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Kraken Defenseman Carson Soucy Likely Headed To Free Agency

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Another player that is likely headed to the free agency market is defenseman Carson Soucy. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff is reporting that the Seattle Kraken and the hulking defenseman had discussions about an extension, but it appears that at this point he is going to unrestricted free agency and will be in a new uniform next season.

This past season Soucy finished last in Kraken defensemen for points and ice time, however, he will still be a significant loss on the backend for Seattle. Together with offensive defenseman Justin Schultz, they formed one of the top third-defensive pairings in the NHL last season, which is what will ultimately price Soucy out of Seattle.

Soucy had three goals and 13 assists in 78 games last season and while he will never an offensive defenseman, he may be paid like one given that he’ll be entering a very weak free-agent market for defensemen. Soucy can bring a lot to a new team, he can play on both sides of the ice, has a bomb from the point, and is a good penalty killer. The one caveat to Soucy’s recent success is that he’s played sheltered minutes for the past two seasons. If a team pays him like a second-pairing defenseman, they might be very disappointed with the results.

Given what is known about Soucy’s game it seems unlikely that a team will dramatically overpay him. Daily Faceoff is projecting a three-year contract for him with an average annual value of $2.5MM, while The Athletic is projecting a $2.6MM annual value also on a three-year deal. Those numbers are more in line with a third pairing defensemen and that is a role the Soucy can flourish in as demonstrated by the past two seasons.

Andre Burakovsky Placed On Injured Reserve; Justin Schultz Activated

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After playing just a single shift on Tuesday, Seattle Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky has been moved to injured reserve. The team has activated Justin Schultz and recalled John Hayden to fill his roster spot.

Burakovsky, 28 (today!), is having an outstanding season in his first year with Seattle, scoring 39 points in 49 games so far. That had him on pace to break the career-high 61 points he set last year with Colorado, though this injury may now end that dream.

It’s unclear how long he will be out, but Burakovsky must miss at least a week with his placement on IR. Though the team did not confirm, it looked like a non-contact injury against the New York Islanders, which always draws a little more attention as a possible long-term issue. The team said yesterday that he is still being evaluated, but a quick move to injured reserve is not promising.

At least the team is getting Schultz back, who last played on January 17. The 32-year-old defenseman has averaged just over 18 minutes a night for the Kraken but does have 24 points in 42 games, already passing the total he had in a full season with Washington in 2021-22.

Schultz has been a strong puck-moving option in the NHL for years, and that hasn’t changed in Seattle, where he has recorded excellent possession numbers in their up-tempo style. Getting him back will at least help soften the blow of Burakovsky’s absence, though it certainly won’t make up for it.

Seattle Kraken Recall Max McCormick; Place Justin Schultz On IR

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The Seattle Kraken have moved Justin Schultz to injured reserve, as he deals with a week-to-week designation. In his place, Max McCormick has been recalled from the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

McCormick’s recall will cast doubt on the status of Matty Beniers, who was injured last night after Tyler Myers of the Vancouver Canucks threw him to the ice. Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times reports that Beniers wasn’t available for the third period.

That’s not to say the recall is undeserved. McCormick has been outstanding for Coachella, serving as captain and scoring 42 points in 38 games so far. The 30-year-old journeyman minor leaguer has transformed his game over the years, going from a physical instigator to a legitimate top-line AHL talent.

We’ll see if some of his former self appears in the NHL though. In 93 career NHL games, McCormick has 97 penalty minutes, including nine fighting majors. In ten appearances last season for the Kraken he failed to score a point.

Snapshots: Schultz, Bortuzzo, Kapanen

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The Kraken have been without Justin Schultz for the last week and it appears they’ll be missing him a little longer as team reporter Bob Condor mentions that the defenseman is now listed as being out week to week.  Schultz has done well in his first season with Seattle, notching 24 points in 42 games so far, already surpassing his point total from a year ago in 32 fewer contests.  With the All-Star break upcoming, it appears the earliest he’ll be able to return is February 5th.  For the time being, the team is keeping Schultz on the active roster.  If they need to open up a roster spot, they’ll be able to place him on injured reserve retroactively to the date of injury which means he could be activated at any time.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo could return at some point on their current road trip, relays NHL.com’s Lou Korac (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last two-and-a-half weeks with a lower-body injury sustained against Montreal.  Bortuzzo doesn’t produce much offensively – he has just one point in 30 games this season – but is still a serviceable stay-at-home option on their third pairing.  Louis has an open roster spot at the moment so whenever he is eligible to be activated, they won’t need to make room for him.
  • Penguins winger Kasperi Kapanen returned to practice today in a non-contact jersey, notes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He has been out for the last week with an undisclosed injury and while the 26-year-old declined to go into specifics, he did call it “something that I didn’t expect to turn into something bigger”.  Kapanen had been scuffling a bit offensively before the injury, notching just a single goal in his last 19 games but he still has 17 points in 35 appearances this season despite logging less than 12 minutes a night.

