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Injury Notes: Canadiens, Flyers, Smith

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The Montreal Canadiens came back with a drastically stronger effort on Saturday night, winning 6-3 against the Nashville Predators for just their fifth victory of the season. They should also be getting some reinforcements in the coming days and weeks, as several updates were given on injured players today.

Head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that Cedric Paquette could be back as early as Wednesday, while Mike Hoffman and Mathieu Perreault skated today. Hoffman is out for at least another week, while Perreault’s vision is not back fully yet but there is optimism he will be okay following his second procedure. Joel Edmundson and Jake Allen were both on the ice today as well, though the former isn’t expected to play just yet and an update on the latter won’t come until tomorrow.

  • While much of the focus today was on the news that Kevin Hayes re-injured himself and is out week-to-week, there were some other updates out of the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Wade Allison has resumed skating and has been cleared for practice with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Unfortunately, Tyson Foerster could miss five months with a shoulder injury. Foerster, a 2020 first-round pick, is one of the handful of junior-aged players that secured an exemption to play in the AHL this season because of their games in 2020-21.
  • Some concern was raised today when a report emerged about Mike Smith’s status, but both Jason Gregor and Ryan Rishaug of TSN tweet that as of now, surgery is not the plan for the Edmonton Oilers goaltender. Rishaug adds that the expectation is still that Smith will return at some point in December. Smith hasn’t played since October 19, but Stuart Skinner has more than made up for his absence with a .939 save percentage in five appearances.

Darnell Nurse Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Edmonton Oilers have made official what Jason Gregor of TSN reported earlier today, Darnell Nurse is headed to injured reserve. Head coach Dave Tippett explained that Nurse suffered a “cracked finger” in overtime and will be out 2-3 weeks. The team has also moved Slater Koekkoek to injured reserve, who will be out 3-4 weeks. To replace them, Philip Broberg and William Lagesson have been recalled from the AHL. In a cap move, Mike Smith is now on long-term injured reserve, getting more tests done and is still week-to-week.

While Koekkoek’s exit from last night’s game was obvious, as he played just over three minutes, Nurse logged more than 31 in the win against the Winnipeg Jets. The team’s obvious No. 1, that’s already the sixth time this season that Nurse has recorded at least 27 minutes of ice time. An all-situations horse for the team, he had 11 points in his first 16 games and was showing that last season’s breakout was not a flash in the pan.

The Oilers rewarded Nurse with a huge eight-year, $74MM contract extension after his outstanding 2020-21 season, which saw him finish seventh in Norris Trophy voting after scoring 16 goals and 36 points in 56 games. Losing him now, right as the team appears to be taking the next step, is an absolute crushing blow to the group. Edmonton has won seven of their last ten games and sit alone in first place in the Pacific Division with a 12-4 record overall.

Now, not only will the team have to find someone to take those minutes, but it can’t even be Koekkoek moving up. Instead, it looks like Broberg, one of the team’s top prospects, may get his first chance at the NHL level. Drafted eighth overall in 2019, the 20-year-old defenseman can skate like the wind and has the size to compete at the NHL level, but some have critiqued his decision-making in the past. Those decisions will be even more important as he moves to the NHL after just 13 games in the minor leagues. Broberg had 10 points in those games with Bakersfield, after spending the last two seasons in the SHL.

After tomorrow night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Oilers are set to hit the road for three matches next week. They aren’t in a particularly heavy part of the schedule though, with a three-day break after that road trip ends next Saturday, meaning they at least will be able to ease Broberg into the lineup with sufficient practice days. Still, it seems very unlikely that he or any other player on the roster will be able to have the impact that Nurse does, meaning they’ll have to find another way to lock down the defensive side of the puck over the next few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Mike Smith Suffers Setback; Returns To Edmonton

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The Edmonton Oilers are in the middle of a road trip that carries them through Detroit, Boston, Buffalo, St. Louis, and Winnipeg, but find themselves in first place in the Pacific Division. Their offense has been nearly unstoppable, but their goaltending has also been excellent to start the year. That’s despite Mike Smith dealing with an injury and Mikko Koskinen carrying the load; the latter has a 7-1 record with a .920 save percentage through eight games, easily the best numbers of his career to this point.

