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Jordan Binnington’s Bruins Past Could Play A Role In Cup Final

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Plenty has been said about the meteoric rise of St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington this season. The 25-year-old rookie began the year as the team’s fourth-string option in net and did not make his first NHL start until January. Yet, he miraculously managed to pick up 24 wins in the second half of the season behind a league-best 1.89 goals against average and has led the Blues to the Stanley Cup Final. Part of Binnington’s dominance is that his emergence from obscurity meant that most opponents this season had little to no experience with facing him. However, the part of Binnington’s story that is now in the spotlight, and one that many still may not realize, is that last season Binnington played for none other than the AHL’s Providence Bruins.

Without an AHL affiliate in 2017-18, St. Louis was forced to split their minor league prospects between several AHL teams. With limited options for play time in net, the Blues opted to leave Ville Husso with many of his teammates on the San Antonio Rampage – now the team’s new affiliate – and loaned Binnington by himself to Providence for the year. Binnington played well, but made just 28 appearances over the course of the season as the backup to the Bruins’ Zane McIntyre. More importantly, he spent the whole campaign with the team.

Could this be an advantage for Boston in their upcoming Stanley Cup clash with the Blues? It certainly won’t hurt, but the bulk of the Bruins’ regulars did not spend much time in Providence last season. Of the players to skate in at least half of Boston’s games this season, only Danton Heinen and Matt Grzelcyk suited up for Providence last season and the pair combined for just 18 early-season games. Even current Bruins reserves like Peter Cehlarik, Trent Frederic, and Karson Kuhlman (none of whom are likely to draw into the Cup Final anyway) only spent limited time playing with Binnington. And the P-Bruins’ top players from last season – Austin Czarnik, Kenny Agostino, Colby Cave – have since departed the organization.

The one outlier, and potential Stanley Cup x-factor, is defenseman Connor Clifton. Clifton played the full season in Providence last year and spent much of this season in the AHL as well. However, Clifton has jumped on the opportunity presented by injuries to Kevan Miller and John Moore and has asserted himself as a starter for the Bruins this season. Even with Moore now healthy, as well as Steven Kampfer in the mix, the rookie defenseman has held on to his spot on the right side of the team’s bottom pair. Clifton has been trusted with meaningful minutes and even recorded his first NHL goal in the Eastern Conference Final. A player on the smaller side who makes up for his lack of stature with both tenacity and intelligence, Clifton is not a player to be overlooked and his experience playing with Binnington could be key for the Bruins.

Of course, Providence head coach Jay Leach and organizational goalie coach Bob Essensa, among others, will also surely have input on Binnington. So too will former net mate McIntyre, who has served as Boston’s emergency third-string goalie in recent weeks. There’s no reason to believe that one season as the minor league backup for the Bruins will give the team all they need to totally figure out the red-hot goaltender, but Boston may have a slight advantage over other teams this postseason when it comes to beating Binnington.

Atlantic Notes: Moore, Miller, Senators’ COO, Canadiens’ Backup

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With the news that Charlie McAvoy will miss Game One of the Eastern Conference Final, the Boston Bruins know that they will need someone else to step up and fill both his spot in the lineup and his considerable minutes. While the latter responsibility will likely fall to increased roles for Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug, as well as captain Zdeno Chara of course, someone will have to come off the bench and be ready to contribute. Who exactly that will be remains a mystery, but the pool of potential options has increased. Speaking with the media today, Bruins GM Don Sweeney revealed that John Moore will be available on Thursday and that Kevan Miller has not been ruled out either. Moore was injured early in the Bruins’ last series and did not return, while Miller has not played at all in the postseason while rehabbing a lower-body injury. Sweeney did not sound optimistic that Miller would be the choice for Game One, but did promise that the further the team plays into the postseason, the more likely it is that he will return to the lineup. Miller began the season as a top-six regular for Boston, as he has for several years now, but injuries cost him all but 39 regular season games. An especially injury-prone defense corps this season has helped the Bruins give the likes of Moore, Matt Grzelcyk, Steven Kampfer, and Connor Clifton all considerable play time, and head coach Bruce Cassidy has entrusted the youngsters Grzelcyk and Clifton with starting roles moving forward in the playoffs. If Miller is still unable to go on Thursday, the decision would thus come down to Moore versus Kampfer, with the latter providing a right-handed shot and more stable defense, but the former bringing more experience with the team and more puck-moving ability to help with McAvoy’s absence. It will be an interesting decision for Cassidy and his staff and one that could play a major role in the Game One result.

