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Kevin Labanc

Injury Notes: Crouse, Heiskanen, Labanc, Zucker

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It’s bad news for Lawson Crouse and the Arizona Coyotes, as Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports that the forward suffered a broken bone in his hand when blocking a shot last night. Crouse, 24, was having the best season of his career, setting career highs in goals (20) and points (34) through 65 games. The big winger is also a restricted free agent at the end of the year, meaning every goal he scores meant a bigger ask through the arbitration process, if not extended before then.

Morgan adds that Crouse is expected to undergo further evaluation this week, but could miss the rest of the season. Here are some more injury notes from around the league:

  • Miro Heiskanen will be back for the Dallas Stars tonight, head coach Rick Bowness told reporters including Saad Yousuf of The Athletic. He won’t carry his normal load, playing just 15-17 minutes with “situational” partners, as he returns from a bout with mononucleosis. The 22-year-old defenseman normally plays close to 25 minutes, but hasn’t suited up since March 2, and will be eased back into the lineup. It’s certainly good timing for the Stars, who have gone 5-5 in their last ten and risk losing their place in the Western Conference playoff chase if they can’t get back in the win column.
  • San Jose Sharks forward Kevin Labanc could be in the lineup as soon as this weekend, according to Corey Masisak of The Athletic, but the forward will consult with the doctor who performed his recent surgery before being completely cleared for action. Labanc went under the knife in December to repair a dislocated shoulder and has played just 21 games so far this season.
  • Jason Zucker has been cleared for contact and re-joined the Pittsburgh Penguins group in a regular sweater today. Head coach Mike Sullivan called it a “significant step in the process” for the veteran forward, who has played just one game since the middle of December and just 31 total this season. Notably, the Penguins were 13-2-1 in the last 16 games Zucker played before going down to injury and will certainly look like an even deeper forward group when he’s back at full-strength.

West Notes: Blackhawks, Lehkonen, Labanc, Highmore

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The Blackhawks welcomed one center back tonight but found themselves without another.  The team announced (Twitter link) that Tyler Johnson has been cleared from concussion protocol and activated off IR while Kirby Dach was a late scratch with a non-COVID illness.  It has been a tough first season in Chicago for Johnson after coming over from Tampa Bay as injuries have limited him to just 14 games where he has just a goal and two assists while averaging a career low in ice time at just 12:41 per night.  As for Dach, he has also had a quiet year offensively, notching 23 points in 63 games despite being a fixture in their top six.

Elsewhere around the Western Conference:

  • The wait is over when it comes to Artturi Lehkonen making his Colorado debut as the team announced (Twitter link) that the winger’s immigration has been approved, paving the way for him to suit up against Calgary on Tuesday. The 26-year-old was brought in at the trade deadline in exchange for prospect defenseman Justin Barron and a 2024 second-round pick and he’s expected to play a key role on the third line for the Avalanche down the stretch.  Lehkonen has 16 goals and 13 assists in 58 games this season.
  • The Sharks could get winger Kevin Labanc back at some point next week, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The 26-year-old has been out since undergoing shoulder surgery back in mid-November.  It had been a disappointing season for Labanc prior to the injury as he had just three goals and three assists in 21 games and with San Jose ten points out of a playoff spot heading into Monday’s games, his return will be more about trying to rediscover his offensive form over helping a late playoff push.
  • Matthew Highmore’s upper-body injury will keep him out of Vancouver’s lineup on a week-to-week basis, relays Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has 10 points in 39 games this season.  The Canucks recalled William Lockwood on an emergency basis last week to take Highmore’s spot but if they wanted to bring another player up for extra depth, they’d have to use one of their four post-deadline regular recalls.

Kevin Labanc To Undergo Surgery

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The San Jose Sharks have been without Kevin Labanc since he left last week’s game against the Dallas Stars in the first period, and it appears as though they will be without him for a considerable amount of time moving forward. Sharks’ head coach Bob Boughner told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News that Labanc will undergo surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder.

The 26-year-old forward has been a disappointment for much of this season, registering just three goals and six points in 21 games so far. His minutes have been slashed and Boughner even made him a healthy scratch recently, telling the media that Labanc “needs to be better.” He does, if he’s going to live up to the $4.725MM cap hit that he carries, but it won’t be now as a shoulder surgery like this is usually comes with a months-long recovery timeline.

