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Oskar Sundqvist

Oskar Sundqvist Out “A While” For St. Louis Blues

November 28, 2019 at 4:00 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

5:00pm: Sundqvist has been placed on injured reserve. The Blues have recalled Austin Poganski in his place.

2:55pm: The St. Louis Blues have dealt with serious injuries to their forward group all season, including a potential season-long absence for top sniper Vladimir Tarasenko. Things don’t seem to be getting any better, as head coach Craig Berube told reporters including Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch that Oskar Sundqvist will be out “a while” and is set to get further testing back in St. Louis. Thomas notes that Sundqvist was seen on crutches with his right foot in a walking boot.

Sundqvist came out of last night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after being hit in the corner by Luke Schenn. The 25-year old has been having an excellent season for the team with eight goals and 12 points in 26 games, while lending his physicality and speed to the penalty kill on a regular basis.

Tarasenko, Alex Steen, Sammy Blais and now Sundqvist are all out for the Blues, who will test their depth even further over the next while. Unfortunately trading Robby Fabbri just before some of these injuries hit, they were forced to look at the free agent market and bring in veteran Troy Brouwer to give the lineup some more experience.

Injury| St. Louis Blues Oskar Sundqvist

1 comment

St. Louis’ Sundqvist Fined For Charging Anaheim’s Gibson

November 17, 2019 at 4:00 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

4:02 PM — The hearing is over and Sundqvist did not receive a suspension. He was fined just under $7,400, according to the Associated Press’ Stephen Whyno.

12:33 PM — The Department of Player Safety announced that St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist will have a hearing today for charging Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson (video here) with 9:51 remaining in the second period of Saturday’s game.

While Gibson went behind the net to play the puck, Sundqvist came around and drove right into him, sparking a fight between the two teams. The 25-year-old was given two penalties, one for charging and another for roughing. Sundqvist has only been suspended once before. He received a one-game suspension on June 1 in the Stanley Cup Finals for a hit to the head against Boston’s Matt Grzelcyk.

Regardless, Sundqvist has been a popular player with the Blues, who received a new four-year, $11MM deal this summer. He scored 14 goals and 31 points last season as well as four goals in the Blues’ Stanley Cup victory run. He has three goals and seven points in 21 games this season.

Anaheim Ducks| St. Louis Blues John Gibson| NHL Player Safety| Oskar Sundqvist

3 comments

Blues’ Jake Allen Promised Trade Protection

September 20, 2019 at 5:51 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

Even after winning the Stanley Cup, many expected that the St. Louis Blues would be active on the trade market this summer. The team seemingly lacked the salary cap space to re-sign a vast number of restricted free agents, including goaltender Jordan Binnington, defenseman Joel Edmundson, and forwards Oskar Sundqvist, Ivan Barbashev, Zach Sanford, and Robby Fabbri. Somehow, GM Doug Armstrong did manage to get all of his young RFA’s back under contract, although it took time and left the Blues with very little cap flexibility heading into the new season. Unsurprisingly, that meant that trade rumors persisted throughout the off-season.

A quick look at the defending champs’ roster reveals that there is really only one obvious piece that St. Louis could be expected to try to move on from: starting goaltender turned overpriced backup Jake Allen. Allen’s name popped up throughout the summer and he tells Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was well aware of the rumors. However, he also informed Thomas that he knew better than to get caught up in the hype. Allen states that Armstrong and company assured him that he would not be traded this past summer:

I knew internally all along this summer that I wasn’t getting dealt. They had told me that. You know, people talk and things like that, but I knew that they don’t want to get rid of me, so it was good to be reassured that way. I knew that I was coming back. So just put my mind at ease and get really focused on being the best Blue I can. There was a lot of chatter obviously with the way the summer went and the run that Binner went on. But internally I knew I was coming back, so I wasn’t worried about it at all.

