Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Matt Grzelcyk

Atlantic Notes: Toronto’s Goaltending, Batherson, Pinto, Allen, Grzelcyk

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

To say Toronto’s goaltending has struggled as of late would be an understatement.  Now, Jack Campbell is on injured reserve and Petr Mrazek didn’t exactly fare any better in his first game as the short-term starter.  However, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun cautions that the Maple Leafs making a trade for a goalie wouldn’t necessarily be worth doing.  Most of the goaltenders that are believed to be available aren’t sure-fire upgrades over Campbell and Mrazek and it’s quite possible that Campbell would still be the starter for the playoffs.  Considering that Toronto has limited cap space to work with (since Jake Muzzin is expected to return before the season ends), would that be better off being used on a player who will play in every game over one that would more or less be a short-term goalie stopgap that isn’t necessarily an improvement over their current options?

More from the Atlantic:

  • Although Senators winger Drake Batherson has returned to practice, he won’t play in Ottawa’s current five-game homestand, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 23-year-old has averaged over a point per game this season with 34 points in 31 games but hasn’t played since late January when he suffered a high ankle sprain.  Meanwhile, Ottawa expects to find out in the next couple of weeks if center Shane Pinto will be able to return at some point this season.  The rookie was expected to be a big part of their lineup this season but a shoulder injury has limited him to just five games so far.
  • While Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen has resumed skating, he won’t suit up in either of Montreal’s games this weekend, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 31-year-old is having a tough year like many are in Montreal and has a .901 SV% in 24 starts this season but has come up as a speculative trade candidate if he’s able to show that he has fully recovered from the lower-body injury that has kept him out for the last two months and get into game action before the March 21st trade deadline.
  • The Bruins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Matt Grzelcyk will return tonight against Arizona after missing the last two games – one due to an upper-body injury and the other to illness. The 28-year-old sits second in scoring among Boston defenders with 19 points in 51 games.  Jack Ahcan, who scored his first career NHL goal while taking Grzelcyk’s place in the lineup, will be a healthy scratch.

Bo Horvat, Mike Reilly Placed In COVID Protocol

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks have both announced new additions to the COVID protocol today, obviously affecting their lineup for tonight’s action.

In Vancouver, it’s captain Bo Horvat that is now unavailable to the club, as they look to try and put another dash in the win column this evening. Horvat was a huge part of the team’s win Sunday night against the Washington Capitals, scoring the game-winning goal and registering an assist in more than 20 minutes of ice time. Those two points took his season total to 23 in 38 games, good for fourth on the team and third among forwards.

His absence will be felt all over the ice but perhaps most in the faceoff dot, where he takes more than twice as many draws as anyone else on the Canucks roster. In fact, Horvat leads all NHL players in faceoffs this season, taking 891 through 38 games so far. His 503 wins sit just barely behind Patrice Bergeron for the league lead; the Bruins captain has an incredible 63% win rate this season.

Boston meanwhile will be without Mike Reilly, who enters the protocol after playing more than 21 minutes on Saturday night against the Nashville Predators (Nashville will face Vancouver tonight). The 28-year-old defenseman has found a home with the Bruins, where he has seen more ice time than anywhere else on his NHL journey and contributes in all situations. While he has just nine points in 32 games this season, Reilly’s puck-moving ability is an important piece of the puzzle for Boston.

Luckily, Matt Grzelcyk is set to return after his own stint on the COVID protocol, meaning the Bruins won’t really miss a beat. Urho Vaakanainen will also be afforded a bit more time with the big club, something he has taken advantage of in recent days. The young defenseman will skate beside Charlie McAvoy and very well could break the 20-minute mark for the fourth consecutive game.

Coyle, Forbort Expected To Step Into Top Roles For Bruins

at CDT | by 12 Comments

With the unexpected departure of David Krejci, the unknown status of injured Tuukka Rask, and a shockingly busy first day of free agency that included adding a number of top names, there are plenty of questions surrounding the Boston Bruins and how they may look next season. With so many possible lineup combinations and the team having yet to even practice together once, it would be understandable to leave fans wondering how the team may be structured in 2021-22. However, head coach Bruce Cassidy is not afraid to hint at his plans. Speaking with beat writer Eric Russo, Cassidy was open about who he sees stepping into some of the most important vacancies in the Bruins lineup.

