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Kris Letang

Minor Transactions: 1/25/2017

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PHR will recap the day’s minor roster transactions in this post. Please check back throughout the day for updates.

  • With Stefan Noesen now a member of the New Jersey Devils after being claimed on waivers, Anaheim Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle indicated to The Orange County Register’s Eric Stephens that the team will recall forward Kalle Kossila from San Diego of the AHL. Kossila was inked by Anaheim as an undrafted free agent after completing his senior season with St. Cloud State University. The 23-year-old Finn, who has yet to appear in an NHL regular season contest, has registered nine goals and 27 points in 33 AHL games this season.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed defenseman Steve Oleksy on waivers, according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. The 30-year-old blue liner has seen action in nine games this season with Pittsburgh, tallying a single assist. In 71 career NHL games, Oleksy has recorded three goals and 20 points. Counting Oleksy, the Penguins have seven healthy defenders on the roster. Waiving the four-year veteran could be an indication that Kris Letang, on IR since January 16th, could be nearing a return.
  • To make room on the roster for Noesen, the Devils have placed forward Beau Bennett on IR retroactive to January 20th, reports Andrew Gross of The Record. Bennett, in his first season with New Jersey after an offseason trade with Pittsburgh, has scored three goals and 10 points in 40 contests.
  • Winger Casey Bailey has been reassigned by the Ottawa Senators to Binghamton of the AHL, via the team’s official communications department Twitter account. Bailey has played in five contests this season, going scoreless while averaging just 7:13 of ice time per game. He has 10 goals and 15 points in 33 AHL games with the Baby Sens.
  • According to the AHL Manitoba Moose’s official Twitter account (H/T to Patrick Williams of NHL.com), defenseman Brian Strait has been recalled by the Winnipeg Jets. Strait has not yet seen NHL action this season but has appeared in 182 regular season games with the Jets and Pittsburgh over parts of six seasons.
  • Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area reports that the San Jose Sharks have reassigned Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc to the AHL. The scribe refers to the moves as a “paper transaction,” in that the team will bank a bit of cap space with the pair of forwards off the roster and inferring they will be recalled ahead of San Jose’s next game tomorrow night at home against Edmonton.

Breaking Down Potential Landing Spots For Kevin Shattenkirk

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The trade deadline is just over a month away, and there will be a lot of names brought up as potentially on the move. Expiring contracts are the easiest to move, as teams go for a Stanley Cup run while others rebuild. The most talked about name all year and likely for the next month is Kevin Shattenkirk.  The defensemen topped our mid-season list of 2017 UFAs and is having another excellent season.

It was recently reported by Darren Dreger that Shattenkirk would have interest in signing a long-term deal with Anaheim, Boston, Colorado, Detroit, New York (Rangers), San Jose, and Toronto this summer and many have suggested that one of these teams would be willing to be the top bidder at the deadline if they were able to work out an extension with him prior to the deal.

It doesn’t really make sense for some of these teams to make the deal, though the way the Eastern Conference is so tightly packed, everyone might think adding an elite right-handed defenseman would push them into a playoff spot.

A similar deal was made two years ago, when Keith Yandle was dealt to the Rangers. Though Yandle had one more year on his deal, he was a similarly productive offensive defensemen who logged huge minutes. The Rangers had to give up a young sniper in 19-year old Anthony Duclair, a (conditional) first-round pick and a second-round pick. The Rangers would go all the way to the Conference Finals that year, but get bounced out the next in the first round. Recouping some of their lost assets, they dealt Yandle’s rights to Florida where he signed long-term.

For Shattenkirk, imagine a slightly reduced package (unless an extension is reached) but still with substantial assets. Here are some Eastern Conference options for the Blues’ alternate captain.

New York Rangers

Would the Rangers go after another big-named defenseman at the deadline? Shattenkirk is from the area and many people believe they’re the early front-runners for his services this summer. The Rangers haven’t selected a player in the first-round since 2012, and if they go after the Blues’ defenseman they likely won’t this year either. Shattenkirk would look nice skating alongside captain Ryan McDonagh, but the team may not want to part with any young talent or high draft picks again this year.