The language used by Allen paints a pretty clear picture of where his head is at entering the 2019-20 campaign. The 29-year-old is confident that the Blues want him in the mix and calls the play of 26-year-old rookie Binnington “a run”. In reality, Binnington greatly outperformed Allen in the second half of the year and earned the lion’s share of starts. He finished the season with a GAA nearly one whole goal better than Allen and save percentage more than 20 points better. It wasn’t close between the two and was actually the second poor season in a row for Allen. Yet, he still believes that this is an open competition and the contract figures may support his claim.

If the Blues did in fact promise not to trade Allen – albeit a handshake agreement as he has no trade protection in his contract – it does stand to reason that they see the next two years as an open competition to see which keeper, if either, is deserving of an extension. Even after his Calder Trophy finalist-caliber year, Binnington only received a two-year, $8.7MM contract. Both his and Allen’s contracts will expire following the 2020-21 season and in the meantime, Allen will still be making $50K more as the supposed backup. The scenario provides hope for the veteran netminder and that’s all he needs to get excited for the challenge of a new season: “There’s one net out there, and I’m gonna go after it. No question.”

Doug Armstrong| RFA| St. Louis Blues Ivan Barbashev| Jake Allen| Joel Edmundson| Jordan Binnington| Oskar Sundqvist| Robby Fabbri| Salary Cap| Trade Rumors| Zach Sanford

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2019 Arbitration Figures And Results

August 6, 2019 at 7:30 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

August 6th: All arbitration cases have now been completed. In total, six cases were decided by an arbitrator’s award this year. That number, though seemingly not many, actually presents a 50% increase over last summer and more than the past two off-seasons combined. Of those six decisions, the teams and players received the favorable decision an even three times apiece, and each award landed within $150K of the midpoint. All things considered, there were few surprises in arbitration, even though there were more awards than expected. Now the question is where the relationships between those teams and players go from here.

Originally published on July 19th: Friday marked the start of the arbitration season in the NHL, with Brock McGinn first scheduled for his hearing with the Carolina Hurricanes. The appointments will come fast and furious after that, with 23 cases left on the books. When we asked our readers how many would actually get to the hearing stage more than 36% of voters thought 3-4 was reasonable, the same number that reached last year.

We know now that at least one will, as Andrew Copp’s agent Kurt Overhardt told Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press that their camp will “look forward to” the hearing scheduled for Sunday. Copp and the Jets exchanged figures earlier today. It is important to remember that the two sides can actually work out a deal in the short period after the hearing and before the actual decision is submitted by the arbitrator. For every case except Ville Husso, who the St. Louis Blues took to arbitration, the team involved will be allowed to choose the duration of the contract awarded. They can choose either one or two years, unless the player is only one year away from unrestricted free agency, at which point only a one-year deal is available.

Here we’ll keep track of all the hearings still on the books and the figures submitted. This page will be updated as the numbers come in:

July 20:

Brock McGinn, Carolina Hurricanes – Team: $1.75MM AAV, Player: $2.7MM AAV
Settled: Two years, $2.1MM AAV

July 21:

Andrew Copp, Winnipeg Jets – Team: $1.5MM AAV, Player: $2.9MM AAV
Awarded: Two years, $2.28MM AAV

July 22: 

MacKenzie Weegar, Florida Panthers
Settled: One year, $1.6MM AAV

Zach Aston-Reese, Pittsburgh Penguins
Settled: Two years, $1.0MM AAV

Ville Husso, St. Louis Blues (team-elected)
Settled: One year, two-way, $700K AAV

Christian Djoos, Washington Capitals – Team: $800K, Player: $1.9MM
Awarded: One year, $1.25MM AAV

July 23: 

Evan Rodrigues, Buffalo Sabres – Team: $1.5MM, Player: $2.65MM
Awarded: One year, $2.0MM AAV

July 24: 

Oskar Sundqvist, St. Louis Blues
Settled: Four years, $2.75MM AAV

Neal Pionk, Winnipeg Jets
Settled: Two years, $3.0MM AAV

July 26: 

Colton Sissons, Nashville Predators
Settled: Seven years, $2.86MM AAV

July 27: 

Sam Bennett, Calgary Flames
Settled: Two years, $2.55MM AAV

July 28: 

Mirco Mueller, New Jersey Devils
Settled: One year, $1.4MM AAV

July 29: 