In just the second season of a four-year, $18.9MM contract he signed in 2020, Labanc hasn’t come close to the 17-goal, 56-point season he registered in 2018-19. Last year he potted just 12 goals in 55 games, not exactly the development the Sharks were expecting when they locked him up long-term. Now with this injury, 2021-22 looks like it will be an extremely disappointing season as well, not exactly the ideal situation when the contract is back-loaded, and will see his salary jump to $5.875MM for next year.

San Jose obviously does have an in-house replacement for Labanc in Evander Kane, though it still seems as though he won’t be putting on a Sharks jersey anytime soon.

Ryan Hartman Avoids Suspension, Earns Fine

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The Department of Player Safety has decided that Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman’s slew foot on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ross Colton did not rise to the level of a suspension, issuing a $4,250 fine instead. The fine is the maximum allowable under the CBA, based on Hartman’s current salary.

The incident, which occurred late in the first period on Sunday night and resulted in a tripping penalty for Hartman. He then received an additional five-minute major for fighting when Zach Bogosian engaged him almost immediately after he exited the penalty box. Colton avoided a serious injury on the play and ended up seeing nearly 16 minutes of ice time in the game.

Slew-footing has become something of a trend in the NHL this season, with several different players earning fines or suspensions for incidents similar to the one that happened in Tampa Bay. Just last week, Kevin Labanc received a one-game suspension for nearly the same thing, with the league including the explanation that “what causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the speed the players are traveling and their proximity to the boards.” Perhaps in the Hartman case, they did not feel it included those same factors.

Kevin Labanc Suspended One Game

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The Department of Player Safety has decided to issue a one-game suspension to San Jose Sharks forward Kevin Labanc for his slew foot on St. Louis Blues forward Tyler Bozak last night. As the accompanying video explains:

It is important to note that there are many occasions during the course of a game where players use either their legs or stick and upper body to restrain or impede opponents, or to gain leverage during a puck battle. In the vast majority of these circumstances, these plays can be adequately punished by in-game penalties.

What causes this play to rise to the level of supplemental discipline is the speed the players are traveling, and their proximity to the boards. 

The league notes that Labanc has not been fined or suspended in the past, which would have been taken into account when determining the length of this suspension. So too would an injury to Bozak, but the Blues forward was fortunate to not suffer a serious injury on the play.

Bozak did note how upset he was about the play, calling it “dangerous” and noting that he was lucky to not suffer an injury in that situation. Labanc insisted that he did not purposely deliver the slew foot, telling reporters he was just trying to battle hard.

Kevin Labanc To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Department of Player Safety has some work to do today, as Kevin Labanc of the San Jose Sharks will have a hearing to determine supplementary discipline for his slew foot of Tyler Bozak last night.

Labanc received a two-minute minor for tripping on the play, which happened partway through the first period. Bozak appeared to escape serious injury.

Slew-footing has been a point of note with fans around the league this season, with P.K. Subban at the center of several incidents that resulted in injury. While Subban has only received fines to this point, a hearing suggests that Labanc will receive at least a one-game suspension.

For his part, the Sharks forward told Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group that it was not intentional and he was “just trying to battle hard.”

San Jose Sharks Remove Seven Players From COVID Protocol

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As suggested by the team’s AHL assignments this morning, the San Jose Sharks have removed seven players from the COVID protocol. Kevin Labanc, Erik Karlsson, Timo Meier, Jacob Middleton, Matthew Nieto, Radim Simek, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic have all been removed from the protocol and added back to the active roster. Head coach Bob Boughner, head trainer Ray Tufts and equipment manager Mike Aldrich have also all been removed from the protocol.

Sasha Chmelevski, Joel Kellman, Artemi Kniazev, John Leonard, Ryan Merkley, Jaycob Megna, and Nicolas Meloche have all been assigned to the AHL. Nicholas Merkley, who had also been recalled with this group, remains with San Jose for the time being.

It’s obviously a huge moment for the Sharks, as they receive a good portion of their regular lineup back in time for tomorrow’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. The team is sitting at 7-5-1 on the season and is still well within striking range of the division playoff spots. Getting back key options like Labanc, Karlsson and Meier will only help them as they try to chase down the teams ahead of them.

Activating the group from the protocol is also a good sign that the team has this outbreak behind them, or at least contained. The activated players were actually able to skate in recent days, though they would not have been able to join the team in Canada given their recent positive tests. They’ll now be able to join the group in Denver, nearly two weeks after originally entering the protocol.

