NHL Names Western Conference All-Stars
Sportsnet is reporting that the NHL has named the first 16 selections from the Western Conference who will appear in the NHL All-Star Game that will take place February 3rd in Toronto.
The game will be held in Canada for the first time since 2012, when it was held in Ottawa. Toronto hasn’t hosted the game since 2000 and this year will be the first time that the NHL uses a four-team, three-on-three format in combination with the fantasy draft format that was used from 2011-2015. The league will name four captains, one for each team, who will take part in a draft to select their teams on February 1st.
The initial players named from the Western Conference are as follows:
Central Division
Arizona: LW Clayton Keller (4th appearance)
Chicago: C Connor Bedard (1st appearance)
Colorado: C Nathan MacKinnon (3rd appearance)
Dallas: G Jake Oettinger (1st appearance)
Minnesota: LW Kirill Kaprizov (3rd appearance)
Nashville: C Filip Forsberg (1st appearance)
St. Louis: C Robert Thomas (1st appearance)
Winnipeg: G Connor Hellebuyck (3rd appearance)
Pacific Division
Anaheim: LW Frank Vatrano (1st appearance)
Calgary: C Elias Lindholm (1st appearance)
Edmonton: C Connor McDavid (7th appearance)
Los Angeles: G Cam Talbot (1st appearance)
San Jose: C Tomas Hertl (1st appearance)
Seattle: RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (1st appearance)
Vancouver: D Quinn Hughes (1st appearance)
Vegas: C Jack Eichel (1st appearance)
The initial announcements of 32 players (one player to represent each team) tonight will be followed by the naming of the final 12 all-stars in the coming weeks. Those 12 players will be decided by a fan vote on NHL.com as well as several of the NHL’s social media platforms.
Snapshots: Flames, Three Stars, Lightning
The Fourth Period is reporting that the Calgary Flames picked up trade talks with several teams last week as they look to potentially move on from several pending unrestricted free agents. The Fourth Period cited sources saying that the New Jersey Devils were one of the teams they talked to and even linked the Devils to both Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev.
The Flames currently have a record of 15-16-5 through their first 36 games which puts them five points out of a playoff spot as they near the halfway point of the regular season. The team will have a big decision to make in the coming weeks as they also have center Elias Lindholm on an expiring contract, and he is reportedly looking for a deal in the range of $9MM annually.
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta also believes that teams have expressed interest in Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, but it’s hard to believe Calgary would deal him given that he is in the first year of an eight-year contract and has a full no-trade clause.
Other notes from around the league:
- The NHL has announced its Three Stars of the Month, with Nathan MacKinnon taking First Star, Auston Matthews winning Second Star, and Connor Hellebuyck being named Third Star. MacKinnon won on the heels of an 11-goal, 29-point performance in 15 games in December, while Matthew’s put up 15 goals and six assists in just 12 games. Hellebuyck’s December performance saw him post an impressive 7-0-2 record, which was good enough for a Third Star.
- Tampa Bay Lightning writer Chris Krenn is reporting that the Lightning were forced to dress just five defensemen tonight due to injuries and salary cap constraints. The Lightning lost Erik Cernak and Haydn Fleury recently to injury and with no cap space to make a recall, the Lightning were forced to play the Winnipeg Jets one defender short of a full six. The Lightning will be eligible to make an emergency recall after tonight, but due to the language in the Roster Emergency Exception rule, they must wait until the second game to be eligible to recall a player under emergency conditions.
Central Notes: Girard, Lucchini, Avalanche
One of the most notable inclusions in practice this morning for the Colorado Avalanche was defenseman Samuel Girard, who is working his way back from being in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program for nearly a month (X Link). Returning to the ice is positive in its own right, but Girard is not expected to be back in the lineup this evening.
Upon his entrance to the Player Assistance Program, Girard was very public with his reasoning, saying through his agency, “I have made a proactive decision to take care of my mental health, and will be entering treatment for severe anxiety and depression that has gone untreated for too long and led to alcohol abuse” (X Link).
