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Pacific Notes: McDavid, Marleau, Jankowski

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This season, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid has been the dominant force that many predicted when he was taken first overall by the Oilers in 2015. The National Post put the results of a reader’s poll together that overwhelmingly selected McDavid to continue his torrid scoring performance and finish the season as the league’s Art Ross Trophy recipient. Through Thursday, McDavid had 27 points, (9-18), good for a three point lead over Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov who has 24 points. McDavid is averaging 1.29 points-per-game, and has been a major factor in Edmonton’s rise this season.

  • San Jose’s Patrick Marleau notched a game winning goal to power his Sharks past the New York Islanders Friday night. The goal was his 94th career game winner, which moved him past Joe Nieuwendyk and tied him with Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman, who sits ninth all time. Marleau is now just 13 goals from registering 500 in his career, placing him in elite company.
  • The Calgary Herald’s Wes Gilbertson reports on 2012 first round pick Mark Jankowski, who finally got the call to the big club Thursday evening. Gilbertson quotes head coach Glen Gulutzan on what the youngster brings to the Flames:

“He’s a great kid. He’s not a good kid, he’s a great kid,” said Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan of the latest arrival. “He didn’t know where to sit in the room (Friday), when the video was on. He was like, ‘Is there assigned seating?’

“The first thing I said to him is, ‘You can sit wherever you want, Janks. You don’t have to wait for everybody to sit down.’ I think he ended up sitting close to the front. It’s like going to high school, right? Nobody wants the front seat in a video session, they might have to answer a question.”

Atlantic Notes: Canadiens, Senators, Lightning, Red Wings

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How are the top four teams in the Atlantic Division really doing?  There have been some surprises like Montreal’s red-hot start doused by a 10-0 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Ottawa Senators have played great defensively. And the Detroit Red Wings will need a lot more effort wise should they want to make a 26th consecutive playoff appearance. For now, let’s take a closer look at the top four teams in the division.

  • Montreal Canadiens (9-1-1; 19 points; 1st place)

The Habs have benefitted from the return of Carey Price, who has been sparkling between the pipes, registering a 6-0 record, a .964 save percentage, and a goalie point share of 2.3. Al Montoya was fine through Friday night until he surrendered 10 goals in a ghastly game against Columbus. Shea Weber has also been a bright spot, making Marc Bergevin look smart early after the blockbuster trade netted him for P.K. Subban. Weber has ten points (4-6) in 11 games, and leads the Habs in average ice time, logging nearly 26 minutes per night.

  • Ottawa Senators (7-3-0; 14 points; 2nd place)

The Sens have looked strong early, riding a three game winning streak through Friday despite playing a brutal game of musical chairs in net. Craig Anderson has been tending to his wife during a health concern and has been in and out Ottawa, understandably. Andrew Hammond suffered a lower body injury that will keep him out for at least a week. Despite this, the Sens have charged on, and contribution from Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris, and Ryan Dzingel have helped. Though some think they’ll come back to earth, Guy Boucher has done well early on.

  • Tampa Bay Lightning (6-4-1; 13 points; 3rd place)

The Bolts have scored a lot of goals–but they’ve also been fishing the puck out of the net. After jumping out to a 5-1 start, the Lightning have gone 1-3-1 since and suffered from Ben Bishop looking very human with a pedestrian .891 save percentage. Though some of this can be chalked up to struggles and on the blue line, Bishop is in a contract year and isn’t doing enough to help himself–or the Bolts should they look to deal him away instead of losing him for nothing. Steven Stamkos continues to be dominant, putting up 13 points (7-6), while Nikita Kucherov is tied with him (3-10).

  • Detroit Red Wings (6-5-1; 13 points; 4th place)

Sure, they’re fourth, but the Red Wings record is probably the weakest of the any team in the Atlantic. The Bruins have two games in hand, and are only a point behind while the Leafs and Panthers are two points behind, with a game in hand. The Sabres, last in the division, are only three points out of the Wings’ spot. Thomas Vanek was a bright spot until a hip injury sidelined him for 2-3 weeks, but the defense has been abysmal. Worse, the Red Wings are coughing up leads in the third period. Personnel decisions have been questionable, too. The deployment of the OMG line–Steve Ott, Drew Miller and Luke Glendening–has been lampooned by many while younger players, such as Andreas Athanasiou, continue to get limited ice time. The Red Wings can’t afford to sit back should they want to make another playoff appearance. The division–and conference–are much better.