  • Ottawa Senators’ COO Nic Ruszkowski is leaving his post after just one year on the job. As The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch writes, this is yet another shake-up to a front office that is still searching for a President of Hockey Operations, not to mention a head coach. Garrioch reports that Ruszkowski’s departure has spurred the Senators to restructure their administrative structure, with several executives moving into new roles to take on some of Ruszkowski’s duties. While the team claims that this restructuring will “strengthen our club”, Ruszkowski’s unexpected resignation is yet another stain on a difficult season for the Senators and only adds to the mythos of owner Eugene Melnyk being a difficult individual to work for. The team has a lot of work to do this summer on all fronts and hopefully can get their front office sorted out sooner rather than later.
  • The Montreal Canadiens may be paying Carey Price $10.5MM per year, but that doesn’t mean they expect him to play in every game. Yet, Price started the second-most games in the league this season, making 66 appearances. The poor play of backup Antti Niemi forced head coach Claude Julien’s hand in many cases and the team has already told Niemi, an unrestricted free agent, that he will not be back. Simply promoting Charlie Lindgren likely isn’t a much better option either. Instead, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels writes that the Canadiens will looks for experience and value on the free agent goalie market this summer. Engels warns that Montreal should not overpay for a backup, given the investment in Price to be “the guy” for ideally 60 games or so each year, but also feels they need a trusted veteran who could step in as the starter in case of injury. A cost-effective, proven veteran goalie is not always an easy thing to find, but Engels does throw out the likes of Cam Talbot, should he opt not to re-sign with the Philadelphia Flyers, Brian Elliott, Curtis McElhinney, Anders Nilsson, Keith Kinkaid, and Michael Hutchinson as top options. In all likelihood, it will be one of those names backing up Price come October.

East Notes: Bruins, Kravtsov, Red Wings

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While the Bruins lost Sean Kuraly for the rest of the regular season last week, there is some help on the horizon on the injury front.  The team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Torey Krug and Marcus Johansson could both return on Wednesday while blueliners Matt Grzelcyk and Kevan Miller are aiming to return this weekend.  With their first-round matchup all but guaranteed now, they will comfortably be able to ease these players back into the lineup without a whole lot of pressure.  Johansson is someone that will likely get a fair amount of playing time down the stretch given that he hasn’t played much with the team since being acquired from New Jersey back at the trade deadline.  Unfortunately for the Bruins, the injury news isn’t all good as blueliner John Moore left Monday’s game due to an upper-body injury.

More notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • While the Rangers won’t be able to bring 2018 first-round pick Vitali Kravtsov over to finish off the season, GM Jeff Gorton told reporters, including Peter Botte of the New York Post, that he plans to talk to Kravtsov’s representative soon in the hopes of securing an entry-level deal for next season. His KHL deal runs through April 30th and even though his KHL team in Traktor Chelyabinsk has already been eliminated from the playoffs, they won’t release him from his deal early.  The 19-year-old had 21 points in 50 games this season while transitioning to play down the middle.
  • With Jonathan Ericsson set to return, the Red Wings announced that they’ve returned defenseman Brian Lashoff to Grand Rapids of the AHL. He had been up with the team on an emergency basis so re-assigning him was required in order to not convert him to one of their four post-deadline recalls.  Meanwhile, the team also noted on Twitter that winger Thomas Vanek is dealing with a mid-body injury.  The veteran quietly sits fourth on Detroit in scoring this season with 36 points in 64 games.  There’s no word yet on the severity of the issue.

Matt Grzelcyk Sent Back To Boston For Further Testing

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Last night the Boston Bruins issued an update explaining that the x-rays on Matt Grzelcyk’s arm were negative, and that his status for Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets was still unclear. They’ve made their decision now, as the team announced that Grzelcyk is on his way back to Boston for further testing. He won’t play in tomorrow’s matchup. Grzelcyk was injured when his arm was pinned against the boards by Patric Hornqvist, immediately resulting in his exit from the game.

The Bruins finally had their 19-game point streak snapped by the Penguins last night, a run that saw them go 15-0-4 since the end of January. Amazingly the team had not made up much ground on the Tampa Bay Lightning during that time, and are still just four points ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs despite having played one more game. Grzelcyk, though not the very most important player on the team, is still a key part of their defense and has stepped up when others faced injury earlier in the year.

