East Notes: Rodrigues, Coyle, Marner, Blue Jackets
The Penguins have placed winger Evan Rodrigues in COVID protocol, a team spokesperson confirmed to Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 28-year-old has been one of the biggest surprises around the league this season, going from someone who had previously been non-tendered to a regular spot on their top line and he has rewarded them with an impressive showing offensively, sitting second in team scoring with 10 goals and 13 assists in 30 games. He will now be out for at least the next ten days.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- The Bruins have lost a player to COVID protocol as the team announced that forward Charlie Coyle has been placed in protocols. The 29-year-old sits fifth in team scoring with seven goals and seven assists in 26 games. Coyle has been trying to fill David Krejci’s spot on Boston’s second line after the long-time Boston veteran decided to play back at home in the Czech Extraliga this season.
- Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner returned to practice today for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury earlier this month, relays David Alter of The Hockey News (Twitter link). Worth noting is that while Marner is currently on LTIR (which has allowed Toronto to stay cap-compliant among other players being brought up) is that postponed games count towards the 10 games a player must miss while on there so Toronto’s postponements won’t automatically delay Marner’s return.
- The Blue Jackets welcomed a trio of players back to practice today as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that winger Patrik Laine plus defensemen Adam Boqvist and Dean Kukan have all resumed skating. Laine has been out with an oblique injury since early November after getting off to a good start to his final season of RFA eligibility with ten points in nine games. As for the blueliners, Boqvist suffered an upper-body injury two weeks ago while Kukan fractured his wrist in late October.
Roster Notes: Lehkonen, Korpisalo, Maple Leafs
As the Montreal Canadiens continue to falter in 2021-22, now last in the Eastern Conference and leading the league in goals allowed, a fire sale seems imminent for the franchise. As pundits across North America discuss who could be moving on from the Habs, a story has emerged from TVA’s Renaud Lavoie about one potential candidate who was nearly moved last season. Lavoie reported on their air on Saturday that the Canadiens and St. Louis Blues had a deal in place for forward Artturi Lehkonen at the deadline, which would have seen Sammy Blais go the other way. However, a condition of the deal was an extension for Lehkonen, then an impending restricted free agent, and the restricted free agent refused to agree to a new contract with the Blues, nixing the trade. The 26-year-old ended up re-signing for just one year with Montreal this summer and will be an RFA once more this off-season. However, it seems more and more unlikely that he will be negotiating with the Habs once again, as Lehkonen’s scoring is up from last season, making him an attractive trade piece for the Canadiens. Although Blais is now a member of the New York Rangers, the Blues could still be a suitor for Lehkonen with a different offer if they can make the cap implications work. The forward could be seen as a rental or as a long-term investment which should provide a deep pool of potential trade partners for the new front office administration in Montreal.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets could be forced to make a significant roster move later this season, but hopefully it does not come to that. The Finnish government released a list of names this week that included professional athletes who had not completed their required military service. All male citizens of Finland are conscripted to serve a certain number of days – 165, 255 or 347 days depending on the assignment – of military service and must meet this requirement between the ages of 18 and 28. Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo turns 28 this spring and has yet to complete any of his required service. Korpisalo tells The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline that he regrets putting it off, but he has had his in-season obligations every year since he was 18 and never wanted to disrupt his off-season training schedule in the summers. The Finnish government stated that those athletes who had not yet met this civic duty would be enlisted to begin service on April 11, 2022. Well, Columbus’ regular season does not end until April 29 and the team currently sits just one spot outside of playoff position as well. Korpisalo’s response to the possibility of missing time because of conscription: “If they want to come get me, come get me. I’m not leaving during my season.” Hopefully it doesn’t reach that point for Korpisalo and the Jackets, but it does seem like the goaltender at least plans to serve his time this summer. He has little choice as the Finnish government will not renew his passport if he does not complete his required service before turning 29, making it impossible for him to travel to North America let alone play in the NHL. This is especially concerning for Korpisalo this summer, when he will be an unrestricted free agent. While the veteran keeper expects that a “special arrangement” will be made that allows him to complete his current season, serve his time in the off-season, and be ready for next season, wherever that may be, the last-minute nature of the situation could still prove problematic. This likely isn’t the last we have heard about Korpisalo’s military requirements and its impact on his playing career.