David Rittich, Calgary Flames
Settled: Two years, $2.75MM AAV

Pavel Buchnevich, New York Rangers
Settled: Two years, $3.25MM AAV

August 1: 

Remi Elie, Buffalo Sabres
Settled: One year, two-way $700K AAV

Chandler Stephenson, Washington Capitals
Settled: One year, $1.05MM

August 2: 

Linus Ullmark, Buffalo Sabres – Team: $800K, Player: $2.65MM
Settled: One year, $1.33MM

Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils
Settled: Three years, $3.73MM AAV

August 4: 

Jake McCabe, Buffalo Sabres – Team: 1.95MM, Player: $4.3MM
Settled: Two years, $2.85MM AAV

Anton Forsberg, Carolina Hurricanes – Team: $700K/$70K, Player: $833K
Awarded: One year, $775K AAV

Sheldon Dries, Colorado Avalanche
Settled: One year, two-way $735K AAV

Rocco Grimaldi, Nashville Predators – Team: $700K/$70K, Player $1.275MM
Awarded: One year, $1MM

Joel Edmundson, St. Louis Blues – Team: $2.3MM, Player $4.2MM
Awarded: One year, $3.1MM

Arbitration| Buffalo Sabres| Calgary Flames| Carolina Hurricanes| Colorado Avalanche| Florida Panthers| Free Agency| Nashville Predators| New Jersey Devils| New York Rangers| Pittsburgh Penguins| Schedule| St. Louis Blues| Washington Capitals| Winnipeg Jets Andrew Copp| Anton Forsberg| Brock McGinn| Chandler Stephenson| Christian Djoos| Colton Sissons| David Rittich| Evan Rodrigues| Jake McCabe| Joel Edmundson| Linus Ullmark| Mirco Mueller| Neal Pionk| Oskar Sundqvist| Pavel Buchnevich| Remi Elie| Rocco Grimaldi| Sam Bennett| Sheldon Dries| Ville Husso| Will Butcher| Zach Aston-Reese

3 comments

St. Louis Blues Sign Oskar Sundqvist To Four-Year Deal

July 21, 2019 at 5:38 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

The St. Louis Blues announced they have avoided arbitration with restricted free agent forward Oskar Sundqvist and signed the 24-year-old to a four-year, $11MM deal with an AAV of $2.75MM. The two sides were supposed to meet with an arbitrator on Wednesday.  Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest reports that the deal breaks down as follows:

2019-20: $2.25MM
2020-21: $2.25MM
2021-22: $3.5MM
2022-23: $2.0MM

Sundqvist is coming off an impressive season for the Stanley Cup Champion Blues, putting up career highs in almost every category. He scored 14 goals and 31 points for St. Louis, including 101 hits, but saw his value rise, especially in the playoffs. In 25 playoff games, Sundqvist scored four goals and nine points, while registering 74 hits and saw his playing time increase by more than two minutes per game (16:08 ATOI in playoffs compared to 13:49 in the regular season).

The signing will give the Blues approximately $4.37MM in projected salary cap space this summer and the team still has two restricted free agents it needs to sign, including forward Ivan Barbashev and defenseman Joel Edmundson. While Barbashev isn’t eligible for arbitration, Edmundson is expected to have a hearing on Aug. 4. However, the team will be forced to make a move to clear up some cap space, especially to sign Edmundson who made $3MM last season and is likely to garner quite a significant raise.

Arbitration| St. Louis Blues Oskar Sundqvist

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Poll: How Many Unresolved Arbitration Cases Will Require An Award?

July 17, 2019 at 7:52 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 3 Comments

In the NHL, the salary arbitration process is more often used as a negotiating tool – an incentive to get a deal done before the uncomfortable setting of a hearing and the unknown of an arbitrator’s decision – than it is for its actual purpose. A vast majority of players who file for arbitration end up settling before their hearing or even at the last moment before an award is handed down. Last year, 44 players filed for arbitration and 40 settled prior to their hearing. The year before, all 30 cases were resolved before an arbitration award could be made.