With his return to the team imminent, Girard will look to build upon his season after a month off, scoring one goal and four points in his first 15 games for the Avalanche this year. Aside from Girard’s play on the ice, the fact that he is nearing close to a return shows he has gained an adequate degree of success fighting his personal ailments via the program.
Other notes:
- After placing forward Mats Zuccarello on injured reserve only yesterday, the Minnesota Wild have recalled forward Jake Lucchini to fill the missing spot in the lineup. With over 250 games played at the AHL level since the 2018-19 season, Lucchini is only a veteran of 11 games in the NHL, all of which were played last season for the Ottawa Senators. In his first season in the Wild organization, Lucchini has scored nine goals and 20 points in 24 games for their AHL affiliate.
- Back to the Avalanche, having missed the last handful of games with a lower-body injury, defenseman Cale Makar is once again questionable for tonight’s matchup against the Senators (X Link). Furthermore, although forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Ross Colton were absent from practice due to maintenance days, they are both expected to be in the lineup this evening.
Who Will Be The NHL’s Next Highest Paid Player?
Auston Matthews recent extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs has earned him the title of highest-paid player in the NHL. His new deal doesn’t kick in until 2024-25, but at that point, he will make an average annual salary of $13.25MM (CapFriendly) per season for four years. Prior to his new deal, Matthews was the fourth highest-paid player in the game behind Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Artemi Panarin.
MacKinnon’s new eight-year $100.8MM deal kicks in this season which will make him the highest-paid player in the league at $12.6MM for this year. His actual salary is much higher than his cap hit at $16.5MM, but the final four years of his deal will back-dive to $9.9MM in salary. McDavid has three years left on his current deal with a cap hit of $12.5MM while Panarin’s deal also concludes in three seasons and pays him $11.642MM annually.
With Matthews having topped MacKinnon’s new extension by over $600K annually the question now becomes, who will be the NHL’s next highest-paid player?
Connor McDavid – McDavid is the obvious answer. He is arguably the best player in the game and undoubtedly the best player in the world with the puck on his stick. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native will be 29 years old when he reaches unrestricted free agency and could essentially ask teams for a blank check and fill in the maximum salary under the salary cap. That is if he remains the best player in the world. While it seems hard to believe there is a world in which McDavid isn’t the game’s most explosive player, three years is a long time, and in hockey, it can be an eternity. There is also another Connor who could be the one to top Matthews’ extension.
Connor Bedard – It seems crazy that Bedard has yet to play a minute in the NHL and he could conceivably be the next highest-paid player in the NHL. But it could happen. Bedard signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 17th and should be a lock to make their opening night lineup. He will become a restricted free agent in 2026, the same time that McDavid becomes a UFA. It is fair to wonder how Bedard will produce once he is playing against men in the NHL, especially given that he will be playing on a bad Blackhawks team that will have its struggles. But he dominated the WHL with 71 goals and 72 assists in 57 games and obliterated the competition at the World Junior Championships with nine goals and 14 assists in 7 games. He’s a phenom, and in three years he could be paid like one.
Leon Draisaitl – Draisaitl has been one of the best bargains in the NHL since signing his eight-year $68MM contract back in August of 2017. All he has done during his six years under this contract is score 50+ goals three times, top 100 points four times, and win a Hart Trophy as well as an Art Ross Trophy. At 27-years-old Draisaitl is coming off the best season of his career having posted 52 goals and 76 assists in 80 games.
All things considered, it seems likely that Draisaitl will top Matthews’ contract two seasons from now when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The native of Cologne, Germany will be 29 years old, and the salary cap should go up substantially between now and then positioning him to cash in big with any team of his choosing. Draisaitl will likely hold onto that distinction for just one season as McDavid and Bedard will be following right behind him and could top Draisaitl to earn the title of the highest-paid player in the NHL.
