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Michal Rozsival

Blackhawks Activate Rozsival From IR, Reassign Four

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The Chicago Blackhawks roster just went through quite the shake-up. According to the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc, the Blackhawks have activated veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival from the injured reserve and have demoted defenseman Gustav Forsling and forwards Vinnie Hinostroza, Tanner Kero, and Nick Schmaltz to the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs. Kuc also notes that the mass movement of players to the minors comes as Chicago enters its bye week. After defeating the Edmonton Oilers on the road last night, the Blackhawks don’t play again until the Oilers visit them at home on Saturday, the 18th. In the meantime, the four skaters can save the team some salary cap dollars while in Rockford and can get some extra ice time as well in the AHL.

When the Blackhawks do return to action, they’ll welcome the return of Rozsival to the lineup. The 38-year-old veteran of nearly 1000 NHL games is in his fifth season in Chicago, having helped them win the Stanley Cup twice in his short tenure. While Rozsival’s age and injury concerns have always been prevalent during his time with the team, GM Stan Bowman has managed to limit that risk by signing him to back-to-back one-year, $600K contracts since he began to slow down. Rozsival has not played in more than 65 games in a season since 2009-10, but when he is rested and healthy he can still be effective. A good puck-mover with a seasoned hockey sense and vision, Roszival gives the Blackhawks another option on the blue line down the stretch and in the postseason. He has just one assist in 14 games in 2016-17, but should be more productive as the season goes on.

Rozsival’s activation may keep the recently-demoted Forsling in the AHL, at least for a little while. The 20-year-old rookie has two goals and three assists in 36 games, but could benefit from some extra play time with the Ice Hogs beyond just this week, with Roszival, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Michal Kempny blocking him from regular ice time in Chicago. The forwards shouldn’t have the same concerns; all three have worked themselves into regular roles with the Blackhawks and will surely be back at week’s end. Hinostroza has been a pleasant surprise as a rookie, with 14 points in 46 games as a mainstay in the top-nine. Schmaltz and Kero are catching up though, with ten points in 38 games and eight points in 22 games, respectively. Without much cap space to add multiple veterans at the Trade Deadline this season, Chicago needs the three rookies to continue their strong play this season.

 

Central Notes: Predators Goaltending, Staal, Blackhawks

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Although Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne is on pace to see action in more than 60 games for the third straight season, the team is likely to play him a bit less down the stretch, notes Adam Vingan of The Tennessean.  After shuffling between Marek Mazenec and Jusse Saros early on, Nashville has settled on the latter as the backup and Saros has fared quite well so far this year with a 1.79 GAA and a .941 SV%.

Accordingly, head coach Peter Laviolette has the confidence to use Saros a bit more often and is hoping that with Rinne not playing as much, he’ll benefit from the extra rest and parlay that into a better performance.

Saros has seen action in four games this month which isn’t bad for a backup goaltender.  The extra rest for Rinne has paid dividends so far; the two netminders have combined for a .944 SV% this month, the fourth highest league-wide in January.

More from the Central:

  • After a quiet 2015-16 campaign, Wild center Eric Staal is enjoying a career resurgence this year with 41 points (16-25-41) through 48 games. Head coach Bruce Boudreau told Dave Campbell of the Associated Press that he believes that his improved play this season stems from the fact that Staal is back in the position where he had the most success with Carolina early on – top line center with plenty of power play options while being in a winning environment, something that wasn’t the case in the last few years with the Hurricanes.  Staal’s three year, $10.5MM contract signed early in free agency has been one of the top bargains from the summertime.
  • The injury to Chicago’s Michal Rozsival is a lower body issue that will keep him out of the lineup for the next three weeks, reports Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. Rozsival sustained the injury while blocking a shot in practice prior to the All-Star break.  The 38 year old has played a sparing role with the team this season, suiting up in just 14 games.
  • Still with the Blackhawks, centers Artem Anisimov and Marcus Kruger both missed Monday’s practice due to illnesses and their status for tonight’s game against the Sharks is uncertain, notes Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. If they can’t go, center Dennis Rasmussen and winger Jordin Tootoo would likely draw back into the lineup.

Hawks Place Rozsival On IR, Recall Forsling From Rockford

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Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune reports (Twitter link) that the Chicago Blackhawks have placed 38-year-old blue liner Michal Rozsival on IR retroactive to January 25th and have recalled Gustav Forsling to take his place. It’s unclear what type of injury has led to Rozsival’s IR stint or how long he’ll be out, according to Charlie Roumeliotis of CSN Chicago.

