Nikolay Goldobin

Snapshots: McQuaid, Goldobin, Koules

By Gavin Lee | at March 5, 2017 12:19 pm

Adam McQuaid is one lucky man. When Boston Bruins’ forward David Backes was upended last night against the New Jersey Devils, his skate nicked the throat of McQuaid. As the big defender dropped his gloves and skated off immediately, there were images of Clint Malarchuk and Richard Zednik flashing through the minds of many onlookers. It didn’t seem as bad as those two though and as it turns out, it wasn’t.

McQuaid received 25 stitches to close the laceration on his throat, and expects to be in the lineup tomorrow against the Ottawa Senators. Head coach Bruce Cassidy called him a “tough customer,” and he’s proving just that. McQuaid has been given extra ice time and responsibility of late, including breaking the 20-minute mark twice in his last five games.

Nikolay Goldobin is already making an impact in Vancouver, after scoring his second NHL goal in his Canucks debut on Saturday night. It came on a breakaway, something the Canucks hope Goldobin will see often in his time with the team. The talented forward came over in the Jannik Hansen deal, and as Ben Kuzma of The Province reports, will help lead a youth movement in the next few years. With Brock Boeser, Olli Juolevi, Adam Gaudette and Jonathan Dahlen all set to make an impact sooner than later, the Canucks may have kick-started a rebuild of their own when they chose to sell off two expiring veteran contracts at the deadline. Goldobin is just the first of many in Vancouver, and he puts it best when talking about the style he’ll bring: “there are no words, just let me show you and that will be easier.”
The Columbus Blue Jackets have brought in Miles Koules, signing him to a tryout with their AHL squad today according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch . The 22-year old forward is the son of former Tampa Bay Lightning owner Oren Koules, who you may recognize from the credits of the Saw movie franchise or Two and a Half Men. Koules had played in the ECHL this season, scoring 20 points in 36 games. He also played two contests for the Ontario Reign, in which he was held scoreless.

Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Pacific Division

By Zach Leach | at March 1, 2017 9:51 pm

The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the upstart Pacific Division:

Winners

Anaheim Ducks:

Acquired Patrick Eaves from Dallas Stars for conditional second-round pick

The Ducks had one real need at the deadline and that was another top six winger. By getting ahead of the market and making the deal for Eaves earlier this week, Anaheim was already a winner at the deadline. The conditional second-rounder, which can become a first, is a steep price. However, given that Eaves is having a career year, the market value had yet to be set, and the Ducks desperation had grown due to the Antoine Vermette suspension, they were right to swing a deal when they had the chance. It was a quiet deadline day in Anaheim, but this is still a team that could make a lot of noise down the stretch.

Arizona Coyotes:

Acquired 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick from Calgary Flames for Michael Stone
Acquired 2017 first-round pick, 2018 second-round pick, conditional 2019 fourth-round pick, and Grayson Downing from Minnesota Wild for Martin Hanzal, Ryan White, and 2017 fourth-round pick
Acquired Teemu Pulkkinen from Minnesota Wild for “future considerations”
Acquired Joe Whitney from Colorado Avalanche for Brandon Ranford

The Coyotes messed up by not trading Radim Vrbata (and might have been able to get more for Stone), but put that aside and what they were able to get from the Minnesota Wild is pretty extraordinary. The team wanted to re-sign Hanzal, but when talks fell apart, it became a foregone conclusion that he would be moved. Yet, that inevitability never drove the prices down and the Wild ended up offering an amazing deal for the career Coyote. The Avalanche should take note because this is how you work the trade deadline as one the league’s worst teams. In exchange for impending free agents who were not coming back in Hanzal and Stone, Arizona ends up with five picks and two prospects (assuming, as it often does, that “future considerations” means nothing) and the team has suffered almost no loss. If GM John Chayka has decided to deal Vrbata, he likely would have added another pair of good picks to that mix, but as it stands, the Coyotes still did pretty well.

Calgary Flames:

Acquired Michael Stone from Arizona Coyotes for 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick
Acquired Curtis Lazar and Mike Kostka from Ottawa Senators for 2017 second-round pick and Jyrki Jokipakka

Yes, the Flames are a fringe playoff team that gave away their second and third-rounders this June. Normally, that would make them losers and if Stone leaves in free agency and Lazar never pans out, they will be. For now, they’re winners because both players could have long, successful careers in Calgary. Lazar is a former first-rounder who needed a change of scenery and a better environment to develop in. The young, speedy Flames squad is the perfect fit and the “big picture” thinking of Brad Treliving strikes again. On the same note, Stone has never played anywhere but Arizona, but will need a new home in 2017-18 and beyond. By bringing him in at the deadline, Calgary gets a head start on convincing the young puck-mover to sign with them and it would be no surprise at all if he does. The Flames will need another top four defenseman next year, after Dennis Wideman and Deryk Engelland leave, and Stone fits the bill. The Flames could have done more to improve their playoff chances this year, but they are a young team whose true contender future is still down the road. No use spending when you don’t stand much of a chance in the powerhouse Western Conference at this point in time.