- Ilya Mikheyev appears to be getting closer to a return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. The Hockey News’ David Alter reports that both Mikheyev and defenseman Travis Dermott will be evaluated on Tuesday for a potential return against the Edmonton Oilers. Getting the skilled forward back from Long-Term Injured Reserve will be a nice boost for the Leafs, but it of course raises questions as well. Toronto is currently $4.9MM over the salary cap, but this is permissible given the LTIR usage afforded by Mikheyev and Mitch Marner. However, once Marner is healthy as well, a roster crunch will set in for the Leafs if no more extended injuries have arisen. Even if no one is on injured reserve at the time and the likes of Alex Steeves and Kyle Clifford have likely been bumped from the roster to accommodate the additions up front of Mikheyev and Marner, the team will still be over the salary cap. If the Leafs want to carry the full 23 skaters, they will need to save room for at least a minimum $750K contract too. This could result in a notable player being traded or waived in order to become cap compliant. For a number of bottom-six forwards, the return of Mikheyev is a warning and they have until Marner returns to prove that they belong on the team or else could be the one forced out of town.
Atlantic Notes: Mrazek, Del Zotto, Cernak, Bogosian
The Maple Leafs will activate goaltender Petr Mrazek off LTIR to start him tonight against Chicago, notes Postmedia’s Lance Hornby (Twitter link). The veteran has been limited to just two appearances this season due to a groin injury and after being brought in to push Jack Campbell for playing time, it may be hard to come by with Campbell currently sporting a 1.99 GAA with a .935 SV%. Joseph Woll, who had been serving as Toronto’s backup, will soon return to the minors.
While not yet announced by the team, it would appear as if winger Mitch Marner will be transferred to LTIR to create the cap space for the Maple Leafs to activate Mrazek. Marner suffered a shoulder injury in practice earlier this month that was expected to keep him out for a few weeks. In his case, an LTIR transfer (which can be done retroactively to his initial IR placement) would keep him out for at least 10 games and 24 days.
More from the Atlantic:
- Ottawa’s decision to waive Michael Del Zotto on Friday came as a bit of a surprise considering they only recently gave him a two-year deal. However, head coach D.J. Smith told reporters, including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link) that injuries have forced the Senators to shift more towards making this a development year which means the prospects get the priority moving forward. Smith referenced that Jacob Bernard-Docker and Lassi Thomson are young blueliners that should start seeing NHL action again soon.
- Erik Cernak’s timeline for a return has been delayed as Bryan Burns of the Lightning’s team site relays (Twitter link) that the blueliner is now listed as week to week and won’t play until after the holiday break. The 24-year-old suffered a lower-body injury last week in just his third game back from an upper-body issue. In between those ailments, Cernak has been an important part of Tampa Bay’s top four, logging 19:30 per game. The extended timeline will make him LTIR-eligible.
- Cernak isn’t the only injured Lightning blueliner either as the team announced (Twitter link) prior to their game against the Sens that Zach Bogosian is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Injuries have limited the 31-year-old to just 15 games this season where he has four points, 41 hits, and 34 penalty minutes.
Rasmus Sandin, Mitch Marner Placed On Injured Reserve
The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a new look lineup tonight, as several roster moves were made this morning to deal with notable injuries. Rasmus Sandin and Mitch Marner were both placed on injured reserve, while Joey Anderson was sent back to the minor leagues. Alex Biega, Kristians Rubins and Alex Steeves have been recalled. At today’s morning skate, Travis Dermott was also absent, while Petr Mrazek was back with the NHL group after his short AHL conditioning stint.
Sandin faces a few weeks on the shelf thanks to a Neal Pionk hit that earned a two-game suspension yesterday. Chris Johnston explained on TSN radio yesterday that the young Maple Leafs defenseman is expected to miss two to three weeks, but it looks more like three to four now according to Luke Fox of Sportsnet. That’s probably a good outcome given how serious the injury appeared, but it will still throw off the strong season Sandin was having as a full-time player.
Marner meanwhile could be out a week or two, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. The star forward collided with a teammate in practice a few days ago and has missed the last two games, both losses for the Maple Leafs. The team seemed a bit out of sorts without their top playmaker, who also logs big minutes on the powerplay and penalty kill. Marner had 21 points in 24 games before the injury. Both he and Sandin will need to miss at least seven days from when they last played.
Remember, the Maple Leafs are also going to be down Jason Spezza after his in-person hearing with the Department of Player Safety is concluded this afternoon. Spezza retaliated for the Pionk hit by targeting the Winnipeg Jets defenseman with an ugly check of his own, and faces the possibility of a much longer suspension.
It appears as though both Rubins and Steeves will be making their NHL debuts this evening,
Injury Notes: Marner, Oilers, Kraken
After colliding with teammate Jake Muzzin during practice, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner is “uncertain” for the team’s Saturday game in Minnesota, according to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. Marner left practice early after the hit with medical personnel, but head coach Sheldon Keefe said it was precautionary in nature and that it’s “not looking like anything serious.” Hopefully, that holds true for the red-hot Leafs, who are 15-2-0 in their past 17 games. Marner has six points in his last five games and is fourth on the team with 21 points on the season after a really rough start.
