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Noel Acciari

Snapshots: Kakko, Acciari, Clinching Scenarios

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It’s no secret that New York Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko has had some tough injury luck this season. He was sidelined in late January with an upper-body injury, missing about two and a half months before returning. He played just four games before suffering another injury, this time lower-body in nature, but head coach Gerard Gallant believes Kakko, who was injured on April 16th against Detroit, is expected back for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (if not sooner).

Kakko hasn’t exceeded expectations by any means on the scoresheet this season, tallying just seven goals, nine assists, and 16 points through 41 games this year. The pending restricted free agent was one of the Rangers’ best defensive forwards prior to the team’s post-deadline resurgence in that regard, so it’s not as though he hasn’t brought any real value to the table this season.

  • Noel Acciari is returning to the Florida Panthers lineup once again tonight against Detroit. The veteran forward has missed most of the season due to a combination of injuries, and now, he rejoins the team after missing 10 games with an undisclosed injury. Acciari has one goal and five points in 14 games this year.
  • Clinching scenarios remain boundless for tonight’s 11-game slate, with many matches still having playoff implications despite 12 out of 16 teams already clinching playoff berths. The Florida Panthers can clinch both the Atlantic Division and regular-season Eastern Conference titles with a win against Detroit, provided the Tampa Bay Lightning also defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in any fashion. The Calgary Flames will also clinch the Pacific Division title with a win of any kind against the Dallas Stars. Toronto and Carolina can also clinch home-ice advantage in the First Round, while the Wild and Blues can lock in a First Round matchup against each other.

Atlantic Notes: Panthers, Stecher, Mittelstadt

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The Panthers will have some reinforcements up front for their first game after the All-Star break.  Team reporter Jameson Olive relays that wingers Patric Hornqvist and Maxim Mamin plus center Noel Acciari should all be ready to suit up on Wednesday against Carolina.  Hornqvist has been out for close to a month with an upper-body injury while Mamin has missed close to three weeks with an undisclosed injury.  As for Acciari, he hasn’t played with Florida all season due to a pectoral injury suffered back in the preseason that required surgery although he did get in a couple of games on a conditioning stint last week.  The Panthers only have one open roster spot at the moment so they will need to make a couple of moves to activate the trio of forwards off IR.

Elsewhere around the Atlantic:

  • The Red Wings should have defenseman Troy Stecher back in their lineup on Saturday against Philadelphia, notes MLive’s Ansar Khan. The veteran has missed more than three months due to a wrist injury, a disappointing outcome in a year where he’s going to hit unrestricted free agency this summer.  His return will help offset the absences of Filip Hronek (COVID protocol) and Nick Leddy (upper-body injury) and if he’s able to play well over the next month, he could be an interesting trade candidate for Detroit heading into the trade deadline.
  • Sabres center Casey Mittelstadt has been cleared for contact as he works his way towards coming from his latest upper-body injury, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.  Head coach Don Granato indicated that the 23-year-old can now be classified as being out day-to-day but that they will err on the side of caution since he has hardly played this season; Mittelstadt has played just seven times due to multiple injuries.

Morning Notes: Devils, Acciari, Sanderson

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The New Jersey Devils sure don’t sound like they’re looking for draft picks anymore. General manager Tom Fitzgerald spoke with Mike Morreale of NHL.com and mentioned the term “hockey trade” more than once, while admitting that they still haven’t made a decision on how the deadline will play out for their pending unrestricted free agents.

Is there a hockey trade you could make to not only help your team immediately, but the future? Somebody in the age demographic of where we’re at with the core of our team. Is there a hockey trade that makes sense for us more long term, but can help jumpstart us now?

The Devils already have several high-end young players on the roster, so it makes sense that they would want to add to that group instead of looking a few years down the road with any additional draft picks. When Jack Hughes’ huge extension kicks in next season the pressure will be on to start competing for a playoff spot, especially after handing out a $63MM contract to Dougie Hamilton last summer. P.K. Subban and Jimmy Vesey are the team’s two more notable players on expiring deals, though neither one would be expected to bring back a very valuable asset.

