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Matt Murray

Metropolitan Notes: Buchnevich, Nieves, Murray, Rask, Pickard

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After sitting in the press box for the last two games of their road trip, New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich is expected to be in Sunday’s lineup against the Sabres. This is just another example of the coaching demeanor of David Quinn who isn’t hesitant to make clear what he demands from his players, both physically and mentally. Regardless, Quinn expects Buchnevich to respond in only one way about the scratches.

“I hope he’s pissed, and I think he is,” Quinn said after Saturday’s practice up in Westchester (via the New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis). “I want everybody to be pissed when they don’t play. Now do something about it.”

Buchnevich so far has kept his feelings about his benching quiet and prefers to keep his conversations with Quinn to himself. However, the general belief is that Quinn needs to see more consistency from Buchnevich, who has scored points in five games, but has also disappeared in the other five games this season. Quinn can only hope that Buchnevich is ready to buy in.

  • Staying with the Rangers, Newsday’s Anthony Rieber writes that forward Boo Nieves practiced with the team after suffering a concussion that he sustained in the preseason opener on Sept. 17. Nieves practiced with the Hartford Wolf Pack while the team was on their four-game road trip. While there is no timetable for the 24-year-old to be activated off of injured reserve, the 6-foot-3, 203-pounder is getting closer to providing the team with a big body in their lineup. Nieves played 28 games for the Rangers last year, putting up a goal and eight assists.
  • Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray is getting tired of being hit during games. The 24-year-old has been hit incidentally with no penalties being called all season, including it happening three times on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. With three concussions in his young career, this new trend is alarming to the goalie. “I’m out there to stop the puck,” Murray said. “That’s got to be my main focus. If I have to do take a hit to do so, it is what it is. I hope that the refs will do something.”
  • In a Q&A with Carolina Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell, NHL.com’s Michael Smith learned that the team is expecting to get back winger Victor Rask in the first week of December. Rask injured his hand while slicing food in his kitchen and underwent hand surgery during the preseason and was listed as out indefinitely. Waddell said the team met with team doctors at the last home game who confirmed that week was viable.
  • The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription required) writes that Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Calvin Pickard may have lost the game Saturday on two late goals by the San Jose Sharks, but the scribe writes that Pickard actually played a solid game and didn’t deserve to take the loss. The third-string goalie was called into action when injury-prone Michal Neuvirth returned to Philadelphia with an undisclosed injury. Despite struggling playing the puck on numerous occasions, the 26-year-old did play well in the net as two of the goals by Timo Meier and Joe Pavelski were unstoppable.

Crawford, Murray, Andersen, Quick All Set To Return From Injury

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The goaltending position will get a little stronger today, as three top options return to their respective teams. Matt Murray and Frederik Andersen will both be back in the net as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs face off, while Jonathan Quick has been activated in Los Angeles. Still, the biggest news of the day lies in Chicago. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford will make his first start since December 23, 2017 when he takes on the Arizona Coyotes at home. Luke Johnson has been sent to the minor leagues by the Blackhawks in order to activate Crawford to the roster.

Getting Crawford back is a huge step for the Blackhawks, who have looked unlike their championship selves since their starting goaltender went down. The veteran netminder was dealing with a concussion and related symptoms for months, but appeared in training camp hopeful he could return to action quickly this season. That’s about to happen, and it will be an exciting moment for teammates and fans alike. Crawford holds a career .919 save percentage and actually was in the midst of one of the best seasons of his career when he suffered the injury. The team has not received quality goaltending from Cam Ward after signing him this offseason to a one-year, $3MM deal, and may end up waiving Anton Forsberg if Crawford can re-take ownership of the net.

For Toronto getting Andersen back is extremely important, given the lack of goaltending depth they suddenly find themselves with. Kasimir Kaskisuo, the default third stringer since Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard were claimed off waivers, suffered a serious injury recently with the Toronto Marlies and will be out for a fair amount of time, while minor league backup Jeff Glass is on an AHL deal. That meant young Eamon McAdam was the backup recently and just one more injury from being the stater for the Maple Leafs.

