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Pierre-Luc Dubois

North Notes: Hyman, Podkolzin, Dubois

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Maple Leafs winger Zach Hyman is in the midst of a career season offensively although he has now been slowed with a lower-body injury that will keep him out for a couple of weeks at least.  Given his improvement in that end, his stock is on the rise as he gets set to enter the UFA market for the first time this summer.  On the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic noted that a poll of several executives around the league pegged Hyman’s likely next contract anywhere between $4.5MM and $5.5MM, a significant raise on his current $2.25MM AAV.  With Toronto already having nearly $70MM in commitments to just 15 players for next season, per CapFriendly, they may need to get creative to find a way to keep the 28-year-old in the fold and still be able to fill out the roster with what’s expected to be a flat $81.5MM salary cap once again.

Elsewhere in the North Division:

  • At the beginning of the season, it was expected that the Canucks would bring top prospect Vasili Podkolzin over to North America at the end of his KHL season and have him burn the first year of his entry-level deal for the stretch run. However, his agent Sergey Isakov told Sport 24’s Maxim Samartsev that Podkolzin will instead stay in Russia and focus on earning a spot with their entry into next month’s World Championships.  It’s a logical decision as by the time that Podkolzin secures a work visa and gets through quarantine, Vancouver’s season would be close to over if not finished already.  The 20-year-old had 11 points in 35 games with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL this season.
  • While Patrik Laine has struggled considerably with Columbus, Pierre-Luc Dubois hasn’t fit in all that well with the Jets either; his 20 points in 35 games are certainly below the expectations they had for him. Along the way, he has changed position a few times.  However, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun, that Dubois is being moved back to center for at least the next couple of weeks as they look to get their lines set for the playoffs.  Dubois had been on the wing with Blake Wheeler out of the lineup and also started there but with the price that GM Kevin Cheveldayoff paid for him, it’s clear that they envision him as a middleman for the long-term future.

Snapshots: Blue Jackets, Islanders, Stastny, Yamamoto

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The Columbus Blue Jackets were forced to trade away center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who demanded a trade. Their return was very good in Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic, however, neither player fulfilled the team’s biggest hole — the one that Dubois left — the No. 1 center. And now, the Blue Jackets are looking for a way to fill that hole, which could be challenging, according to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required).

The team has a history of looking for a No. 1 center in the past as they struggled to find a top center to put next to Rick Nash. Not much has changed as the team has looked like they found their answer in Ryan Johansen and eventually Dubois. However, with Dubois gone and Max Domi playing on the wing at the moment, there again is quite a hole in the top of their lineup. However, Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said he’s looking outside the organization for help.

“We’ll keep searching and doing our job and building a team. We have some very good potential center ice men growing into that role within our team. But we’re also going to look for ways to strengthen that position from the outside.”

  • The New York Islanders are looking for some help for their third line, according to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta. The team is looking for a left wing they can pair with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and rookie Oliver Wahlstrom. However, the problem for New York and general manager Lou Lamoriello is that New York has little to no cap space to work with. So, in order to acquire that forward, the team will have to move out equal salary which will be challenging. Up until now, there has been no interest in Leo Komarov. According to Pagnotta, there had been some discussion of swapping Komarov for Brett Connolly, but talks stalled since Florida wasn’t willing to retain some of Connolly’s salary to make the money fit.
  • When asked in his most recent mailbag whether the Winnipeg Jets should consider trading Paul Stastny at the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe was quick to answer ’no.’ Stastny, who has moved to the wing and suddenly finds himself next to Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, has played quite well in that role. With his quiet leadership and stability on the team, Wiebe believes the team will attempt to sign Stastny to a one-year extension to bring him back next year at a cheaper cost rather than trade him away.
  • Edmonton Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto has been fined $3,854 by the Department of Player Safety for tripping Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson. The fine is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. The incident (video here) occurred at 14:12 of the first period when Yamamoto pulled the legs out from underneath Andersson in front of the Flames net. He was assessed a two-minute minor for tripping.