So what about this year? There were initially 40 cases of player-elected arbitration and one case of team-elected arbitration (the St. Louis Blues and goalie Ville Husso), but that number is now down to 25 open cases. That’s a substantial drop-off, but time is running out for some RFA’s and their teams to come to terms, as the first scheduled hearing is set to take place on Saturday, July 20th. Listed below are all of the remaining cases:

July 20: Brock McGinn, Carolina Hurricanes
July 21: Andrew Copp, Winnipeg Jets
July 22: MacKenzie Weegar, Florida Panthers; Zach Aston-Reese, Pittsburgh Penguins; Ville Husso, St. Louis Blues; Christian Djoos, Washington Capitals
July 23: Evan Rodrigues, Buffalo Sabres
July 24: Oskar Sundqvist, St. Louis Blues; Neal Pionk, Winnipeg Jets
July 25: Jacob Trouba, New York Rangers
July 26: Colton Sissons, Nashville Predators
July 27: Sam Bennett, Calgary Flames
July 28: Mirco Mueller, New Jersey Devils
July 29: David Rittich, Calgary Flames; Pavel Buchnevich, New York Rangers
August 1: Remi Elie, Buffalo Sabres; Chandler Stephenson, Washington Capitals
August 2: Linus Ullmark, Buffalo Sabres; Charles Hudon, Montreal Canadiens; Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils
August 4: Jake McCabe, Buffalo Sabres; Anton Forsberg, Carolina Hurricanes; Sheldon Dries, Colorado Avalanche; Rocco Grimaldi, Nashville Predators; Joel Edmundson, St. Louis Blues

Given the time constraints and the complexity of each of these cases, how many will feel forced to go to hearing? Will Trouba be one of that select group, as he was last year? Will the Sabres struggle to settle four cases before their scheduled hearing dates? Will the Blues see through their team-elected case with Husso? Will other goalies prove to be difficult negotiations? And will polarizing players like Bennett and Buchnevich fail to find common ground with their teams? Or will it be under-the-radar players like Gemel Smith and Brett Kulak last year who go through the full process?

There are many questions left about this group of restricted free agents and time is running out before we know the answers. So the choice is yours: will we see an unprecedented class of arbitration awards or will all or most cases reach a resolution in the coming weeks?

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Arbitration| Buffalo Sabres| Calgary Flames| Carolina Hurricanes| Colorado Avalanche| Florida Panthers| Montreal Canadiens| Nashville Predators| New Jersey Devils| New York Rangers| Pittsburgh Penguins| RFA| St. Louis Blues| Washington Capitals| Winnipeg Jets Andrew Copp| Anton Forsberg| Brock McGinn| Chandler Stephenson| Charles Hudon| Christian Djoos| Colton Sissons| David Rittich| Evan Rodrigues| Jacob Trouba| Jake McCabe| Joel Edmundson| Linus Ullmark| Mirco Mueller| Neal Pionk| Oskar Sundqvist| Pavel Buchnevich

3 comments

St. Louis Blues Sign Jordan Binnington To Two-Year Deal

July 13, 2019 at 7:05 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 11 Comments

The St. Louis Blues continue to lock up their players. A day after signing Robby Fabbri and Mitch Reinke Friday, St. Louis has come to terms with one of the stars of their Stanley Cup run as the Blues announced they have signed goaltender Jordan Binnington to a two-year deal with a $4.4MM AAV, avoiding arbitration with him. That deal gives him a slightly higher AAV than backup Jake Allen, who has a 4.35MM AAV.

“We are pleased to have Jordan signed for two more years,” added Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong. “His play was outstanding and we look forward to seeing him continue to be a major contributor for our team.”

Binnington may have been the difference for a team that was in 31st place on Jan. 2 and then finished one of the most remarkable runs in NHL history by winning the Stanley Cup. The team recalled Binnington from the AHL on Jan. 7 and the then-25-year-old posted an immediate shutout in his first start. The rookie then went 24-5-1 over the remainder of the season, putting up a 1.89 GAA and a .927 save percentage, seizing the No. 1 goalie job from Allen. Binnington continued that success throughout the playoffs, putting up a 16-10 playoff record, including a 2.46 GAA and a .914 save percentage, including one shutout.