Quick and Murray both represent returns to normalcy for their respective teams, but both of their replacements did well in their absence. Jack Campbell in Los Angeles posted a .922 save percentage in his five games, while Casey DeSmith did the same in his three starts for Pittsburgh. There’s no reason to think Quick or Murray will suffer another injury quickly, but if they do the team at least knows there are capable backups behind them.

Minor Transactions: 10/15/18

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A new week of NHL action is on the docket, with four games set for tonight. Teams will need to adjust their roster for their next test, and we’ll be right here keeping track of all the minor moves.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have just one regulation win through their first four games, but seem to have gotten some good news today. The team has returned Tristan Jarry to the minor leagues after serving as an emergency call-up, and brought up recently waived Derek Grant to fill in. That surely means that Matt Murray is ready to return to action after suffering a concussion recently. Murray backed up Casey DeSmith this weekend, and is key to the Penguins’ hopes this season.
  • Adam Gaudette has indeed been recalled by the Vancouver Canucks to replace Elias Pettersson on the roster, while the young forward deals with a concussion. Gaudette has four points in four games with the Utica Comets of the AHL this season, after signing and making his debut at the end of last year with the Canucks. The fifth-round pick is an exciting prospect for Vancouver, who dominated at the college level with Northeastern.
  • After losing Marko Dano on waivers the Winnipeg Jets have activated Nic Petan from the non-roster list. Petan is still looking to break through and establish himself as a full-time NHL player with the Jets, but can’t seem to find much production thus far in his career. With Dano out of the way there is one less obstacle, but he’ll still need to improve his overall play.
  • The San Jose Sharks have sent Dylan Gambrell back to the AHL, in order to get the young forward on the ice. He hadn’t yet suited up with the Sharks, but will now get another chance to play with the San Jose Barracuda, where he scored three points in his debut this season. Gambrell is a very interesting prospect for the Sharks who was one of the top playmakers in the country at the collegiate level, but is still waiting on his first NHL point.
  • The St. Louis Blues will inject some youth and energy into their lineup, swapping out a veteran grinder for a young power forward. CapFriendly reports that the team has reassigned Chris Thorburn, while recalling Zach Sanford. Thorburn, in his fourteenth season in the NHL, is a serviceable checking line player, but at 35 has slowed down significantly and is no longer much of a two-way threat. He had skated in just one game for the Blues so far this year. Meanwhile, Sanford did not play in the NHL last season, missing most of the year due to injury, but now healthy has looked impressive in training camp and through four games with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage. In his rookie season with the Blues and Washington Capitals in 2017-18, Sanford scored at a pace comparable to the best seasons of Thorburn’s career and should be a noticeable offensive upgrade over the older forward.
  • Joseph Blandisi has been recalled by the Anaheim Ducks, CapFriendly reports. The former New Jersey Devils prospect played in three games for the Ducks last season, but hopes to stick around longer this year. Blandisi notched two assists in his first three games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls this season.

Eastern Notes: Murray, Flyers’ Goalies, Kapanen, Zadina

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Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray is back with the team on the active roster after suffering a concussion less than a week ago, but will serve as the backup to Casey DeSmith for tonight’s game in Montreal, according to Seth Rorabaugh of The Athletic (subscription required). Third-stringer Tristan Jarry traveled with the team in case Murray cannot serve as backup.

Head coach Mike Sullivan wasn’t surprised that Murray was ready to return from a concussion after just a few days.

“And the reason is, it’s really hard to compare one concussion to the next,” Sullivan explained. “The nature of that injury is that they’re all different. Some guys recover very quickly. With some guys, it lingers. There’s so many things associated with it.”

Murray has struggled in the two games he has appeared in this year, having allowed 11 goals, but Sullivan believes that sitting Murray on the bench rather than sitting in the press box is the best thing for his recovery.