Koskinen could have to keep it up for the next while, as Smith has suffered a setback in his injury recovery and returned to Edmonton, according to Jason Gregor of TSN. Oilers head coach Dave Tippett told him that “it is a concern for sure” and that Smith will get more imaging back in Edmonton to evaluate the issue.

For now, it’s Koskinen and Stuart Skinner for the Oilers as they try to navigate this road trip. The team was defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in the first game, with Skinner allowing three goals on 38 shots in just the second start of his young career. It’s hard for fans to trust Koskinen as the de facto starter at this point after he has struggled in that role in the past. The big netminder has a .909 save percentage overall for the Oilers, with a 63-48-9 record.

In the case of Smith, though he has been relatively healthy in recent years, injury was always going to be a concern moving forward. The veteran goaltender is one of the oldest players in the league at 39 (40 in March) and has a lot of miles on his body from a long career in the NHL. His 645 games played puts him 43rd all-time among NHL goaltenders and he has faced more shots than all but 33 netminders–18,815 in fact.

Still, the hope should be that Koskinen can get them through this stretch and Smith can return at some point. If either of those things turn bad, the Oilers may find themselves in the market for another goaltender. Though Skinner is obviously talented, his inexperience is certainly something to consider for a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations.

Mike Smith Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Edmonton Oilers will be without starter Mike Smith for a little while, as he deals with a lower-body injury. Smith has been moved to injured reserve, while Stuart Skinner has been recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Smith, 39, was removed from Tuesday’s game partway through the second period after allowing four goals on 15 shots and replaced by Mikko Koskinen, who backstopped the Oilers to a comeback victory. It will likely be Koskinen that gets the lion’s share of the work with Smith out, but Skinner is a more than capable backup at this point who showed in the preseason that he actually may be ready to take the next step. The 22-year-old netminder posted a .914 save percentage for the Bakersfield Condors last season and has picked up right where he left off, stopping 53 of 56 shots against in his first two minor league appearances this year.

Still, this is exactly the kind of thing that many Oilers fans worried about when the team decided to bring back Smith. The veteran netminder signed a new two-year contract that carries a $2.2MM cap hit, but now already finds himself on the shelf nursing an injury. With Koskinen’s extremely inconsistent past, the Oilers could be in trouble if Smith has an injury-riddled campaign and can’t carry the load.

He’ll have to miss a minimum of seven days now, meaning it’ll be Koskinen and Skinner splitting the upcoming back to back in Arizona and Vegas. Luckily enough, the Oilers only play once between this Friday and next Saturday, meaning Smith may not end up missing many scheduled starts. That is assuming of course that he returns rather quickly, something that is not a guarantee at this point.

Mike Smith Re-Signs With Edmonton Oilers

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July 22: PuckPedia reports that the Oilers have signed Smith to a two-year, $4.4MM contract. The deal will pay the veteran netminder $1.9MM in 2021-22 and $2.5MM in 2022-23. GM Ken Holland confirmed the deal in his press availability, though it has not yet been officially announced by the team.

July 21: The Edmonton Oilers may have lost their 28-year-old shutdown defenseman today, but they won’t be losing their 39-year-old goaltender. Patrick Johnston of the Province tweets that Mike Smith will return to the Oilers on a multi-year deal. As Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds, teams can’t actually re-sign their own free agents until the transaction freeze lifts tomorrow, but there are “positive signs” between Smith and Edmonton. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the deal is expected to be for two years and carry an average annual value around $2MM.

Smith had one of the best seasons of his career in 2020-21, posting a .923 save percentage in 32 appearances for the Oilers and finishing seventh in Vezina Trophy voting. The veteran goaltender, who has now made 600 regular season starts over a 15-year career, hadn’t had that kind of performance since the 2011-12 season, when he led the Pheonix Coyotes to the Western Conference Finals. It’s hard to expect him to repeat that level of play on this new deal, but Smith at least represents a strong locker room presence and reliable option, even if he’s not at a Vezina-level in 2021-22.

Still, this will feel like a step backward for many Oilers fans, who are hoping for improvements this summer. The team re-signed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to an eight-year deal, but are about to lose Adam Larsson to the Seattle Kraken. A buyout of Mikko Koskinen would clear some cap room, as will Oscar Klefbom staying on long-term injured reserve. But it’s not like GM Ken Holland has a ton of space to work with if he wants to take the next step forward.