  • After just two games with the Charlotte Checkers, Noel Acciari has been recalled from his AHL conditioning loan. Of note, since he’s on long-term injured reserve he does not need to be activated yet, and Acciari is still listed on IR. The Florida Panthers do actually have an extra roster spot open at the moment, though that had been used by Matt Kiersted and Spencer Knight at various points, both of who are currently assigned to the minor leagues.
  • It’s still a waiting game for Team USA defenseman Jake Sanderson, who missed photo day last night at the Olympics as he remains in Los Angeles following a positive COVID test. Steven Kampfer and Andy Miele, who were also stuck in isolation for a short period of time, have rejoined the group according to Chris Peters of Daily Faceoff, but it’s still not clear if Sanderson will be able to join the team by Thursday’s opener.

Noel Acciari Sent To AHL On Conditioning Stint

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The already incredibly deep Florida Panthers may be getting even deeper. Noel Acciari has been loaned to the Charlotte Checkers for a conditioning stint, a sign that he may be ready to make his season debut at some point in the near future.

Acciari, 30, suffered an injury in the preseason that required surgery and has been on long-term injured reserve ever since. This move doesn’t actually remove that LTIR designation just yet, but even if it did the Panthers are still okay cap-wise because of Markus Nutivaara’s absence. The real question would be where exactly Acciari even fits into the lineup when he returns, given how incredible Florida’s forward group has looked to this point.

While he may not be a household name for many NHL fans, remember that Acciari has been a valuable bottom-six option for the Panthers the last two seasons, even registering 20 goals in 66 games during the 2019-20 campaign. He received Selke Trophy votes that year because of the hard defensive minutes he was asked to play–Acciari almost never started a shift in the offensive zone–and there was no Panther who averaged more short-handed ice time last season. Florida’s penalty kill has actually been one of their biggest weak spots this season, as they sit 19th in the league behind several Atlantic Division rivals.

As a lineup crunch seemingly approaches, Owen Tippett’s name keeps coming up in trade talks and just yesterday Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet threw Frank Vatrano into the rumor mill as well. While Acciari certainly wouldn’t be a one-to-one replacement for either of those offensive wingers, the Panthers will need to make room for him somewhere when he’s ready to return.

Meanwhile, the team has also loaned Spencer Knight to the Checkers, where he can continue to play through the All-Star break.

Central Notes: Toews, Seguin, Acciari, Hurricanes

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While the Blackhawks have been without top center Jonathan Toews all season long due to an illness, it appears as if he should be able to play next season.  In a recent video appearance on NBC Sports (video link), TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that while the veteran isn’t expected to return this season, his health continues to improve and as things stand, is expected to be available for the 2021-22 campaign.  Toews has two years left on his deal with a $10.5MM AAV and assuming he is back to full health by then, he would almost certainly return to his spot on Chicago’s top line; his vacancy is one that they’ve struggled to fill internally this season.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • Back at the trade deadline, Stars GM Jim Nill was hoping that center Tyler Seguin would be able to return this coming Monday. However, head coach Rick Bowness told reporters, including Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News, that the target date is just “wishful thinking” at this point.  However, it doesn’t sound as if the veteran will be out much longer with Bowness indicating he’s hopeful that Seguin will be able to play sometime later in the week.  He has missed the entire season after offseason hip surgery and would undoubtedly be a significant addition to a Dallas team that is four points out of the final playoff spot in the division though they have three games in hand on Nashville.
  • Panthers center Noel Acciari will miss his fifth straight game tonight due to an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). The team is targeting one of their games against Nashville on Monday or Tuesday for him to return.  Acciari, who was on the top line recently when Aleksander Barkov missed time, has 11 points in 36 games this season.
  • Hurricanes winger Jordan Martinook won’t play today after being injured on Thursday, notes Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour expressed some optimism that the 28-year-old won’t be out of the lineup for long.  Meanwhile, while Teuvo Teravainen (concussion) took part in some team drills yesterday, he’s also not expected to suit up.  He has played just once in the last two months because of his symptoms.

