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West Notes: Krug, Olofsson, Eller

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St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug is set to return to the lineup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, head coach Craig Berube told reporters today. It ends a brief absence stemming from a lower-body injury.

It’s been a bumpy road for Krug in 2022-23, who’s missed significant portions of the season. This is the fifth separate occasion he’s missed time with a lower-body injury, including a 13-game-long absence through December and January. Krug’s ice time has dipped below 20 minutes this season, and his -28 rating is tied for the worst on the team. He’ll return to his usual spot alongside Justin Faulk.

  • After being sent down yesterday, the Dallas Stars have brought forward Fredrik Olofsson back up from the minors. The 26-year-old has been a frequent call-up as of late, and he’s recorded a goal and three assists in 15 games with Dallas on top of 14 points in 37 games with AHL Texas. Olofsson will draw back into the lineup tomorrow against the Vegas Golden Knights as Luke Glendening and Joel Kiviranta remain sidelined with injuries.
  • The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun covered the Washington Capitals’ trade deadline plans in his latest piece and listed pending unrestricted free agent center Lars Eller as a potential fit for the Colorado Avalanche. Eller’s offense has taken a step back this season, recording just seven goals and 16 points in 58 games, but he’d be good depth insurance for an Avalanche team that’s thin at center. As Colorado begins to string wins together ahead of the trade deadline, they hope some depth additions combined with healthy stars propel them back into the “contending” category of teams.

 

Evening Notes: Boeser, IIHF/Russia, NHLPA Leadership

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After the Bo Horvat trade yesterday, the floodgates appear to be opening on the trade front. That’s especially true for the Vancouver Canucks, who have some desirable trade assets other than Horvat that could find their way out of town by the trade deadline.

One of those is Brock Boeser, who TSN’s Darren Dreger said today continues to receive interest from around the league. However, he reported that any Boeser trade, and the corresponding interest, hinges on how much salary Vancouver is willing to retain in a potential trade. Boeser is signed to a steep cap hit of $6.65MM for the next three seasons. With so many teams already dipping into LTIR pools to stay cap-compliant, Vancouver is unlikely to find a trade partner willing to take the full brunt of the deal. The 25-year-old has nine goals and 30 points in 41 games this season. That’s a 60-point pace over 82 games.

Latest On St. Louis Blues Defensemen

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After St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug left last night’s game midway through the first period with a lower-body injury, Blues head coach Craig Berube said today that he expected Krug to be out for “some time” (link). The loss of Krug is yet another in a growing list of St. Louis defensemen who are out with injury, joining Nick Leddy, Robert Bortuzzo, and rookie Scott Perunovich. Krug has been an important piece for a deep Blues team this season, playing a pivotal role on their powerplay while averaging 20:33 in time-on-ice in the regular season. No timetable, beyond Berube’s comments, has been given.

Looking at those other three names, returns for Leddy, Bortuzzo, and Perunovich could be fairly soon. According to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who spoke with Berube, Perunovich is a possibility for Game Four against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday (link). Perunovich had been out since January 15th with a left wrist injury, which ultimately required surgery in March. The young defenseman’s regular season would end after just 19 NHL games, in which he tallied six assists.

A return for Leddy and Bortuzzo does not appear to be as imminent as that of Perunovich, however the pair did practice Saturday with St. Louis. Still, as Thomas reports, the team will have to wait and see on their status. Leddy, who played in Game One, missed games Two and Three against Minnesota with an upper-body injury. It’s unclear what exactly the nature of Leddy’s injury is, however he did take an awkward hit into the boards during Game One from the Wild’s Matt Boldy. Bortuzzo’s injury was more clear, having taken a puck to his face while attempting to block a shot during Game Two.

There was concern about Justin Faulk, as the defenseman did not practice with the team on Saturday. However, Thomas reports, Faulk’s absence was merely for rest, after playing heavy minutes in last night’s game. Faulk was not only one of the Blues’ best players this season, but one of the league’s best, recording 16 goals and 31 assists in 76 games along with a stellar plus-41 rating, all while averaging 23:12 time-on-ice.

St. Louis Blues Announce Several Roster Moves

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The St. Louis Blues continue to move players on and off the roster in an attempt to stay salary cap compliant while they deal with injuries and COVID absences. Today, several transactions were processed to make the puzzle pieces together. The team has moved David Perron to long-term injured reserve, while putting Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn on normal injured reserve. Tyler Bozak and Justin Faulk have been activated from the COVID protocol, while Alexei Toropchenko has been recalled.

Perron’s LTIR designation is retroactive to November 27, just after the last game he played in, meaning he won’t have to wait much longer if he is healthy enough to return. LTIR requires a player to miss either ten games or 24 days (whichever is longer), meaning he could potentially return for the Blues’ game next Tuesday. That gives the team some time to operate with the extra cap relief and hopefully get Jordan Binnington back out of the COVID protocol.

Faulk and Bozak’s return is a huge positive, given how the protocol affects a team’s cap. Their hits still counted toward the $81.5MM cap ceiling despite being unavailable, leading to the Blues playing shorthanded several times. If they’re healthy enough to return, it will be a big help while figuring out the rest of the roster.

