Kyle Palmieri

Expansion Draft Issues: Post-Trade Deadline

March 5, 2017 at 6:51 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 3 Comments

Last month, we looked at several teams facing some tough situations in regards to the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft and offered potential solutions to how they could address their needs for forwards, defensemen and goalies at the NHL Trade Deadline. With March 1st over and done with, many of those squads have solved their problems with signings or acquisitions.

Calgary Flames

Problem: Defense

Status: Solved

The Flames solved their problem of otherwise having to expose Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, or Dougie Hamilton with the ingenious signing of Matt Bartkowski, the only defenseman on the planet who was both free to acquire and automatically eligible for exposure in the draft. It’s a good thing they signed him too, since they ended up trading away their best fall-back option, young defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.

Carolina Hurricanes

Problem: Defense

Status: Unsolved

It was a pretty quiet deadline in Raleigh, as the ’Canes shipped out Ron Hainsey and Viktor Stalberg and then called it a day. What they didn’t do was acquire another body on the blue line to help solve their lack of a defenseman to expose. Carolina is still facing the problem of All-Star Justin Faulk being the only defenseman on the roster currently meeting the criteria for mandated exposure, due to the majority of their defensemen being too young to be eligible altogether. There is no way that Faulk is there for the taking by Vegas, but GM Ron Francis is left with only two choices: extend impending RFA Klas Dahlbeck or extend impending UFA Matt Tennyson and make sure he plays in seven more games this season, as he’s currently short of the 40-game mark.

Chicago Blackhawks

Problem: Forwards

Status: Solved

While the Blackhawks are always a threat to make a surprising change, GM Stan Bowman went a more traditional route in solving his expansion draft. Faced with the possibility of losing young Ryan Hartman, one of just two players who, at the time, met the criteria for exposure, Bowman simply decided to extend grinder Jordin Tootoo for another year. Tootoo qualifies for the two-forward quota, so regardless of his lack of production, he was a cheap solution to Chicago’s problem.

Dallas Stars

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Stars’s problem wasn’t as simple as trading for or acquiring just one player. They likely will have to decide between exposing Antoine Roussel and Cody Eakin when push comes to shove, but they shouldn’t have to expose both. That is the current state of the Stars after they shipped away several impending free agents at the deadline, but failed to bring in anyone that meets the Expansion Draft criteria. Luckily, they have quite a few options in-house that they could extend and expose such as Ales Hemsky, Jiri Hudler, Adam Cracknell, and Curtis McKenzie.

New Jersey Devils

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Devils got what they could for their free agent pieces at the deadline, trading away P.A. Parenteau for a draft pick and Kyle Quincey for Dalton Prout. However, they missed out on the chance to fix their forward problem in the Expansion Draft in the process. The Devils want to protect their core five of Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Mike Cammalleri, and Travis Zajac, but that leaves Devante Smith-Pelly as the lone forward who qualifies for the quota. Now, New Jersey and GM Ray Shero are in a position where they must re-sign a young forward like Jacob Josefson, Beau Bennett, or Stefan Noesen (if he plays in 13 more games) and subsequently make them available, which they likely would have preferred not to.

New York Rangers

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Rangers also passed up a chance at solving their draft conundrum on deadline day. New York acquired two forward, Daniel Catenacci and Taylor Beck, but neither one qualifies for exposure. In order for the Rangers to protect all of their impressive, young core forwards, they’ll now need to extend one of Brandon Pirri, Jesper Fast, Oscar Lindberg or potentially Matt Puempel or Tanner Glass if either one plays another handful of games this season. Regardless, the Rangers don’t need to be overly worried about who they expose as their second forward, as they’ve likely come to grips with the strong possibility that their first forward, Michael Grabner, will be targeted by Vegas GM George McPhee.

Ottawa Senators

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Senators were busy at the deadline and their biggest move was also the move that impacts their expansion plans the most, the acquisition and extension of Alexandre Burrows. Although the Senators gave up a potential future star in Jonathan Dahlen to get Burrows, an extension prior to playing a single minute with the team means that GM Pierre Dorian had expansion on his mind. Yet, Burrows only solves one issue, as the Senators needed two eligible forwards – assuming they plan on protecting Bobby Ryan – if they also want to keep Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Derick Brassard, Kyle Turris, and Zack Smith out of the Golden Knights’ grasp. Luckily, they have a veritable laundry list of extension options on the roster now, ranging from recent additions Tommy Wingels and Viktor Stalberg to veterans Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, and Tom Pyatt.