“When you see the game up close on the bench, it’s a whole different game than it is from the press box,” Sullivan said. “Things happen a whole lot faster. It’s one step in the process that we think prepares our goalies to be successful when they step back on the ice.”

  • David Isaac of the Courier Post writes that Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall isn’t opposed to the team keeping three goaltenders when injured backup Michal Neuvirth returns to the lineup, which is “not too far away.” The team has had quite a bit of success with the tandem of Brian Elliott and Calvin Pickard, but the team would have to expose someone to waivers if they want to keep just two goalies on the roster. “We’ll have to deal with that at the time,” Hextall said when asked if he intends on carrying three goalies on his roster. “It’s not an ideal situation, but if that’s what’s right for our hockey club, that’s what we’ll do. All these injuries, we have a roster issue. Thankfully we don’t have a (salary) cap issue. We’ll deal with it at the time and see what information comes to us between now and then and make a decision.”
  • Jordan Samuels-Thomas of The Athletic (subscription required) profiles Toronto Maple Leafs top-line winger Kasperi Kapanen and how he’s found chemistry with the team’s top line while William Nylander holds out for a contract extension. Kapanen’s effort, well-rounded game and speed have made him a perfect fit alongside Auston Matthews and Patrick Marleau.
  • MLive’s Steve Kaminski writes that Detroit Red Wings prospect Filip Zadina is starting to get hot in Grand Rapids after posting a two-goal game in his third appearance for the AHL club. “I am getting better every single game, and I’m way more comfortable than I was when I played the first game,” the sixth-overall pick in this year’s draft said. “(The goals) helped me a lot mentally, and I am more confident with the puck.”

Injury Notes: Weber, Deslauriers, Murray

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The Montreal Canadiens are off to a better start than many expected in the 2018-19 season, taking the Toronto Maple Leafs to overtime before demolishing the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road. That success is coming thanks to a healthy Carey Price and young speedy lineup that is playing without any expectations. The group got some more good news today when captain Shea Weber took to the ice for a short session to test out his injured knee.

Despite all the negative things that came out of Montreal this summer, Weber remains a beacon of hope for many fans as he works his way back from injury. The newest captain is a rock on defense for the team and should improve any chances they have of battling for a playoff spot this season, or in the development of their younger defensemen. Head coach Claude Julien has already made his stance clear by scratching veteran options like Tomas Plekanec and Karl Alzner, but would obviously love to get Weber back into the lineup as soon as possible. There has been no update to his timetable, which had him scheduled to return at some point in December.

  • One player closer to a return for the Canadiens though is Nicolas Deslauriers, who suffered a facial fracture in the preseason but was also on the ice today. Deslauriers is by no means the offensive engine of the Canadiens, but did fit in nicely with the group last season by providing a physical presence and chipping in 10 goals. The big, heavy winger is a good skater and will find his way back into the lineup before long, as long as he’s deemed healthy.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins will go with Casey DeSmith as their starting goaltender tonight, but there’s reason to believe that Matt Murray could be back sooner than expected. Murray suffered the third concussion of his young career recently, but was back on the ice today and took shots from teammates during an optional skate. Though Tristan Jarry will serve as the backup for tonight and likely split duties with DeSmith as long as Murray is out, that might only end up being a short stint.

Matt Murray Diagnosed With Concussion

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The Pittsburgh Penguins recently sent Tristan Jarry to the minor leagues to stay fresh and continue his development, but his stint may not last long. Today the team announced that starting goaltender Matt Murray has been diagnosed with a concussion.

This is already the third reported concussion of Murray’s young career, and while there is no definite timeline at this point the Penguins will be forced to deal with this situation extremely cautiously. Since entering the league in 2015-16 Murray has been one of the most successful goaltenders in the league with two Stanley Cups with the Penguins and an exquisite regular season record of 69-29-8. Now 24, he’s coming off his worst season as a professional in 2017-18 with a .907 save percentage and was off to a shaky start this season. Allowing 11 goals in his first two games, Murray will have to somehow work his way back from this latest concussion to try and continue that promising career.

