Lightning Place Five In COVID Protocol
The COVID test results are in for the Lightning and the end result is that they’ll be missing several players for the next little while. Bryan Burns of Tampa Bay’s team website relays (Twitter link) that goaltenders Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott, center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, and assistant coach Rob Zettler have all been placed in COVID protocol.
As is the case with anyone who enters COVID protocol, they will all miss at least the next ten days.
Vasilevskiy is certainly a notable loss for Tampa Bay as he is off to another fine start to his season with a 2.14 GAA along with a .928 SV% in 24 starts. Not having Elliott available either means that two of their AHL netminders – Maxime Lagace, Hugo Alnefelt, and Amir Miftakhov – will need to be brought up and only Lagace has limited NHL experience.
As for Sergachev, his output is quite similar to his pace from last season as he has two goals and a dozen assists in 30 games while averaging 21:57 per game, the third-highest ATOI on the Lightning. Unless Erik Cernak is ready to return from his injury, they’ll need to recall someone from AHL Syracuse to cover his spot as well. Bellemare is in his first season with Tampa Bay after coming over from Colorado and has chipped in with three goals and four assists in what has basically been a checking role.
As things stand, Tampa Bay is set to return to action on Tuesday against Montreal.
West Notes: Jets, Brodin, Niederreiter, Canucks, Bellemare
While many teams would prefer to add an impact player that is signed beyond this season, that isn’t the case for the Jets. In an appearance on TSN 1290 (audio link), TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that Winnipeg’s preference would be to add rental players, or at least someone that is signed short-term. The Jets have several youngsters that will be vying for full-time roster spots in the near future and they will not want to block their paths to the NHL. McKenzie also suggests that General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff might be more open to dealing his first-round pick by the February 26th trade deadline than he has been at other times during his tenure as GM.
More from the West:
- Wild blueliner Jonas Brodin has already resumed puck-handling drills just two weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured hand less than two weeks ago, notes Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. While the initial timeline for his return was three-to-four weeks, he could return slightly ahead of schedule. The news isn’t as good for winger Nino Niederreiter, however. He acknowledged that he won’t be fully healthy until next season after dealing with multiple leg issues this year including a fractured fibula that he just returned to the lineup from.
- Canucks GM Jim Benning would like to add a top-nine forward with size and grit to their roster, he acknowledged to Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. Vancouver has several skilled prospects on the horizon and adding a player like that would complement them nicely. Benning also stated that they are not shopping defenseman Chris Tanev but that he will listen to offers if other teams call. The team views the 28-year-old as someone that will mentor their younger blueliners including 2016 first-rounder Olli Juolevi.
- The Golden Knights have placed center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, notes Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. There is no timetable for how much time he will miss but the IR placement means he’ll miss the next week at a minimum. Vegas has recalled a pair of forwards from their AHL affiliate in Chicago to take his place on the roster in wingers Tomas Hyka and Stefan Matteau.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights
Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Vegas Golden Knights
Current Cap Hit: $69,375,832 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Alex Tuch (Two years remaining, $925K)
D Shea Theodore (One year remaining, $863K)
Potential Bonuses
Tuch: $425K
While the brand-new franchise is focused on building up a powerhouse team over the next five years, which means draft picks and more draft picks, which will create a revolving door at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there should be at least one constant who is already locked in for the future in Theodore. The just-turned 22-year-old is considered to be a long-term piece and despite the team’s overwhelming defensive logjam, the hope is Theodore is on the team’s opening day roster. Theodore shined last year during Anaheim’s playoff run when he along with several other defenseman had to step in for injured players and fared well. Theodore, a offensive defenseman, was a first-round pick of the Ducks in 2013 and despite having just nine points in 39 regular season games last year, he put up eight goals in 14 playoff games.