Atlantic Division Snapshots: Anderson, Deslauriers, Conacher, Vanek

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As noted earlier this week, Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson is going through a tough stretch in his personal life with the recent news of his wife’s cancer diagnosis. At his wife’s insistence, Anderson has returned from a brief leave of absence and will be pressed right back into service tonight between the pipes for the Senators, who are in Edmonton to play the red hot Oilers. Bruce Garrioch confirmed via Twitter that Anderson will get the start tonight as Ottawa attempts to snap the Oilers five-game winning streak.

Anderson has won four of his five starts this season despite a GAA approaching three and a S% just above 90%. Now in his 14th NHL season, Anderson has won 217 career games and has twice finished fourth in Vezina voting. During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, Anderson led the league in GAA (1.69) and S% (94.1%).

With Andrew Hammond now on IR the Senators desperately need Anderson, though it would be understandable if the veteran netminder’s focus is somewhat divided. It’s likely most everyone outside of Edmonton is going to be an Ottawa Senators and Craig Anderson fan tonight.

More from the NHL’s Atlantic Division:

  • Physical winger Nicolas Deslauriers of the Buffalo Sabres left Saturday’s win over Florida after a collision along the boards in the game’s final minute, writes Amy Moritz of The Buffalo News. Later, Mike Harrington, also of the Buffalo News, revealed on Twitter that Deslauriers has a knee injury and will be out of the lineup for “weeks.” To replace the four-year veteran in the lineup, at least for the time being, the Sabres have recalled winger Nicholas Baptiste from Rochester of the AHL, once again courtesy of Harrington. Baptiste has already appeared in two games this season for Buffalo – the first NHL action of his career – and scored his first career NHL goal on October 20th.
  • Cory Conacher, who was recalled on Friday to take the place of the injured Nikita Kucherov, has been returned to Syracuse of the AHL, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. Conacher played 13:26 last night for the Lightning but didn’t register a point and recorded a -1 plus-minus rating. Smith suggests the reassignment of Conacher could mean that Kucherov or perhaps even Ryan Callahan is ready to return to the lineup for tonight’s contest against the New York Rangers. As Smith also notes, it would be fitting for Callahan, who has yet to play this season following hip surgery this summer, to make his 2016-17 debut against his former team. It’s also possible head coach Jon Cooper will simply dress seven defensemen; a tactic he utilized on many occasions last season.
  •  Originally listed as day-to-day due to a lower-body-injury, it now appears as if Detroit forward Thomas Vanek has been downgraded to week-to-week and is expected to miss the next few games, according to Ansar Khan of MLive.com. Vanek is off to a good start in his first year in Detroit, scoring four goals and eight points in his first seven contests. Detroit was considered a fringe playoff team at best coming into the season but the Austrian winger has helped the Wings to a 6 – 3- 0 start and a second place standing in the Atlantic. His extended absence is certainly bad news for a Wings club that has overachieved to this point.

Snapshots: Injury Updates, Hamhuis

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Tampa Bay Lightning right winger Nikita Kucherov spoke to the media today, and provided an update to his status after he left Thursday night’s game versus the Montreal Canadiens. Kucherov took a hit and slammed into the boards in the first period.

Kucherov says he feels better and is considered day-to-day. The Lightning have called up Cory Conacher to replace him. Kucherov is currently tied with Alex Killorn for second among all Tampa Bay players with 7 points in 7 games.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Julie Dobbs of Fox Sports South West provided an update about some injured Dallas Stars players. Center Jason Spezza (lower-body injury) will be a game-time decision on Saturday night, while Jiri Hudler (illness) also looks likely to play. Hudler was activated off IR on Saturday afternoon. Cody Eakin (knee), Mattias Janmark (knee), and Patrick Sharp (concussion) are all out long-term, but Ales Hemsky (groin) appears to be close to a return.
  • Dobbs also noted that Dam Hamhuis appears to be out of the lineup. The 34-year-old defenseman has 2 assists in 7 games. Mike Heika of the Dallas News noted yesterday that head coach Lindy Ruff “doesn’t quite trust” Hamhuis yet. Hamhuis signed a two-year, $7.5MM contract with the Stars in July. It appears that Stephen Johns will replace Hamhuis.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recall Cory Conacher

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According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, the Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Cory Conacher from the AHL to fill in for Nikita Kucherov while he’s out with injury. Kucherov is listed as day-to-day after falling into the boards awkwardly last night.

Conacher last played in the NHL in 2014-15 for the New York Islanders, and since has bounced around the AHL and Swiss league. Last year for Bern of the NLA he posted 52 points in 48 games, his most productive professional season since 2011-12. The diminutive winger has never found much consistent success in the NHL, though is at least an experienced body to plug into the lineup.