First and foremost on the minds of most is who will step into Krejci’s role as second line center, especially after Taylor Hall was re-signed following stellar production with Krejci and Craig Smith. Well, despite some speculation to the contrary, Occam’s Razor prevails. Third line center Charlie Coyle will indeed get the first shot at centering the second line, as Cassidy called him the “obvious choice”. Coyle may be coming off of the worst offensive season of his career, but the two-way forward will be healthy this season following off-season knee surgeries and will look to return to form, which is a player whose career full-season scoring pace is 40 points. Cassidy notes that with Hall and Smith having experience playing together and Coyle and Smith also having played together, the familiarity that the three would share makes it an easy initial choice as the team’s second line. However, Cassidy does note that free agent additions Erik Haula and Tomas Nosek both play their best at center as well and could be next in line if Coyle is not a fit.

On defense, while some were content with the Bruins’ most frequent top pair of Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy, not everyone was convinced. Count Cassidy among that group. The head coach opined that the role may have been asking too much of Grzelcyk. He believes that free agent addition Derek Forbort, who plays a much more defensive and physical style, could in fact be the better match with McAvoy. Cassidy stated that between competing for that role and likely playing alongside Brandon Carlo on the top penalty kill unit, Forbort will be expected to play “big minutes”. Of course, Forbort will have to prove himself worthy, as Grzelcyk has the advantage of being the incumbent. Cassidy noted that Mike Reilly will likely continue to play with Carlo, but that too could change if Grzelcyk is bumped from the top pair.

Elsewhere on the roster, Cassidy firmly stated his support for Connor Clifton as getting the first shot as the regular third pair right-handed defenseman in the wake of Kevan Miller’s retirement. However, he also noted that youngsters Jakub Zboril and Urho Vaakanainen as well as recovering veteran John Moore all have experience playing their off side and will compete for opportunity. In the bottom-six, Cassidy offered a vote of confidence for Jake DeBrusk retaining his starting job as third line left wing, while also advocating for top prospect Jack Studnicka to get a look for a roster spot. With the versatility of additions Haula, Nosek, and Nick Foligno, there are plenty of potential combinations on that third line and there is a high likelihood of a more offensive fourth line in Boston than in years with the overflow of the third line position battle matched with the likes of Curtis Lazar and Trent Frederic. In goal, Cassidy did not just announce free agent splurge Linus Ullmark as the new starter; in fact quite the contrary. Cassidy expects Ullmark and breakout rookie Jeremy Swayman “to compete for the majority of the starts.” While Ullmark was compensated like a starter by the Bruins in both salary and term, Cassidy notes that Swayman will be given a fair chance to “come in and potentially be the No. 1.”

How it all plays out in Boston remains to be seen, but Cassidy did not hold anything back about his thought and plans for the current roster. That should give fans of the Bruins and their Atlantic Division rivals something more concrete to consider as the days tick down to the start of the regular season.

East Notes: Eichel, Beecher, Boston Injuries, Hart

at CDT | by 16 Comments

While Sabres center Jack Eichel continues to rehab his neck injury and wait for a decision on whether or not to have surgery, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported in a recent appearance on WGR 550 (audio link) that Eichel’s preference is to simply have the procedure, one that carries a six-week recovery time.  That would give him plenty of time to rehab and be ready for training camp in the fall.

Where he goes for that camp is going to be one of the storylines to watch for this summer.  Eichel has been in trade speculation for a while now but a trade in-season would have been tough to do for salary cap purposes.  Dreger reports that the Kings are one of the teams that have been interested in the 24-year-old.  They would be an interesting fit as they have young center prospects (including Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, and Gabriel Vilardi) that would need to be part of the deal plus the cap space to afford his $10MM price tag.  Of course, should the Sabres make him available, there will be plenty of other suitors as well.

More from the East Division:

  • The Bruins aren’t expected to try to turn John Beecher pro this summer, suggests Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). His sophomore campaign at Michigan came to an early end due to shoulder surgery and he was limited to just 16 games, recording four goals and four assists.  Accordingly, it makes sense for Boston to want him to stay in college for another year although Divver indicated that if Beecher wants to turn pro, they will oblige that request.
  • Still with Boston, the Bruins were happy to have Tuukka Rask back in the lineup on Thursday for their match-up against the New York Islanders.  However, that appears to be the only addition from the infirmary that they’ll get, as Matt Grzelcyk (upper body), Brandon Carlo (upper body), and Kevan Miller (undisclosed) aren’t expected to return for the team’s next game on Sunday, according to The Boston Globe’s Matt Porter.
  • Flyers goaltender Carter Hart was a late scratch from this afternoon’s contest against Washington with the team tweeting that he has a lower-body injury. Hart has been better this month after a disastrous March, posting a .910 SV% in five games before this setback.  There’s no word yet on how long he’ll miss.