Boston Bruins

The Bruins are slumping hard, losing again today 5-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Acquiring Shattenkirk may be a fun idea, but it likely wouldn’t be enough to fix everything that’s going wrong right now. It’s unclear who they’d even waive as bait, with Brandon Carlo being their best trade chip. Moving out a young right-handed defenseman for a rental doesn’t sound like the best managing.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs surprised everyone this year by being in the playoff hunt through the first half. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have played better than anyone expected in their rookie seasons, and their secondary scoring has been consistent. They do have a huge hole on the right side of their defense, but all signs point to Brendan Shanahan and company sticking to the rebuild and not giving up young assets. They may be a player in the summer for his services, but it would be shocking to see them move a pick or prospect for him in-season.

Philadelphia Flyers

If Philly wants to make the playoffs this year, they have to do something with their defense corps. After a scorching hot start, they’ve been one of the worst teams in the league the last month or so and can’t seem to keep the puck out of their own net. Shattenkirk would perhaps help them more than any other team, as currently Radko Gudas is their only right-handed defenseman.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Yes, the Penguins already have a stud who plays on the right side, but Kris Letang has been injured for much of the year. A team who often makes a big splash at the deadline for the playoffs, they currently have Justin Schultz, Chad Ruhwedel and Steve Oleksy playing the right side. Though Schultz is having a career season, the playoffs are a different story. The Penguins shouldn’t be considered anything more than a dark horse in the Shattenkirk sweepstakes, but it would be an interesting fit to be sure.

Restricted 2017: Checking In On The Upcoming RFA Class

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As the NHL continues to skew towards younger and younger talent with players like Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews making an immediate impact, the restricted free agent classes become more and more important.

Last year we saw an impressive group, headlined by the dynamic duo in Calgary Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, Tampa’s new sniper Nikita Kucherov and a handful of excellent defensemen like Hampus Lindholm and Jacob Trouba.

While teams have started to lock up their young talent before they even become restricted free agents – like Aaron Ekblad in Florida who signed a $60MM deal just months after his 20th birthday – this year looks like it will be one of the biggest and most expensive RFA crops ever. Glen Miller took a look back in September at this year’s crop in an excellent series of articles that really should be consumed before reading any further (parts one, two, three, four, five and six), but let’s now check in on the group and how they’re fairing this season. Well list just a few of the highlights, as the group is almost endless.

Leon Draisaitl (EDM) – 47 GP / 17 G / 23 A / 40 P

You can’t start this list without mentioning Draisaitl, who will head to restricted free agency for the first time after what looks like a 30+ goal, 70+ point season. Skating alongside McDavid for much of the year, Draisaitl is currently tied for 18th in league scoring and leads the RFA group. He won’t turn 22 until after the 2017-18 season begins, and is an important player for the Edmonton Oilers to lock up long term. Expect the team to shell out big money to buy into a few free agent years this summer.

Mikael Granlund (MIN) – 44 GP / 10 G / 27 A / 37 P

Often forgotten about across much of the league because of the relative gag-order on any Minnesota Wild news, Granlund is having an exceptional season. Playing almost 20 minutes a night and on pace to shatter his previous career high in points, the Finnish forward will get a huge deal this summer. Unlike Draisaitl, Granlund is 24 and has already been through the RFA process before, signing a two-year $6MM deal before last season. With three solid seasons and now one spectacular one, he’ll likely earn something closer to $7MM (AAV) if signed long-term.

Justin Schultz (PIT) – 44 GP / 7 G / 23 A / 30 P

Schultz is such an interesting case, because of the breakout he’s experiencing this year. With Kris Letang on the shelf for much of the season, Schultz has blossomed in Pittsburgh to the player most teams expected when he signed out of college. He’s 26 now, and will turn 27 just days after free agency opens, but will likely fetch a hefty price as an RFA. After not even receiving a qualifying offer last year, has he done enough to prove that a big-money deal is worth it?

