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East Notes: Smith-Pelly, Smith, Beleskey, Sheahan

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Although Devante Smith-Pelly’s absence from Washington’s lineup so far this preseason has been conditioning-related, Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post reports that the Capitals won’t be taking the same route that Tampa Bay did with Jake Dotchin by seeking to terminate his contract.  GM Brian MacLellan noted last year that Smith-Pelly’s conditioning level wasn’t ideal in his first training camp with the team but the 26-year-old wound up being an important contributor for them in the postseason.  It certainly appears that his second campaign with the team will start in a similar manner.

Elsewhere out East:

  • The Senators had some trade talks regarding recently-waived center Zack Smith but Ottawa was hoping to avoid taking a contract in the return, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Considering he has three years and $9.75MM left on his contract, it’s understandable to think that teams that have interest would want to offset the money somewhat which has led to the team putting him on waivers in the hopes that a team would assume the remainder of the contract for free.  Garrioch spoke with some general managers around the league and they indicated that it’s unlikely that Smith will be picked up.
  • Rangers winger Matt Beleskey sustained a shoulder injury in a fight last night against the Devils, notes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. However, head coach David Quinn doesn’t believe it will be a long-term issue but adds that it’s “too early to tell”.  Beleskey came to New York as part of the Rick Nash trade but spent the majority of the time at the minor league level.  He was already viewed as somewhat of a long-shot to make the team despite his contract and this won’t help his cause.
  • Penguins center Riley Sheahan returned to practice after missing the last ten days with a lower-body injury, notes Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Pittsburgh hopes to get him into at least one preseason game and have a couple of chances to do so with the team playing Wednesday and Friday.

Pittsburgh Re-Signs Riley Sheahan To A One-Year Contract

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5:24 PM: The Penguins have indeed finalized a deal with Sheahan, announcing that he has signed a one-year, $2.1MM contract.  It checks in at a slightly higher amount than his $2.075MM qualifying offer but had he been qualified and gone to an arbitration hearing, it likely would have cost more for Pittsburgh to keep him around.

2:04 PM: Though he wasn’t qualified earlier this week, Riley Sheahan is likely headed back to the Pittsburgh Penguins anyway. GM Jim Rutherford took questions after his trade of Conor Sheary earlier today, and indicated that the team was getting closer to a deal with Sheahan and would have re-signed the 26-year old center even without the added cap space. The team also admitted that their focus is on adding another defenseman before the season begins—something they have apparently done already with Jack Johnson.

The Penguins didn’t give Sheahan a qualifying offer because it would have cost them more than $2MM, and he would have gained arbitration rights. Now, though Sheahan could technically become an unrestricted free agent and sign with whoever he wants on July 1st, the team seems confident they can get a deal done at a lower cap hit. That’s important to Pittsburgh, who are pinching pennies to get everyone in under the $79.5MM ceiling.

Sheahan can be a useful player for the team, able to line up at center or wing and contribute offensively in a secondary role. Coming off his incredibly unlucky 2016-17 campaign—Sheahan took 106 shots before getting his first goal of the season in the final game, ending with just two—he bounced back to register 32 points despite being used almost exclusively in a defensive role. Sheahan received the fewest offensive zone starts of any center on the team, and was asked to kill more time shorthanded than anyone other player on a per-game basis.

Even with increased roles coming for players like Daniel Sprong and Dominik Simon, Sheahan has clear value to the Penguins. He’ll be back in the fold in some capacity, though it’s not clear where a contract would land with the former Red Wing. With the relatively thin center market you’d think that he could draw some interest from around the league, but perhaps the stability that a Cup contender like Pittsburgh brings is enough to convince him to not even test the open waters.

Scott Wilson, Erik Gudbranson & The Pointless Players

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Last year we saw something incredible in the NHL. Riley Sheahan of the Detroit Red Wings played 79 games and took 106 shots on net without scoring a goal. Stories were written, fans were left in disbelief and Sheahan just had to go out every night and try to get one across the line. Finally, on April 9th in his 80th and final game of the season Sheahan scored—twice.

"<strongIt’s not like Sheahan had done anything like it before. He’d had seasons of 9, 13 and 14 goals the first three seasons of his career. He actually carried an above-average shooting percentage of 11.9% through that time. He was no sniper, but he could be a solid secondary scoring threat. This year there are several players that can relate with Sheahan, including one that has a solid link to him.