Rozsival, a veteran of 16 NHL seasons, has served primarily as Chicago’s seventh defenseman this season, appearing in just 14 contests. He has registered a single point and is a minus-two while averaging just more than 15 minutes per game. The former Penguin, Ranger and Coyote was also a member of the 2012-13 and 2014-15 Stanley Cup champion Chicago teams.

Forsling, as Roumeliotis further notes, was sent down to Rockford to ensure he was getting top-four minutes to help advance his development. The rookie defender has appeared in 32 games this season for Chicago, tallying a goal and three assists. The 20-year-old Swede was originally a fifth-round selection, 126th overall, in the 2014 entry draft by Vancouver. He was acquired by Chicago via trade in exchange for fellow blue liner Adam Clendening in January of 2015.

Minor Transactions: 1/6/17

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Here are the minor transactions from around the hockey world for January 6, 2017.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have called up goaltender Tristian Jarry and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Wilkes-Barrie/ Scranton Penguins. Jarry has 14 wins this season, which puts him in a four-way tie to lead the AHL. Jarry returns to the NHL club to cover for Matt Murray’s recent injury. The Penguins had their CBA-mandated bye-week, so Jarry was sent down to play games instead of getting a week off. He has yet to make his NHL debut. Ruhwedel has 15 points in 27 games with the AHL club this year, and two points in five NHL games.
  • The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Liam O’Brien from the Hershey Bears of the AHL. O’Brien has 18 points in 28 games with the Bears, and could play his first NHL game since 2014-15. He had two points in 13 games with the Capitals in his first year of professional hockey. O’Brien has 42 points in 132 AHL games in his career, and is in the final year of his entry-level contract.
  • A day after clearing waivers, Anton Khudobin is on his way to the AHL as the Bruins call up Zane McIntyre in a swap of backup goaltenders. McIntyre is unbeaten in the AHL this season with a spectacular 10-0-0 record and an AHL-leading 0.951 SV% and a 1.41 GAA. He hasn’t had the same success at the NHL level, though. He’s 0-2-0 in three appearances with a 0.859 SV% and a 4.04 GAA. Meanwhile, Khudobin has struggled in his second stint in Boston, with just one win in seven games and a GAA of 3.06. He’s in the first season of a two-year contract which pays him $1.2MM per season. Khudobin will still account for $250K against the Bruins cap while he plies his trade in the AHL.
  • The Bruins have also returned energy forward Noel Acciari to the Providence Bruins. Acciari has struggled to earn regular play time in Boston since returning from injury two weeks ago.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Gustav Forsling to the Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL. Forsling was a pleasant surprise who made the Blackhawks out of training camp, but has seen his ice-time decrease throughout the season. He has four points in 32 games in the NHL this season. The Blackhawks likely wanted to stop carrying eight defensemen, as veterans Brian Campbell and Michal Rozsival were healthy scratches for last night’s game. Forsling did not need to clear waivers to be sent down, so he was the odd-man out.
  • Staying with the Blackhawks organization, Spencer Abbott was recalled by Chicago on January 3. Three days and one game later, he’s heading back to the Rockford. Abbott was held pointless in just over eight minutes of ice on Thursday night. He has 21 points in 30 AHL games in his first full year in the Blackhawks organization since being acquired at the 2015 NHL trade deadline. Abbott played last season in Sweden before returning to North America. It’s likely that Jordin Tootoo will draw back into the lineup in his place.
  • The Dallas Stars have sent Patrik Nemeth to the AHL on a conditioning stint. The 6’3, 215 lbs defenseman has played in just 16 games with the Stars this season, with no points.
  • Oilers prospect Jordan Oesterle is heading back to Bakersfield. He has yet to appear in any NHL games this season, having been recalled to serve as the seventh defenseman twice. The speedy defenseman has eight points in 14 AHL games this year after scoring five points in 17 games with the Oilers last season.

Central Division Notes: Trouba, Carle, Rozsival, Tuch

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Despite Jacob Trouba’s recently publicized trade request, the Jets should only move him if it’s on their terms because of the bad precedent it would set for future RFAs, opines Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun. As Wyman notes, the Jets are a draft-and-develop organization given their status as a small market team and the difficulties they face in competing for marketable free agents. Acquiescing to Trouba’s request would harm the club’s leverage when it comes to future negotiations with players like Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor and Patrick Laine when they reach restricted free agency. A small market club needs to be able to retain as much of their best young talent as possible and the Jets must be able to keep the salaries of their RFAs in line while those players are still under team control.