Robin Lehner (BUF) – 29 GP / .920 SV% / 2.54 GAA

The best RFA goaltender this year is one who just blew up at his coach after getting pulled and has generally been inconsistent for the Sabres since they traded a first-round pick for him in 2015. He has all the talent in the world to be a number one goaltender in this league, but with Buffalo floundering again near the bottom of the league will he be able to put it all together and lead them back to the playoffs? He’s 25-years old now and has 136 games under his belt with an above-average .916 save percentage. If Buffalo can ice any healthy defensemen, perhaps they’d be able to finish in the top half of the league for a change.

Penguins Place Kris Letang On IR

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Five days ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins were riding high with a five-game winning streak. Now, they’ve lost three games in a row and will be without their best defenseman for the foreseeable future.

The team placed Kris Letang on Injured Reserve (IR) on Monday morning; Letang left Saturday night’s loss in Detroit after just two minutes of ice-time, in which he scored a goal. The injury came exactly one month after his last injury, which was also a lower-body injury.

In a following move, the Penguins recalled winger Jake Guentzel and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins. Guentzel has 42 points in 31 AHL games, with three goals and an assist in five games at the NHL level. Ruhwedel has 16 points in 28 games in the AHL, and has a goal and assist in five NHL games.

According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, these were the lines when the Penguins skated on Monday morning:

Sheary-Crosby-Rust
Guentzel-Malkin-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel
Kunitz-Cullen-Wilson

Maatta-Daley
Cole-Schultz
Warsofsky-Ruhwedel-Oleksy

Cap Friendly reports that the Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) savings from Pascal Dupuis and Brian Dumoulin are enough for the Penguins to make the recalls, meaning Letang won’t be out long enough to warrant being placed on LTIR.

Letang has only played a full season once, back in 2010-11. Since then, he’s played just 293 of a possible 452 regular season games. Despite his injury history, Letang has 246 points in those 293 games.

Replacing Letang’s offense will fall to the rest of the Penguins’ defense core; most notably Justin Schultz will need to continue his renaissance season. Schultz has 26 points in 42 games this season, which represents the best offensive pace of his NHL career after several poor years which got him traded out of Edmonton.

Kris Letang Suffers Left Knee Injury

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8:00CST: Letang has not returned, playing only 2:06 tonight.

Kris Letang scored a goal just 27 seconds in for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And just as quickly, he was helped off the ice with an apparent knee injury.

The Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan reports that Letang got tangled up with the Detroit Red Wings’ Thomas Vanek in the corner and fell to the ice in obvious pain. He was helped off the ice, favoring his left knee. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writer Jonathan Bombulie confirms it was Letang’s left knee. Additionally, Bombulie tweets that Letang did return, tested the knee out during a stoppage, but then returned down the tunnel near the end of the first period. Bombulie reports that he played just one shift upon his return for 17 seconds.

This is tough news for the Pens should it be a significant injury. Letang has 23 points (4-19) this season for the Pens and is a staple on the blue line.

Injury Updates: Dano, Sharp, Faulk, Letang, Maatta

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The Winnipeg Jets have placed left winger Marko Dano on injured reserve with a lower body injury, the team announced.  Taking his place on the roster will be center Andrew Copp, who has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

Dano suffered the injury in Thursday’s loss to Columbus and following the game, head coach Paul Maurice wasn’t too optimistic about the situation, notes Jason Bell of the Winnipeg Free Press:

“I’ll be surprised if we come back on a short term injury here. We’re talking about weeks, easily.”

Dano, who was acquired by Winnipeg back in February as part of the Andrew Ladd trade, has played in 28 games with the Jets this season after being cut in training camp.  He has three goals and seven assists in that span.

As for Copp, he has been up with Winnipeg for the majority of this season but had been sent back to Manitoba when the roster freeze lifted on Wednesday.  In 25 games with the Jets this year, he has three goals and four assists.