Winnipeg Jets Activate Pierre-Luc Dubois, Move Him To Wing

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The Winnipeg Jets announced they have activated center Pierre-Luc Dubois off of injured reserve and he’s expected to play Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks. The 22-year-old has missed four games with a lower-body injury. However, Dubois isn’t expected to center a line. Instead, it looks like head coach Paul Maurice has moved him to the wing to play next to Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler.

Dubois, acquired from Columbus along with a 2022 third-round pick for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic in January, only appeared in two games before going down with what Dubois referred to as a “muscle injury.” Maurice said that he believes that moving Dubois to the wing should prevent Dubois from overworking himself as well as pick up good habits from his linemates.

“There is a bunch of things there,” said Maurice (via Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe). “The first is wear and tear and minutes in his first game back. He’s had a big chunk of time off the ice. The centreman covers a lot more ice and there is a lot more grind to that. He did a great job with his shift length in his first game, we expect him to do the same. He’s still a young man, he’s got a version of Mark’s game in him – that ability to slow the game down, find holes and make plays. He also has the ability to have Blake’s game – a hard-driving, heavy in the corners type of player. I think that over time, the players I’ve played with Mark and Blake have developed that in their game. It was good for Nik Ehlers. It was good for Kyle Connor. The other option is going to be Paul Stastny and he flipping. I may do that over the course of the game.”

The current lines stand with Dubois, Scheifele and Wheeler on the first line with Stastny, Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers on the second line. loading up their top two lines. Adam Lowry would center the team’s third line.

Injury Notes: Dubois, Lindholm, Sandin

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The Winnipeg Jets have officially moved Pierre-Luc Dubois to injured reserve, a disappointing outcome for a player that is having a season full of them. The young forward has played just two games since his trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets and just seven on the season thanks to a long quarantine. He was injured last week, though it’s still not exactly clear what happened or how long he’ll be out.

Dubois failed to record a shot in either of his games with the Jets and now has just one point on the season. When he does get back on the active roster, he’ll have to really push to get back to the top-line center he appeared to be in recent years.

  • Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Lindholm will be out for four to six weeks with a broken thumb, his AHL team announced today. Lindholm sustained the injury last Friday, meaning his season will be truncated by at least a month. The 26-year-old defenseman was part of the trade that saw Brandon Saad go to the Colorado Avalanche in the offseason but had yet to get into the NHL lineup with the Blackhawks. In 66 career games, he has five points.
  • Another minor-league defenseman, this time Rasmus Sandin, will also be out a while. The young defenseman suffered a foot injury and will be out for several weeks, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. Sandin, one of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top prospects, played in one NHL game earlier this season and recorded a point. The 20-year-old is still waiting for his chance to crack the roster full-time and was supposed to get his game back up to speed in the minor leagues. Now, unfortunately, he’ll be sidelined instead.

Injury Updates: Makar, Dubois, Thornton, Backlund

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While Colorado is back in action today for the first time in 12 days, they’re doing so without the services of their top offensive threat from the back end as Cale Makar is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters, including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, that he’s not quite sure how the injury happened.  Makar participated in three practices with the Avalanche this week as they worked their way up to today’s game but Bednar allowed for the possibility that the injury occurred away from the rink as well.  Makar is averaging just over a point per game this season and was on a five-game point streak before their schedule was paused and he will have to wait a little while longer to try to extend it.

More injury news from around the league:

  • The Jets aren’t expected to have center Pierre-Luc Dubois in the lineup on Monday against Edmonton, reports Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link). He missed Saturday’s contest versus Ottawa due to a lower-body injury and it appears it will cost him a second game as well.  Head coach Paul Maurice indicated that Dubois will travel with the team which suggests they expect him back at some point on this four-game road trip.
  • The Maple Leafs are expected to welcome back Joe Thornton for their opener against Ottawa on Monday, relays Postmedia’s Lance Hornby. The 41-year-old suffered a fractured rib in Toronto’s fifth game of the season and was immediately placed on LTIR.  Assuming he is able to play tomorrow, he’ll wind up missing just the minimum amount of time.  Thornton has a goal and an assist so far this season which has mostly been spent on the left wing of their top line after playing down the middle for the last two decades.
  • While Flames center Mikael Backlund left Saturday’s game against Vancouver early with a lower-body injury, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be out for long. Head coach Geoff Ward told reporters, including Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link), that Backlund is already feeling better today and will be re-evaluated on Monday.  Calgary is back in action for the fourth and final game of this stint versus Vancouver on Monday night.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/06/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. Here is the CPRA list for Saturday:

Buffalo – Taylor Hall, Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Jake McCabe, Dylan Cozens*, Curtis Lazar*
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado – Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Dallas – Andrej Sekera
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota – Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Ian Cole*
New Jersey – Kyle Palmieri, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Jesper Bratt, Nathan Bastian, Nikita Gusev, Yegor Sharangovich, Dmitry Kulikov
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov, Jakub Vrana*

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Connor Carrick, New Jersey Devils; Pierre-Luc Dubois, Winnipeg Jets

It should come as little surprise that the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild, two teams that have had games postponed due to COVID outbreaks, have new additions to the CPRA list. The Sabres are up to seven players, as well as head coach Ralph Krueger, in the protocol. Minnesota has eight players on the list now, including Cole who was added late last night, presumably following a positive test.

The surprise addition to list is Vrana for the Capitals. Washington has had the one incidence of COVID Protocol violation, one that cost them $100K and landed four players on the list, but otherwise had been unaffected. Yet, Vrana is now out of action with no word yet on the cause.

If there is any good news in regards to the Coronavirus in the NHL today, it is that all Vegas Golden Knights coaches were finally back at practice today after the entire staff had previously landed in the protocol. The New Jersey Devils also add one more player to their thin active list as Carrick, who had merely left the team for the birth of his child, has timed out of the protocol.

*denotes new addition

North Notes: Dubois, Ryan, Dermott

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The wait is almost over for Pierre-Luc Dubois – to practice, that is.  As NHL.com’s Tim Campbell notes, Dubois’ quarantine ends on Saturday, paving the way for him to join the Jets for practice on Sunday.  While he is healthy and clearly itching to get into the lineup, it’s important to note that he hasn’t been on the ice since his trade nearly two weeks ago.  While he has been working out on his own in a hotel room and doing video work, there may be a bit of rust when he hits the ice but despite that, the center is hoping to be in Winnipeg’s lineup for his first available game on Tuesday against Calgary.  Failing that, he should be good to go for the start of a two-game set versus Ottawa on Thursday.

More from the North Division:

  • Flames center Derek Ryan suffered a finger injury while blocking a shot against Winnipeg on Thursday night, relays Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson (Twitter link). The veteran has been sent to the taxi squad a whopping ten times already this season but has been recalled to play in all 10 of their games so far this season, recording an assist while logging just shy of 10 minutes a night.  Ryan would need to clear waivers again before being able to go back to the taxi squad but that can’t be done until he gets the green light to play.  He will be evaluated by a specialist but Gilbertson notes the team is optimistic that the injury isn’t as bad as they initially thought.
  • Maple Leafs defenseman Travis Dermott will be out of Toronto’s lineup on Saturday due to a charley horse, reports Joshua Clipperton of the Canadian Press (Twitter link). The blueliner was injured on his first shift on Thursday, forcing Toronto to play with only five rearguards the rest of the way although it hardly seemed to affect them in a 7-3 win.  Mikko Lehtonen will replace Dermott who is listed as day-to-day.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/05/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The Anaheim Ducks have yet to report their results for today. For all 30 other teams, here is the CPRA list for Friday:

Anaheim – TBA
Buffalo – Taylor Hall, Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Jake McCabe
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado – Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Dallas – Andrej Sekera
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota – Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm
New Jersey – Connor Carrick, Kyle Palmieri, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Jesper Bratt, Nathan Bastian, Nikita Gusev, Yegor Sharangovich, Dmitry Kulikov*
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg – Pierre-Luc Dubois

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: John Marino, Pittsburgh Penguins

The good news: there was no net gain to the CPRA list today. One player was added and one player was removed. For the injury plagued Pittsburgh Penguins blue line, getting Marino back is a major relief. It also removes the Penguins entirely from the COVID doghouse for the time being.