Nominees Announced For 2020 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The award has been voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2019.

Past winners of the award include Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), Jaromir Jagr (2016), Devan Dubnyk (2015), Dominic Moore (2014) and Josh Harding (2013).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Ryan Miller

Arizona Coyotes – Conor Garland

Boston Bruins – Kevan Miller

Buffalo Sabres – Curtis Lazar

Calgary Flames – Mark Giordano

Carolina Hurricanes – James Reimer

Chicago Blackhawks – Corey Crawford

Colorado Avalanche – Ryan Graves

Columbus Blue Jackets – Nathan Gerbe

Dallas Stars – Stephen Johns

Detroit Red Wings – Robby Fabbri

Edmonton Oilers – Connor McDavid

Florida Panthers – Noel Acciari

Los Angeles Kings – Jonathan Quick

Minnesota Wild – Alex Stalock

Montreal Canadiens – Shea Weber

Nashville Predators – Jarred Tinordi

New Jersey Devils – Travis Zajac

New York Islanders – Thomas Hickey

New York Rangers – Henrik Lundqvist

Ottawa Senators – Bobby Ryan

Philadelphia Flyers – Oskar Lindblom

Pittsburgh Penguins – Evgeni Malkin

San Jose Sharks – Joe Thornton

St. Louis Blues – Jay Bouwmeester

Toronto Maple Leafs – Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks – Jacob Markstrom

Vegas Golden Knights – Shea Theodore

Washington Capitals – Michal Kempny

Winnipeg Jets – Mark Letestu

Three finalists and the winner will be named at a later date.

Morning Notes: Three Stars, Wildcats, Czechs

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The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, with a new name gracing the top spot. Florida Panthers forward Noel Acciari has been given the honor after scoring back-to-back hat tricks and seven total goals in three games. The 28-year old had never scored a hat trick in the NHL previously, making this quite the week.

Second place went to a familiar name in Roman Josi after his six-goal week from the Nashville Predators blueline, but third was another new face. Joonas Korpisalo of the Columbus Blue Jackets put up the best week of his short career, going 4-0 with a .939 save percentage and showing that he may be capable of handling the starting role going forward. The 25-year old goaltender is 16-10-3 on the season after the Blue Jackets watched veteran starter Sergei Bobrovsky leave via free agency.

  • According to Mikael Lalancette of TVA Sports, the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL have a new head coach. Daniel Lacroix, a former enforcer and long time NHL assistant coach has taken the job, returning to the team that he worked with for several years after retirement. Lacroix actually served as head coach for a short time in the 2004-05 season but will now get a chance to really take control of the squad after they parted ways with John Torchetti earlier this month.
  • The Czech Republic World Junior team has been finalized, after they cut five players earlier today. Jaroslav Broz, Filip Koffer, Martin Lang, Miroslav Kukla, and Jan Bednar have all been sent home. Bednar is just 17 and will likely be back at the tournament next season, given his status as a top goaltending prospect for the 2020 draft.

Trade Rumors: Pysyk, Goligoski, Flames

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The Florida Panthers did not enter this past off-season with all that much space under the salary cap ceiling, yet still went and handed out over $20MM in AAV to Sergei Bobrovsky, Anton Stralman, Brett Connolly, and Noel Acciari. As a result, the team has just $788K in cap leeway and no way to alleviate that pressure without making a move. Seeing as defenseman Mark Pysyk heard his name on the rumor mill last season, when the Panthers had ample cap space, the pressure on him has increased tenfold to prove that he is a valuable contributor to the team and not just $2.73MM in wasted space. Pysyk, an impending unrestricted free agent at year’s end, likes Florida and would like to stay with the team. However, he’ll find it hard to make his case that he should stick around when he is not on the ice. As The Athletic’s George Richards writes, Pysyk has found himself in a unfamiliar spot through the team’s first two games as a healthy scratch. New head coach Joel Quenneville opted to go with MacKenzie Weegar and Josh Brown as his bottom pair to begin the year, leaving Pysyk in the press box. Fortunately for Pysyk, he’s expected back in the lineup on Tuesday according to Quenneville. “He was always in consideration. He has some experience, gives us some versatility on the back end and can play both sides,” the veteran coach remarked. Yet, the trick is that even if Pysyk plays well in his return to the lineup, it doesn’t guarantee his safety from a trade. With his contract expiring, the 27-year-old is an expendable asset, especially for a team that hopes to contend for a playoff spot and could be eyeing cap space to make a trade addition of their own on the blue line later this season. If Pysyk is playing well and drawing attention from other teams, he could very well be on his way out of town. The two-way defender has heard those rumors before though, and all he can do is continue to focus on brining his best to the Panthers’ lineup whenever he’s active in hopes of proving he’s worth more as a long-term fit than as a cap dump.