Snapshots: Sharks, Killorn, Neal, Chiasson

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With the pre-expansion trade freeze now just a week away, trade talk will be picking up around the league.  Kevin Kurz of The Athletic notes (subscription link) that the Sharks are a team that is active in those discussions with winger Kevin Labanc, defenseman Radim Simek, and center Dylan Gambrell at the forefront of those discussions.  Labanc underwhelmed in the first season of a four-year, $18.9MM deal with 12 goals in 55 games, Simek is on the expensive side for a third-pairing defenseman with a $2.25MM price tag, while Gambrell, a pending RFA, didn’t produce much this season – just 12 points in 49 games despite averaging over 16 minutes a game.  Kurz adds that San Jose’s preference is to make a player for player swap; speculatively speaking, any deal involving the first two players would be seeking to bring in a cheaper replacement to give them some more financial flexibility.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Lightning winger Alex Killorn should be fully recovered for training camp, relays Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. The veteran fractured his fibula blocking a point shot in the opening game of the Stanley Cup Final and has already undergone surgery.  While he was hoping to get back into the lineup later in the series had it gone that far, the recovery time for this injury is closer to three to four weeks.
  • After Edmonton was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, Oilers GM Ken Holland strongly suggested a buyout or two was in the cards for his roster. However, his agent Kent Morris told Postmedia’s Jim Matheson that he hasn’t received a notification from the team yet about veteran winger James Neal heading down that path.  A buyout of the final two years remaining on the contract for the 33-year-old is likely with Neal notching just five goals and five assists in 29 games this season but such a move may not come until after expansion.
  • Morris also spoke about another Oilers client, telling Matheson in that same column that pending UFA winger Alex Chiasson would like to stay and that the team hasn’t yet shut a door on his return. Having said that, it seems likely that they’ll look at their options in free agency before potentially circling back to the 30-year-old who has managed just 20 goals over the last two seasons combined after scoring 22 times in his first season with the team.

USA Hockey Announces World Championship Roster

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The IIHF World Championship roster is always a little different. Because the tournament takes place during the NHL playoffs, many players are unable to attend. Many others choose not to participate because of injuries they sustained during the season, meaning there are often some interesting choices that compete for their country.

This season is perhaps even more difficult for U.S. Men’s National Team general manager Chris Drury. Not only does he have injuries and the postseason to deal with, but many players haven’t seen their families for months and just want to spend some quality time at home. With that in mind, this year’s team has both players not yet drafted and others that have already aged out of the NHL.

The full roster is as follows:

G Jake Oettinger
G Cal Petersen
G Anthony Stolarz

D Adam Clendening
D Matt Hellickson
D Zac Jones
D Connor Mackey
D Matt Roy
D Ryan Shea
D Matt Tennyson
D Chris Wideman
D Christian Wolanin

F Justin Abdelkader
F Matthew Beniers
F Colin Blackwell
F Brian Boyle
F Sasha Chmelevski
F Ryan Donato
F Jack Drury
F Conor Garland
F Kevin Labanc
F Trevor Moore
F Jason Robertson
F Eric Robinson
F Kevin Rooney
F Tage Thompson

The U.S. team will be coached by Jack Capuano. The tournament kicks off on May 21 in Riga, Latvia.

Trade Deadline Primer: San Jose Sharks

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We are now less than a week away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the San Jose Sharks.

Earlier this season, it appeared as if the San Jose Sharks were in for another disappointing year. The club wanted to use the shortened 2020-21 campaign to evaluate their core and the early returns were not encouraging. However, the past few weeks have changed everything. The Sharks are 6-3-1 in their past ten games, including four straight wins. In the meantime, the St. Louis Blues have continued to slump while four of the Sharks’ recent wins have come against the Los Angeles Kings. Suddenly, San Jose finds themselves in contention for a playoff spot in the West Division, just three points back with a game in hand on the fourth-place Arizona Coyotes.

With that said, some recent luck is not going to change the Sharks’ plans for the season. The team is not going to give up major assets for short-term help just on the off-chance that they can sneak into the playoffs where the West’s daunting top three teams await. The core is still in the process of proving themselves and San Jose likely wants to see if they have the pieces in place to be a playoff team once again, knowing that rentals will not put themselves over the top this season. This does not mean that the Sharks will sit back at the deadline though; the club has some fringe pieces on expiring contracts that they could look to deal away and there are some needs beyond this season that they may discover a chance to address. In short, San Jose is unlikely to stand pat, but don’t expect them to sell off anything more than rental pieces or to acquire any major rental help of their own.