For the Lightning, losing Kucherov for any length of time would be devastating, as the winger is arguably their top forward outside of Steven Stamkos and is a huge part of their offense. While at the moment it doesn’t seem serious, it’ll be interesting to see who takes his spot in the top six.

Kucherov Out With Upper Body Injury

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov left last night’s game, a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and did not return. Kucherov took a hard check midway through the first period and looked to have injured his left shoulder. Kucherov skated to the bench afterward, and did come out for his next shift, but did not return to the bench following the period break.

When asked about the status of the team’s leading scorer in 2015-16, The Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith reports that coach Jon Cooper had little to add. Other than confirming that Kucherov had not suffered a concussion, Cooper said that the nature of the injury and it’s extent were still unknown. Cooper believes that Kucherov was simply hit “the wrong way” on that check, indicating that it should not be a long-term injury.

In the meantime, if Kucherov is out for a few games, the Lightning will not be too short-handed. Ryan Callahan is nearing return to the lineup, after rehabbing from hip surgery, and may be ready to go as early as the team’s next game on Saturday. Tampa also has the luxury of experienced wingers like Cory Conacher and Erik Condra playing in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch who could be called up as well. While no one can replace Kucherov point-for-point (he has 131 of them over the past two seasons), the Lightning are well-equipped to handle a short absence for the Russian scorer.

Five Questions: Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are one of the early favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the 2016-17 Stanley Cup Final and have to be considered a real threat to come away with the ultimate prize. Fresh off back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference Final and a berth in the 2014-15 Stanley Cup Final, the team has proven they have what it takes to go deep into the postseason. Add in the fact that Steve Yzerman has done a terrific job keeping the core group of this team together for at least one more kick at the can, and the Lightning appear to have as good a chance as anyone to win it all in 2016-17.

Joe Smith covers the Lightning for the Tampa Bay Times and he was kind enough to answer some questions – including a couple of bonus queries – for Pro Hockey Rumors on the subject of the Lighting.

PHR: Given Pittsburgh’s dominating postseason run and the return of its roster mostly intact, is it fair to proclaim the Penguins as the prohibitive favorites in the East? How do the Lightning expect to close the gap between themselves and the Penguins in the battle for Eastern Conference supremacy after not acquiring any impact talent from outside the organization this summer?

SMITH: You have to consider the champion Penguins the favorite until someone beats them. But the gap isn’t that big, considering the Lightning came incredibly close to getting past Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Final. Not closing the Penguins out in Game 6 at home likely haunted Tampa Bay all offseason. But the Lightning has all the tools to be a Stanley Cup contender, as evidence by its back-to-back playoff runs. With a deep offense led by a healthy Steven Stamkos, freed of any contract distractions, and arguably the top one-two tandem in net with Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning should give itself a chance.

PHR: Starting goalie Ben Bishop is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency following the 2016-17 season. Yzerman has previously shown a willingness to let players play out their deals and risk losing them for nothing if he feels the team is a stronger contender with that player in the lineup. Do you see the Lightning following the same script with Bishop or do you anticipate they look to move him at some point in season to address other needs?

TIMES: Yzerman has said there is the option of keeping Bishop all season for another run at the Stanley Cup. “It’s not a bad option,” he says. And it’s entirely possible the Lightning does just that. It’s hard to imagine Tampa Bay having a better chance to win without the two-time Vezina Trophy finalist, the best goalie in franchise history. But I wouldn’t rule out Tampa Bay potentially dealing Bishop before the March trade deadline, depending on what the market is. It doesn’t hurt the Lightning to at least see what is out there as opposed to losing Bishop to Las Vegas (or another team as a UFA) for nothing.

PHR: Given Vasilevskiy’s strong postseason play and the recent contract extension he was rewarded with, it’s evident the Lightning are projecting him to be the goaltender of the future. However, what are the odds he displaces Bishop between the pipes this season, regardless of whether or not Bishop is dealt?

TIMES: It does appear Vasilevskiy is the future No. 1, it’s just a matter of when. The fact Vasilevskiy was signed to a three-year, $3.5 million (AAV) extension in July, putting him under contract for four more years, makes him a more affordable option than Bishop, who makes $5.9 million in the final year of his. The only way Vasilevskiy replaces Bishop this season is if Bishop is traded before the March deadline. Now, Vasilevskiy is slotted to get a larger share of starts than last season, potentially 30-plus, so he’ll push Bishop. But barring a significant drop in Bishop’s play, he’s still the No. 1.

