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Injury Updates: Myers, Nash, Puempel, Couturier, Read, Marchenko

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Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tyler Myers has suffered a setback as he recovers from a lower body injury suffered last month.  Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link), that Myers has “plateaued” in his recovery and that he’s not likely to return for at least a couple of weeks.

Myers has been out of the lineup since November 11th despite originally being classified as day-to-day.  He was off to a strong start prior to getting hurt with five points in 11 games while logging over 22 minutes per game in ice time.  In his absence, rookie Josh Morrissey has continued to play a bigger role than originally anticipated, something that will continue for at least the next couple of weeks now.

More injury updates from throughout the league:

  • Rangers wingers Rick Nash and Matt Puempel accompanied the team to Dallas as they begin a two game road trip and are nearing a return to action, writes Matt Calamia on their team website. Both players have missed the last week with a groin injury and a concussion respectively.  As Calamia notes, their decision to re-assign winger Nicklas Jensen back to the minors is a sign that at least one of the two forwards could be ready to suit up against the Stars tomorrow night.
  • Flyers center Sean Couturier (knee) and right winger Matt Read (oblique) both skated for the first time today as they continue to recover from their respective injuries, reports Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirier. Couturier, who expects that he will have to wear a knee brace for the rest of the season, is targeting Philadelphia’s road trip beginning December 28th for his return to the lineup.  Read does not know yet when he will be ready to return; the original prognosis was that he would be out until early January.
  • Red Wings defenseman Alexey Marchenko re-aggravated his sprained shoulder last night, just days after returning to the lineup from that injury, notes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Head coach Jeff Blashill says it’s a day-to-day issue for the 24 year old.  Through 22 games this year, Marchenko has five assists and is averaging a career high in ice time per game at 17:39.  He’s likely to be replaced in the lineup tomorrow by Jonathan Ericsson who is set to return after missing the last three games with back spasms.

Matt Read To Miss Four Weeks With Upper-Body Injury

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After being pulled out of Sunday’s game in the first period, the Philadelphia Flyers have announced that Matt Read will be out for at least four weeks with an upper-body injury. Previously reported as an oblique strain, the forward will now be out until after Christmas.

After a disappointing 2015-16 that saw Read register only 26 points in 79 games, the 30-year old winger got off to a blistering start this season scoring five goals in his first five games. Since then though, he’s only put up five more points in 22 games despite still seeing a solid share of ice time.  The former 20-goal scorer hadn’t lit the lamp in fourteen games going into Sunday, in which he left after just three shifts.

Currently in the third year of the four-year, $14.5MM deal he signed prior to the 2013-14 season, Read was supposed to be a solid secondary scoring threat on a team desperate for them. He was successful in that first season, but has seen his production drop in each following year. Now dealing with an oblique injury, he’ll miss at least a dozen games and likely need some time to shake off the rust after that. In what looked at one point like a strong bounce-back season, it’s now looking like another year in his decline.

For the Flyers, who find themselves on a five game winning streak that’s pushed them back into the playoff picture, this likely means the return of either Boyd Gordon or Scott Laughton to the lineup. While Gordon has been on injured reserve since the beginning of November, he’s closing in on a return date. The younger Laughton however provides a bit more offensive upside and potential, and has been stuck in the press box for much of the season.

Friedman’s Latest: Spooner, Flyers, Canadiens, Trouba, Capitals

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As is the case every Tuesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman released his latest 30 Thoughts column.   As always, the whole article is worth a read but here are some of the highlights, including Ryan Spooner in Boston, the Flyers looking to free up some cap space, an update on Jacob Trouba, and more:

  • Teams are expressing an interest in Boston center Ryan Spooner, particularly since he was a healthy scratch for their home opener. He’s one year removed from a 49 point season with a cap hit of just $950K so he’d fit in on the cap for most teams around the league.  He’s still just 24 years of age so it’s certainly conceivable that the Bruins still view him as part of their future.  Friedman wonders if prospect Austin Czarnik could play a role in whether or not the team looks at moving Spooner.  He may not be ready for full-time duty just yet but he could be in the near future.
  • With Michael Del Zotto and Scott Laughton are nearing a return to the lineup, the Flyers are believed to be trying to make a move to free up some cap room. Both players are currently on LTIR so the team will need to get cap compliant before they can activate them.  Matt Read is off to a strong start this year with five goals already and Friedman suggests they may not be as willing to move him now as they were earlier.
  • The Canadiens are shopping for some defensive help but are in particular looking for a top four player. With Cam Fowler presumably off the market and Jacob Trouba not believed to have interest in playing for any of the Canadian teams, there aren’t really many of those available at the moment.
  • Speaking of Trouba, he has shown no interest so far in a short-term bridge deal that would allow him to get back to action while still basically maintaining his trade request. We took a closer look yesterday at where things are with Trouba, who has one month to sign or else he’ll be forced to sit the rest of the NHL season.
  • With Evgeny Kuznetsov (pending RFA) and Karl Alzner (pending UFA) needing contracts at the end of the year, Washington GM Brian McLellan acknowledges that this could be the last run for the Capitals with their current core group. He believes the team is as strong as it has been in a long time down the middle with the addition of Lars Eller although he is off to a slow start offensively with just one goal so far this season.

Flyers Notes: Manning, Read, Team Size, Mason

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Last month, Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning was looking like he might be on the outside looking in for a roster spot.  The six game suspension for Radko Gudas gave him a chance to start the season with the team and as Greg Paone of CSNPhilly writes, Manning has made a huge impression for Philadelphia and has arguably been their best defender so far.

Through the first five games, Manning has a goal and three assists to go along with a team high +5 rating.  He’s also averaging a career high in minutes with 17:29 per game.

Gudas has one game remaining on his suspension which he will serve tonight, making him eligible to return to Philadelphia’s lineup on Tuesday night against Buffalo.  With Manning making his case to stay, Nick Schultz could be the odd man out before too long.  The Flyers won’t have to make a roster move to accommodate Gudas returning to game action as he is already part of their active 23-man roster.

[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]

More out of Philadelphia:

  • Winger Matt Read, who has been up and down in the lineup in recent years, is off to a strong start this season with five goals in as many games. By comparison, he had just 11 last year and eight the season before that.  The 30 year old told CSNPhilly’s Jordan Hall that his early success can be attributed to a willingness to drive towards the net instead of playing on the perimeter as he has in the past.  Philadelphia has been rumored to have shopped Read around in the past and with two years to go on a contract worth $3.625MM, he’ll need to keep up his early season performance for a little while yet before any sort of market would open up for him.
  • While they were once known as the Broad Street Bullies, this current version of the Flyers won’t be receiving that distinction any time soon. GM Ron Hextall was looking to make the team younger and faster over the offseason (a growing trend in the NHL) but as Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes, to do so, the team is currently the smallest in the league.  That isn’t to say that the Flyers don’t intend to play physical; forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare believes that smaller players with speed can often make more of an impact physically than bigger but slower skaters.  They’re putting that theory into practice as the team currently sits tenth in the league with 115 hits through five games.
  • Goaltender Steve Mason will get his third straight start tonight against Montreal despite his struggles on the road dating back to last season. In 2015-16, Mason allowed over a half a goal per game more on the road compared to at home while his save percentage was 17 points lower.

Flyers’ Buyout Candidates For Second Window

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After signing Brandon Manning earlier Tuesday morning to a two-year deal, the Philadelphia Flyers have come to agreements with all of their restricted free agents and will now have a 48-hour buyout period (which starts Friday, three days after the final deal was struck) to clear cap room for the upcoming season.  The team currently sits less than $500K away from the cap ceiling, offering little room in which to operate.

The team used the first window earlier this summer to rid themselves of R.J. Umberger and his $4.6MM cap hit. He’ll cost them just $1.6MM on the cap this season and $1.5MM next, after contributing just 26 points over the past two years for the Flyers.