While it is good news that the 25-year old didn’t suffer a fracture on the play, ligament damage could be just as frustrating for a team looking to make a splash in the playoffs. They’ll have to wait to see what the further testing reveals, and whether Grzelcyk will be out of the lineup for any length of time. In the meantime, Steven Kampfer is expected to be inserted back into the lineup in his place.

Eastern Notes: Zuccarello, Burakovsky, Grzelcyk

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With just over two week remaining before the NHL trade deadline, the New York Rangers like what they are seeing from veteran Mats Zuccarello, who is only helping his trade value for the team as he’s picked up five goals and 10 assists in the last 10 games, giving the team the potential for a big return. However, the 31-year-old says that he would like that trade to happen sooner than later, according to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.

“I just wish sooner rather than later, just to clarify it,” Zuccarello said Sunday. “But I’m here now. I’ll play my hardest and do my best. That’s all I can control.”

While the 31-year-old is a fan favorite in New York, the rebuilding team isn’t likely to bring back the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent next season, who will be 32 at the start of next season. However, he’d be a better fit on a playoff team, looking for a playmaker. However, his strong play recently should get him a new opportunity.

  • NBC Sports J.J. Regan writes that the Washington Capitals have seen a recent resurgence from their third line of Andrei Burakovsky, Lars Eller and Brett Connolly has been crucial to the team’s recent success. However, with Burakovsky’s name constantly in the news as potential trade bait, he has played two straight games playing high-quality hockey, putting up a goal and two assists. The question then is whether the team should move the inconsistent forward who still has just 15 points this season. However, with restricted free agency upcoming this summer, the team might be better off moving on from him regardless because the Capitals will have to offer him a salary of $3.25MM in order to qualify him and retain his rights as a restricted free agent. The Capitals, already strapped under the salary cap, may not be ready to do this.
  • The Boston Bruins announced that defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who has missed both weekend games with a lower-body injury, is expected to skate Monday and could return on Tuesday against Chicago. The 25-year-old has a goal and 14 points in 50 games this season with 54 penalty minutes.

Snapshots: Grzelcyk, Lewis, Eaves, Canadiens

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Matt Grzelcyk’s strong showing this season and cheap contract may make him a trade candidate over the next few weeks, suggests Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston.  The 25-year-old (who is currently dealing with a lower-body injury) is logging nearly 20 minutes a night for the Bruins on their back end and carries a $1.4MM cap hit through next season.  That’s bound to get the attention of some selling teams who would relish the chance to add a potential top-four player on a below-market deal.  Boston is on the lookout for help up front and if they don’t want to part with one of their younger forwards, Grzelcyk could very well be on the move instead.

More from around the league:

  • The Kings announced that they have activated Trevor Lewis off injured reserve. The 32-year-old has missed the last 37 games due to a fractured foot and has suited up just 17 times so far in 2018-19.  Lewis can play all three forward positions and kill penalties which could make him a player of interest for contending teams down the stretch.  He has one year left on his contract after this one with a cap hit of $2MM.
  • The Ducks have placed winger Patrick Eaves on IR due to flu-like symptoms, notes Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). The veteran last suited up on Monday so the placement can be back-dated to Tuesday which would allow him to be activated in time for their next game on Wednesday against Vancouver.  Eaves has played in just seven games this season due to injuries which included back spasms and a fractured rib.
  • The Canadiens have activated winger Andrew Shaw off of injured reserve and have transferred winger Paul Byron (forearm) to IR, reports Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports (Twitter link). Shaw has been out since suffering a neck injury in late December.  Byron’s injury isn’t believed to be a significant one but it’s worth noting that with Montreal carrying a full 23-man roster, they will have to waive or trade a player to make room for him when he’s ready to be activated.

Oilers Notes: Hitchcock, Koskinen, Krug

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Since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers back on November 20th, the team is 7-2-1 and back in the Western Conference playoff picture. The Oilers’ players seem to have embraced Hitchchock’s system and the veteran coach may be the author of a turnaround for a franchise that had been heading in the wrong direction for more than a year. Will that earn him an extension beyond his current interim role? TSN’s Darren Dreger thinks so, as he stated on the latest segment of “Insider Trading” that Hitchcock appears to be a long-term option for the Oilers. The 66-year-old was set to retire from coaching at the end of the 2016-17 season, back when he was with the St. Louis Blues, but was fired by the team before the end of the season. That made his hiring by the Dallas Stars in the following off-season even more surprising. After last season, Hitchcock again announced his “retirement”, only to join the Oilers when they called this season. Hitchcock doesn’t really seem to be committed to moving on from the game and Dreger believes that a winning season would leave Edmonton with little choice but to extend their new coach’s contract. Dreger adds that Hitchcock could wind up with a deal that would allow him to transition from the bench into a front office role if he so chooses, but doesn’t doubt that Hitchcock could continue to coach the team “well beyond this season”.

