Oilers have another preseason tilt tonight against the Winnipeg Jets but still won’t have depth forward Josh Archibald in the lineup. Head coach Dave Tippett told reporters today that Archibald is getting blood work done to try and solve a mysterious medical issue:

Arch has skated for a few days and is having some tests done. He just can’t seem to get himself up to speed, he’s not feeling like he should be. The last couple days he’s had some testing done and we’re waiting for the results of that. He’s just not getting up to speed like he should be, so we just want to check where he’s at. He’s set back a couple days here. 

Archibald is the only player on the Oilers that declined the COVID-19 vaccine, but Tippett confirmed that he has tested negative every day. The head coach also suggested Archibald actually might be currently ineligible to receive the vaccine because of this health issue even if he decided to get it now. The priority now is on the current health of the 28-year-old forward.

Entering the second season of a two-year, $3MM contract that was signed in 2020, Archibald has shown he can be a valuable bottom-six player for the Oilers. After scoring 12 goals in his first season in Edmonton, he came back with seven goals and 13 points in 52 games last year. While his playing time was certainly not guaranteed given the additions the team has made and the vaccination status that would keep him from traveling with the team at certain points, losing him entirely would certainly not be ideal at this juncture.

If Archibald is held out for this medical issue, it could be an opportunity for Colton Sceviour, in camp on a professional tryout, to land an NHL contract. The team will already be executing a delicate long-term injured reserve dance to get cap compliant, which should open enough room for another depth signing like Sceviour if there is a roster spot to be had.

Snapshots: Jets, Makar, Archibald

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The Winnipeg Jets have a deep forward unit, a revamped defense, and one of the best goaltenders in the world, yet they are still sometimes left out of the conversation when it comes to contenders for the 2022 Stanley Cup. Perhaps that’s because they’re from a market in snowy Manitoba that has less than a million people, but it’s also because this same core has disappointed over each of the last three postseasons, reaching the second round just once only to be swept out by the Montreal Canadiens.

If you think that the window may be closing on the key group in Winnipeg, you’re not alone–they know it too. Connor Hellebuyck told reporters today including Murat Ates of The Athletic that the Jets are “not getting any younger” and their “time is running out.” Captain Blake Wheeler will play this season at age-35, while he, Mark Scheifele, and Hellebuyck all have only three years remaining on their respective contracts. The rest of the roster isn’t as young as it once was and there’s no guarantee they are going to be better in the years to come than they are right now. There’s optimism that the Jets can be one of the best teams in the league this season, but they also have some pressure to perform while the clock is ticking.

  • When Cale Makar graced the ice today in a non-contact sweater, Colorado Avalanche fans panicked wondering what happened to their star defenseman. Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Peter Baugh of The Athletic that Makar had a procedure in the offseason and the team will take their time getting him up to speed. Bednar didn’t seem concerned, explaining that Makar would be “good to go” soon enough.
  • Josh Archibald has been confirmed as the Edmonton Oilers player that has declined the COVID-19 vaccination, meaning he may miss 30 or more games this season depending on travel restrictions. Archibald wasn’t on the ice today as he finished a quarantine, but is expected to join his teammates tomorrow. Duncan Keith, who was recently vaccinated in the U.S., will not participate in camp until next Friday as he finishes his own quarantine.

Josh Archibald Receives One-Game Suspension

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The decision needed to be made quickly with Winnipeg and Edmonton playing again tonight and the ruling is in.  Oilers winger Josh Archibald has received a one-game suspension for his hit on Jets defenseman Logan Stanley on Sunday night, the Department of Player Safety announced (video link).

With 8:49 left in the third period, Archibald was called for tripping on a low-bridge hit on Stanley.  In the league’s announcement, they determined that it met the criteria to be called clipping, calling Archibald’s hit “excessively low” while it is illegal to dip at or below knee level to deliver a hit.  To make matters worse, the Jets scored on the man advantage to make it 4-2, then added two more to tie up before overtime where Nikolaj Ehlers potted the winner to give Winnipeg a 3-0 series lead.

This is the second suspension of Archibald’s career as he also received a two-game ban back in 2018 for a hit to the head on Ryan Hartman who was with Nashville at the time.  Meanwhile, Edmonton will likely turn to one of James Neal Alex Chiasson, or Dominik Kahun to take Archibald’s place in the lineup; both were healthy scratches on Sunday night after playing the first two games of the series.

Josh Archibald To Have Disciplinary Hearing

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Oilers winger Josh Archibald made a costly mistake on Sunday night that played a large role in them blowing the lead and there could be more consequences as the Department of Player Safety announced that he will have a disciplinary hearing on Monday.

With 8:49 left in Sunday’s game, Archibald was called for tripping on a low-bridge hit on Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley; the league called it clipping in their press release.  The Jets scored on the ensuing man advantage and added two more shortly thereafter to eliminate a 4-1 deficit before Nikolaj Ehlers scored the winner in overtime.

A decision will need to be made fairly quickly on whether or not the hit is suspendable.  With the North Division starting their playoffs later than everyone else, each first-round series has a back-to-back set of games in it.  Edmonton and Winnipeg’s is tonight so there won’t be much time for George Parros to decide Archibald’s fate.

Pacific Notes: Sutter, Leivo, Archibald

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One thing of note Saturday was when the Vancouver Canucks passed on a second potential buyout window. A buyout would only have applied to players making more than a $4MM AAV, which meant the only player that it likely would have applied to was center Brandon Sutter. However, the Canucks opted not to make a move to buy him out, according to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma.

Sutter, who is entering the final season of a five-year, $21.9MM contract that he signed back in 2015, hasn’t been particularly effective the last two years as injuries have kept him to just 70 games over the two seasons, although he did manage to appear in all 17 playoff games during the most recent playoffs. He finished the 2019-20 season with eight goals and 17 points in 44 games. However, at $4.38MM AAV, the team could have benefitted from a buyout with the team’s cap situation extremely tight. A buyout would have saved the team $2.33MM in cap space this season. However, the team wouldn’t have benefitted much, especially considering they would have to replace Sutter in the lineup somehow. On top of that, the team lost a significant amount of leadership after Chris Tanev and Jacob Markstrom left via free agency. Having Sutter in the locker room is worth something as well.

“We have to be careful that we take everything into consideration before we start buying people out,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning. “He kills penalties and plays a match-up role and losing him would be a big void in the room.”

  • Sticking with the Canucks, Kuzma reports that the team and Benning did offer Josh Leivo, who signed with the Calgary Flames on Saturday, a similar deal. The 27-year-old who played parts of the last two seasons for the Canucks decided against staying. He was acquired midseason in 2018 from the Toronto Maple Leafs and missed the second half of this past season after he suffered a fractured knee cap. He had seven goals and 19 points in 36 games. Leivo signed a one-year deal at $875K with Calgary.
  • Much credit went to Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland who signed unqualified forward Josh Archibald last offseason and saw him thrive. Despite being a perfect candidate for the fourth-line right wing position, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins writes that with so many right wings on the roster, he wouldn’t be surprised if the team asked Archibald to move to his off wing and take up a spot on the team’s third line alongside newly signed Kyle Turris and Jesse Puljujarvi. Archibald has showed a knack for offense with 24 goals over the past two seasons and could provide that line with some much needed grit.

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