Evening Notes: Stepan, Dallas D, Schmaltz
One of the main reasons the Arizona Coyotes made their big offseason trade in which they traded the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft and prospect defenseman Anthony DeAngelo to the New York Rangers was to acquire Derek Stepan. According to Jim Cerny of Sporting News, the Coyotes have high hopes the center will provide much-needed offensive help, but what the team is also looking for is to have him lead their young team.
With 515 games of experience under his belt (and 97 more in the playoffs), the 27-year-old already has plenty of experience. And while no captain has been announced, Stepan is among a short list of candidates for it. Arizona has a number of young potential forwards under 23 years, including Clayton Keller, Dylan Strome, Max Domi, Brendan Perlini, Christian Dvorak, Christian Fischer, Anthony Duclair and Lawson Crouse.
“I’ll try to do what I do best, play a 200 foot game, try to make the guys around me better, and try to be a leader for these young guys,” said Stepan. “When I was a young guy, I had older guys do it for me, and I want to do the same thing for them. Hopefully I can step in and help in all aspects.”
- It remains early and there is plenty of training camp remaining, but Sean Shapiro of Wrong Side of the Red Line writes that the Dallas Stars’ defensive pairings could already be close to decided. With four players already locked in, including John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Dan Hamhuis and Marc Methot, the real battles are for the final two positions. Shapiro writes that based on their play so far and head coach Ken Hitchcock’s comments, it looks like Julius Honka and Stephen Johns are easily in the lead with Jamie Oleksiak and Greg Pateryn both fighting it out for that seventh and final spot on the defense. That would leave Patrik Nemeth out entirely.
- The Chicago Blackhawks’ Nick Schmaltz could be looking at a position change, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. Having played wing next to Jonathan Toews during his rookie season, the 21-year-old forward is being given an opportunity to center the team’s second-line with Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane. Lazerus said head coach Joel Quenneville strongly hinted that Schmaltz would take that spot on the second line, which would force Artem Anisimov to the third line. If he gets the job, Schmaltz will have to work on his faceoffs, which was last (30.9 percent) among 210 players who had taken 100 or more faceoffs. According to Quenneville, the second-year forward worked with Sharks center Joe Pavelski over the summer and plans to work with Toews more during camp.
Blackhawks Notes: Sharp, Saad, DeBrincat
The Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Lazerus (along with various Chicago media) tweeted quite a bit from the beginning of the Blackhawks Fan Convention as players and personnel were available to the media. It was a reunion of sorts as two former players returned to field questions. Patrick Sharp returns to the place where he saw much success, saying that he had some of his “best years” playing for Joel Quenneville in Chicago. Lazerus tweets that Quenneville could use Sharp with Jonathan Toews, and to expect the veteran winger to see top six minutes, which may not thrill some fans. Brandon Saad confirmed that he would be on a line with Toews, which was the belief of many after Stan Bowman swung a deal to re-acquire the forward. The Athletic’s Scott Powers tweeted video of different interviews which included Quenneville, Patrick Kane talking about the Panarin trade, and Sharp’s return to Chicago.
- Several hockey analysts are “tapping the brakes” when declaring Blackhawks prospect Alex DeBrincat as the next big thing. The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton and Chicago SportsNet’s Tracey Myers both covered this, with Clinton adding onto Myers’ analysis. First, the salary cap limits who the Hawks can add to the roster, and the only player as of now who can shuffle to the AHL without passing through waivers is Nick Schmaltz. Should Marian Hossa go onto the LTIR, more than enough money would be available for many in Rockford to go onto the roster. Second, head coach Joel Quenneville isn’t exactly one to hand out ice time to kids. Clinton notes that DeBrincat is only 19, and the only players under 21 to see significant ice time during Quenneville’s tenure were Kane and Toews. Of course, Clinton notes, Toews was the captain and Kane was a budding superstar. Further, Clinton writes that Schmaltz, considered one of Chicago’s best prospects, struggled to stay in the lineup last season, showing that cracking the NHL lineup and then staying on it is far more difficult than it appears. Realistically, Clinton believes that the Hawks have the luxury to “over-season” players and allow them time to grow into a role–something that DeBrincat may very well do.