While he’s been with the Blues organization for years, up until this year, he has been sitting in the AHL with no clear-cut shot at a job with the Blues. In fact, St. Louis didn’t have an AHL affiliate last year after the Vegas Golden Knights took their affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, and the Blues were forced to loan out their prospects to a pair of different affiliates. St. Louis actually loaned Binnington out to the Providence Bruins as they couldn’t find a place to put him. Regardless, he put up good numbers that year and was dominant in the first half of the season this year with their new affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, putting up a .927 save percentage in 16 starts.

Considering that he had made one NHL appearanIce in his career until now, many wondered what kind of contract that Binnington would receive as many people felt that he would have to prove he could repeat that string of success before he could earn a long-term contract. That proved to be true as Binnington will be betting on himself this year. The two years will take him to unrestricted free agency, which likely means that if Binnington can produce similar success next season, the Blues would likely want to sign the goaltender to an extension on July 1 next season so that Binnington wouldn’t end up on the open market in 2021.

With the signing, the Blues now have $7.12MM in projected cap space with a roster of 22 players. The team still has a number of restricted free agents, including Ivan Barbashev, Oskar Sundqvist, Joel Edmundson and Ville Husso.

 

 

AHL| Arbitration| Doug Armstrong| Free Agency| Newsstand| St. Louis Blues Ivan Barbashev| Jake Allen| Joel Edmundson| Jordan Binnington| Oskar Sundqvist

11 comments

Free Agent Focus: St. Louis Blues

June 26, 2019 at 7:09 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

Free agency opens in five days and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market, as well as restricted free agents that still need to be re-signed. St. Louis is still enjoying their Stanley Cup victory, but they’ll soon have to get to work, with more than a few key players in the title run in need of extensions. Here’s a closer look at their free agent situation:

Key Restricted Free Agents: G Jordan Binnington – In an off-season highlighted by so many high-profile restricted free agents, perhaps no case is more intriguing that Binnington’s. Both sides (and potentially an arbitrator) face the very difficult task of trying to quantify the value of a 26-year-old rookie who has accomplished so much in so short a time. Binnington is one of the stranger cases in recent memory; a player who toiled in the minors through much of a standard NHL career only to emerge as one of the best goalies in the league in the second half and lead his team to a Stanley Cup. Binnington may want a short-term deal to further cement his value prior to a longer extension, but he may also want a long-term deal to maximize the value established this season. Similarly, the Blues may want to lock Binnington up long-term before his value can rise over a full NHL season, but they know there’s risk involved there. However, a short-term deal that could see Binnington soon leave as UFA is equally as treacherous. There’s really no way to know what will happen here, but it bears watching.

D Joel Edmundson – Edmundson is a tricky case as he’s played four full seasons with the Blues, without ever playing in 70 or more games in a season. Offense is also not the hallmark of his game, as he consistently finishes in the 10-20 point range despite considerable ice time. Edmundson’s job is simply to play defense, and he plays the role well with physicality and awareness. Edmundson has been one of the Blues’ leaders in hits and blocked shots each of the past three years, even as he missed double-digit games, and that is where his value lies. However, shutdown defensemen can be hard to quantify and St. Louis may have concerns about a long-term commitment to an injury-prone player who lacks offensive upside.

Other RFAs: F Ivan Barbashev, F Sammy Blais, F Robby Fabbri, G Ville Husso, D Mitch Reinke, F Zach Sanford, F Oskar Sundqvist

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Patrick Maroon – Maroon took a hometown discount last summer, signing in St. Louis for one year and $1.75MM following back-to-back 40+ point seasons. At first it looked like Maroon was actually a mistake rather than a bargain after a very quiet first half of the season. However, as Maroon went, so did the Blues. His play improved in the second half to the tune of 28 points by the end of the year and then his gritty, physical style came up clutch in the postseason and was a key piece of the Stanley Cup run. Maroon single-handedly has reignited interest in veteran crash-the-net forwards, but he himself likely won’t cash in on the market demand. There was likely a handshake agreement between both sides when Maroon took a deal well below market value last summer and after coming up big and establishing himself as a leader and fan favorite, it would be a major surprise if the Blues didn’t hold up their end of the bargain with a raise and multi-year extension.