Philadelphia Flyers

Problem: Goaltending

Status: Solved

Not too many people were excited about this move, but the Flyers announced on deadline day that they had extended struggling goalie Michal Neuvirth for two more years at $2.5MM per year. This means that they can expose Neuvirth to meet the one-goalie quota and protect promising prospect Anthony Stolarz. However, Philly overpaid to make this happen and it seems very unlikely that the Knights would bite on Neuvirth’s new contract. They’re likely saddled with his .887 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average for another two seasons. So really one problem solved, another created.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Problem: Forwards

Status: Solved

The Leaf’s expansion problem was never a big one, it was just that they would have to expose and potentially lose Leo Komarov when they really didn’t have to. They understood the scenario was though and did what was expected of many teams but actually done by no one else: threw in a qualifying forward to an existing deal. Toronto’s trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins was centered around Frank Corrado and a fourth-round pick, but by tossing Eric Fehr into the mix, especially after he cleared waiver, the Leafs now have a body that can occupy the other forward spot in the Expansion Draft and can then be forgotten in the AHL if he isn’t selected. A smart move by the legend, Lou Lamoriello.

Washington Capitals

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

Finally, the Caps may have made the biggest splash at the trade deadline, but did nothing to help their Expansion Draft situation with two important forwards. Because they can only protect seven forwards, Washington will have to expose one of Lars Eller and Jay Beagle. While it’s a toss up between the two – Eller has had a disappointing season but was acquired just this summer for two second-rounders, Beagle is a career Cap who is a face-off wizard and always good for moderate production – they certainly don’t want to expose both, as they currently would have to. The easiest solution is to extend and expose either Daniel Winnik or Brett Connolly. The again, if the Capitals are confident that Philipp Grubauer is going to be Vegas’ pick, as many are speculating, maybe they just bite the bullet and leave both Eller and Beagle unprotected after all.

Expansion Draft Issues At The Trade Deadline: Forwards

February 11, 2017 at 5:32 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 1 Comment

This trade season is one like never before. The addition of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18 and the Expansion Draft that goes along with it add a whole other layer to trade-making this year. With each and every transaction, the expansion draft protection formula can change. Even in 2000, when the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets were welcomed into the league, the expansion rules were not a strict and general managers did not have to be as paranoid about their moves. This time around, everything is different. What does it all mean? For fans, there is a real possibility that this could be the quietest Trade Deadline in recent memory. Buyers interested in impending free agent rentals may not have to worry about the draft implications, but the sellers potentially taking back roster players with term certainly do. Trading is hard enough, especially in a season with very few teams significantly out of the playoff race, and expansion will only increase those barriers. Luckily, there are several teams that need to make moves prior to the deadline or they could risk being in very sticky situations when the Knights get ready to make their selections. With teams like the Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Anaheim Ducks, who have so much talented, veteran depth at multiple positions, there is really not much that they can do; they’re going to lose a good player. For others, a sensible contract extension can solve all of their problems. However, for these teams, making a trade before it’s too late may be exactly what they need. We’ve looked at the defense conundrums of the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes and the goaltending scenario of the Philadelphia Flyers, but there a quite a few more teams with problems up front that need solving:

Chicago Blackhawks

Luckily for the Blackhawks, it’s hard to remember a deadline where GM Stan Bowman didn’t add a veteran forward. This year they may really need one though, regardless of their Cup run condition, to protect young scorer Ryan Hartman. The 22-year-old winger has 13 goals and 10 assists in his first full season with Chicago, and if nothing changes it would likely be his last season in Chicago. In setting their protected list for the Expansion Draft, the Blackhawks must protect Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Artem Anisimov due to their no-movement clauses. They would, of course, have protected those four anyway, but other than that group, the team has only two other players that meet the draft criteria of having two unprotected forwards that have played in 40 games this season or 70 games over the past two seasons and have term remaining on their contract: Marcus Kruger and Hartman. Kruger is not a great loss, but retaining Hartman is a major priority as the deadline approaches. The ‘Hawks could simply re-sign 30-year-old Andrew Desjardins or 34-year-old Jordin Tootoo, who both hit the 40/70 benchmark, but are impending free agents. However, the pair have combined for one point in 63 man-games this season and may not strike Bowman as players worth keeping, since they are nearly guaranteed to not be selected by Vegas. Richard Panik and Dennis Rasmussen are both restricted free agents who would also qualify if given an extension, but the team might think twice about exposing either player when they don’t have to. If push comes to shove, Chicago would surely rather lose Rasmussen or have to re-sign Desjardins if it means that Hartman is safe, but acquiring an affordable, serviceable forward with years remaining on his contract prior to the deadline may be the easier move for Bowman and company.