Some other injury notes from around the league:
- The Edmonton Oilers are banged up, especially on left defense with all three regulars out of the lineup. They got some good news today though, as head coach Dave Tippett reports that Darnell Nurse, winger Devin Shore, and goalie Mike Smith all skated today. However, Duncan Keith wasn’t a part of that group and remains sidelined. The team’s handled this recent stretch of adversity well, winners of three straight and a 16-5-0 record overall. The Oilers certainly still want these names back in their lineup though, especially Nurse, who leads the team by a long shot in ice time with 26:06 played per game.
- The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark reports that the Seattle Kraken’s Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz are both day-to-day, but Schwartz hasn’t skated while Eberle has. The team’s two leading scorers both missed their Wednesday game against the Detroit Red Wings with lower-body injuries. It’s been a tough opening ride for the Kraken, who sit seventh in the Pacific Division with an 8-13-2 record. While they’ve performed above-expected offensively, they’ve had structural and goaltending issues that few foresaw.
NHL Announces All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team
On the heels of the NHL Awards, the league has revealed the rosters of it’s all-league teams. As voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, the selections are as follows:
First All-Star Team (link)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy
D Adam Fox
D Cale Makar
LW Brad Marchand
C Connor McDavid
RW Mitch Marner
Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross winner McDavid anchors the First Team All-Stars for the fourth time in his career, flanked by Hart candidate Marchand and with Vezina finalist Vasilevskiy in net. However, the story of the top All-Star squad is young defensemen Fox, the Norris winner, and Makar, a Norris finalist, manning the first team blue line in just their second NHL seasons. Marner is another first-time selection with a career year in his fifth season.
Second All-Star Team (link)
G Marc-Andre Fleury
D Victor Hedman
D Dougie Hamilton
LW Jonathan Huberdeau
C Auston Matthews
RW Mikko Rantanen
Vezina winner Fleury highlights an impressive second-team squad that also included Norris finalist Hedman and Hart finalist Matthews. This is Hedman’s fifth appearance on the Second Team All-Star roster, but all the others are first-time selections. Under-rated starts Huberdeau and Rantanen receiving much-deserved recogntion from the PHWA.
All-Rookie Team (link)
G Alex Nedeljkovic
D K’Andre Miller
D Ty Smith
LW Jason Robertson
C Joshua Norris
RW Kirill Kaprizov
With Calder winner Kaprizov leading the way, the All-Rookie teams boasts a mix of seasoned young players in their first full NHL seasons, such as Kaprizov himself and Nedeljkovic, sophomores Robertson and Norris, and true “rookies” in first-year pros Miller and Smith on the back end.
For those thinking that their favorite star was snubbed from all-league recognition this season, the voting results were actually very definitive. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon was a distant third at center, as was the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin at left wing and Vegas’ Mark Stone at right wing. Colorado’s Philipp Grubauer was way back of the top two in net as well. On defense, Hamilton was actually well behind Fox, Makar, and Hedman, but far enough ahead of Vegas’ Shea Theodore and Boston’s Charlie McAvoy.
Snapshots: Stuetzle, Thornton, Duclair, Spurgeon
The Ottawa Senators have already been in camp for several days already, but the team will get another big name player into camp soon as 2020 first-round pick Tim Stuetzle arrived in Ottawa Saturday night. The 18-year-old is coming off an impressive performance at the World Junior Championship after he led Team Germany to one of the countries best finishes ever. After a seven-day quarantine, he will join his team and is likely to start his NHL career, according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch.
“I hope I’m going to play in the NHL this season, that’s 100% my goal and I will work very hard for that,” Stuetzle told reporters in Edmonton following Germany’s elimination in the quarterfinals.
Stuetzle finished the World Juniors with five goals and 10 points in five games. The third-overall pick, who signed his entry-level deal last week, is likely going to play wing for the Senators this season.
- Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe surprised a few at his opening press conference today when he announced that 41-year-old Joe Thornton will play with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on a line entering camp, according to The Athletic’s James Mirtle. That’s a bit higher than many thought he would play on after a seven-goal season with the San Jose Sharks last year. Keefe added that Jimmy Vesey will play alongside John Tavares and William Nylander, while Ilya Mikheyev, Alexander Kerfoot and Zach Hyman will play on the third line and Wayne Simmonds, Jason Spezza and Alexander Barabanov will man the fourth line.
- Speaking of lines, Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville said today that newly signed forward Anthony Duclair is expected to start training camp on the team’s No. 1 line next to Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, according to FloridaHockeyNow’s George Richards. Duclair had trouble finding a new team after an impressive season with the Ottawa Senators when he tallied 23 goals and 40 points in 66 games. With the losses of Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman off their top-six, Duclair was brought in to take a big role with the Panthers this season.