Record

17-16-4, .514, T-5th in East Division

Deadline Status

Light Seller/Opportunistic Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$2.41MM in full-season space ($10.74MM at the deadline), 0/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2021: SJS 1st, SJS 3rd, SJS 4th, SJS 5th, SJS 6th, SJS 7th
2022: SJS 1st, SJS 2nd, SJS 3rd, SJS 4th, SJS 6th, MIN 7th

Trade Chips

In terms of rentals, the Sharks do not have much to offer other buyers. However, for that same reason they will probably not hesitate to move any of their expiring contracts if there is interest. None of the Sharks’ impending UFA’s are anything more than depth pieces, in San Jose or elsewhere. The Sharks’ ability to retain salary if need be could result in some better trade returns, but there isn’t much to get excited about.

Among the rental group, veteran goaltender Devan Dubnyk is likely their most valuable trade chip, if only because he is one of a small number of available net minders with postseason experience. The Sharks’ plan to combine Dubnyk and Martin Jones and hope one will rediscover their starter status has not really worked out. Jones has improved marginally this year, but Dubnyk has been a bust. The 34-year-old has an .898 save percentage and 3.18 GAA thus far, resulting in just three wins on the year. Dubnyk will not command much of a return unless the scarcity of goalies creates a bidding war. There are certainly those in San Jose who would like to see Jones traded, but that move won’t happen at the deadline, if it ever happens at all.

Up front, Patrick Marleau is the biggest name, but not likely to be the most valuable. Sure, Marleau brings more experience and leadership than most in the game, but he did not work out as a rental for the Pittsburgh Penguins last year and that was even after finding decent success with the Sharks pre-trade. The 41-year-old has been a non-factor this season with just six points 37 games and may not even have any suitors. Making the playoffs one last time with the Sharks would probably mean more than another go-round as a rental for the respected veteran. The real name to watch among San Jose’s expiring forwards is Marcus Sorensen. Although his production has been poor this season, Sorenson is a good two-way forward and notched 17 goals and 30 points just two years ago. Contenders looking for fourth line options could do worse than Sorenson. Matthew Nieto and Kurtis Gabriel are other bottom-six forwards who could have value, but Nieto is currently injured and Gabriel has become a well-liked locker room presence for the Sharks this year, so neither is a lock to leave.

Others to Watch For: D Fredrik Claesson ($700K, UFA), F Fredrik Handemark ($925K, UFA), F Stefan Noesen ($925K, UFA), F Antti Suomela ($700K, UFA), D Nick DeSimone ($700K, Group 6 UFA)

Team Needs

1) Term Forward – Even if the Sharks don’t venture into true “buyer” territory, they still need to keep their eyes open for possible forward additions for next season – or more accurately, for the Expansion Draft. San Jose is in a tough situation when it comes to meeting the exposure requirements of the impending draft. Currently, they have just five forwards who meet the games played and term criteria and all five will almost certainly be protected: Logan Couture, Evander Kane, Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl, and Kevin Labanc. They have zero forwards who can meet the exposure requirements simply by playing more games this season. This means that the Sharks must add two forward before the draft, either by re-signing or acquisition. Their extension candidates, who would qualify by only signing on for another year, include Sorenson, Marleau, and Nieto – any of whom could be traded and none of whom appear to be part of the Sharks’ future – and Dylan Gambrell and Rudolfs Balcers, who would seemingly be competing for the seventh and final protection spot. As a result, it seems more likely than not that San Jose will need to make an addition before June and they may as well add some additional help before the deadline, especially if the likes of Sorenson, Marleau, or Nieto head out of town. The Sharks could honestly use another long-term top-six forward, especially with the futures of Kane and Hertl in doubt, if they do decide to take a bigger swing at the deadline.

2) Goaltender – If the Sharks do trade Dubnyk, they won’t have much choice but to add another goaltender. The club likes young keepers Alexei Melnichuk and Josef Korenar, but the duo’s AHL numbers show that they are not ready for NHL backup duty this year and probably not next year either. San Jose could look for a cheaper rental to replace Dubnyk or they could look for a goalie with term or an impending free agent that would warrant an extension. The Sharks have previously been linked to the Florida Panthers’ Chris Driedger.

3) Prospect Defensemen – If the Sharks are not successful in landing valuable draft picks in exchange for their rentals, they should target defensive prospects. While San Jose has some nice young defensemen at the NHL level, the pipeline is all but bare behind polarizing Ryan Merkley. The team desperately needs to add bodies on the blue line, especially with an aging core in the NHL and the potential to lose a roster defenseman in the Expansion Draft.

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