  • One of the more evident changes under Hitchcock has been his trust in backup goaltender Mikko Koskinen, if backup is even the correct title anymore for the import keeper. After Cam Talbot started each of the Oilers’ first eight games of the season, Koskinen has received 13 starts to Talbot’s nine the rest of the way. Under Hitchcock, it has been seven games for Koskinen out of ten total. After shutting out the Calgary Flames last night, Hitchcock announced that he would stick with Koskinen again tonight when the Oilers take on the Colorado Avalanche. Admittedly, Koskinen has outplayed Talbot with a .929 save percentage, 2.06 GAA, and three shutouts – all among the league’s best marks – so the real test of Hitchcock’s trust in the “rhythm” will come when Koskinen begins to struggle. For now, the new coach and his new starting goalie are helping each other make a case for extended stays in Edmonton.
  • Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug has been a name connected to the Oilers, through unconfirmed rumors and media speculation, for some time. It was believed that Boston and Edmonton were close to a deal that would have sent Krug to the Oilers at the NHL Draft this past June, while rumors of ongoing discussions continued through the summer. Edmonton could certainly use Krug, one of the most productive defensemen in the NHL over the past few years, and there is some level of familiarity with the player on the Oilers’ side in former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. While they have leaned on Krug as the team fought through injuries early this season, the defenseman is also not as crucial a piece for the Bruins as he would be for other teams, with Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk representing future offensive threats on the blue line and Krug’s contract expiring after next season. As such, a hypothetical deal has some intrigue and Boston Globe beat writer Matt Porter re-ignited the discussion recently when he posited that the Bruins could potentially pry Ryan Nugent-Hopkins out of Edmonton with a package of Krug and a young forward. As the idea picked up steam among fans, The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson put an end to the possibility – possibly for good – with his report that the Oilers are in fact one of the team’s on Krug’s limited no-trade list, a clause that kicked in for the first time this season. So, while the Bruins and Oilers may make fine trade partners hypothetically, a Krug-to-Edmonton deal is unlikely to happen.

John Moore Out, Bruins To Debut Two Rookie Defensemen

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When GM Don Sweeney and the Boston Bruins front office were looking ahead to this season, they were anticipating a strong starting six on defense with veteran depth and promising rookies in reserve. A quarter of the way through the season, the Bruins have yet to play a game with all six of their projected starters: Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo, Kevan Miller, and free agent addition John Moore. Instead, the team has rotated through ten different defensemen due to continuous injury issues. Tonight, they’ll add two more.

In the Bruins’ Wednesday night game against the Colorado Avalanche, they lost captain Chara to an apparent knee injury. He joined McAvoy (concussion), Carlo (upper-body), Miller (hand), and rookie Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) on the shelf. Then today, Moore was unexpectedly absent from morning skate and the team announced that he was day-to-day with a lower-body injury of his own. The loss leaves the Bruins with just one starter – Krug – in the lineup and missing all of their regular right-side defenders. Krug and Matt Grzelcyk are the only active defensemen who played a game for Boston last season.

When the Bruins take on the Dallas Stars tonight – and likely Saturday at the Arizona Coyotes as well – they will roll out a defensive corps that includes three rookies. Jeremy Lauzon has skated in six games with Boston already and the team announced that Jakub Zboril and Connor Clifton will make their NHL debuts tonight. Zboril, 21, is a 2015 first-round pick who has been slow to develop but has been a capable shutdown defender in the AHL. Clifton, 23, was a college free agent out of Quinnipiac University who signed with the Providence Bruins last year and earned an NHL contract with his play. While all three rookies have shown promise, they hardly seem equipped to play the roles expected of them early on in their NHL careers. The current Bruins defensive figuration has just 667 career NHL games to their credit and just 262 not counting Krug. Boston needs some luck and strong outings by Tuukka Rask tonight and Jaroslav Halak tomorrow to survive this unbelievable injury bug.

Eastern Notes: Aho, Rasmussen, Bruins Offense, Blue Jackets’ Defense

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One player the Carolina Hurricanes are keeping a close eye on is William Nylander. While the Hurricanes wouldn’t mind acquiring the restricted free agent if Toronto opts to move him, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun (subscription required) writes that the Hurricanes are also keeping a close eye on whether the team even signs him as Nylander’s contract (assuming he signs) could have a huge effect on one of their own players — Sebastian Aho.