Dallas Stars

Despite their performance this season, the Stars are very much built like a team trying to make one last run at a Stanley Cup. Only five players on Dallas and on the AHL’s Texas Stars have both two years of professional play under their belt and term remaining on those contracts. The rest of the team is composed of impending unrestricted free agents and the AHL squad is mostly restricted free agents. Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza have no-movement clauses and are obviously safe, as is All-Star Tyler Seguin. However, without any further moves, Dallas would have to leave 25-year-old center Cody Eakin and team enforcer Antoine Roussel exposed in the draft. With the likes of Radek Faksa, Brett Ritchie and (probably) Valeri Nichushkin needing to be protected as well, the Star’s may have to leave one or the other on the table, but certainly not both. Roussel is having a career year, on pace to beat his career-high 29 points while also skating a career-best 15 minutes per game. Eakin, who missed time earlier this year and has been held to just six points in 33 games, is regardless coming off of three straight seasons of 35+ points and is just entering his prime. If they want to protect one or both, moves need to be made. Dallas is not short on extension options, with UFA’s Patrick Sharp, Patrick Eaves, Jiri Hudler, Lauri Korpikoski, Adam Cracknell and even the injured Ales Hemsky meeting the 40/70 criterion. However, if the Stars want to make up for their disappointing season, trading several of those players for picks and prospects at the deadline seems likely may eliminate some choices. In the process of moving out that trade capital, it may simply be easier for GM Jim Nill to add one or two qualifying forwards along the way.

New Jersey Devils

As previewed in their Trade Deadline Primer, the Devils have a similar conundrum to the Stars. Outside of their core forwards, the young New Jersey team is mostly made up of impending restricted free agents. There’s no reason that New Jersey should have to break up their strong group of Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Travis Zajac, and Mike Cammalleri with no other priority protectorates, but as of now one of that group would have to join Devante Smith-Pelly as potential future Knights. No one else on the roster currently meets the 40/70 mark and also has term remaining on their current deal. Upcoming unrestricted free agent P.A. Parenteau could be exposed if re-signed, but he represents one of New Jersey’s best trade chips at the deadline as they look to continue their rebuild. Beau Bennett and Jacob Josefson would also qualify if re-signed, but Josefson has struggled all season and is either a trade candidate or a player the Devils could move on from and it’s doubtful that New Jersey would expose Bennett after just trading for him at the NHL Draft last June. The easiest move for GM Ray Shero is probably to just bring in another body to expose via trade prior to March 1^st.

New York Rangers

The Rangers are going to lose a talented forward in the expansion draft, there’s no question about that. However, they would currently have to expose two top forwards instead of just one. New York has seven forwards who meet exposure criteria – Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, and Michael Grabner – and another player in obvious need of protection in RFA center Mika Zibanejad. The draft rules allow them to protect seven forwards, and given Nash’s no-movement clause, the odd man out is likely the 2016-17 rebound star Grabner. However, until another player becomes exposure-eligible or an eligible player is acquired, another Rangers’ impact forward would have to join Grabner and would be even more likely to be selected. Now, the fact that New York has seven forwards already lined up for protection actually helps them. They don’t have to consider whether or not they want to expose other impending restricted free agents, because they don’t have that option. They probably have already come to grips with the fact that they will likely lose Grabner. Thus, the extension and subsequent exposure of Jesper Fast, Brandon Pirri, Oscar Lindberg, or possibly even Matt Puempel would satisfy the two-forward criteria. However, the other route that remains is to acquire an a qualifying forward and save RFA negotiations for the summer.