Chicago Blackhawks Could Move Up In First Round
Three reports now have the Chicago Blackhawks considering a move up in the first round, a move that would certainly delight the crowd in attendance. Scott Powers of The Athletic and Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune both have been told that it’s being discussed, with Kuc’s source even going so far as saying it would be because of the hometown crowd. Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times has also heard it, and points out that’s how the team acquired Nick Schmaltz in the 2014 draft.
Using a later round asset to move up in the first round just to appease your crowd seems like a mistake, but it’s not like there isn’t value to be had in the middle of round 1. The Blackhawks currently hold the 26th pick but could get a very interesting pick between 15-20 depending on how the first half of the round shakes out. Defensemen like Timothy Liljegren and Erik Brannstrom could fall to those spots, while the center depth will last the entire first round.
Interestingly, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports some chatter that the deal could potentially be between Chicago and Arizona, moving the Blackhawks all the way up to #7. That would certainly be an exciting move for the fans there, but would cost a lot more than a few late round picks.
It’s sure to be a wild night in Chicago, as the draft board is still wide open and as Chris Johnston of Sportsnet writes there are sure to be trade highlights as well. Vegas is holding several bullets in their chamber (or aces up their sleeve, depending on your level of tolerance for that sort of thing) and could still make a big move to draft higher than #6. The first round starts at 6pm CDT.
Injury Updates: Klefbom, Ducks, Blues, Barrie, Rieder, Schmaltz
Edmonton will get back a key player on their blueline tonight as they get set for their Game Seven matchup against Anaheim as Oscar Klefbom has declared himself “100 percent ready to go tonight”, writes Marc Ciampa of the Oilers’ team site. He missed the last game due to an upper body issue.
On the other side, Ciampa notes the Ducks will have center Nate Thompson in their lineup. His status was in question after the team recalled Sam Carrick from AHL San Diego on Tuesday. Defenseman Kevin Bieksa’s situation isn’t as clear though, as head coach Randy Carlyle is listing him as a game-time decision. Bieksa suffered a lower body in the series opener against the Oilers and has been out of the lineup since then.
Other injury notes from around the hockey world:
- Although there was speculation that Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko needed surgery, that isn’t the case, notes Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While the forward noted that he has been playing through an undisclosed injury, he expects it to heal over the coming weeks with rest. On a similar note, Alex Steen’s broken toe that he played through also won’t require going under the knife.
- Colorado blueliner Tyson Barrie will miss the rest of the World Championships with a lower body, Team Canada announced via Twitter. The exact nature of the injury is unknown but the Avalanche added (Twitter link) that he is expected to fully recover for his offseason workouts. The defenseman was off to a torrid start on the scoresheet, leading all defenders in scoring with seven points through four games. Although the Canadians won’t be able to replace him on the roster, they will certainly benefit from the late addition of Colton Parayko, who was added into a vacant roster slot yesterday.
- Coyotes winger Tobias Rieder also will miss the remainder of the Worlds after sustaining a lower body injury against Russia on Monday. Fortunately for Arizona, the injury isn’t believed to be too serious, reports ArizonaSports’ Craig Morgan. Rieder is expected to undergo further testing in the coming days. It’s the second straight year that a lower body injury has ended his tournament early as back in 2016, he suffered a knee injury against Canada in the preliminary round.
- Still with the Worlds, USA (and Chicago) forward Nick Schmaltz may be ready to return to the lineup on Saturday against Latvia, notes NHL.com’s Brian Hedger (Twitter link). He was also injured on Monday on a hit from Sweden’s Gabriel Landeskog and was held out of their game against Italy today, which they won 3-0.