Concussions are obviously one of the most difficult injuries to project recovery time on, just ask Corey Crawford who is still trying to work his way back to the Chicago Blackhawks net after suffering his latest. This is the second time in eight months that Murray has suffered a head injury, which could easily lead to an extended absence from the Pittsburgh crease. That opportunity will mean that Jarry and Casey DeSmith will be asked to handle the starting load, something they certainly seem ready for.

When asked, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan explained to reporters including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that both goaltenders are “NHL-caliber” and that the team has faith in them moving forward. DeSmith and Jarry combined for 40 appearances last season, and posted .921 and .908 save percentages respectively, both actually better than Murray’s number. It’s not clear how the work will be split up, but there’s no reason to think that the Penguins will be scrambling for goaltending at this time.

Tristan Jarry Assigned To Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated goaltender Tristan Jarry from season-opening injured reserve, but have decided to assign him to the minor leagues right away. He’ll report to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, meaning that at least for now Casey DeSmith will serve as the backup to Matt Murray in Pittsburgh.

Jarry, 23, will surely be up at some point this season as he was a year ago when he played in 26 games for the Penguins. The 44th-overall pick from 2013 has turned into one of the better goaltending prospects in the league, and will stay sharp in the minor leagues for the time being while Murray handles the majority of the NHL starts. Pittsburgh, who had Marc-Andre Fleury installed as their starter for a decade before Murray came onto the scene, have found themselves with solid goaltending depth for quite some time and it doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. DeSmith too has yet to really prove himself in the NHL, but performed quite well in his 14-game debut last season.

After a relatively poor year in 2017-18 by his standards, Murray will have to look over his shoulder at the younger Jarry as the Penguins move forward. Only signed for one more season after this one, Murray needs to prove he’s the same goaltender that took the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, and not the one who registered just a .907 save percentage last year. He’s not off to a great start after allowing six goals in the Penguins first game, but should be given ample opportunity to turn things around while Jarry holds down the minor league net.

Metropolitan Notes: Murray, Couturier, Lundqvist, Merzlikins

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have a lot invested in their goaltender of the present and future in Matt Murray. You would think replacing Marc-Andre Fleury might be a challenging procedure, but Murray’s .923 save percentage in 49 games proved that the youngster was ready for the full-time role, one of the reasons why it wasn’t as hard to let Fleury go. However, last year’s struggles already has several fans worried about Murray’s long-term success.

Murray struggled with both injuries as well as the death of his father during the 2017-18 season in which he still played in 49 games, but didn’t fare as well, posting a .907 save percentage as well as a 2.92 GAA. However, Murray as well as the team’s other backups, Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry, have worked hard with goaltending coach Mike Buckley, who challenged each one of them, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Buckley feels that Murray has put too much pressure on himself to replace Fleury and needs to accept that he’s the “guy” now.

“The next step for him is to take it all in and enjoy it. ‘Hey, I’m the guy now. I can accept that. I don’t have to be Marc-Andre Fleury, but I can be tighter with my teammates and really open up to them.’” Buckley said.

Buckley added that Murray has worked hard on his conditioning and hopefully should be able to avoid injury, although some injuries like concussions are just unavoidable.

“In terms of how he takes care of his body, he’s meticulous,” Buckley said. “The problem is the things that you can’t control. A concussion, for example. Someone coming down and landing on you the wrong way. There’s really very little you can do about that.”