Wyman also believes that since Trouba has yet to live up to his full potential in his first three seasons on the league, he should be willing to accept a fair market contract and to play wherever his coach wants him to play. If he wants to move over to the right side, as he has indicated, he needs to beat out one of the incumbents – Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers.

As Wyman writes further, it’s likely Trouba’s insistence on playing on the right side is in fact a smoke screen and the reality is the young defenseman simply wants out of Winnipeg. Of course Trouba and his agent, Kurt Overhardt, have both insisted his request is based solely on his desire to be a right-side defenseman and has nothing to do with the city or the organization.

More from the NHL’s Central Division:

  • Four seasons ago, Matt Carle’s stock was such that the 27-year-old defender received the second-largest contract inked by any player during the summer of 2011. Last season, he fell out of favor in Tampa Bay and despite the Lightning often suiting up seven blue liners, Carle still couldn’t crack the lineup. It was no surprise, then, that the Lightning opted to buy out the remaining two years of his deal as the team looked to save as much money as possible in order to re-sign several important free agents. Carle would end up signing a one-year deal with Nashville worth just $700K, where the 11-year veteran will be reunited with head coach Peter Laviolette. Under Laviolette, Carle had some of his best yearss, statistically, while a member of the Flyers, tallying at least 35 points in each of his final three seasons with the team. Carle hopes that at age-32 and playing for a coach with whom he is both comfortable and familiar, that he can once again be an important player for a contending team. The Predators do boast one of the league’s most talented blue lines but there is room for a veteran to stabilize the unit, particularly after dealing away team captain Shea Weber this summer.
  • Veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival has carved out a solid 15-year NHL career and realizes his days in the league are numbered. Rozsival has spent the past four seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and was brought back by the club for what the 38-year-old defender hopes will be his fifth campaign in the windy city. But after the 2015-16 season, Rozsival wasn’t sure he would be back in Chicago and despite signing a one-year, $600K deal, he isn’t even sure what his role with the Hawks will be, as Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune writes. “Right now, I still don’t know what my role is. It might be determined by the way I play. The last four years I’ve played 20 games, I’ve played 30 games and I’ve played 50 games. I’m ready for anything and for any kind of role. Obviously, I would love to be playing. I’m always trying to fight for my ice time.” It’s likely the Blackhawks value his experience and will find a spot for him on the roster, even if it is as the seventh or eighth defenseman.
  • Minnesota entered training camp with a few openings at forward and plenty of candidates to earn those jobs. Unfortunately for the Wild, none of those candidates have impressed head coach Bruce Boudreau to this point in the preseason, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. Veteran role players Zac Dalpe and Ryan Carter have failed to make a mark while youngsters Alex Tuch, Kurtis Gabriel, Joel Eriksson Ek and Tyler Graovac have yet to grab hold of a job. Whether this might prompt GM Chuck Fletcher to explore his alternatives or not is unclear but he may have to if the in-house options continue their collectively mediocre play.

 

Snapshots: Russell, Vesey, Forsling

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After rumors swirled the past two days indicating that the Maple Leafs had offered a contract to free agent defenseman Kris Russell, agent Allain Roy took to Twitter to set the record straight:  “Reports of Kris Russell turning down any offer from the Maple Leafs are false. Simply rumors…”  The former member of the Dallas Stars is still available as of Sunday evening, and ranked 12th on our Top 50 UFA list last month.  Here is some more news from around the league:

Chicago Re-Signs Michal Rozsival And Brandon Mashinter

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The Blackhawks announced a pair of signings late Thursday morning.  They’ve inked D Michal Rozsival and LW Brandon Mashinter to one year contracts.  Pierre LeBrun of ESPN/TSN reports that Rozsival will earn $600K and Mashinter $575K.  Both amounts are identical to what each player earned in 2015-16.

The 37 year old Rozsival played in 51 games with Chicago last season, picking up a goal and 12 assists in a #6/7 defenseman role, a spot he’ll likely hold on the depth chart again in 2016-17.  The 15 year veteran has played in 941 career NHL games between the Penguins, Rangers, Coyotes, and Blackhawks, recording 67 goals and 239 assists.  He averaged 16:09 per game in ice time last year.

Mashinter split last season between the Blackhawks and their AHL affiliate in Rockford.  In 41 NHL games, he picked up four goals and an assist while playing 7:29 per game.  He also added seven points (4-3-7) in 12 AHL contests.  Prior to last season, Mashinter had been held pointless in his previous 20 NHL games.  He will likely serve as a depth forward for the Blackhawks next year.

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