Seattle Kraken Recall Gustav Olofsson

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December 18: The Kraken announced this morning that they have reassigned Olofsson to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The defenseman got into two games during this recall, recording a pair of hits and four blocked shots during that time.

December 12: With the Seattle Kraken down two key defensemen, Gustav Olofsson has been recalled from the minor leagues. This will be his second recall of the season, after previously seeing a week of NHL action in November.

Jamie Oleksiak is still serving his three-game suspension for a check to the head of Alexander Alexeyev, and will miss tomorrow’s match against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Thursday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The more concerning absence is that of Justin Schultz, who was forced from yesterday’s game against the Florida Panthers after a hit from Ryan Lomberg. There has been no word yet from the Department of Player Safety on whether Lomberg will receive a hearing for the hit, which resulted in a five-minute major and a game misconduct.

If Schultz is out for any length of time, Olofsson could get a chance to see meaningful NHL action for the first time in several years. The 28-year-old defenseman suited up once earlier this season but has just four NHL appearances since 2017-18, when he played 41 games for the Minnesota Wild. A minor league veteran at this point, he has five points in 15 games for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Justin Schultz Expected To Sign With Seattle Kraken

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Former Washington Capitals defenseman Justin Schultz is expected to head to the Seattle Kraken on a two-year deal worth roughly $3MM per season, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

It had been long rumored that the Kraken would be after an offensive defenseman who could help them on their powerplay and help them in transition. Schultz is exactly that, having made his career around his offensive abilities since breaking into the league in 2012-13. Schultz’s offensive production isn’t what it once was, with his 23 points in 74 games representing a sharp decline from his 27 points in 46 games last season.

But even with that in mind, one has to remember that the kind of profile Schultz brings isn’t exactly easily found on the market. Defense-first, crease-clearing defensemen are more common on the open market than ones with fifty-point seasons on their resumes, so Schultz is perhaps the most suitable option for the Kraken if they did not want to dip into the deep end of the market and acquire a player like John Klingberg.

The biggest risk with this signing, though, is in Schultz’s health. Schultz has struggled to play consistently in recent years, and has not been able to cross even the 70 games played mark since 2016-17. At a $3MM price tag, the Kraken will not only need Schultz to be productive, they’ll also need him to be healthy. That’s a major risk to take for a player who just turned 32 years old. Kraken GM Ron Francis entered this offseason with a clear mandate: improve the Kraken offensively. Schultz is his first choice in that quest, and it’s a big swing. Time will tell if it works out.

East Notes: Senators, Capitals, Johnson

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While the Senators made a big splash yesterday with the acquisition of winger Alex DeBrincat, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch relays (Twitter links) that there are still a pair of priorities for Ottawa – adding a defenseman and moving Matt Murray with talks intensifying on that front.  He adds that winger Connor Brown and blueliner Nikita Zaitsev could be players on the move.

Brown isn’t likely to sign an extension after suggesting he’d like to test free agency when he’s eligible next summer and at $3.6MM, he’d carry some trade value after being a key two-way player.  Zaitsev, meanwhile, has two years left at a $4.5MM AAV and might be used to match salaries in a move for a defender.  Murray blocked a trade to Buffalo on Thursday but the Senators are still looking to get out from the two years at $6.25MM per season left on his deal but will almost certainly need to pay down a fair-sized portion of that to facilitate a move.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Capitals have interest in retaining pending unrestricted free agents Justin Schultz, Marcus Johansson, and Johan Larsson, notes Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription link). With Schultz, however, the 32-year-old blueliner would need to take a pay cut from the $4MM he made over each of the last two years for a deal to be done.  Schultz is coming off a bit of a quiet year by his standards where he notched 23 points in 74 games.  The other two forwards were trade deadline acquisitions and fit in well with El-Bashir highlighting that the possibility of Larsson returning could be tied to Carl Hagelin’s situation with his availability for next season up in the air.
  • Sabres prospect defenseman Ryan Johnson will make his decision on whether or not to turn pro following their upcoming Development Camp, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The 2019 first-round pick has one more year of college eligibility remaining and the team could interpret him staying at the University of Minnesota as an indication that he may be interested in testing free agency next summer.  If that’s the case, Buffalo could look to move his rights in the coming weeks.  If Johnson opts for free agency next August and his rights aren’t traded, the Sabres would receive the 64th pick in the 2024 draft as compensation.