Aho’s entry-level deal runs out after this year and with the way the 21-year-old has developed, could command a high price from Carolina this offseason. With Carolina well known to be frugal when it comes to handing out long-term deals, Aho is a must. The forward has started strong this season, scoring four goals and eight assists in the team’s first seven games, suggesting he could have another breakout season after scoring 29 goals a season ago. Regardless, Nylander’s contract could be a significant comparable for Carolina in the coming weeks or months. If Nylander’s holdout is successful, it could cost the Hurricanes quite a bit as well.

  • In a mailbag series, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Detroit Red Wings are still discussing what to do with rookie forward Michael Rasmussen. The 19-year-old either has to stay with the team or be returned to juniors, but Rasmussen has struggled so far in transitioning to the NHL. He has just one assist in six games and has seen his ice time dip to just 9:56 on Thursday against Tampa Bay. The scribe writes that the team would prefer not to return him to the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, but Rasmussen only has three more games to prove himself to management, before they have to make a decision. If Rasmussen reaches 10 NHL games, he burns his first year of his entry-level deal.
  • In a mailbag of his own, NBC Sports Joe Haggerty writes that the Boston Bruins are in need of another quality top-six player and believes the Bruins should look to make a trade. He suggests the team should be open to moving one of their young talents as part of any package, including Anders Bjork, Danton Heinen, Ryan Donato or even Matt Grzelcyk to make a deal happen. The scribe also believes that the team needs to move David Backes from the second line into their bottom-six.
  • With Seth Jones close to returning to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ lineup, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that head coach John Tortorella has already said that Jones will return to the top defensive line opposite of Zach Werenski. The coach also admitted that he loves the combination of Marcus Nutivaara and Ryan Murray as the team’s second pairing. Which means that David Savard will move out of the team’s top-four.

Injury Notes: Krug, Brown, Schneider

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Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug left the team’s preseason finale in the first period last night and the early indications are not good. Krug did not return to the game and was later seen in a walking boot. Head coach Bruce Cassidy did not have much of an update after the game, saying that he has “no information” on his status, adding “hopefully it’s nothing serious, but it’s tough luck if it is, obviously.” The offensive blue liner was already returning from a fractured ankle suffered in the postseason and had been limited in training camp, but this sounds as if it was a new injury on Saturday night. Whether that is good or bad remains to be seen and with the regular season opening in just a few days, Krug’s availability is up in the air. The team does have fellow puck-moving lefty Matt Grzelcyk to fall back on. Grzelcyk was a starter as a rookie last season for the Bruins, but looked slated for No. 7 duty to begin the year. If he can overcome his own minor lower-body injury, he would be an easy fix. If not, Cassidy said that he would not hesitate to start rookie Urho Vaakanainen. The 2017 first-round pick is in his first season in North America, but has impressed in camp and has yet to be cut. While Krug is clearly the superior option, the Bruins have plenty of depth to manage his potential absence to begin the year. The concern would be just how long their power play quarterback remains sidelined.

  • Los Angeles Kings veteran forward Dustin Brown was another casualty last night. The big winger took a shot up high from teammate Anze Kopitar and was forced out of the game. Brown did not return and the team issued an update that he had suffered an upper-body injury on the play. However, there has been no word from the Kings since. The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman reached out to head coach John Stevens and GM Rob Blake, but could not get any more information. The team is likely taking their time to evaluate Brown, but it’s also possible that the injury is more serious and the team wants to approach the news on their terms. Like Krug, the proximity of the injury to Opening Night leaves his status to begin the year as a question mark.
  • One question that has been answered is who starts the year in net for the New Jersey Devils. Although he traveled with the team to Europe for their exhibition game in Switzerland and regular season opener against the Edmonton Oilers in Sweden, Cory Schneider is primarily there to continue working with the team’s medical staff. Head coach John Hynes made it official today that Schneider will not start for the Devils in their opener, reports NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. Still rehabbing from off-season hip surgery, it was always a long shot for Schneider to be ready to go for game one. New Jersey’s starter has yet to even be cleared to play. As such, last season’s savior Keith Kinkaid is likely to get the call, while veteran third-string keeper Eddie Lack remains on the roster as the current backup. Schneider is actually progressing well in his recovery and could be back in net soon, just not next week.

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