In fact, if the team does buy out Koskinen, it seems unlikely that the team will be able to really afford a counterpart for Smith, at least not one that carries a high cap hit. The team does already have Alex Stalock under contract at $750K, who could serve as a fine backup, but that would be putting a lot of pressure on Smith to carry the load. With the defensive depth lacking and an upgrade needed to help Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl up front, things are getting tricky in Edmonton.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

West Notes: Fiala, Smith, Tarasenko

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The Wild would prefer to work out a medium-term contract with pending RFA winger, Michael Russo of The Athletic suggested on Daily Faceoff’s DFO Rundown (audio link).  They’ve already given center Joel Eriksson Ek a max-term deal and offered one up to pending RFA winger Kirill Kaprizov; they don’t have the cap room to long-term with all of them.  Fiala is two years away from unrestricted free agency so a four or five-year deal would still buy out some UFA years but would keep the cap hit a little lower in the process.  He had a $3MM AAV on his most recent deal and could come close to doubling it this time around.  Russo added that he believes Fiala’s name has been dangled as a trade chip for a top-six center which would also explain their hesitance in working on a long-term agreement.

Elsewhere around the Western Conference:

  • The Oilers have made an offer to pending unrestricted free agent goaltender Mike Smith, reports Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal. The 39-year-old had quite the bounce-back season in 2020-21, posting a .923 SV% and a 2.31 GAA in 32 games (30 starts) which has certainly boosted his stock heading into free agency.  Last fall, he was basically the fallback option but with Edmonton tendering an offer now, it’s clear they value him more this time around.  That should be enough to get him more than the $1.5MM base salary he had this season (plus $500K in bonuses).  Leavins notes that if a deal does get done, it’s likely that it will come after the expansion draft which means that Stuart Skinner would likely be protected in expansion.
  • The Bruins, Rangers, and Capitals are believed to have shown interest in Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko with the Islanders also on the radar, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Of that group, Boston makes the most sense financially as they have the cap space to absorb Tarasenko’s $7.5MM AAV without needing to match money and if they can’t reach an agreement with pending UFA Taylor Hall, they’ll have a need on the wing to fill.  The Rangers also have the cap room but their biggest need is down the middle.  Washington and the Islanders would need to match money as they’re projected to be capped out by the time they re-sign their own pending free agents which would make a deal more difficult.  Tarasenko has requested a trade from St. Louis and is working with the team to facilitate a deal.

Edmonton Oilers Hope To Re-Sign Mike Smith

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The Edmonton Oilers were swept out of the first round of the playoffs, but it wasn’t because of goaltending. The 39-year-old Mike Smith posted a solid .912 save percentage in the four games, good enough to keep every game close between the Oilers and Winnipeg Jets. At his end-of-year media availability, Edmonton GM Ken Holland said plainly that he wants to re-sign Smith after the strong season he experienced.

Now 15 years into his NHL career, Smith posted an outstanding .923 save percentage during the regular season, essentially becoming the only netminder the Oilers could rely on. Despite costing just a third of the cap hit Mikko Koskinen carries, Smith was the unquestioned starter by the end of the season and played every minute of the team’s playoff series, including a back-to-back in games three and four.

Koskinen meanwhile could be on the chopping block after posting a brutal .899 save percentage in 26 games for the team. Holland explained that buyouts are very possible for his club this summer in order to free up additional cap space, and the 32-year-old Koskinen is a prime candidate. Not only was he signed by Holland’s predecessor, but he also would cost just $1.5MM against the cap for the next two seasons. If Smith can be brought back on a reasonable deal, that would free up a good chunk for the team to invest elsewhere.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that Smith can recreate the season he just had. His two previous were poor, posting a .900 save percentage over 81 appearances for the Oilers and Calgary Flames, and he very well could be the oldest netminder in the league in 2021-22. The team does have veteran backup Alex Stalock in the organization now after claiming him in March, but there isn’t yet a prospect pushing for NHL playing time. If Smith is retained and Koskinen bought out, it could still be worthwhile to examine the rest of the goaltending market in case the veteran fails to repeat his excellent 2020-21 performance.