Vancouver Canucks:

Acquired Jonathan Dahlen from Ottawa Senators for Alexandre Burrows
Acquired Nikolay Goldobin and conditional 2017 fourth-round pick from San Jose Sharks for Jannik Hansen

Vancouver GM Jim Benning is the MVP of the trade deadline and, despite being sellers, the Canucks are the ultimate winners with deadline day having come and gone. Other than goalie Ryan Miller, Vancouver’s only other real trade bait players were long-time Canucks Burrows and Hansen. Burrows was an impending unrestricted free agent who was unlikely to be re-signed and Hansen had one year left on his contract but was a prime candidate to be exposed in the Expansion Draft. Benning took these two players, essentially throwaways to the franchise, and turned them into former first-round and second-round prospects and a pick that can go as high as a first rounder. Dahlen was just named the best player in Sweden’s junior league and Goldobin is already tearing up the AHL. Both players project to be top-six wingers, and soon. It’s an incredible and almost unthinkable return for two aging bottom-six skaters. Benning deserves all the credit in the world, and you can bet that the Canucks are now the Sharks biggest fans, as a Stanley Cup title in San Jose adds a first-rounder to the deadline haul.

Losers

Edmonton Oilers:

Acquired David Desharnais from Montreal Canadiens for Brandon Davidson
Acquired Justin Fontaine from New York Rangers for Taylor Beck

Like the Calgary Flames, the Oilers are a team whose best days lie ahead and no one was expecting them to go all-out at the deadline. Unlike Calgary though, the Oilers could have actually been a factor in the 2017 postseason if they had made the right moves. Trading a young defenseman for a washed-up center is not the right move. Davidson needed to be moved for Expansion Draft reasons, but GM Peter Chiarelli could have gotten a lot more than Desharnais. They needed a backup goalie, a top-nine forward, a penalty kill specialist, and honestly could have used a veteran depth defenseman as well. They ended up with none of that. If Edmonton decided they were going to stand pat at the deadline, that’s fine. However, if you’re going to trade a promising asset like Davidson, at least get something you need in return.

Los Angeles Kings:

Acquired Ben Bishop, a 2017 fifth-round pick, and a conditional 2017 pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Peter Budaj, Erik Cernak, and a 2017 seventh-round pick
Acquired a conditional 2018 fourth-round pick from Montreal Canadiens for Dwight King
Acquired Jarome Iginla from Colorado Avalanche for conditional 2018 fourth-round pick

Unlike most of the major losers at the deadline, L.A. was an active participant. The only thing is their moves made no sense. All season long, the Kings got unexpectedly excellent goaltending from Budaj and just last week got star keeper Jonathan Quick back from injury. The defense has also been great and the team has been near the top of the league in goals against all season. Where they’ve struggled in 2016-17 is scoring. The team needed some speed and some play-makers on the power play. So what does GM Dean Lombardi do? He trades Budaj and promising prospect Cernak to Tampa for the best goalie on the market in Bishop. He then trades away Dwight King, who has been a staple of the Kings’ recent playoff success, and instead of using the cap space to acquire a quick, dynamic scorer, he adds 39-year-old Iginla, who is noticeably slower and has failed to produce points all season long. You can certainly make an argument that that the Kings got better, personnel-wise, but they didn’t improve in the areas of need. L.A. is currently outside of a playoff spot and, now even more unfortunately with fan-favorite Iginla in the fold, it’s difficult to see that changing unless the team’s existing play-makers step up their game.

San Jose Sharks:

Acquired Jannik Hansen from Vancouver Canucks for Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional 2017 fourth-round pick

It’s difficult to call the Sharks losers because they have such a complete team and didn’t have many needs at the deadline to start with. San Jose needed a top-nine forward or two and maybe a backup goalie. It’s even more difficult to call them a loser because Hansen is a solid top-nine player who had a great 2015-16 campaign and will help the team this year and next. However, Hansen doesn’t really fill the need for a scoring forward. He’s more of a two-way forward good for about 15 goals and 15 assists in a good year. You know who is more of the goal-scoring forward they need? Nikolay Goldobin. Goldobin is a 2014 first-round pick and nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL. Give him another year or two and he’s surely a top-nine player for the Sharks. San Jose just really didn’t need to make a big move and would have been fine just to stand pat or add a guy like P.A. Parenteau or Drew Stafford for cheap. Instead, they drastically overpaid for Hansen with Goldobin. Add in that the conditional fourth becomes a first if the Sharks win the Stanley Cup, and this deal goes from bad to worse.