  • Optimism was high to begin the season in Arizona and Coyotes GM John Chayka isn’t about to overreact to an 0-2 start to the year. However, The Athletic’s Craig Morgan admits that one valuable member of the team could become expendable if the team’s struggled do continue. The status quo has changed for Alex Goligoski, as the veteran defenseman’s No-Movement Clause expired last season and has been replaced with a Modified No-Trade Clause of a mere eight-team no-trade list. Morgan is adamant that the team has shown no desire to move Goligoski to this point, but at 34 years old and with only one year remaining on his contract beyond this season, Goligoski could be more valuable to a contender than to Arizona, especially if this season proves to be yet another step in the rebuilding process rather than the much-awaited jump to contender status. With a field of 22 possible suitors, there would surely be interest in the reliable puck-moving defender, even with his $5.475MM cap hit. The Coyotes hope it doesn’t come to that, but Goligoski will be a name to keep an eye on later this year if Arizona’s season begins to slip away.
  • It’s not strange for a team to be painfully close to the salary cap this season, and the Calgary Flames are just one of many teams who will have to manipulate the cap constantly this season to maintain what little flexibility they have. However, an easier solution would be to trade a high-salary player and Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg writes for SB Nation that the team is actively looking to make a “financially-motivated trade”. The name that has come up in trade conversation for more than a year now is back in the rumor mill already: Michael Frolik. Steinberg notes that Frolik has not looked great through the team’s first two games and his $4.3MM cap hit isn’t earning him the benefit of the doubt. Steinberg believes that the Flames should not hesitate to move Frolik if the opportunity arises, as he feels the likes of Andrew Mangiapane, Tobias Rieder, Austin Czarnik, and Alan Quine could easily make up for Frolik’s absence. If there isn’t a market for Frolik, Steinberg adds that the team could consider moving Mark Jankowski as well. The 25-year-old center is not as much of a salary cap stinger, but Steinberg writes that the drop-off in salary between he and Quine is a larger gap than the drop-off in talent, believing the AHL veteran to be more than capable of taking over for Jankowski. With solid depth to make up for potential trade casualties, the Flames could make a move sooner rather than later and work on banking cap space for later in the year, as the team was criticized for not adding more at the deadline last year ahead of their short-lived playoff run.

Atlantic Notes: Divisional Upgrades?, McAvoy, Barre-Boulet

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Despite quite a bit of movement this offseason, it doesn’t look like much has changed in the Atlantic Division. With three teams that have dominated the division for the past few seasons, several teams were hoping to vault themselves into contention for the top of the Atlantic. However, The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) analyzes each line of each divisional team and comes to the conclusion that little has changed.

The Boston Bruins are in the top half of the division on almost every line from forwards to defensemen and especially show off their defensive depth to still be ranked at the top. The Toronto Maple Leafs have also improved their team with a number of defensive additions and have quite a bit of forward depth as always, but their third-pairing depth is expected to be at the bottom of the division. Tampa Bay continues to be one of the strongest teams with a number of top lines throughout the division.