Snapshots: Eichel/Krueger, Sutter, Wheeler, Grzelcyk

at CDT | by 10 Comments

Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger isn’t having a good week. The team has lost three straight, including a 3-0 shutout loss to Philadelphia Sunday. When star Jack Eichel went down with an injury and was expected to miss time earlier this week, Krueger told the press, including The Athletic’s John Vogl that Eichel got hurt during warm-ups on Thursday and his injury was not related to the fact that he missed the morning skate that day.

Eichel, who played Sunday, said after Sunday’s game that the injury didn’t happen in warm-ups like Krueger said. Eichel said the injury occurred during Tuesday’s game against New Jersey, contradicting Krueger’s statement three days earlier.

When Vogl asked about his job status, Krueger said he wasn’t worried.

“Absolutely not, John,” said Krueger. “If you do, I don’t know. But I’m not wired that way, just so you know. I’m wired to work on solutions and take responsibility, and I do both right now.”

Not a good sign in Buffalo.

  • Vancouver Canucks center Brandon Sutter is having a solid season in the final year of his five-year, $21.9MM contract. The 32-year-old has scored six goals in 24 games so far this year. Despite being a logical trade chip for the upcoming trade deadline on April 12th, Sutter says he wants to stay with the Canucks past this year, according to The Province’s Ben Kuzma. “You know when your contract is up there’s always going to be speculation and talk,” he said. “For me, I’m just focused on this group and this team. I want to be here and this is where I want to stay. Really no secrets there from me.”
  • Just because the Winnipeg Jets asked defenseman Toby Enstrom to waive his no-movement clause so the team could protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie in the 2017 Vegas expansion draft, don’t expect Winnipeg to do the same with Blake Wheeler this year for the upcoming Seattle expansion draft. The Athletic’s Murat Ates (subscription required) writes that Wheeler would fit the profile of someone the Seattle Kraken would pass on if he were left exposed, considering he’s 35, has three more years at $8.25MM and is no longer a dominant top-line forward (although still a solid top-six player). The scribe notes that the Jets would never ask him to waive his no-movement clause. Winnipeg intends to use Wheeler as well as Mark Scheifele as examples to other Jets’ players that the team will stick with their stars for their entire career.
  • Joe Haggerty of BostonHockeyNow writes the Boston Bruins could see the return of top-four defenseman Matt Grzelcyk soon. The 27-year-old blueliner practiced Saturday, but wasn’t ready to go Sunday against the Rangers. Grzelcyk has been out with a lower-body injury and has missed all but two games since Jan. 21. He has tried to come back twice when he obviously wasn’t ready. Grzelcyk has only appeared in six games this year.

Injury Notes: Blues, Armia, Necas, Kase

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The St. Louis Blues’ Tyler Bozak, who has been sidelined since January 26th, has finally been retroactively placed on the injured reserve per a team release. Ironically, the Blues waited so long to make the the move that Bozak is already eligible to be activated from IR. However, he is still considered day-to-day and there is not definitive timeline for his return. Bozak has been out with an undisclosed upper-body injury since taking a heavy hit from Vegas’ Mark Stone nearly two weeks ago. Defenseman Marco Scandella has additionally been ruled out for the time being with an upper-body injury, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Scandella was a late scratch for the Blues’ game on Thursday, believed to have been the result of this same nagging injury. Thomas adds that Zach Sanford is also out for the Blues with, of all things in the age of COVID, the flu. Sanford is off to a slow start this season despite playing on the team’s top line recently, but perhaps taking some time to get back to full strength will put him back on track.