PHR: The Lightning have three more key contributors set to become RFAs next season – Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson; are you aware of any attempts by Yzerman to strike early and get a deal or deals done in advance of next summer? Also, with $55MM already committed to next year’s salary cap and just 13 players under contract, is there any worry within the organization that they will have to sacrifice valuable assets in order to move out enough salary to retain those RFAs and flesh out the roster?

TIMES: Haven’t heard of any significant contract talks with those players yet, but it’s still early. Yzerman first had to wrap up last summer’s contracts, including signing Nikita Kucherov just two days before the opener. While Yzerman has done a great job keeping the core together, he’s said that it’s impossible to keep everyone with the salary cap. That’s why it’ll be such a challenge next summer with Johnson, Drouin and Palat all needing new deals, and likely big raises. The Lightning might gain some flexibility if it ends up trading Bishop, or depending on what player it loses in the expansion draft. Veterans like Valtteri Filppula and Jason Garrison are potential trade candidates if Tampa Bay must clear some room.

PHR: Speaking of Drouin, it was an interesting year for the young winger, to say the least. Now that he has withdrawn his trade request and seems content in Tampa, what are your expectations for the former third overall draft pick? He only has eight career NHL goals in 91 regular season games but tallied five in 17 playoff contests this past spring. Will he build upon that and potentially reach or even exceed the 20-goal, 50-point plateau?

TIMES: Would not be surprised if Drouin has a huge year. I’m talking 60-70 points type of season. He seems to have picked up where he left off in a dynamic postseason, and is bound for some big numbers playing on a line with Steven Stamkos. A turning point for Drouin was a breakfast he had with coach Jon Cooper in early April after returning from AHL Syracuse. The two cleared the air, and Drouin is playing like a young star who has the trust and confidence from his head coach. He has more of a shoot-first mentality now, and as a quarterback on one of the power play units, he’ll have plenty of chances to put up points.

PHR: Any sleepers or relative unknowns on the Lightning you think may have a big impact this season?

TIMES: You can start with rookie forward Brayden Point. The 20-year-old prospect surprised many by making the opening night roster, taking advantage of open spots vacated by Ryan Callahan (hip surgery) and Nikita Kucherov (contract holdout). Point earned it with his play in exhibitions, and has fit right in early on this season, racking up his first NHL point in a win over New Jersey.

PHR: Finally, aside from Pittsburgh, which teams in the East represent the biggest obstacles to Tampa?

TIMES: The Panthers, which finished ahead of the Lightning in the Atlantic Division last season, should be a threat again. And you’d think Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals are due to break through its postseason struggles.

Pro Hockey Rumors would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to Joe Smith for taking the time to answer these questions for us. You can find Smith’s bio here and for everything related to the Tampa Bay Lightning, you can follow him on Twitter here.

Atlantic Snapshots: Bergevin, Point, Red Wings

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Marc Bergevin took a lot of heat this summer after dealing fan-favorite defenseman P.K. Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber. Subban is four yours younger than Weber and while he carries a higher annual cap charge ($9MM versus $7.857MM), his deal expires four years earlier than Weber’s. Nonetheless, as Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette writes, Bergevin knows only time will tell how this trade ultimately works out for the Canadiens.

Montreal is clearly banking on the “leadership and stability” Weber provides as a two-time Olympic gold medal winner. Subban is flashier, according to Hickey, and known for being a bit of a risk-taker. At one point last season it did seem as if the Canadiens were growing tired of Subban’s gambling nature and would prefer a more conservative approach on the ice.

With Weber (31) on board and franchise goalie Carey Price set to turn 30 next summer, the belief is the Canadiens window to win may be closing, lending further justification for Bergevin to pull the trigger on the Subban trade. But as Hickey noted, Bergevin doesn’t believe in windows:

“There are too many variables. In today’s NHL, it turns around fast. I look at Buffalo. I know they have injuries, but they came a long way quick. There’s a price to pay. Obviously, the best way (to improve) is the draft and you saw the kid (Maple Leafs rookie Auston) Matthews with four goals in his first game. He’s going to be a very good player, but there was a price to pay to get him.” 