  • Sam Carchidi of philly.com writes that Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall says that No. 1 center Sean Couturier will be “absolutely” 100 percent at the start of the season in October and is already ready to resume skating. Couturier, who was expected to miss four weeks on Aug. 22 with a lower-body injury, is coming off a career-best season in which he scored 31 goals and 76 points and was a key part to the Flyers’ late-season success on a line with Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny.
  • Shayna Goldman of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that this will be a challenging season for New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who is coming off two poor seasons and now finds himself in the middle of a rebuilding project. Lundqvist has endured a very physical workload over the course of his career and didn’t get significant rest last season from then-head coach Alain Vigneault. One thing is imperative. The 36-year-old needs rest, which will be a key for new head coach David Quinn. The problem is that the team lacks an adequate backup as the no longer have either Cam Talbot or Antti Raanta serving behind him. The team now has a number of prospects, including Alexandar Georgiev, Dustin Tokarski and Marek Mazanec. However, unless one of them can step up, none seem likely to provide Lundqvist the kind of rest that he needs.
  • With the possibility that the team could lose star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to another team when he hits free agency next season, the Columbus Blue Jackets are placing more emphasis on the future suddenly, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required). While the team has their immediate goaltender of the future in their backup Joonas Korpisalo, the team is focusing their long-term hopes on Elvis Merzlikins, their third-round pick in 2014, who has been a dominant prospect for Lugano of the Swiss League. The 24-year-old has been one of the top goaltenders in the league, posting a .924 save percentage last year and is ready to come to North America next season.

Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Tristan Jarry

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have their final restricted free agent wrapped up. The team has announced a two-year contract extension with backup goalie Tristan Jarry that carries a cap hit of only $675K: a $650K salary in 2018-19 and a $700K salary in 2019-20. On top of a friendly salary, the deal is also of a two-way nature this season before transitioning to a one-way contract next year.

It is unlikely that Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford could have done any better with this contract. The Penguins are perhaps in worse shape going up against the salary cap ceiling next season than any other team in the league. Pittsburgh currently has all but $1MM of their available cap space committed to a projected 23-man roster than looks unlikely to change much. The team already had to make a salary cap dump earlier this off-season, trading capable winger Conor Sheary to the Buffalo Sabres in order to also offload underacheiving defenseman Matt Hunwick. There have been some questioning how the team could re-sign one of the most well-regarded goalie prospects in the pros and not have to make another similar move. Yet somehow Rutherford was able to convince Jarry to sign a) for close to a minimum salary, b) for multiple years, and c) on a two-way deal in the upcoming year. For a 23-year-old former second round pick who has incredible AHL numbers and had a solid first NHL season in 2017-18 behind an injury-prone starter, that seemed impossible. If Jarry again appears in 26 or so games and posts a .908 save percentage and 2.77 GAA or better in either of the next two years, this contract will be an amazing value for the Penguins.

The Penguins may still not be off the hook, however. Jarry’s two-way contract and waiver exemption will make it easy for the Penguins to move him up and down through the organization to relieve starter Matt Murray and slated backup Casey DeSmith when necessary – and recent history has shown that Murray is likely to miss time at some point. Yet, call-up’s for Jarry, as well as players like Zach Aston-Reese, Jimmy Hayes, and Zach Trotman, will eat away at what little cap space the Penguins have. It may be possible for them to get through the season as currently structured, but if Rutherford wants some more flexibility to maneuver his roster, don’t be surprised if another cap-relieving trade is still completed at some point. Until then though, Rutherford deserves some credit for locking up all of his restricted free agents and putting together a well-rounded roster given his uncomfortable cap scenario.

The Case For A Tristan Jarry Offer Sheet

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The art of the offer sheet is all but dead in the NHL. As The Athletic’s Craig Custance writes, there have only been eight offer sheets in the salary cap era, all but one have been matched, and none have been signed since 2013. It remains a shadowy threat for every GM looking to lock up his young restricted free agents, but at this point is more myth than reality. Custance even conducted a poll of nine GM’s that implied a feeling across the league that no offer sheets are coming this off-season. Even with attractive targets like the cap-strapped Detroit Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin, the Calgary Flames’ newly-acquired Noah Hanifin, and a key piece of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ young core, William Nylander, none of the GM’s could see a realistic spot where making an offer would be worth the effort as the team would always be able to match.