Edmonton Oilers Make Changes To Scouting Staff
The Edmonton Oilers announced today that they have made several changes to their scouting staff as the team gears up for training camp. The club has named Rick Pracey as Director of Amateur Scouting while mutually parting ways with Tyler Wright.
The 52-year-old Pracey has been an amateur scout with the Philadelphia Flyers since 2014 and brings over 20 years of scouting experience to Edmonton. He has previously worked as a Director of Amateur Scouting with the Colorado Avalanche, a role he served in from 2008-14 during which time the team selected Tyson Barrie, Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O’Reilly, and Matt Duchene.
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Pracey’s professional playing career was short-lived as he played college hockey in Canada for both the University of Windsor and Wilfrid Laurier University, as well as a one-year stint in the UHL. After his playing career was over, Pracey joined the Avalanche in 2001 in an amateur scouting role and built his career from there.
For Tyler Wright, he moves on after just over four years with the Oilers. The 50-year-old came over to Edmonton in July 2019 along with Ken Holland after working alongside Holland with the Detroit Red Wings for six seasons. He served as Director of Amateur Scouting for all four years and was in the same role with the Red Wings for over six years.
It will be interesting to see where he lands given that the move was a mutual one for Wright and the Oilers. Wright’s work likely went by the wayside this year as the Oilers drafted just three players in June’s NHL entry draft after trading away picks in the Mattias Ekholm and Kailer Yamamoto trades.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Strome, Eriksson Ek
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Nathan MacKinnon taking home the top spot. The Colorado Avalanche superstar scored three game-winning goals, and broke the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. Through 68 games, he has 107 points, a per-game rate that only trails Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Second and third place went to Jordan Eberle of the Seattle Kraken and Alex Lyon of the Flordia Panthers, respectively. Eberle continues to be one of the most “clutch” players in the league, with two-game winning goals last week to bring his career total to 43, and send the Kraken to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Meanwhile, Lyon effectively saved the Panthers’ season by stepping into the crease and posting a .956 save percentage over six starts (all wins).
- The Department of Player Safety has issued a $5,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct to Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Strome for his actions in last night’s game against the Avalanche. Strome threw a water bottle from the bench as Colorado won the game in overtime, and will have to pay a small fee.
- The Ducks have also made a roster move, sending Olle Eriksson Ek back to the minor leagues. This is the fourth time in just a few days that Eriksson Ek has been involved in a transaction, bouncing up and down through the last part of the season as Anaheim tries to get to the summer break.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Lockwood, Jarry
The NHL released its Three Stars of last week, with Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle taking home top spot. The budding superstar had ten points in four games, including two game-winning goals, reaching a new career-high in scoring with 59 points on the season. Stutzle, 21, is way out in front of the 2020 draft class in terms of scoring, 56 points ahead of second-place Lucas Raymond. While there’s still time for others to catch up, the Senators forward is showing why he was selected so high.
Second and third went to Nathan MacKinnon and Dylan Larkin, respectively, who each had their own excellent weeks. The Colorado Avalanche star scored nine points in four games to take him to 67 on the year (in just 44 games), and the Detroit Red Wings captain put up eight to bring him to 56 this season. With so much speculation surrounding Larkin’s future, his game certainly hasn’t deteriorated. In his last 17 games he has 23 points, and he’s currently riding a seven-game point streak.
- After several weeks on the sidelines, Vancouver Canucks forward William Lockwood has been activated from injured reserve and loaned to the AHL. He last appeared in a game on January 24, leaving after just six minutes of ice time due to the concussion protocol. The 24-year-old forward has just one assist in 13 games for the Canucks this season and is still looking for his first NHL goal. He’ll likely see a call-up once he’s back in game shape.
- Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry will officially be back in action tonight, giving the team a huge boost for a critical matchup. When healthy, Jarry has been excellent this season, matching a career-high .921 save percentage through 27 appearances. His play will likely determine the outcome for the Penguins in the Eastern Conference playoff race, as so many teams are still within striking distance of the wild card positions.