More injury updates from around the league:

  • Stars left winger Patrick Sharp has been given the green light to return to game action, Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge reports (Twitter link). He’s expected to be in the lineup tomorrow night as they host Florida. Sharp has been out of the lineup since December 1st and has played in just 11 games this year due to multiple concussions, picking up just a goal and an assist in that span.
  • The Hurricanes are quite pleased with how defenseman Justin Faulk is progressing in his rehab from a lower body injury, writes Chip Alexander of the News & Observer. While he could be back earlier than expected, it’s unlikely that he will be back before Tuesday against the Devils and even being available for that game may be a stretch.  Faulk has 16 points (7-9-16) in 30 games to lead all Carolina blueliners in scoring this season.
  • The Penguins could have defensemen Kris Letang and Olli Maatta back in the lineup tomorrow when they host Montreal, reports Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Letang, who has two goals and 17 assists in 25 games this year, has been out since December 14th with a lower body injury while Maatta has missed the last two games with an illness.

Brian Dumoulin To Miss 4-6 Weeks

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The Pittsburgh Penguins may have beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Tuesday night, but the victory came at a great cost.

Defenseman Brian Dumoulin will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a broken jaw after taking an Andy Greene slap-shot to the face. The cap-strapped Penguins have already placed Dumoulin on LTIR.

Dumoulin joins fellow injured top-four defensemen Kris Letang and Trevor Daley. Both men are considered week-to-week with lower and upper body injuries respectively.

While Dumoulin is not an offensive threat (he hasn’t scored an NHL regular season goal since December 15, 2014), he has become a dependable part of the Penguins’ blue-line since cracking the NHL full time last season. He was acquired by the Penguins in the Jordan Staal trade at the 2012 draft.

With Daley, Dumoulin, and Letang all out, the pairing of Ian Cole and Justin Schultz is now the de facto top pairing. Schultz has been on fire in the last 15 games, posting 7-10-17 in that stretch, which included the winning goal against the Devils.

Injury Updates: Sharp, Smith, Penguins, Buchnevich

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Stars left winger Patrick Sharp was participating in full practices prior to the holiday break, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.  He had a chance to play in their last game on Friday but head coach Lindy Ruff said that the team does not want to rush him back:

“Right now, it’s not in the conversation.  With Patrick, we really want to be sure this time around. I’ve liked the way he’s skating in practice, I like where he is when it comes to energy. And, really, his body mannerism now is so much better, which I think those are all good signs. He’ll know when he’s ready. He’ll tell us when he thinks he’s ready.”

Sharp has played just 11 games this year because of multiple concussions, picking up just a goal and an assist.  Last season, he was fifth in team scoring with 55 points (20-35-55) in 76 games and his return would go a long way towards lengthening out their lineup.  Even if Sharp isn’t ready to go when Dallas plays tomorrow in Arizona, it sounds like he is close to returning.

Other injury notes from around the league:

  • The Red Wings hope to have defenseman Brendan Smith in the lineup tomorrow night, writes MLive’s Ansar Khan. Smith has been out for the last month with a sprained MCL and has four points in 20 games this season while logging just over 18 minutes per night in ice time.  The good news stops there for Detroit though as fellow blueliner Mike Green as well as forwards Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader are expected to miss at least another week.
  • Pittsburgh defensemen Kris Letang (lower body) and Trevor Daley (upper body) as well as right winger Tom Kuhnhackl (lower body) all remain week-to-week and aren’t expected to be available this week, notes Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. After playing three games this week, the Penguins will be off until January 8th so the team could ere on the side of caution and hold them back to make sure they’re fully ready to return after their long layoff.
  • Rangers rookie left winger Pavel Buchnevich (back) skated with the team in a non-contact jersey before their last game in advance of the holiday break, notes Newsday’s Steve Zipay. While he’s still not ready to return, the fact he is back on the ice is a positive after being shut down in early December when he suffered a setback in his recovery.  Buchnevich has four goals and four assists in ten games this year and has been out of the lineup since mid-November.

Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?