Nominees Announced For 2021 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The award has been voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2021.

Past winners of the award include Bobby Ryan (2020), Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), Jaromir Jagr (2016), Devan Dubnyk (2015), Dominic Moore (2014), and Josh Harding (2013).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – David Backes

Arizona Coyotes – Phil Kessel

Boston Bruins – Kevan Miller

Buffalo Sabres – Dustin Tokarski

Calgary Flames – Milan Lucic

Carolina Hurricanes – Jordan Staal

Chicago Blackhawks – Andrew Shaw

Colorado Avalanche – Valeri Nichushkin

Columbus Blue Jackets – Zac Dalpe

Dallas Stars – Roope Hintz

Detroit Red Wings – Danny DeKeyser

Edmonton Oilers – Mike Smith

Florida Panthers – Chris Driedger

Los Angeles Kings – Matt Roy

Minnesota Wild – Matt Dumba

Montreal Canadiens – Corey Perry

Nashville Predators – Pekka Rinne

New Jersey Devils – Scott Wedgewood

New York Islanders – Casey Cizikas

New York Rangers – Colin Blackwell

Ottawa Senators – Nick Paul

Philadelphia Flyers – Oskar Lindblom

Pittsburgh Penguins – Casey DeSmith

San Jose Sharks – Patrick Marleau

St. Louis Blues – Vladimir Tarasenko

Tampa Bay Lightning – Steven Stamkos

Toronto Maple Leafs – Jack Campbell

Vancouver Canucks – Tyler Motte

Vegas Golden Knights – Marc-Andre Fleury

Washington Capitals – Zdeno Chara

Winnipeg Jets – Eric Comrie

Three finalists and the winner will be named at a later date.

Edmonton Oilers Activate Mike Smith Off Of LTIR

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The Edmonton Oilers should get a much-needed boost in goal as the team announced they have activated goaltender Mike Smith from long-term injured reserve. The team has played 13 games this season with starter Mikko Koskinen starting 12 of those 13 games. Stuart Skinner, the team’s backup all this time, has appeared in one game and now has been assigned to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL.

Smith, who has missed the entire season so far with an undisclosed injury, should immediately provide the team a second NHL-caliber goaltender who can help share net duties rather than force Koskinen to play constantly. In the 12 games he’s played, Koskinen has a 5-7 record with a 3.52 GAA and a .889 save percentage — not numbers of a goalentender who should be playing every game.

Of course, the 38-year-old Smith didn’t exactly put up eye-catching numbers last year either. Smith played 39 games last season, posting a 2.95 GAA and a .902 save percentage. Regardless, those numbers would be quite a bit better than what the Oilers have seen so far this season. Smith is expected to start one of the team’s back-to-back games on Monday or Tuesday against Ottawa.

Smith signed a one-year, $1.5MM this offseason.

Oilers Place Mike Smith On LTIR

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Mike Smith’s season debut was originally thought to be coming on Thursday in the second half of their back-to-back set against Vancouver.  However, he was a late scratch with Stuart Skinner joining the Oilers from their taxi squad as Mikko Koskinen’s backup.  Whatever the issue is will hold him out for a little while as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that Smith has been placed on LTIR, meaning he will miss at least 10 games or 24 days.

The 38-year-old is in his second season with Edmonton after signing a one-year deal with them in October after other options didn’t materialize in free agency.  Noteworthy is that the contract contains up to $250K in games played bonuses at varying thresholds between 20 and 40 games; any extended absence will all but cement the top ones becoming unachievable and make the smaller ones a little tougher to get.  With Edmonton well into LTIR, any earned bonuses this season will be charged against the 2021-22 salary cap.

Smith’s expected absence and Skinner’s inexperience (two minor pro seasons with no NHL action) could force GM Ken Holland to try to make a move for a more proven short-term backup.  That was supposed to be Anton Forsberg’s role but he has since been claimed off waivers twice, the second of which came today by Winnipeg.  With players needing to go through a quarantine period (seven days for Canadian-based players, 14 for those elsewhere), if such a move is coming, it’s one that will need to happen sooner than later.  In the meantime, Olivier Rodrigue has been recalled to the taxi squad but he was playing in Austria so he is facing a lengthy quarantine before he can join them so that recall alone may not be enough.

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