D Carl Gunnarsson – Gunnarsson was little more than a part-time player for the Blues this season, skating in a career-low 25 games. He also recorded just seven points and saw his ice time cut back. However, when injuries struck in the postseason and Gunnarsson was called upon, he played very well in 19 games. Gunnarsson may not be an exciting player, but he’s a sound depth piece with experience. He’s the type of No. 7 defenseman that contenders like to have. Signs point to the Blues being that contender again, but with little wiggle room against the cap, if the market for Gunnarsson gets to high, St. Louis will have to say goodbye.

Other UFAs: F Conner Bleackley, D Chris Butler, G Jared Coreau, D Michael Del Zotto, F Nikita Soshnikov, F Chris Thorburn, D Tyler Wotherspoon

Projected Cap Space: The Blues have approximately $17.2MM in cap space. Looking at the players they need to re-sign the sheer number of contracts is a bigger problem than any individual salary. With seven to ten of the listed free agents likely to be back in St. Louis and on the NHL roster next year, the team likely has just enough space to re-sign each to a smart deal and that’s it. Don’t expect the defending champs to be active on the free agent market this summer.

Free Agency| RFA| St. Louis Blues Carl Gunnarsson| Chris Butler| Ivan Barbashev| Jared Coreau| Joel Edmundson| Jordan Binnington| Michael Del Zotto| Nikita Soshnikov| Oskar Sundqvist| Patrick Maroon

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Snapshots: Lehner, No. 31 Pick, Bruins

June 18, 2019 at 8:48 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 4 Comments

By all accounts, Robin Lehner is the second-best goalie on the free agent market behind Sergei Bobrovsky. His most recent team, the New York Islanders, need a starting goalie and if it’s not Bobrovsky, they can’t do any better on the open market than re-signing Lehner. So why hasn’t a deal come together yet? Well, it’s not Lehner who’s to blame. Speaking at the NHL Awards media availability today, Lehner spoke honestly about wanting to return to New York, as relayed by NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. Lehner said that he does not want to be a UFA and hopes to re-sign with the Islanders before July 1st. He even went so far as to say that the term of the extension does not matter; he would be willing to sign a short-term or long-term deal to remain in New York. If Lehner wants to return and term doesn’t matter, that would seemingly imply that either GM Lou Lamoriello and the Isles want to explore other options or they aren’t satisfied with Lehner’s salary demands. Regardless, it seems unlikely that they will find a better and easier fit than simply re-signing the 27-year-old. In his own words, Lehner expressed his hope that he will don an Islanders jersey again next season and beyond:

I know the team knows where I stand and I just hope something works out… I like the people there. I love my teammates. I love the organization. So obviously I want to be back.