  • Sanford is not alone in his struggles with the flu. While the virus is certainly the lesser of two evils this season, it is still hampering a return to action for the Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Armia as well. Armia, who was initially sidelined by a concussion, is doing better in that regard, head coach Claude Julien tells TSN’s John Lu. However, he has been unable to skate with the team due to flu symptoms. The team hopes to have Armia back at practice on Monday at the earliest.
  • Young Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas has also entered the concussion protocol after suffering an injury on Thursday, reports Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. However, head coach Rod Brind’Amour is not worried that he will miss a considerable amount of time. Specifically, he tells Alexander that Necas is “going to be out for a little while but I don’t think it’s going to be very long.” His injury is only being termed as an “upper-body” ailment.
  • The Boston Bruins are hoping to have Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk back before their next game on Wednesday, but it seems Ondrej Kase is still a ways behind in his recovery from a concussion. Head coach Bruce Cassidy tells The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa that Kase has been able to ride the exercise bike, but he has not yet resumed skating. Kase has been out since the Bruins’ second game of the season and is currently on injured reserve. A talented, but injury-prone young forward with a history of head trauma, Kase needs to return to the Bruins lineup and show some durability and consistency and establish chemistry with his team ahead of an off-season in which he will be a restricted free agent and the subject of a difficult Expansion Draft decision.

Injury Notes: Tarasenko, Bruins, Walker, Stenlund

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

There appears to be some good news at least on the horizon for the Blues.  Speaking with reporters today (video link), GM Doug Armstrong indicated that winger Vladimir Tarasenko has resumed skating as he works his way back from offseason surgery:

His shoulder certainly isn’t 100 percent right now, but it’s at a point where the safety mechanisms are in place where we feel he can skate. He can receive passes, make passes, and shoot to a level of his comfort.  He’s still aways away. We won’t see him for a number of weeks, but he certainly is on the right track.

Tarasenko has been out since re-aggravating his previous shoulder injury back in the bubble which played a role in the Blues signing Mike Hoffman just before the season started.  While it will be several weeks yet before he returns, he’s on track to be a big second-half addition to a team that has gotten off to a solid start this season with a 7-2-1 record.

More injury news and notes from around the league:

  • Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk have resumed skating as they continue to recover from their respective lower-body injuries, notes Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now. Neither player is expected to suit up on Friday when their current road trip comes to an end while their next two games against Buffalo have already been postponed.  That would appear to have them in line to return a week tonight against the Rangers.
  • Kings defenseman Sean Walker will have surgery on his nose and is expected to miss the next two-to-four weeks, reports Lisa Dillman of The Athletic (Twitter link). He took a slapshot to the face in the third period of Thursday’s game and hasn’t played since.  Los Angeles placed Walker on injured reserve yesterday.
  • The Blue Jackets announced that they have activated Kevin Stenlund off injured reserve. The center suffered an upper-body injury last week that held him out of the last four games.  Stenlund had gotten off to a good start before getting injured with a goal and an assist in his first two games.

Bruins Re-Sign Matt Grzelcyk

at CDT | by 9 Comments

The Bruins have taken care of one of their remaining restricted free agents,  announcing that they’ve re-signed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a four-year, $14.75MM contract, avoiding a salary arbitration hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday.  The deal means he more than doubles the $1.4MM he made on his most recent deal.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:

2020-21: $2.25MM
2021-22: $4MM
2022-23: $4.25MM
2023-24: $4.25MM

The 26-year-old has been a fixture on Boston’s back end in recent years, albeit in a more limited capacity.  Last season, Grzelcyk had a career-high four goals and 17 assists in 68 games for the Bruins while averaging a little over 18 minutes per game in playing time.  While he was limited to just a single assist in 12 postseason contests, his playing time jumped to nearly 20 minutes a night.

While it seems unlikely that Grzelcyk will be able to produce as much as he did at the college level (including one year with Charlie McAvoy), it’s possible that there is still another level he can get to offensively.  With Torey Krug gone to St. Louis in free agency and Zdeno Chara’s fate uncertain for next season, Grzelcyk stands to be in line for a bigger role for 2020-21 as things stand with John Moore being the only other NHL regular on the left side of their back end.  This deal clearly recognizes that potential while buying out three years of UFA eligibility.

With the move, Boston has roughly $6.5MM to $7.5MM in remaining cap space depending on various projections of filling out their roster.  However, they still have a restricted free agent of note to re-sign in winger Jake DeBrusk which should take up a good chunk of that amount.

Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now was first to report that the two sides were close to an agreement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Steven Kampfer Opts Out Of Postseason

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Slipping through the cracks of a refreshingly busy weekend for NHL roster news of many varieties was the announcement that Boston Bruins defenseman Steven Kampfer has joined the list of those players who have opted out of participation in the upcoming postseason. Kampfer took to Twitter to state that he has made the difficult decision not to return to the Bruins for their upcoming postseason run. The veteran revealed that his wife and son suffer from a congenital heart defect that can be complicated by the effects of COVID-19. For that reason, he made a decision that no one can fault him for to put his family’s health and safety first.