NHL Announces 2023 All-Star Player Assignments
The 2023 NHL All-Star Skills competition will take place tomorrow night, and today the league announced the full lineup of participants. Players from around the league will get to show off their unique abilities in several events, with each individual winner taking home $30,000.
Fastest Skater
Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild
Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
Chandler Stephenson, Vegas Golden Knights
Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina Hurricanes
Breakaway Challenge
Roberto Luongo, Celebrity goaltender
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals*
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins*
David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
*Ovechkin and Crosby are listed as “teaming up”
Tendy Tandem
Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators
Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers
Stuart Skinner, Edmonton Oilers
Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders
Logan Thompson, Vegas Golden Knights
Linus Ullmark, Boston Bruins
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Splash Shot
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche
Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers
Adam Fox, New York Rangers
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa Senators
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers
Accuracy Shooting
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
Kevin Hayes, Philadelphia Flyers
Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils
Nazem Kadri, Calgary Flames
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Brock Nelson, New York Islanders
Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
Pitch ‘n Puck
Johnny Gaudreau, Columbus Blue Jackets
Clayton Keller, Arizona Coyotes
Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars
Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens
Hardest Shot
Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
Seth Jones, Chicago Blackhawks
Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
Avalanche Activate Nathan MacKinnon Off Injured Reserve
The Avalanche will have their franchise player back in the lineup tonight against Toronto as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Nathan MacKinnon off injured reserve. To make room for MacKinnon on the roster, winger Charles Hudon has been assigned to AHL Colorado.
MacKinnon suffered an upper-body injury earlier this month which was expected to keep him out for four weeks so he’s right on schedule. The 27-year-old was off to another strong start before the injury as he had 34 points in 23 games; even though he has missed 11 games, he’s still tied for second on the Avs in scoring. More importantly, he gives Colorado their top center back, allowing them to push J.T. Compher off the top line and balance out their forwards a bit better; Compher had been logging nearly 24 minutes a night in MacKinnon’s absence.
Colorado enters play tonight sitting fourth in the Central Division and is tied with Calgary for a Wild Card spot in the West. That has largely been due to an extremely long injury list that still has them without two top-six wingers in Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin and two key defenders in Bowen Byram and Josh Manson, among others. Their push to put themselves in a much more favorable playoff position will be a lot easier with MacKinnon, their star center and the player who will have the richest contract in NHL history next season, returning to the lineup.
As for Hudon, he was recalled back on Tuesday on his third emergency loan of the season. The 28-year-old has played in nine games with the Avalanche this season, logging just shy of 11 minutes a night while being held off the scoresheet. He has 18 points in 22 contests with the Eagles and should be a recall option should another injury up front arise with the big club.
Central Notes: Jets, Johnson, Avalanche
The Jets looked to be a team that had the cap space to make a splash in the second half of the season. However, as Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press outlines, that’s no longer the case. As a result of their injuries, Winnipeg has had to recall several players and in doing so, they’re at a spot where they’re going to need to dip in short-term LTIR if they have to bring anyone else up. All of a sudden, any ideas of making a key addition in the near future will have to be shut down until most of their regulars return. The good news for Winnipeg is that none of the injuries are season-ending but there aren’t many near-term recoveries on the horizon which isn’t ideal with nearly $25MM currently out of the lineup.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- While Blackhawks center Tyler Johnson returned to the lineup a little more than two weeks ago, he isn’t fully healthy yet. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes that the 32-year-old is still dealing with a left ankle injury, one that may not be fully recovered until the end of the season. Despite still being banged up, Johnson has logged more than 15 minutes a night since returning and has three goals and five assists in 12 games so far this season.
- The Avalanche could have Nathan MacKinnon back in the lineup on Saturday against Toronto, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. The star center has missed nearly four weeks due to an upper-body injury and while he took the skate in a non-contact jersey today, that won’t automatically preclude him from returning tomorrow. Meanwhile, forward Darren Helm was a full participant in practice for the first time today but has not yet received the green light to suit up. He has yet to play this season and underwent hip surgery last month.