Toropchenko meanwhile will be facing his NHL debut should he get into a game. The 22-year-old forward has nine points in 22 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds this season after spending last year in the KHL. The 6’3″ winger hasn’t shown a huge amount of offensive upside, but can add another big body to the Blues’ bottom-six–something head coach Craig Berube has used consistently since arriving in St. Louis.

Justin Faulk Enters COVID Protocol

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The St. Louis Blues announced Thursday, just minutes ahead of their game against Tampa Bay, that defenseman Justin Faulk has been placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

Faulk, who’s in the second year of a seven-year, $45.5MM contract, is having his best season in a Blues uniform. He leads the team in +/- (+9) and is tied for the team lead in points among defensemen (10), all while averaging more than 23 minutes per game.

He joins forward Tyler Bozak and goalie Jordan Binnington as the Blues on the protocol list. James Neal, Klim Kostin, and David Perron are all injured, adding to their list of absences.

Jake Walman will dress against Tampa Bay in place of Faulk. He’s played in 14 games this season, notching two assists.

Roster Freeze Notes: Sharks, Flames, Dunn

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With NHL Expansion Draft protection lists due at 4:00pm CT today, the league has enacted a freeze in all roster transactions that goes into effect in less than an hour from now at 2:00pm CT and lasts through Thursday morning after the Expansion Draft is complete. NHL teams are not taking this deadline lightly; numerous reports suggest that the trade market is no less than a complete frenzy right now as teams look to use their expansion flexibility (or lack thereof) to make deals before the clock runs out. Bally Sports’ Andy Strickland spoke with an agent who said he has never seen so many players available for trade from so many teams.

One team that seems poised to make a move are the San Jose Sharks. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that the Sharks are attempting to add a goalie before the deadline. San Jose is likely to expose expensive, underperforming starter Martin Jones in the Expansion Draft and seemingly would be open to exposing young Josef Korenar as well if they can add another legitimate NHL goaltender worth protecting. Not many teams across the league have the luxury of adding a goalie before the expansion process begins, so the Sharks are trying to take advantage of a goalie market with far more sellers than buyers.

  • The Sharks are certainly not alone in pushing for a last-minute deal. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that among the most active teams are the Winnipeg Jets, who are shopping Mason Appleton, the Calgary Flames, and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks appear to be specifically targeting a landing spot for restricted free agent defenseman Nikita Zadorov, Garrioch notes. There has been some speculation that Chicago was not enthused about Zadorov’s asking price or potential arbitration award, but don’t necessarily want to expose him to Seattle and lose him for nothing in return. The Flames are far less single-minded; Garrioch calls the roster “unsettled” and believes that many players could be up for grabs.
  • St. Louis Blues defenseman Vince Dunn is out there in current trade discussions as well, reports Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic.  The 24-year-old has been in trade speculation for the last couple of years now but expansion could be the pressure point to get something completed.  Many expect St. Louis to use the standard protection scheme which allows for seven forwards and three defensemen.  The three blueliners expected to be protected in that scenario are veterans Colton Parayko, Torey Krug, and Justin Faulk which would leave Dunn unprotected and seemingly a prime target for the Kraken.  They could go to eight skaters to protect Dunn but would then leave three more forwards available to Seattle.  Accordingly, if the Blues want to get an asset for Dunn, today may be the last chance that can happen.

West Notes: Thomas, Blues, Kadri, Pacioretty

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The St. Louis Blues have struggled mightily in its first-round playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche with little offense to show for itself. The team has scored just five goals over three games and needs some players to step up.

Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that one player the team needs more from is Robert Thomas. The 21-year-old looked like a promising youngster in his second season last year when he posted 10 goals and 42 points, but has struggled this year after missing 19 games with a broken hand, hasn’t produced on the ice. The center scored just three goals and 12 points in 33 games and has just two secondary assists so far in the playoffs.

“I think he’s gotta play with more energy and confidence in my opinion,” said Blues coach Craig Berube. “That’s a big thing I think I see with him, is the energy level’s a little low for him. He’s gotta find a little more emotion in his game and go out and play with some energy and emotion in the game. It’s hard to play the game in the playoffs without energy and emotion. And if he gets his energy levels up and gets more emotionally involved in the game, he’s gonna play better.”

  • Sticking with the Blues, injuries continue to be a problem for St. Louis. Berube said that the team will be without Vince Dunn, Robert Bortuzzo and Justin Faulk for a pivotal Game 4, the team announced. There is a chance that Jake Walman could be available for the game, and Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports he will play in Game 4 after coming off the COVID-19 protocol list. Dunn is expected to miss his 15th straight game with an upper-body injury. Bortuzzo and Faulk will each miss their second straight with upper-body injuries.
  • John Shannon of NHL.com reports that there still is no decision from forward Nazem Kadri about whether he intends to appeal his  suspension. Kadri received an eight-game suspension Friday after his hit on Faulk in Game 2. If Kadri wants to appeal, it would go into the hands of commissioner Gary Bettman. If he doesn’t like Bettman’s response, it could go to a third-party arbitrator, but that could take quite a bit of time, according to the scribe. A decision likely will be made later today.
  • Still no word on the status of Vegas Golden Knights’ Max Pacioretty as Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen reports that the top-scoring winger remains day-to-day. In fact, the forward has been day-to-day with an undisclosed injury since being injured on May 1. “We don’t know game to game whether he’ll be in, but it’s turned into obviously longer than we hoped,” said head coach Peter DeBoer.