4 comments Anaheim Ducks Brad Treliving Calgary Flames Dan Cloutier Edmonton Oilers Expansion Jim Benning Los Angeles Kings San Jose Sharks Utah Mammoth Vancouver Canucks Antoine Vermette Ben Bishop Brandon Davidson Curtis Lazar David Desharnais Dennis Wideman Deryk Engelland Jannik Hansen Jarome Iginla Joe Whitney Jonathan Quick Justin Fontaine Jyrki Jokipakka Martin Hanzal Michael Stone Nikolay Goldobin Patrick Eaves Peter Budaj Peter Chiarelli

San Jose Sharks Acquire Jannik Hansen

By Gavin Lee | at February 28, 2017 11:25 pm

The trade deadline doesn’t sleep. After much of the east coast media has gone to bed, the west coast teams are still working. The San Jose Sharks have acquired Jannik Hansen from the Vancouver Canucks. In return, the Canucks have sent Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional fourth-round pick. Amazingly, the condition is that if the Sharks win the Stanley Cup this season, the fourth would become a first-rounder.

While Hansen is a nice player for the Sharks to add to their playoff run, this is an incredible return for the Canucks. Hansen will turn 31 on March 15th and is signed for through next season at $2.5MM. Vancouver will retain 20% on that contract through 2017-18. He scored a career-high 22 goals last season, but it took an aggressively high shooting percentage to do it. That 18.8% mark was quite a bit higher than his career mark, though perhaps some of it comes from playing with better players.

After missing a good chunk of this season with a knee injury, he has scored just 13 points in 28 games. He does give the Sharks some more playoff experience, as he has suited up 64 times in the postseason. It’s unclear where he’ll fit into the San Jose lineup, though Hansen has proven he can play basically anywhere up or down the roster and give you dependable defense with some offensive upside.

Goldobin is a tough prospect to part with though, as he has done nothing to lower his stock since being drafted in 27th overall in 2014. His AHL numbers are outstanding with 90 points in 115 games, though he hasn’t yet been able to crack the Sharks lineup with any regularity. When paired with Jonathan Dahlen who was acquired yesterday in the Alex Burrows deal, the Canucks have added two prospects that would immediately rank near the top of their system.

The fact that the fourth-round selection was added is amazing in itself, but the condition is just gravy for the Canucks. The Sharks were two victories away from winning the Stanley Cup last season, and are poised to go on a deep playoff run once again. The chance of gaining a first-round pick in addition to Goldobin is slight, but still an unbelievable possibility for a rebuilding squad.

After hanging around the playoff chase for a while this season, the Canucks have had a very good few days before the deadline. Moving out aging veterans and not settling just for draft picks will supercharge any rebuild they attempt. They need it after handing out a questionable deal to Loui Eriksson this summer and still having the Sedins under contract.

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN was first to report the trade on Twitter, while Bob McKenzie of TSN gave us the return. LeBrun also noted that the Canucks are retaining on Hansen’s salary.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

1 comment Newsstand San Jose Sharks Transactions Vancouver Canucks Bob McKenzie Jannik Hansen Nikolay Goldobin

Afternoon Transactions: Meier, Sharks, Kings

By Ben Levine 2 | at February 15, 2017 1:44 pm

News and notes from around the NHL this afternoon:

The Sharks announced that they have recalled a trio of players: defenseman Tim Heed and forwards Timo Meier and Nikolay Goldobin. Meier, a 2015 first-round pick, scored three goals and collected two assists in 25 games for the Sharks this season. Goldobin has played 43 games for the Barracuda’s this season, compiling 13 goals and 24 assists. Heed, who made his NHL debut earlier this season, has the second-most points among defensemen in the AHL (11 goals, 28 assists).
The Kings have recalled winger Adrian Kempe and defender Paul Ladue from Ontario, reports Elliott Teaford of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter). Kempe, a 2014 first-round pick, will be making his NHL debut. In 43 games for the Ontario Reign this season, the 20-year-old has collected 11 goals and eight assists. Ladue, a former sixth-rounder, played two games for the Kings earlier this season.

1 comment Los Angeles Kings San Jose Sharks Adrian Kempe Nikolay Goldobin Paul Ladue Tim Heed Timo Meier

Headlines