While there has been no word from the Flyers on whether they’d take advantage of this new window, there are a couple of under-achievers that could be jettisoned over the weekend to open up some more room for GM Ron Hextall to work.

Matt Read – Two years, $3.625MM AAV: Read signed a four-year, $14.5MM deal in 2013, but has never been able to replicate the 24-goal, 47-point season he put up in his rookie year. After putting up the worst season of his career in 2015-16, and climbing to the wrong side of 30, Read has seen his role with the club diminished greatly and might be the next victim of a buyout.

If he was to be bought out, the Flyers would save $2.75MM in cap space this season, and $2.25MM next. He’d then cost them $1.25MM in space from 2018-20.  Each year’s cap-hit broken down:

2016-17: $875K
2017-18: $1.375MM
2018-19: $1.25MM
2019-20: $1.25MM

Andrew MacDonald – Four years, $5MM AAV: The Flyers signed MacDonald to a six-year, $30MM deal in 2014 after he was traded from the New York Islanders mid-season. While MacDonald was coming off a 28-point season in which he logged almost 25 minutes a night, both those marks would prove to be career highs to this point, as a couple of injury-marred seasons has left MacDonald contributing just 20 points in 86 games since.

With the emergence of Shayne Gostisbehere last season, the Flyers have little use of MacDonald and his huge cap-hit going forward, especially if he can’t regain any of his form from years past.  Now 29, it’s not unbelievable that he could get some of his skills back, but it looks like he’ll never be worth the $5MM that the Flyers gave him.

If the Flyers did buy him out, they’d save a good amount of cap space for the next four years, ranging between $2.98MM (next year) and $3.98MM (2019-20), though would be paying him until 2023-24.  The cap-hit breakdown is as follows:

2016-17: $2.02MM
2017-18: $1.52MM
2018-19: $1.27MM
2019-20: $1.02MM
2020-21: $1.77MM
2021-22: $1.77MM
2022-23: $1.77MM
2023-24: $1.77MM

While both of these options seem like drastic measures, the team has a real chance of competing going forward with their young stars locked up long-term.  Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier and Gostisbehere are all under contract or team control until at least 2019-20, with many stretching far beyond that.  If the team is looking to push deep into the playoffs, it may need to rid itself of some of the weighty contracts it’s given out in the past.

We’ll continue to watch Hextall’s moves carefully, and follow the Flyers depth charts both here and on Roster Resource.

Snapshots: Read, Salary Cap, Brown, Hawks Overage, Affiliations

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Flyers winger Matt Read underwent minor surgery on his shooting hand on Wednesday, writes CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio.  GM Ron Hextall acknowledged that the procedure was a clean-up and that the rehab period should be 4 weeks.  Read played in 79 games with the Flyers last season, posting 11 goals and 15 assists.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail reports that the NHL will set its salary cap figure by the middle of next week and that it should be in the $73MM range. That would represent a small increase from the $71.4MM cap in 2015-16.
  • Despite his recent struggles and removal of the captaincy, the Kings are not currently considering buying out Dustin Brown’s contract according to Helene Elliott of the LA Times. Brown has six years left of a frontloaded eight year deal carrying a cap hit of $5.875MM per season but has failed to crack the 30 point mark since 2011-12.
  • Chicago will be facing a significant cap crunch as a result of a $3.07MM bonus overage from last season, writes Scott Powers of The Athletic. The overage consists of bonuses being hit by Artemi Panarin, Michal Rozsival, and recently-traded Teuvo Teravainen.
  • Speaking of the Blackhawks, they announced an extension of their affiliation agreement with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. The extension is for five years and will commence following the 2016-17 campaign.  Chicago has been affiliated with the IceHogs since 2007.
  • The Vancouver Canucks have announced a one year affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces for the 2016-17 season. They did not have an ECHL affiliate last season.

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