Ottawa Senators

The streaking Senators are in the midst of a surprising playoff-caliber season, but may need to turn some attention to Expansion Draft preparation before it’s too late, because they have a few different issues to consider. Recent reports have indicated that Ottawa may ask Dion Phaneuf to waive his no-movement clause so that they can protect Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci, and Marc Methot along with seven forwards. Another newsworthy rumor has been that the Senators may leave struggling star Bobby Ryan and his $7MM yearly cap hit exposed in the draft. If Ottawa cannot get Phaneuf to waive his clause and choose instead to protect all four defensemen, then their expansion problem with forwards is beyond help; they will lose a talented scorer whether they expose Ryan or not. That seems highly unlikely though, so assume for now that Phaneuf agrees or the Sens expose Methot. Unfortunately, they are still not out of the weeds, with or without Ryan. The Senators have six forwards who qualify for exposure by having years remain on their contracts and playing 40 games this year or 70 over the past two: Ryan, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Derick Brassard, Kyle Turris, and Zack Smith. Stone, Hoffman, and Turris lead the team in goal-scoring, while Brassard is recently-acquired and Smith is fresh off a contract extension. Ottawa has no interest in losing any of those five, and the Ryan rumor would mostly serve to open up another spot to add both RFA’s Ryan Dzingel and Curtis Lazar to the protected list. However, just exposing Ryan wouldn’t be enough; the Senators need another qualifying forward to meet the two-player quota. Should they trade Lazar, which has been talked about, and decide to keep Ryan, then Ottawa will need two qualifying forwards. The Senators are quietly facing quite the conundrum. Luckily, their recent move to bring in Tommy Wingels from the San Jose Sharks could help them solve their problems. Ottawa will likely want to steer away from extensions for ineffective veterans Chris Neil and Chris Kelly, but if they can re-sign Wingels and Jean-Gabriel Pageau prior to the Expansion Draft, then they will cover their bases. Two new extensions during trade deadline season, the stretch run, and the postseason is somewhat of a daunting task for the Sens though, who may choose to bring in one or two qualifying forwards via trade instead.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Despite the immense number of Leafs forwards in their first or second pro seasons, the team’s expansion problems are not all that bad. In fact, their controversy comes down to one player: Leo Komarov. Toronto can comfortably protect centerpieces Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk from exposure, and probably don’t have to worry about the massive Matt Martin contract being scooped up by Vegas either. However, the only other Toronto player who meets the 40/70 rule and has remaining term is Komarov. If the Leafs had to make a tough call, Komarov just turned 30 and is having a down year, so the loss wouldn’t be huge. They shouldn’t have to make that call though. There is more than enough room for Kadri, Bozak, van Riemsdyk, Komarov, Connor Brown, and even two more on the protected list. Nearly a 20-goal scorer last year and reportedly a great mentor for some of the Leafs’ young stars, Komarov has earned his spot in Toronto and the team likely wants to keep him around. Unfortunately, it’s not an easy extension fix. Brooks Laich and, if he plays seven more games, Ben Smith present the only players who could meet qualification if they were to re-sign and Laich has been buried in the minors all season while Smith has just three points in 29 games. Of every team in trouble with balancing their forwards for the Expansion Draft, Toronto seems the most likely to go out and get a forward to expose via trade if they want to protect Komarov.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals are in nearly an identical situation to the Dallas Stars. Qualifiers Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson, and Tom Wilson are safe, as are impending restricted free agents Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky. However, there is one spot left on the protected list, but the number of unrestricted free agents on the team make it that Lars Eller and Jay Beagle are the only other forwards who can cover the two 40/70 exposure slots. The team faces a chance of losing one, but they shouldn’t have to offer up both. Eller is in his first year in Washington and it cost two second-round picks to get him, while Beagle is a career Cap and a face-off dynamo. The Capitals likely know which one they would prefer to keep, but will need to make a move to protect him. Expensive extensions for T.J. Oshie or Justin Williams just to then let Vegas take them doesn’t make any sense, but that strategy may work for veteran Daniel Winnik. Also, the team would probably like to bring back 24-year-old sniper Brett Connolly, but he likely doesn’t make the extension short list. They might look to re-sign him to meet the quota in hopes that the Knights take goaltender Philipp Grubauer instead as has been rumored.

Deadline Primer: New Jersey Devils

February 9, 2017 at 5:57 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 6 Comments

With the trade deadline now just weeks away, we’re going to start taking a closer look at each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?

The New Jersey Devils are not a playoff team this season. Did anyone expect them to be? Probably not. Las Vegas odds-maker Bovada predicted they would finish 13th in the Eastern Conference with 83 points and they’re currently 12th and on pace for 85 points, so at least there’s been some improvement over the projections. However, New Jersey trails the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, and Florida Panthers for the final wild card slot in the Eastern Conference, with little chance of catching any of them. And that’s okay.

The Devils have great young forwards in Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, and Adam Henrique locked-up long term at a reasonable rate. They also have invaluable veterans Travis Zajac, Mike Cammalleri, and Andy Greene in the fold for a while longer, along with star goalie Cory Schneider. Youngsters Damon Severson, Pavel Zacha, and Miles Wood have all had solid seasons too and more help is on the way soon in high-end forward prospects John Quenneville, Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian and goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood. The future is bright in New Jersey, and it will only grow brighter with the Devils’ whopping 14 picks in the first four rounds of the next two drafts and $22MM in salary cap space going into next season.