Here are the results of our redraft so far:

1st Overall: Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2nd Overall: Carey Price (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
3rd Overall: Anze Kopitar (Carolina Hurricanes)
4th Overall: Jonathan Quick (Minnesota Wild)
5th Overall: Kris Letang (Montreal Canadiens)
6th Overall: Tuukka Rask (Columbus Blue Jackets)
7th Overall: Bobby Ryan (Chicago Blackhawks)
8th Overall: Marc-Edouard Vlasic (San Jose Sharks)
9th Overall: Ben Bishop (Ottawa Senators)
10th Overall: James Neal (Vancouver Canucks)
11th Overall: T.J. Oshie (Los Angeles Kings)
12th Overall: Keith Yandle (New York Rangers)
13th Overall: Paul Stastny (Buffalo Sabres)
14th Overall: Marc Staal (Washington Capitals)
15th Overall: Patric Hornqvist (New York Islanders)
16th Overall: Niklas Hjalmarsson (Atlanta Thrashers)
17th Overall: Anton Stralman (Phoenix Coyotes)
18th Overall: Jack Johnson (Nashville Predators)
19th Overall: Matt Niskanen (Detroit Red Wings)
20th Overall: Justin Abdelkader (Florida Panthers)
21st Overall: Martin Hanzal (Toronto Maple Leafs)
22nd Overall: Andrew Cogliano (Boston Bruins)
23rd Overall: Kris Russell (New Jersey Devils)
24th Overall: Darren Helm (St. Louis Blues)
25th Overall: Cody Franson (Edmonton Oilers)

Now we move forward to the 26th pick, which was held by the Calgary Flames.

To recap how this works:

  • We will go through the 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
  • The entire first round will be redrafted, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes.

Back in 2005, the Flames took defenseman Matt Pelech from the Sarnia Sting. Since being drafted, Pelech played a total of 13 games in the NHL, tallying four points (1-3). Of those 13 games, Pelech spent five with the Flames and the other eight with San Jose. During the 2013-14 season, Pelech spent time in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies after playing for both San Jose and its AHL affiliate Worcester. A season later, Pelech recorded 39 games with the Rochester Americans. Last season, Pelech appeared in 49 games for the Schwenningen Wild Wings in the DEL (Germany) and has played the current season with Graz EC in the Austrian league.

With the 26th pick of the 2005 NHL Redraft, who should the Flames select?  Cast your vote below! Mobile users, you can vote here!

With the 26th overall pick, the Calgary Flames select...
Benoit Pouliot 27.96% (144 votes)
Devin Setoguchi 20.00% (103 votes)
Vladimir Sobotka 15.53% (80 votes)
Mason Raymond 8.54% (44 votes)
Steve Downie 7.57% (39 votes)
Sergei Kostitsyn 6.60% (34 votes)
Jakub Kindl 5.83% (30 votes)
Nathan Gerbe 2.72% (14 votes)
Jared Boll 2.14% (11 votes)
Jack Skille 1.75% (9 votes)
Gilbert Brule 1.36% (7 votes)
Total Votes: 515

 

 

Daley Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

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Already down Kris Letang for at least two weeks, the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to have to make due without another important blue liner as well. According to Christine Simpson of Sportsnet, Trevor Daley has an upper-body injury and is considered week-to-week.

The 13-year veteran has registered three goals and 11 points in 30 appearances on the season, averaging 20:40 of ice time per game. His acquisition from Chicago last season, along with a few other savvy moves made by the Penguins, keyed a resurgence in Pittsburgh that culminated in the team claiming the Stanley Cup in June. Pittsburgh was 15 – 11 – 3 when they dealt Rob Scuderi to the Blackhawks for Daley. After the trade the Penguins went 33 – 15 – 5 and skated off the ice with Lord Stanley’s trophy.

Pittsburgh recalled Chad Ruhwedel from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL earlier today when the club placed Letang on IR. Ruhwedel gives the Penguins seven healthy blue liners and it likely means the club will not need to make another call-up in Daley’s absence.

This is the 26-year-old Ruhwedel’s first season in the penguins organization after spending the previous four years with Buffalo. The native of San Diego, California has appeared in 33 NHL games, all with Buffalo, netting two points and four penalty minutes.

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