West Notes: Little, Avalanche, Domingue, Kopitar
Winnipeg center Bryan Little is making progress as he continues to recover from his lower body injury sustained in the first period of the season opener. He told Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press that he’s hoping to get back into the lineup soon, potentially some time next week:
“I feel good. It’s gotten a lot better in the last couple weeks. A lot stronger. There’s not much more that I can do besides getting into a full-contact practice and then I think I’m ready to come back. It’s just a matter of the doc taking a look at it in Winnipeg and trying to get through a practice with some bumps… hopefully not much longer.”
Dating back to last year, Little hasn’t had much luck with injuries recently. Last season, he missed the final 25 games due to a neck injury so in the last nine months, he has played just 2:48 of regular season action.
Little’s eventual return will give the Jets some much-needed good news from the infirmary as they have been hit hard with injuries this season. Winnipeg is currently without centers Mathieu Perreault and Shawn Matthias, right winger Joel Armia, plus defenseman Tyler Myers while fellow blueliner Toby Enstrom is currently on a personal leave of absence.
[Related: Jets Depth Chart]
More news and notes from the West:
- Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov is dealing with an upper body and won’t play on Saturday, writes Terry Frei of The Denver Post. He adds that the team is likely to recall prospect Spencer Martin to serve as the backup goalie against Vancouver. Frei also reports that left winger Gabriel Landeskog skated in a non-contact sweater but isn’t expected to play tomorrow night.
- Arizona has recalled goaltender Justin Peters on an emergency basis, notes Sarah McLellan of The Arizona Republic. Backup netminder Louis Domingue is dealing with a lower body injury so Peters will back up Mike Smith tonight against the Oilers. Head coach Dave Tippett doesn’t believe the injury is serious but they will re-evaluate Domingue on Saturday.
- The Kings are experimenting with playing center Anze Kopitar on the left wing, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes. The captain will be playing in his second game since coming back from an upper body injury tomorrow and was only able to take faceoffs on one side on Wednesday. By placing him on the wing, they can ease him back in and make sure the upper body issue is completely healed before asking him to shoulder the extra load down the middle.
Pacific Notes: Lindholm, Gaudet, Injuries
Hampus Lindholm will make his long awaited debut tonight for the Anaheim Ducks, figuring into the lineup after a long hold out and visa process. While the team is off to a 6-5-2 start without him, he’ll be a welcome addition to a blueline that has already lost Simon Despres for an indefinite period.
Lindholm is one of the more underrated skaters in the league, with his smooth possession style falling somewhat under the radar. He’ll likely take the place of Korbinian Holzer, who had worked his way into the lineup after the team sent Shea Theodore back to the AHL.
- After just a single game with the big club, the Arizona Coyotes have decided to send Tyler Gaudet back to the AHL. Gaudet got into the match against the Colorado Avalanche last night, but will now retake his spot with Tucson where he was off to a good start. The 23-year old has five points in eight games at the minor league level.
- On the ice today for the Coyotes were Michael Stone and Mike Smith, two key injuries the team has been fighting. Stone has gotten into just four games this season between two injury stints, while Smith has been out since October 23rd with a lower-body injury. Louis Domingue has taken the reigns in his absence and fared poorly, notching an .896 save percentage through ten games. The Coyotes will need both Stone and Smith to make quick returns should they hope to keep the playoffs within sight.
Pacific Division Snapshots: Boedker, Megna, Stecher, McGinn
After an “underwhelming” start to the 2016-17 campaign, San Jose bench boss Peter DeBoer has shuffled his lines in an effort to spark the 2 – 3 Sharks, writes Paul Gackle of The Mercury News. Tomas Hertl, who has spent much of the season skating on the top line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton, slides down the lineup and will center the third line. Meanwhile, Mikkel Boedker and Joel Ward have been promoted and will each move up a line.
Hertl, who has two goals and three points in six contests, will center a line with Patrick Marleau and Melker Karlsson on his wings. Boedker joins the aforementioned Pavelski and Thornton on the first line. Ward takes over as the second line right wing and will skate with Logan Couture and Joonas Donskoi.
For DeBoer, it’s not about punishing poor play or rewarding good; it’s about trying to find the right combinations that will allow the coach to roll four forward lines.
“It’s not a panic situation or anything, but you’re always looking for ways to get the most out of your group and our four-line game hasn’t been where I want it to be. I want to make sure that we are a four-line team and we’ll keep shuffling things until we are.”