The bad news: a troubling situation in New Jersey gets only worse, as Kulikov joins the long list of players in the protocol. The Devils have seen a number of their coming games postponed and that could easily continue given the sheer number of players still out of action.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/04/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. Today, commissioner Gary Bettman announced some in-arena adjustments for the league to follow, but also released a statement on the current situation:

With about 20 percent of our season played, we are mindful of the fact that we might be seeing a more aggressive transmission of the virus and will continue to make adjustments to our Protocols as we consult on a daily basis with, and adhere to, the recommendations of our medical advisors.

It is important to note that, while we have seen almost 100 players enter our COVID Protocols, fewer than half have done so because of confirmed positive tests – and, among that group, many have not been symptomatic. Our priority has been and will continue to be to act conservatively with an abundance of caution, understanding that there are many things about the transmission of COVID-19 that are still being discovered. As a result, we won’t hesitate to take additional measures as indicated by what we are learning and as directed by our medical advisors.

Here is the CPRA list for today:

Buffalo – Taylor Hall, Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Jake McCabe*
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado – Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog*
Dallas – Andrej Sekera
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota – Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm*
New Jersey – Connor Carrick, Kyle Palmieri, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Jesper Bratt, Nathan Bastian, Nikita Gusev, Yegor Sharangovich
Pittsburgh – John Marino
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg – Pierre-Luc Dubois

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Filip Zadina, Detroit Red Wings; Aaron Dell, New Jersey Devils;

Of course, the list does not include Buffalo head coach Ralph Krueger, who has also tested positive and is isolating away from the team. McCabe joins four other important members of the Sabres that are sitting out, though it is not clear how many have actually tested positive.

The addition of Landeskog is also important to note, given that the Avalanche are not shutdown like the Minnesota Wild, their last opponent and have a game scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The team is already dealing with a long list of injuries and now will likely be without their captain as well.

It is important to note that Dell wasn’t actually on the list because of the outbreak among the Devils, but because of quarantine rules after he was claimed off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, he still won’t get to practice with his new team until the Devils go back to work.

*denotes new addition

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/03/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 protocol. The list for today:

Buffalo – Taylor Hall, Rasmus Ristolainen, Brandon Montour*, Tobias Rieder*
Chicago – Adam Boqvist, Ryan Carpenter, Lucas Wallmark
Colorado – Tyson Jost*
Dallas – Andrej Sekera
Detroit –Filip Zadina
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota – Marcus Foligno, Nick Bjugstad*, Nick Bonino*, Joel Eriksson Ek*, Marcus Johansson*, Jared Spurgeon*
New Jersey – Connor Carrick, Aaron Dell, Kyle Palmieri, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Andreas Johnsson, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha, Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Jesper Bratt, Nathan Bastian*, Nikita Gusev*, Yegor Sharangovich*
Pittsburgh – John Marino*
Vegas – Alex Pietrangelo
Washington – Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov
Winnipeg – Pierre-Luc Dubois

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: Sam Gagner, Detroit Red Wings; Jonathon Merrill, Detroit Red Wings; Kaapo Kakko, New York Rangers

The big news is the addition of five players from Minnesota and one from Colorado, who played each other last night (and twice before that). Tomorrow’s game between the two clubs is expected to be postponed, but it is not clear yet how many matches will be affected.

The Devils are up to 17 players on the list as they deal with the biggest outbreak of the regular season, while the Sabres–who played the Devils on the weekend–are now up to four. Both teams currently have all activities suspended and games postponed.

Marino’s placement for the Penguins comes at a brutal stretch while they’re without almost all of their top options on defense, though again it is not clear if he has tested positive or how long he will be kept away from the team.

*denotes new addition

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