As far as this year goes, New Jersey can be content with getting what they can from their pending unrestricted free agents (as they already did with Vernon Fiddler) and dealing struggling depth players as they continue to stockpile picks and prospects and have another lottery pick in their sights.

Record

23-21-10, 7th in the Metropolitan Division

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

Current Cap Space: $27,529,323

Deadline Cap Space: $41,293,985

46/50 contracts, via CapFriendly

Draft Picks

2017: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, BOS 2nd, COL 3rd, SJ 3rd, NJ 4th, NSH 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th
2018: NJ 1st, NJ 2nd, FLA 2nd, NJ 3rd, TOR 3rd, NJ 4th, NJ 5th, NJ 6th, NJ 7th

Trade Chips

In what may end up being the shrewdest move by any NHL GM this season, Ray Shero picked up P.A. Parenteau off of waivers from the rival Islanders prior to puck drop on the 2016-17 season. The Isles signed Parenteau to an affordable one-year deal this summer, only to cut him in camp. Not only has he been one the Devils’ best offensive players this season, with 12 goals and 12 assists in 52 games, but he came free and will almost surely be dealt away for a nice return. That’s called turning a profit for Shero. Last year, the Islanders netted 2nd-round and 4th-round picks from the Boston Bruins for Lee Stempniak, who had 41 points at the deadline. Expect Parenteau, who should have 30+ points by March 1st, to go for a similar price in what is very much a seller’s trade market. A similar situation could be had for Kyle Quincey, who was a last-minute free agent addition to the team on a cheap one-year contract, but is quietly having his best season since leaving the Colorado Avalanche in 2012. Quincey won’t bring back the same return as Parenteau, but holds value to teams in need of veteran depth on the blue line. The $1.25MM cap hits (worth less than $400K at the deadline) will only help in moving both players.

Jacob Josefson, Sergey Kalinin, and Seth Helgeson all appear to have hit a wall in their development. If the Devils can find takers for any and all of them, don’t be surprised if they jump at the opportunity to move on from disappointing investments.

Players To Watch

RW P.A. Parenteau, D Kyle Quincey, G Keith Kinkaid, C Jacob Josefson, C Sergey Kalinin

Team Needs

1) Top-Pair Defenseman – As good as New Jersey’s forward core and forward prospect depth is shaping up to be and as solid as they are in net, this team will never be a contender without major changes on the blue line. The 22-year-old Severson has been a pleasant surprise this season and the always-reliable captain Greene is a mainstay, but beyond that the Devils are hopeless on defense. Severson has been great, but doesn’t project to be a star without help. Greene has slowed down and become injury-prone. Ben Lovejoy, John Moore, and Jonathon Merrill are serviceable players, but not top-four defensemen on many teams. Steven Santini is still developing and Helgeson appears to have stopped developing. The entire prospect system is void of any really promising defensive prospects. If a young, high-ceiling defenseman or an established All-Star caliber player hits the trade market this month and the Devils have the pieces to get such a player, don’t expect Shero to hesitate in pulling the trigger. One potential candidate: a sign-and-trade scenario with the St. Louis Blues to get Kevin Shattenkirk.

2) More Defensemen – For all of the reasons above, if the Devils are offered defensive prospects for players like Parenteau, Quincey, Kincaid, or others, they should jump on them. The blue line needs reloading and it starts at the development stage. New Jersey may have a top-ten pick on the horizon that they can use on a defenseman, but it never hurts to add some depth where there is an obvious lack of talent.

3) Bottom-Six Forward – In a preview of this week’s “Expansion Issues“, the Devils are currently short on qualifying forwards to expose in the upcoming Expansion Draft. Without adding another player to the mix, they risk having to expose a veteran like Zajac or Cammalleri. Josefson or Beau Bennett would qualify for exposure if given an extension, but the Devils may want to trade (or protect) one or both. Adding a throwaway bottom-six forward who they can expose to the Vegas Knights and then likely send to the AHL next year is a likely move.

Nashville Predators Acquire Vernon Fiddler

February 4, 2017 at 6:20 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

With the New Jersey Devils falling further out of a playoff spot, they’ve started selling off their veteran assets. The team has dealt Vernon Fiddler to the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick in 2017. Fiddler was signed this summer for just $1.25MM, but has provided only three points through his first 39 games.