Washington Capitals Announce COVID Absences

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The Washington Capitals have made a number of transactions in response to several players entering the COVID protocol. The team has announced that Daniel Sprong, Justin Schultz, Nick Jensen, Vitek Vanecek, Dennis Cholowski, and Martin Fehervary are all unavailable due to COVID protocol. Pheonix Copley and Michal Kempny have been recalled to the active roster, while Lucas Johansen, Alex Alexeyev, and Brett Leason have all been assigned to the taxi squad.

The Capitals are scheduled to play on Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators, but now are now without a good chunk of their roster. Evgeni Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom were on the ice for practice, according to J.J. Regan of NBCS Washington, a good sign that they will be eligible to return for the upcoming game.

With the COVID absences continuing across the league, however, the schedule is certainly not written in ink. The Capitals, like any other team, will have to wait and see whether their upcoming games are affected.

Schultz Placed On Injured Reserve; Eller Returns From COVID Protocol

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The Washington Capitals have moved Justin Schultz to injured reserve, after the veteran defenseman left Wednesday’s game with an upper-body injury. Schultz had already missed the Capitals last game and his IR stint is likely retroactive to November 24, meaning he could return partway through next week if healthy.

The team has not announced a recovery timeline, but moving Schultz to injured reserve would open a roster spot for Lars Eller who is set to return from the COVID protocol and play this afternoon. Eller has missed six games, last playing on November 14 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The two-way center had eight points in his first 15 contests and is an important piece of the Capitals lineup.

Schultz meanwhile has been moved down in the lineup this season, averaging just over 17 minutes a night before exiting early in his last game. The 31-year-old has just two points in 20 games this season, a far cry from the 27 he registered in 46 during the 2020-21 campaign. Still an effective enough option at even-strength, Schultz will be missed for the next few games even if he’s not relied on to the same level as years past.

In his place, Dennis Cholowski moved into the lineup on Friday night and played just over 16 minutes. The 23-year-old former Detroit Red Wing has just two games at the NHL level this season.

East Notes: Reinhart, Capitals, Carlo, Gostisbehere

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As a result of the Sabres losing Jack Eichel to injury plus Eric Staal and Curtis Lazar to trades, the Sabres were forced to put Sam Reinhart back at center, a position he hasn’t played at much over the last few seasons.  As Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald points out, that position change has sparked the 25-year-old as he has 10 goals and five assists in 16 games since the move heading into tonight’s game against Boston.  Reinhart is a restricted free agent for the final time this summer after avoiding arbitration last fall with a one-year, $5.2MM deal.  That number represents his qualifying offer and if the team believes he can be a regular down the middle moving forward, he’d enter those contract discussions with a bit more leverage.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Capitals defenseman John Carlson was a late scratch for tonight’s game due to a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He’s listed as day-to-day.  Carlson is currently tied for second on Washington in scoring with 10 goals and 32 assists in 49 games.  The Caps did get some good news on the back end though as Justin Schultz returned after missing three straight with a lower-body injury of his own.
  • Boston blueliner Brandon Carlo is hoping to return next week, relays Eric Russo of the Bruins’ team website. It has been a rough couple of months for him; after returning from a concussion suffered on a hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson, he then suffered an upper-body injury in his second game back in April 1st and hasn’t played since.  Carlo is averaging 18:29 per game this season in 23 contests.
  • Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is expected to return to practice on Friday and could be available to return as soon as Saturday, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. He has missed two straight games (including tonight’s contest) with a sprained knee.  After a rough first half of the season, he quietly has 11 points in his last 21 games.

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