Nazem Kadri Offered In-Person Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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May 21: The hearing has been scheduled for this afternoon.

May 20: It has happened again, Nazem Kadri will be suspended in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche forward was given a match penalty and a five-minute major for his hit on St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk last night and today was offered an in-person hearing with the Department of Player Safety. The in-person hearing gives the league the option to suspend Kadri for more than five games, a likely situation given his history.

Kadri, 30, has been suspended five times in his career, including twice in the playoffs when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2019, he was banned for the remaining five games of the Maple Leafs first-round series against the Boston Bruins for a cross-check on Jake Debrusk.

The incident occurred in the third period of last night’s game. As Faulk received a drop pass in the high slot and tried to release a shot, Kadri came across the middle and delivered a hard check. The blow appeared to catch Faulk’s head, as he spun and stayed down on the ice. Faulk would leave the game and the Blues did not yet update his status.

This kind of incident is a big part of the reason why the Maple Leafs traded Kadri, despite him being a very impressive player at both ends of the ice. In 56 games this season he scored 11 goals and 32 points, giving the team some strong depth scoring and physicality. The Avalanche will likely have to navigate the rest of the first round without him.

NHL Requests Further Salary Deferral From Players In 2020-21

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As the NHL continues to work with the NHLPA’s Return to Play Committee on plans to begin the 2020-21 season, the league has requested more financial concessions from the players. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the NHL is seeking an additional 13% of salary deferral on 2020-21 player salaries. This is in addition to a 10% deferral and 20% escrow written into the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the 2020-21 season.

The league’s request means that players would see 23% of their salary, post-escrow, deferred to the future in order to help owners with the reality of reduced revenue in another season impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. For those who like equations, that means players would be paid y=.77*(.8x), with x being the player’s total compensation in 2020-21. For those who dislike equations, they would be making about 62% of their salary this season, at least for those whose signing bonuses do not exceed 62% of their total compensation. Brooks writes that he is unsure whether this request is an ultimatum by the league or a starting point for negotiations. It is also unclear if the additional 13% of deferred salary would be treated the same as the initial 10%, which will be paid out to each player in three equal installments in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski adds that league sources have stated that under no circumstances will owners pay their players for a full 82-game season when it seems like a near certainty that the 2020-21 campaign will be considerably shortened. Of course, the existing 10% of salary deferral is already paying players for the equivalent of a 74-game season. An additional 13% of salary deferral would still pay players the equivalent of a 63-game schedule, which seems fair considering the minimum number of games has reportedly been set at 48 by the league while the hope is that it will be closer to 60 games. In either case, players will still receive their salary beyond what they would be paid on a per-game basis.

If deferred salary is still up for negotiation, the two sides need to get moving on hammering out the details. If the league hopes to begin on New Year’s Day, players have just a matter of weeks to return to their NHL cities to quarantine before training camps can open in December. There are still a lot of details to be worked out and the owners’ financial concerns are just one small part.

Fortunately, the two sides have been in communication and it seems the NHL and NHLPA have been in agreement on many goals and possible terms for a return to play. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun adds that the NHLPA’s player representatives on the Return to Play Committee are as follows: David Backes, Darren Helm, David Savard, Justin Faulk, Lars Eller, Sam Gagner, Justin Abdelkader, Ian Cole, Zach Hyman, Ron Hainsey, Claude Giroux, Ryan Dzingel, Andrew Copp, Alex Biega, Chris Kreider, Mark Scheifele. Hopefully this group can work with the league to get NHL hockey back as soon as possible and in a format that is safe and effective for the coming season.

Blues, Alex Pietrangelo Discussing New Deal

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While word emerged last month that the Blues had advised their captain Alex Pietrangelo to test the open market, the two sides have re-engaged in conversations in the hours leading up to the opening of the market, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link).  They have already lost the ability to offer him an eight-year deal, however, and are now capped at offering seven like any other team.

Rutherford cautions that no real progress has been made in talks at this point but it appears that St. Louis is willing to be more flexible in the structuring of their offer.  The team does not offer signing bonuses or no-move clauses but perhaps there is some wiggle room in that area now as they look to make a last-ditch effort to keep Pietrangelo.

With roughly $5MM in cap space to work with, St. Louis would need to clear out some salary to be able to afford to keep the 30-year-old around.  Rutherford reports that it’s believed teams are willing to take on the final year of Tyler Bozak’s $5MM deal but that the Blues would need to provide an incentive to clear out the center.  Justin Faulk’s $6.5MM pact for seven seasons could also be in play but again would require a sweetener to move.  Those options will only likely be considered if St. Louis can keep their top defender in the fold by getting Pietrangelo to sign on the dotted line.

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