What about thinking outside the box and not looking at the top targets but at the team most unlikely to match? The Pittsburgh Penguins are not getting any sympathy from teams around the league. Winners of two of the last three Stanley Cups, a playoff team every year since 2007, and home to the best player in the league, the Penguins have had a great run and it’s unlikely to end any time soon. While many teams fear the backlash associated with poaching young players through offer sheets, Pittsburgh is perhaps the only team in the league that could come under attack and no one else would mind. The Penguins have also put themselves in a position that makes them easy prey. CapFriendly currently estimates that the team has just $745K in cap space heading into next season. Even if Jimmy Hayes fails to break camp or Zach Aston-Reese is sent down – the only foreseeable options, the Pens are still left with no more than $1.5MM in space and will need room to maneuver during the season.

Pittsburgh has just one restricted free agent left to re-sign: 23-year-old goaltender Tristan Jarry. Jarry has not been considered an offer sheet threat for a couple of reasons. The first is simply that he has yet to prove that he is a true NHL-caliber goalie. Jarry was a star at the junior level with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings and was drafted in the second round by the Penguins in 2013. His first two pro seasons were spent entirely in the AHL, expect for one spot start in Pittsburgh, and he made the transition look easy, posting strong numbers through 78 combined games. Last season was a deviation from that smooth upward trajectory. The departure of Marc-Andre Fleury left Jarry as the primary backup to starter Matt Murray and the NHL level proved to be a little more difficult. Jarry had an up-and-down season with streaks of both good and bad play. He also struggled when he was returned to the AHL in favor of Casey DeSmith or briefly Antti Niemi. However, at the end of the season Jarry’s line of a .908 save percentage, 2.77 goals against average, and .609 quality start percentage in 26 NHL appearance was more than respectable for his first year in the bigs. Has he proven without a doubt that he can be an NHL regular or reliable backup? No, but the potential is there.

The other reason that Jarry would seem to be a strange offer sheet target is that he is waiver-exempt. Jarry is too young and inexperienced to have lost his waiver protection. This means that a team could hypothetically offer far above market value and multiple years and the Penguins could simply match it and stash Jarry in the minors without a second thought. The only problem is that Pittsburgh especially could not leave Jarry in the AHL for a whole season, nevertheless multiple. Since Murray became a fixture in net for the Penguins in 2015-16, he has made 111 appearances in three seasons with no more than 49 games in any year. In that same time, the Penguins have used six other goaltenders. Excluding Fleury, who was the starter in Murray’s first season and split time with him the following year, Jarry, DeSmith, Niemi, Mike Condon and Jeff Zatkoff have had to make 59 appearances over the past three years – more than half of Murray’s games played. Pittsburgh’s injury-prone starter clearly needs multiple quality options behind him until he can prove himself over a full season. DeSmith, who admittedly outplayed fellow rookie Jarry last season but in 12 fewer starts, may struggle to even backup Murray this season, nevertheless replace him for short stretches with untested minor league journeyman John Muse – the only other Penguins goalie – as the backup. The Penguins need a third-string goalie who costs as close the minimum against the cap as possible. If Jarry was to sign an offer sheet for even $1.5MM AAV, Pittsburgh would struggle to move that contract back and forth or keep him on the roster all year long. A team with ample cap space and a well-off ownership group could easily improve on that offer as well. Only moving out salary or injured reserve space would conceivably allow the Penguins to keep Jarry at that price or more.

At the end of the day, an offer with just the right amount of salary and term would be hard for the Penguins to match in their current state. Sure, they could simply sign a proven veteran free agent to a minimum deal and move on, but losing a promising young netminder would be a blow. On the other side of the table, it would only cost a team at most a third-round pick – the compensation for any deal with an AAV under $2.03MM – to land a young, high-ceiling goalie who is still waiver-exempt. If Jarry excels at the NHL level, they made a great deal; if he struggles, he can be sent to the AHL risk-free for further development and may still turn out be a great deal. The rest of the league would hardly mind seeing Pittsburgh and wheeler-dealer GM Jim Rutherford baffled by an offer sheet as well. It seems to be a win-win. Will it happen?

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