Fiddler will return to the place he began his career, debuting for the Predators back in 2002-03. The Edmonton, Alberta native has played in 857 games total over his long career. Even though he’s never been an offensive dynamo (his career high is 13 goals) Fiddler is a testament to work ethic and defensive prowess. He’s been able to stay relevant in the NHL through strong faceoff play and responsible positioning.

The Devils have now acquired three additional picks for this summer’s draft, adding this to the Bruins’ second-round pick and Avalanche’s third-rounder. They’ll have six picks in the first four rounds this year and next, letting a team that finds itself at the bottom of the Eastern Conference start their rebuild (or perhaps reload).

Remember just last year the Devils had two 30-goal scorers in Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri and added Taylor Hall in the offseason. One would think that they wouldn’t have trouble putting the puck in the net, but currently find themselves last in the East in goal scoring (going into tonight’s action). P.A. Parenteau, another upcoming free agent should also be dealt by the deadline, along with Kyle Quincey if they can find a taker.

Nashville will add Fiddler to their depth down the middle that has been questioned at times this year. Likely slotting in on the fourth line, he’ll see time on the penalty kill and in defensive zone starts. Never under 50% in the faceoff dot in a single season, Fiddler is currently winning 52.6% of his draws. Combined with Mike Fisher and Ryan Johansen, who are both excellent faceoff men, the Predators will start with the puck more than not.

Injury Update: Palmieri, Eichel, Oshie, Dzingel

November 25, 2016 at 11:24 am CDT | by Mike Furlano Leave a Comment

Injury updates from around the NHL this morning:

Kyle Palmieri will return to the New Jersey Devils tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, notes Andrew Gross of the New Jersey Record. Devils Coach John Hynes has not yet decided who will sit to make room for Palmieri. The speedy forward has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, and his return should boost New Jersey’s anemic offense. The team currently sits 26th in scoring, and while Palmieri only has 3G and 4A in 17 games, he scored 30 goals last season.
The Buffalo Sabres may get forward Jack Eichel back soon. The former 2nd overall pick participated in contact drills for the second straight practice. Eichel, however, did not join the team in Washington to face the Capitals tonight. Coach Dan Bylsma said that Eichel would get a harder skate staying home in Buffalo, reports the Buffalo News’ John Vogl.
T.J. Oshie skated with the Washington Capitals this morning, but is still week-to-week with an upper body injury, reports Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. Oshie missed the last three games after being hit by the Detroit Red Wings’ Riley Sheahan. The Capitals miss Oshie and his scoring touch. Oshie had 8G and 4A in 17 games before the injury, and the Capitals need all the scoring they can get in the tight Metropolitan Division.
The Ottawa Senators forward Ryan Dzingel received over thirty stitches last night after taking a puck to the side of the head, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Dzingel required ear reconstruction but managed to return to the game in the third period. Given his return, he is in no danger of missing any time. Scoring-wise, however, Dzingel has cooled off significantly since his hot start. He only has 1G and 2A in the past ten games.

Taylor Hall To Miss 3-4 Weeks With Knee Injury

November 16, 2016 at 3:17 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

3:17pm: The Devils have placed Hall on injured reserve and recalled Blake Pietila from Albany. He’ll meet the team in Anaheim, though there has been no word on if he’ll make his season debut on Thursday. Pietila has 11 points in 12 AHL contests this season.

2:31pm: Another superstar forward is out for a while, as the New Jersey Devils have announced that Taylor Hall will be out for three to four weeks following surgery to his left knee today. The forward went under the knife to repair a torn meniscus.

As reported earlier today, the coaching and training staff for New Jersey are unsure of when the injury took place, just that Hall came to the rink Tuesday morning in pain. After being traded to the Devils in the offseason, Hall has established himself as the powerful offensive presence he can be with 12 points in his first 14 games.

Though obviously losing a player of Hall’s stature isn’t good news, the Devils have collected a larger group of offensive players than usual over the past few seasons. With a 9-3-3 record, the team will now look to skaters like Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique and Pavel Zacha to step up their offensive production and keep the team on track.

For Tampa Bay Lightning fans, this may be a good indication of the timeline of injured forward Steven Stamkos, who also underwent an MRI today and likely has a meniscus injury. If surgery is required, he too could be out for almost a month.