While many feel that Florida has taken that next step after the team signed goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and added a pair of depth forwards in Brett Connolly and Noel Acciari, the Panthers find themselves in the middle of the pack for most of their lines. Even Bobrovsky doesnt’ give Florida that big of an advantage considering that he’s now in a division with Frederik Andersen, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tuukka Rask and Carey Price.

  • The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that after the Boston Bruins inked forward Danton Heinen to a two-year deal at $2.8MM AAV, the Bruins will now focus their attention on their two most challenging restricted free agents in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. The negotiations should prove challenging as the team hopes to keep their combined total to under $10MM per season. The team should be able to handle that. However, if they combine for closer to $11-12MM, the team will have to make some roster moves to free up some cap space. McAvoy, who has scored 14 goals and 60 points over two seasons and has proven the ability to be the team’s lead defenseman should get the most of that money, but Carlo’s development seems to have increased his value during the playoffs and he should get quite a raise as well.
  • With some openings at the bottom of their offensive depth chart, NHL.com’s Bryan Burns writes in his recent mailbag piece that there are a number of AHL players that are ready to challenge for these openings, including Alex Barre-Boulet, Carter Verhaeghe at the top of the list. Barre-Boulet, who the team signed out of the QMJHL after he went undrafted, dominated in his first season in the AHL last season, while Verhaeghe finally posted a dominant season with the Syracuse Crunch after toiling in the ECHL for several years. Tampa Bay, which has proven to be proficient in developing their players for NHL duty, also have a number of other prospects close to ready as well, including Alexander Volkov, Mitchell Stephens and Cory Conacher.

Boston Bruins Announce Several Signings

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While the Boston Bruins garnered some attention early on today with a long-term extension for defenseman Connor Clifton and the signings of young power forward Brett Ritchie and third-string goalie Maxime Lagace, the team was quietly working through a number of other deals that insiders failed to pick up on. The team has announced seven signings: extensions for Clifton and Ryan Fitzgerald, one-way contracts for Ritchie and Par Lindholm, two-way contracts for Lagace and Brendan Gaunce, and an AHL contract for defenseman Josiah Didier.

Outside of Clifton and Ritchie, the biggest news is the addition of Lindholm, who signed a two-year deal with an AAV of $850K. Although Lindholm, 27, just finished his first NHL season after a long career in Sweden, the Bruins got a good look at him as a member of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. Lindholm recorded 12 points in 61 games for Toronto, but was held to just one point in four regular season games and two postseason games for the Winnipeg Jets following a late-season trade. However, defense is more Lindholm’s game anyway, as he proved to be a good physical presence and proved to be adept at blocking shots and creating turnovers. Lindholm is a good fourth-line depth option and penalty kill possibility for the Bruins, who lost Noel Acciari to the Florida Panthers, but replace much of the same ability at half the price.

Gaunce, 25, became a UFA after he was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Vancouver Canucks. A 2012 first-round pick, the Canucks expected more offense out of the forward, who instead recorded just 15 points in 117 NHL games through four seasons with the team. Last year, Gaunce played all but three games in the AHL. At his point, Gaunce is a player who uses his size and speed to play a physical, up-tempo style, but lacks the skill to play a scoring role in the NHL. At best, Gaunce will challenge Lindholm to be the next man up on the fourth line in Boston, and would be an affordable piece at $700K, but at worst he has a high floor of being a hard-working and experienced minor league presence that will make his Providence teammates better.

One such teammate is Fitzgerald, who returns to the team on a one-year, $700K deal, coming in below his qualifying offer. Fitzgerald has shown a well-rounded game and consistent production in two years with the Providence Bruins, as he did in four years at Boston College. The homegrown product comes from hockey bloodlines and plays a smart game. There’s still some question of whether the skill is enough to get to the NHL, though. Fitzgerald will still be searching for his Boston debut this coming season.

Another Providence addition is Didier, who strengthens a talented, but shallow AHL blue line for the Bruins. Didier is coming off a career-best offensive season for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, despite only being a part-time player for the Calder Cup champs. It’s unclear how much of a role he will play in Providence, but it’s a risk-free investment in a big, experienced defender by the Bruins.

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