Kampfer, 31, is a veteran of 211 NHL games, including ten this season with Boston. While he had not played a major role this season with the Bruins, the team valued his presence last season as they dealt with consistent injury issues on the back end. Kampfer was one of a dozen defensemen to suit up for the Bruins in the 2018-19 season, playing in 35 regular season games as well as three playoff games. His experience and intelligent puck-moving came in handy in tough spots for the Bruins last year and the team rewarded him with a two-year extension last summer. They undoubtedly would like to have him this postseason in case the going gets tough again. Instead, they will have to make do without him for now and hopefully welcome him back next season.

However, the Bruins are in good shape on the blue line, especially given the time off to enter the playoffs fully  healthy for the first time in several years. While the team will be missing Kampfer and Kevan Miller, out all season due to injury, Boston’s training camp roster features ten defensemen with NHL experience. This includes their regular top five of Charlie McAvoy, Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk, a trio of dependable options to fill out the starting lineup in John Moore, Jeremy Lauzon, and Connor Clifton, and top prospects Urho Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril. 

Jack Ahcan To Sign With Boston Bruins

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Under both Claude Julien and now Bruce Cassidy, the Boston Bruins have largely stressed the importance of a lefty-righty balance on the blue line. However, when it comes to loading up the pipeline, that principle doesn’t seem to carry the same weight. The Bruins will continue to add talent to the left side of their defensive ranks, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the team is set to sign St. Cloud State standout Jack Ahcan.

Ahcan, 22, just wrapped up his senior year with the Huskies and finished his collegiate career with 103 points in 144 games, two NCHC regular season titles, and the “C” on his sweater this final season as well. Ahcan, whose younger brother Roman plays for Wisconsin while youngest brother Grant is committed to St. Cloud State, emerged as an elite talent seemingly out of nowhere as a freshman. The USHL product played his way onto the U.S. World Junior Championship squad, which won gold that year, and finished the NCAA season with 21 points in 32 games. In 2018-19, Ahcan was one of the top blue liners in all of college hockey, finishing in the top ten among NCAA defensive scoring and fifth overall in plus/minus.

Ahcan draws a remarkably close comparison to many of Boston’s existing defensive assets: Torey Krug, Matt Grzelcyk, and even AHL project Cooper Zech. At 5’8” and 185 lbs., Ahcan is a small left-handed defenseman who excels in puck movement, vision, and offensive awareness – a description that fits the whole group. Ahcan quarterbacked the power play at St. Cloud State, much as Krug does in Boston, but also like Krug he is not afraid to throw a big hit and get involved in puck battles. In fact, Ahcan’s skating ability allows him to hunt the puck and create turnovers and offensive chances. Boston has found a way to get the most out of undersized, offensive-minded defenseman and under the tutelage of Krug, Ahcan has a chance to become a special player.

Of course, Krug is set to be an unrestricted free agent, while Grzelcyk will be a restricted free agent this summer. Both are expected to be back next season, but perhaps not for the long haul. A popular projection is for Grzelcyk to be lost to Seattle in the impending 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Boston is too deep up front to protect four defenseman and the likely group of Krug, Charlie McAvoy, and Brandon Carlo would leave Grzelcyk up for grabs. Ahcan could be groomed to be a replacement option in that case.

He will have plenty of competition though. There is no shortage of talent on left side of the blue line in Boston’s organizational depth chart. Although future Hall of Famer Zdeno Chara may not be around much longer and Krug is not yet extended long-term, the Bruins have Grzelcyk (for now), veteran John Moore, and rookie Jeremy Lauzon at the NHL level as well. In the AHL, recent first-round picks Urho Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril will also push for promotion, with the aforementioned Zech in the mix as well. Down the road, 2019 selection Roman Bychkov could also figure into the competition. On top of all of that, the Bruins also signed Nick Wolff from the college ranks just last week. The Minnesota-Duluth defender is an entirely different style of player from Ahcan, but another name eager to show his pro chops. Consider that the right side is well-off at the top level as well with McAvoy, Carlo, Connor Clifton, and Steven Kampfer, and there are far more bodies than opportunities on the Boston blue line. Ahcan is a talented prospect and can learn from some of the best at his particular style with the Bruins, but he has his work cut out for him to be an NHL regular any time soon. If he rises to the task, Boston could look back on this signing as a game-changer.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top