Devils Notes: Hynes, Palmieri, Schneider, Elias

September 26, 2016 at 2:01 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

In his second season behind the bench for the New Jersey Devils, head coach John Hynes is looking to pick up the pace, writes Fire and Ice’s Andrew Gross. Hynes noted to Gross that the trend around the league is moving towards playing with speed and tempo and that the Devils will need to follow suit:

“We’d like to play a faster game, more of a territorial game this year where there’s more emphasis on spending more time in the offensive zone and playing a fast game, getting out of our zone quick and getting up ice and being able to be an attacking and aggressive team. We feel our team is trending that way with some speed and we believe our core main players can play that way so we’re trying to influx that into how we want to play and be more of an aggressive, attacking team over the course of a 60-minute game. “

The Devils were somewhat busy this offseason, highlighted by the trade of defenseman Adam Larsson to Edmonton in exchange for Taylor Hall to give them a legitimate top line winger. They also added forwards Beau Bennett and Vernon Fiddler as well as defenseman Ben Lovejoy, giving them several new faces in their lineup heading into the season.

[Related: Devils Depth Chart]

Other notes from New Jersey:

In the same article, Hynes mentioned to Gross that right winger Kyle Palmieri and goaltender Cory Schneider, who represented Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey, are expected to return to practice either Wednesday or Thursday after receiving some time off to rest following the tournament.
There is still no timetable for unrestricted free agent left winger Patrik Elias to decide whether he will return to the Devils this season but as Gross notes in a separate piece, the 40 year old is with the team and is taking part in team meetings. Elias is skating on his own as he continues to recover from offseason knee surgery. He is their all-time leading scorer with 1,025 points in 1,240 games and has only played for New Jersey in his career.

World Cup Notes: Matthews, Team USA, Canada B

September 18, 2016 at 10:31 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 5 Comments

Team North America hits the ice for the first time in Toronto today, as they prepare for their opening match against Finland. While many eyes are drawn to Oilers’ superstar Connor McDavid or the reunion of Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon – the two starred together for the Halifax Mooseheads before being drafted – it was Auston Matthews that got much of the attention at this morning’s presser.

Matthews will be skating on the top line alongside McDavid and Mark Scheifele, despite never having played a professional game on North American soil. He’ll be in front of his new team’s fans, trying to make an impression on Leaf Nation before the season even begins. According to Craig Custance of ESPN, Head coach Todd McLellan spoke highly of Matthews when asked, saying he is hockey’s version of a 5-tool player (a term in baseball that means a player who can do everything well), and saying “he’s got better every day.”

As we wrote yesterday, Matthews is a big part of the Maple Leafs rebuild, and he’s showing why he was the first overall pick and most talked about prospect during the season. If he can keep up with the best in the world, at just 19 years old, he’ll be well positioned to have a long and successful career in the NHL.

Team USA head coach John Tortorella is still taking a lot of heat today over his decision to bench Kyle Palmieri and Dustin Byfuglien prior to last night’s loss to Team Europe, and as the team hit the ice for practice the lines had already been mixed up. According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, Palmieri was back among the first 12 forwards, skating with Max Pacioretty and Brandon Dubinsky on the fourth line. Stephen Whyno adds that Byfuglien – widely expected to be a big part of the top pairing – is back skating with the powerplay unit (though the second group).
James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail revealed an interesting couple of tidbits that had been just rumored so far regarding the structure of the World Cup. First, he reported that an original idea for the tournament was to have two Canadian teams, because of the strong depth the country has; he goes on to list P.K. Subban, Kris Letang, Mark Giordano, Taylor Hall and many others as examples of the talent “Canada B” would have. Second, he says that it’s widely believed that the tournament will return to an eight-country format in 2020, meaning that teams like Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany will all have chances. He doesn’t, however, mention if Team Europe or North America will return, though with good showings from both thus far, it would be surprising to see them removed.

World Cup Notes: Team USA, Seguin, Olympics

September 17, 2016 at 12:38 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

The World Cup of Hockey starts today in Toronto, and Team USA will take on Team Europe in the first game of the revamped tournament. While the American team has one of the strongest teams in their history, head coach John Tortorella has made some interesting decisions going into the opener. As Dan Rosen of NHL.com tweets, the infamous head coach has scratched Kyle Palmieri, Dustin Byfuglien and Cory Schneider for the afternoon matchup.

Byfuglien, part of the team’s original 16 named players, was expected to be a big part of the top pairing on this team and a weapon on the powerplay. As Tom Gulitti adds, Tortorella said just this week that he was excited about the Jets’ blueliner’s big shot. Instead, Erik Johnson will suit up as the team’s sixth defenseman.