Tuch, a talented forward acquired near the expansion draft in a side deal with the Minnesota Wild, has a chance to immediately make the team out of training camp. The 21-year-old wing was a first-round pick in 2014 and scored 18 goals for the AHL’s Iowa Wild last year.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
F James Neal ($5MM, UFA)
F Mikhail Grabovski ($5MM, UFA)
D Jason Garrison ($4.6MM, UFA)
F David Perron ($3.75MM, UFA)
D Luca Sbisa ($3.6MM, UFA)
D Clayton Stoner ($3.25MM, UFA)
D Brayden McNabb ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.14MM, RFA)
F William Karlsson ($1MM, RFA)
D Colin Miller ($1MM, RFA)
D Deryk Engelland ($1MM, UFA)
G Calvin Pickard ($1MM, RFA)
F Jon Marchessault ($750K, UFA)
F Teemu Pulkkinen ($700K, RFA)
The Golden Knights will be looking to move as many of their players at the trade deadline as they can. Neal should be their biggest trade bait as many teams wouldn’t mind adding a goal-scorer right in time for the playoffs. The 30-year-old wing is coming off a 23-goal season in Nashville and has scored 165 goals in the last six seasons combined. The team hopes that playing on a top line should keep his scoring numbers up high so that his price increases at the perfect time, but a recent report that a wrist injury suffered during the playoffs last year is still affecting Neal and he will miss two to four weeks is concerning. The team also has high hopes it can move Perron. After putting up a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14, he has struggled with injuries but rebounded last year with an 18 goal season. If he can stay healthy and produce similar numbers, he might be worth a mid to late pick.
One key decision the team will have to make is what to do with Marchessault, who is coming off a 30-goal season a year ago in Florida. At $750K, he is a bargain for the next year, but if he can duplicate his numbers from last year, he would be in line for a big payday. Complicating the situation is that Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant is a big fan of the 26-year-old and was the head coach in Florida wlast year when Marchessault started his breakout season.
The team also has a number of restricted free agents who they will likely hold onto. While Pickard’s name is rarely mentioned in Vegas as he is the current backup, don’t be surprised if Pickard is penciled in as the goaltender of the future. The 25-year-old struggled with Colorado last year (although he did have one of the worst teams around him), but was a promising prospect before that. Miller is another who should be retained. The 24-year-old was a promising defender in Boston who was just beginning to get full-time work. He got into 61 games last year and showed quite a bit of promise. Karlsson should get a bottom line spot in the lineup. The 24-year-old is coming off a 25-point season and the team hopes he takes his game up a notch.
While Grabovski likely won’t see the ice ever in Las Vegas (freeing the team of his $5MM cap hit), Garrison is a defender who may prove to have some value if he can produce on one of the team’s top defensive lines. The 32-year-old struggled at times in Tampa Bay and his offensive numbers have declined in the past couple of years. McNabb is considered to be an excellent defender and should provide solid defense for Vegas. He missed a lot of time due to a broken collarbone injury he suffered last October, forcing the 26-year-old in and out of the lineup all season and he eventually lost his starting job at the end of the year, but should get regular minutes with the Golden Knights. Sbisa is another player who should get playing time in hopes the team can move him later this year. The 27-year-old blueliner was a solid defenseman, but few teams were interested in his $3.6MM pricetag.
Flyers To Extend Bellemare
From trade candidate to future piece, deadline day has been flipped around on Philadelphia Flyers’ center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Sportsnet’s Elliote Friedman reports that the two sides are closing in on a two-year, $2.9MM extension. It’s a nice pay bump for the hard-working forward; he’s currently making just over $700K in the final season of a two-year deal, but will make $1.45MM in each of the next two campaigns.
Bellemare’s extension actually comes in a down year for the big Frenchman, at least in points, as he has just three goals and three assists in 62 games. However, he has been handed more responsibility this season, with a career-high in average ice time, and has played a more reliable game with less turnovers and more sound two-way play.
If it still seems like an expensive deal to you, that may be by design. The Flyers were already facing a tough challenge of choosing which seven forwards to protect in the upcoming Expansion Draft, and Bellemare probably does not make that list – extension or not – but his new contract may dissuade the Vegas Golden Knights from scooping him up in June.