  • The Athletic’s John Vogl writes that the Buffalo Sabres will be tempted to trade away the final pick of the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday night. In such a deep draft class, the No. 31 represents the last opportunity for a team to trade back into the first round before more than 12 hours pass before the start of Day Two, during which time teams will be able to talk more in-depth about trades to move up in the second round for the top available prospects. Seeing as the Sabres will have already picked in the first round – their own selection coming at No. 7 – the team may be willing to move back and recoup more picks if they aren’t in love with any player available at the end of the first. There has been speculation that teams may try to trade back in to get in front of the start of the next tier of centers that could open the second round. Vogl writes that previous deals where a team has dealt away the final first-rounder have been a toss-up and the Sabres return will largely dictate whether it’s a smart move. In a deep draft in which the Sabres are without a second-round pick, potentially picking up multiple mid-round picks could be a smart move. So long as Buffalo is able to do better than the last team to deal away the final pick – the Pittsburgh Penguins sent theirs and Oskar Sundqvist to the St. Louis Blues for Ryan Reaves and a second-rounder in 2017 – they should consider a move.
  • As if the Boston Bruins’ first list of post-playoff injuries wasn’t bad enough, the team has since updated even more injuries. In addition to a fractured jaw and lower-body injury, captain Zdeno Chara will also require surgery on his elbow to clean up loose fragments. The 42-year-old was miraculously playing through several injuries in the postseason, but fortunately none are expected to impact the start of next season. Joakim Nordstrom, another key playoff contributor, was playing through a foot fracture in the Stanley Cup Final, but it will merely require rest to heal. Finally, the team announced that Anders Bjork, who missed the second half of the season following shoulder surgery, is recovering well and should be ready for the start of the season. If Bjork can get up to speed, he should challenge for a roster spot in Boston next season. Chris Wagner also stated that he had surgery to repair a broken arm suffered in the Eastern Conference Final, but was shockingly able to rehab in a few weeks time and was actually cleared to play in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup, but it was a coach’s decision that he sit. In one final update, the team revealed that John Moore has been scheduled for surgery next week to repair a broken humerus. Moore suffered the injury in the regular season finale, but somehow played ten playoff games nevertheless. Of all of the Bruins’ reported injuries, including Kevan Miller’s twice-broken knee cap and Brad Marchand’s barrage of muscle damage, Moore’s has to be considered the worst. It will require four to six months of rehab, meaning Moore is very doubtful for the start of the season and may need some luck to play again before the end of the calendar year.

Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Injury| Lou Lamoriello| New York Islanders| Pittsburgh Penguins| Prospects| Snapshots| St. Louis Blues Anders Bjork| Brad Marchand| Chris Wagner| John Moore| Kevan Miller| NHL Awards| Oskar Sundqvist| Robin Lehner| Ryan Reaves| Sergei Bobrovsky| Zdeno Chara

4 comments

Ivan Barbashev Suspended For Game Six Of The Stanley Cup Final

June 7, 2019 at 5:31 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 21 Comments

It may have been just one of a number of egregious missed calls in Game Five, but the NHL Department of Player Safety has decided a high hit that was not called a penalty on the ice is deserving of a one-game suspension. After a hearing with St. Louis Blues forward Ivan Barbashev this morning, Player Safety has announced that he will be suspended for Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final for an illegal check to the head of Boston Bruins counterpart Marcus Johansson. The league explained the decision as such:

As Johansson releases a shot on goal, Barbashev deliver a high, forceful hit that makes Johansson’s head the main point of contact on a hit where such head contact was avoidable. This is an illegal check to the head… The brunt of the impact of this hit is delivered by Barbashev’s shoulder into the head of Johansson… If Barbashev wishes to deliver this check, he must take an angle of approach that hits through Johansson’s near shoulder or core rather than an angle that picks Johansson’s head with his shoulder.

This is was just one of two missed high hits on Bruins players in the game, as defenseman Torey Krug also took a shot from forward Zach Sanford. That’s also not even including an obvious hold, again on Krug, and a blatant slew foot on Noel Acciari that lead to the Blues’ game-winning goal. Boston would likely trade this Barbashev suspension for a correct call in any of those situations.

This is also now the second suspension for the Blues in this series, as Barbashev’s fellow fourth-liner Oskar Sundqvist was suspended for Game Three after boarding Matt Grzelcyk, an incident that has since left the defenseman sidelined. While St. Louis has undoubtedly played a physical game in the city, one that has won them the war of attrition thus far against the Bruins, it’s not unfair that some fans feel they have been headhunting. However, the two suspensions are really more of an indictment on the officiating. Two suspendable offenses in this series have totaled just two minutes of on-ice penalties. Player Safety has had to step in to make the proper calls for them, even if just for the optics of appeasing frustrated fans – and the Bruins. There have certainly been missed calls against the Blues in the series as well, as their have for many teams throughout a postseason that has been difficult for NHL officials.

Boston Bruins| Legal| St. Louis Blues| Suspensions Ivan Barbashev| Marcus Johansson| Matt Grzelcyk| Noel Acciari| Oskar Sundqvist

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