Hertl’s play at center last year when Couture was out gave DeBoer the necessary confidence to move the young Czech forward back to the pivot spot.
“Hertl can play anywhere, his game is at that point. He’s a good enough player now that, not only can he play anywhere, I think he can make other people better around him.”
The Sharks currently sit tied with Anaheim for third in the Pacific Division but have a minus-four goal differential and have tallied just 14 markers on the season. Whether DeBoer’s changes pay off for the Sharks remains to be seen but it’s evident some form of shakeup was needed in San Jose.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:
- The Vancouver Canucks have announced via their team website that they have recalled forward Jayson Megna and defenseman Troy Stecher from Utica of the AHL. Furthermore, according to Jon Abbott who covers the Canucks for TSN1040, Megna is slated to play on the fourth line tonight against Ottawa. Stecher is set to make his NHL debut tonight and will skate with Alex Edler, with whom he partnered during preseason action, again per Abbott. Megna appeared in six games for the New York Rangers in 2015-16, netting a single goal and two points for the Blueshirts. Stecher signed with Vancouver as an undrafted free agent following three seasons playing for the University of North Dakota. The two draw into the lineup due to the continued absences of Derek Dorsett, Alexandre Burrows and Chris Tanev.
- The Arizona Coyotes will receive a welcome boost tonight as offseason free agent addition Jamie McGinn is set to make his 2016-17 season debut, as Coyotes Senior Director of News Content Dave Vest writes. McGinn missed the team’s first five games due to an upper-body-injury. Head coach Dave Tippett says the veteran wing will have to quickly readjust to the speed and pace of the game: “He’s going to have to get up and going. At least he had exhibition games (and) played well in the exhibition games. He’s been off for a couple weeks now. The pace has gone up. He’ll have to get into the pace of the game, but he’s a good veteran guy. He’s hard around the front of the net. Hopefully he brings us a little veteran presence we need right now.” Vest also notes that goalie Justin Peters is slated to make his first start of the 2016-17 campaign between the pipes tonight for the Coyotes. The 30-year-old Peters, who has 67 NHL starts on his resume, appeared in a relief role for the Coyotes last Thursday and stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced. Peters has assumed the backup role in Arizona behind Louis Domingue following the lower-body-injury to Mike Smith.
Mike Smith Listed As Week To Week With Lower-Body Injury
According to Craig Morgan of AZSports among others, Coyotes’ netminder Mike Smith is now week-to-week with a lower body injury. Smith suffered the injury on Tuesday when he “got twisted up” making a save. He was removed from the game and though the team says it isn’t severe, he’ll undergo additional testing when the team returns home.
Smith is now 34 and may have his best and healthiest hockey behind him. After suiting up in at least 60 games from 2013-15, he only started 32 last season due to core muscle surgery. While the former Vezina nominee played well in his limited role, just two years ago saw the worst season of his career. In 2014-15 the netminder saw his GAA balloon to 3.16 while his save percentage dropped to a middling .904.
Louis Domingue will take over once again as the starter during Smith’s absence, a role which he embraced last season. In 39 games, the young netminder put up a .912 save percentage with a 2.75 GAA. While those numbers are not elite by any means, they are encouraging for a 23-year old in his first real taste of the grind of an NHL schedule.
If the Coyotes are to compete for the playoffs this season, they’ll need Domingue to not only perform well in these next few weeks, but prove that he can handle a full load for the season. Smith would be an excellent second option once he’s healed fully and could lend support and guidance to the younger netminder as he finds his footing in the NHL.
Coyotes Re-Sign Louis Domingue
The Coyotes announced that they have re-signed G Louis Domingue to a multi-year contract. It’s a two year, one-way deal paying him $1MM in 2016-17 and $1.1M in 2017-18 for a cap hit of $1.05MM according to Cap Friendly.
Last season, Domingue played in 39 games with the Coyotes after joining the team due to injuries, posting a 15-18-5 record with a 2.75 GAA a .911 SV%, and 2 shutouts. His 15 wins set a franchise record for most by a rookie goaltender while he was named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month back in January.
For his career, Domingue has suited up in a total of 46 games with Arizona, posting a 16-20-6 mark with a 2.74 GAA and a .912 SV%.
The team is not expected to re-sign pending UFA Anders Lindback, paving the way for Domingue to make the full-time jump to the NHL. He will battle with incumbent starter Mike Smith for playing time.