It’s an interesting perspective from the Habs GM and Hickey’s piece contains additional tidbits on a couple of the Canadiens’ top young players and Bergevin’s thoughts on those players.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Detroit is off to an 0 – 2 start and much of the blame falls on the back end and their struggles to retrieve the puck and begin the transition from defense to offense efficiently, as Ansar Khan writes. Head coach Jeff Blashill after last night’s loss to Florida: “I thought we were second in all those pucks; their second guy beat our second guy almost all night. Part of that is when you play a long time in your end you get tired playing defense and it’s hard to have enough juice for offense. So, we got to be quicker out of our end.” Blashill singles out Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson and Xavier Oullet as having been “good” through two games. It stands to reason then that his omissions of Danny DeKeyser, Alexey Marchenko and Brendan Smith, who have also each appeared in the Wings’ first two contests, suggests an indictment of their play from the coach. While it’s still very early in the season it’s clear this Red Wings team may well be in jeopardy of snapping their stretch of 25 consecutive playoff appearances.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman learned much about his craft from Detroit’s Ken Holland. And like Holland, Yzerman has been careful when it comes to promoting his team’s prospects. Since taking over in Tampa Bay, not one first-year pro player with AHL eligibility has made the team coming out of camp; that is, as Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports, until Brayden Point. Taking advantage of the training camp absences of Ryan Callahan (injury) and Nikita Kucherov (unsigned RFA), Point earned this opportunity and not only did the 20-year-old forward make his NHL debut, he saw 16 minutes of ice time in the Lightning’s 3 – 2 win over New Jersey, as Smith notes. Smith argues keeping Point after an impressive training camp “sends the right message to the dressing room,” proving to the group that roster spots are earned through performance and not a player’s contract. Time will tell whether Point will keep his spot once Callahan is healthy enough to return but by simply making the team to open the season, he’s already accomplished something Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Kucherov did not.

Nikita Kucherov Signs Three-Year Deal With Lightning

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Restricted free agent Nikita Kucherov has signed a three year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning that will pay him $4.766MM per season. The two sides completed a ’bridge-deal’, after discussing long-term options. Yesterday, Bob McKenzie reported that Kucherov was on his way back to North America to sign a deal, and today we get the details on the contract. Nikita Kucherov

At $4.766MM for three years, Kucherov will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the deal. Both sides will have to get together and see if they can then work out a longer-term extension, one that would likely see the winger paid handsomely for his free agent seasons.

In the past two seasons, Kucherov has proven himself as an elite goal-scoring winger with seasons of 28 and 30 markers. His real impact though has come in the playoffs, where he has put up 41 points in 43 games, en route to multiple series victories. At just 23-years old, Kucherov looks like he’ll be able to put up 30+ goals for the next decade, though perhaps they won’t all be in Tampa.

The Lightning likely were exploring every avenue to open up more cap space, since this deal takes them right up to it as the season begins. The team now has under $800K, meaning they couldn’t afford to buy out any of Kucherov’s free agent years, which would have pushed the cap hit above $6MM.

This summer has been a great one for GM Steve Yzerman, who now has his top three players locked up long-term in Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Kucherov. While Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin are all restricted free agents next summer, at least now he has some cost certainty (and cap savings, it seems) to work with.  All three deals have come in slightly below the expected rate, with each saying that playing in Tampa Bay together is a big part of why they signed. If they can build a core who want to stay together long-term, the Lightning will be a force to be reckoned with for the next while.

Rickard Rakell, Ducks Remain Far Away From Deal

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While anything can change in an instant, it appears as though Rickard Rakell is no closer to a deal with the Anaheim Ducks. Julie Stewart-Binks of FOX Sports caught up with Rakell’s agent, who told her the two sides are still “not looking at things the same way”. This comes just days after a report that said no progress had been made in negotiations, despite both sides wanting a long-term deal done before the season starts.

Rakell, as discussed at length on this site, is one of the remaining restricted free agents without a contract for the upcoming season. While Johnny Gaudreau signed with the Flames today, and Nikita Kucherov seems poised to do the same with the Lightning when he arrives in North America, both Rakell and fellow RFA Hampus Lindholm remain unsigned by the Ducks.

While the team has almost $8.5MM in cap space at the moment, that probably isn’t enough for long-term deals for both players. Likely, the negotiations for the two players are linked, with the Ducks trying their best to get both under contract for as many years as possible without committing more dollars than they have at the moment.  Since the team needs to be cap-compliant tomorrow, the two deals would need to come in under that $8.5MM to have them ready for the start of the regular season.

Rakell, 23, put up 43 points last season in what some would consider a mini-breakout. His goal scoring raised from nine in 2014-15 to twenty last year, and he took over as the number two center on the team, a role likely being held open for him until he comes to an agreement.  With the Ducks poised for another deep run due to their strong defense corps and veteran first line, it would be a real shame to see the two players hold out for any length of time. After assuming all of Jonathan Bernier’s $4.15MM contract from the Maple Leafs in a trade earlier this summer, the team looks to have handcuffed itself when it comes to two of their most important pieces.

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