- The Minnesota Wild haven’t had to make a change in their captaincy since 2009, but after allowing Mikko Koivu to leave via free agency during the offseason, a new captain was needed. Despite bigger names on the roster such as Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the Minnesota Wild announced that Jared Spurgeon will be the new captain of the team, according to Sarah McLellan of the StarTribune. Spurgeon, who signed a seven-year, $53MM contract extension in September of 2019, has been a team leader for years and has been with the team for 10 years already. The 31-year-old paired with Suter as the two of them posted a plus-13 at 5-on-5 together, making them one of the top No. 1 pairings in the league.
Four More Players Voted In To All-Star Game
The vote is in as four more players were added to the NHL All-Star Game as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner, Washington Capitals’ T.J. Oshie, St. Louis Blues’ David Perron and Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes were voted in by fans as the Last Men In.
For Marner, it will be the forward’s first all-star appearance despite posting a 94-point performance in the 2018-19 season. However, Marner remains on a similar pace and has impressive numbers once again. He currently has 11 goals and 42 points in just 34 games this season, putting him at a 100-goal pace had he not missed several weeks with a high ankle sprain. He joins Auston Matthews and Frederik Andersen as a third member of the team on the Atlantic Division roster.
Oshie will also be attending the all-star game for the first time in his career. The 33-year-old has had a solid career, but gets voted in as he has 18 goals through the first 45 games of the season and looks to be heading for a 30-goal pace. He will join defenseman John Carlsson and goaltender Braden Holtby. Alex Ovechkin was also supposed to go, but has opted to skip it for a second straight year. Head coach Todd Reirden is also going as coach of the Metro Division.
Perron is another addition for Stanley Cup champions, who will be the hosts of the all-star game, and gives the team four players on the Central Division squad. The 31-year-old looks to be heading for one of the best seasons of his career as he already has 19 goals through 45 games, including four overtime goals so far this year. Perron will be joined by forwards Ryan O’Reilly, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and goaltender Jordan Binnington.
Finally, a defenseman was added in the Pacific Division, a much needed position for that squad, which had just Mark Giordano on the roster until the fan vote. Hughes has been a revelation for Vancouver and while fellow rookie Cale Makar gets most of the headlines, Hughes has posted four goals and 30 points in 43 games and is averaging 21:22 of ATOI in his first full season. He will join forward Elias Petersson and goaltender Jacob Markstrom as the Canucks’ representatives.
Mitch Marner Activated From Injured Reserve
The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially activated Mitch Marner from long-term injured reserve, sending Martin Marincin and Nic Petan to the minor leagues in the process. Marner has been out for several weeks with a high-ankle sprain but is expected to be back in the lineup tonight against the Colorado Avalanche. The team has also activated Mason Marchment from season-opening injured reserve and sent him to the AHL.
Marner has yet to play a game for new head coach Sheldon Keefe, but he’ll get the chance to try out the Maple Leafs’ new puck possession system tonight as the team tries to right the ship. Coming off a 6-1 pounding at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto now sits 13-12-4 on the season and in a very precarious position.
Because of the huge cap number that the young forward brings, Trevor Moore has likely been moved to long-term injured reserve to clear a bit more and keep the Maple Leafs at 21 players for the time being. When he returns, the team will have to send another forward down to the minor leagues or make a trade of some sort.
Even with that kind of cap pressure, Marner’s return will be a huge boost to the group. After scoring 94 points last season to lead the club, he was off to another strong start with 18 in his first 18 games. While he’ll be back beside John Tavares tonight, it appears as though Ilya Mikheyev has taken the place of Zach Hyman on the left side despite that trio’s strong work last season.
Toronto Notes: Hyman, Marner, Goaltending
The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to get Zach Hyman back in the lineup tomorrow night against the New York Islanders, a welcome sight for a team struggling to find their identity this season. While the Maple Leafs have scored 64 goals this season, good for third in the NHL, they’ve also allowed 62. Hyman will bring an aspect of forechecking that has been sorely missing, while also giving them another prime penalty killing option. The 27-year old forward is coming off major knee surgery however, and may take some time getting up to speed. He scored 21 goals and 41 points last season but has yet to play in 2019-20.
More notes regarding the Maple Leafs:
- Hyman will start on a line with John Tavares and Kasperi Kapanen, thanks to the absence of Mitch Marner from the team for at least a month. Marner confirmed to reporters including Joshua Clipperton of the Canadian Press that he suffered a high-ankle sprain in Saturday’s game. The team had previously announced that he will be re-evaluated in four weeks, but high-ankle sprains are notorious for causing lingering issues for professional athletes.
- Meanwhile, the team is also trying to figure out their backup goaltending situation after waiving Michael Hutchinson yesterday. Head coach Mike Babcock explained to reporters including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun that the team didn’t play well enough ahead of Hutchinson, but that the plan to start the backup in the second half of back-to-back situations will continue. That would suggest that Kasimir Kaskisuo will make his NHL debut this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, unless the team finds a different option before then.