Tyler Seguin, who injured his foot this week in a pre-tournament match, is not expected to miss any training camp, as Mike Leslie of WFAA in Dallas reports. The hairline fracture that the Stars’ forward suffered is not serious enough to warrant him missing much time, and did not come as a surprise to the Dallas medical staff. Seguin was replaced by Ryan O’Reilly on Team Canada’s roster.
In a new column from Helene Elliott of the LA Times, she examines how any success at the World Cup will give the NHL leverage in any Olympic negotiations down the road. With players and fans getting their international fix from the pre-season tournament, the league is not necessarily obligated to send players to the Winter Games, which usually causes an ugly stoppage mid-season, and prevents the league from hosting their all-star events. With the build up for the tournament being mixed, but overall fairly positive, it seems the league and NHLPA will have a strong bargaining chip to play to try and get a pay structure put in place for any player headed to the Olympics.

Arbitration Breakdown: Chris Kreider

July 20, 2016 at 5:06 pm CDT | by Glen Miller Leave a Comment

With the clock ticking down, the New York Rangers and the camp for Chris Kreider have filed their respective briefs in advance of Friday’s scheduled arbitration hearing, as we earlier reported on Pro Hockey Rumors. The Rangers offered a figure of $3.2MM while Kreider has requested $4.75MM in salary for the 2016-17 campaign.

The apparently wide gulf is indicative of a typical negotiating ploy being utilized by both parties. Kreider’s side comes in on the high end while the club submits a lower number, each with the knowledge that arbitrators typically award a number comfortably between the two positions. Should this actually go to a hearing, and there is every reason to believe negotiations on a long-term deal are being conducted as we speak, the arbitrator likely would award a one-year salary of around $4MM, roughly near the midpoint of the figures exchanged.

If we operate under the supposition both sides are willing to do a long term deal, what would Kreider then be worth?

Kreider’s is an interesting case. Still just 25, the former Boston College standout and former first-round pick possesses a rare blend of size, speed and skill. The six-foot-three, 226-pound winger is among the fastest straight line skaters in the game today and creates numerous scoring chances due solely to his physical skills. When fully engaged, Kreider has the ability to dominate entire games with his speed and physicality.

Following a 21-goal performance during the 2014-15 campaign, it was believed Kreider might finally be realizing his vast potential and a 30-goal season was considered the logical next step in his development. But Kreider struggled with consistency in 2015-16, an all-too-frequent experience during his burgeoning career (and frankly one shared by many young players), and needed five tallies in his final eight games to match his 2014-15 output.

Still, 20-goal scorers in their prime and with additional offensive upside are not cheap. Fortunately, a couple of recent RFA signings can be used for comparative purposes to help determine just how much Kreider may be worth.

Kyle Palmieri recently inked a five-year deal with New Jersey that comes with an AAV of $4.65MM per season. Palmieri is coming off a better platform campaign than Kreider, tallying career highs in both goals with 30 and points with 57.

Meanwhile, Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson, avoided arbitration by agreeing to a three-year, $13.75MM contract which averages out to just under $4.6MM annually. Johansson finished the 2015-16 season with 17 goals and 46 points.

On the surface both would seem to serve as obvious comparables. And while their contracts certainly help us hone in on Kreider’s potential value, the big winger has some advantages over his peers that could boost his value.

First, even though Kreider’s 43-point 2015-16 output falls short of Palmieri (57) and Johansson (46), his 1.85 points/60 at five-on-five (5v5) scoring rate over the last two seasons is superior. Johansson has recorded a 1.68 points/60 at 5v5 and Palmieri comes in at 1.55 over that same time frame.

Second, Kreider already has extensive postseason experience and has excelled when it matters most. He’s potted 20 goals in 65 playoff contests since debuting during the 2011-12 postseason, scoring his first playoff goal a week before his 21st birthday. Palmieri has tallied seven goals in 33 postseason games. Johansson also has seven playoff goals, albeit in 56 contests.

The New York Rangers relatively quiet foray into free agency, and the recent trade of Derick Brassard to Ottawa for Mika Zibanejad, has left the Rangers with $10.65MM in cap space according to General Fanager. With only Kevin Hayes and Marek Hrivik remaining unsigned as RFAs, it seems reasonable to conclude the Rangers have the financial wherewithal to offer a deal in the range of $5MM annually for five years. This would allow the club to buy three unrestricted free agent seasons and lock up one of their top young players through his prime years at what could be a very affordable price should he ever meet his 30-goal potential. Even as a 20-goal scorer, the cost wouldn’t be too out of line with what is paid on the open market.

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