Sheahan didn’t score his first goal this year until a trade brought him to Pittsburgh. He has two now on the year, and eight points in 21 games for the Penguins. The player he was traded for though hasn’t been quite as lucky.

Scott Wilson, traded first for Sheahan and then again to the Buffalo Sabres later in the season, has now played 21 games this season. In those games he’s registered 172 minutes of ice time, including over 14 in his first game with Buffalo. Amazingly, he’s been held completely scoreless. Not a single goal, not a single assist. Wilson leads all scoreless forwards in games played, but there are some other interesting members along for the ride.

Matt Stajan, a two-time 50-point man has played 19 games without a point. He’s played even more minutes, 210, without hitting the scoresheet—well, at least not for scoring. Stajan has taken 10 penalty minutes, something that you can’t say for Wilson. Incredibly, the Buffalo Sabres forward hasn’t even taken a single minor penalty. Other than the 14 shots he’s recorded, he’s basically been a boxscore ghost.

"<strongThere are other forwards who are on the list, like Zac Dalpe, Torrey Mitchell and Matt Beleskey but none of them hold a candle to the leader when expanded to include defensemen. Erik Gudbranson, the Vancouver Canucks’ rough and tumble defenseman has logged 372 minutes of ice time this season and still has a big fat zero in the points category.

Gudbranson isn’t an offensive player. That much has been obvious his whole career, and it wasn’t why the Canucks went out and acquired him from the Florida Panthers. But this is impressive even for him. He’s always been a lightning rod for the argument between traditional and new analytics, but he’s actually reached a new low in his possession rates. As an unrestricted free agent this summer, some believe he’ll be a sought-after trade deadline commodity.

It doesn’t matter if he has zero points or a handful when the trade deadline comes around, it really doesn’t change the player he is. But for the third-overall pick in 2010 it’s an impressive accomplishment, even if he wouldn’t agree.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Detroit Red Wings Trade Scott Wilson To Buffalo Sabres

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The Detroit Red Wings era for forward Scott Wilson will come to a quick end, as the team has traded him to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a 2019 fifth-round pick. Wilson was acquired by the Red Wings just this season as part of the Riley Sheahan trade, and will move on after just 17 games with the club.

Wilson, 25, is scoreless this season through 20 games but showed last year that he’s capable of adding some secondary scoring if given the chance. With 78 games in his first full season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he scored 26 points in limited minutes and added another six in the playoffs. He played fewer than 10 minutes in all but three of his games with Detroit, but will likely be afforded more ice time in Buffalo.

With just a $625K cap hit in the second year of his current contract, Wilson will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Though his early play hasn’t done much to help his case, a good second half with Buffalo could put him in line for a multi-year deal as a valuable bottom-six player. With the Sabres waiving Matt Moulson today, there is clearly a change coming in Buffalo.

Wilson will be reunited with GM Jason Botterill, who previously worked with the Penguins when Wilson was working his way through the minor league system. He’ll also join Evan Rodrigues, a former teammate with the Georgetown Raiders of the OJHL. Both played in that league partly to maintain their NCAA eligibility, heading to UMass-Lowell (Wilson) and Boston University (Rodrigues). With Rodrigues just called up this morning, there’s a possibility the pair even plays together right away.

The Red Wings had sent a fifth-round pick along with Sheahan to the Pittsburgh Penguins, which they’ve now basically reclaimed with the deal to Buffalo—though, the original pick was for 2018, meaning they’ve moved back a year. For a team that was shellacked on the weekend and is beginning to show cracks in their early season success, Detroit is committed to adding future assets even as they attempt to make the playoffs.

Whether Botterill and company see Wilson as a  piece long-term will be decided before next season, but there was clearly an impression made on him in the past to use an asset at this point in the year. The Sabres are almost completely out of playoff contention already, and are just looking for some consistency or improvement at this point. Wilson is nothing if not a hard worker, and could inject some energy into the team right away. Whether that translates into points is still to be seen.

Detroit Sends Sproul To Rangers For Puempel

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The Detroit Red Wings have completed a second trade in as many minutes as the team has traded defenseman Ryan Sproul to the New York Rangers for wing Matt Puempel, tweets CapFriendly.

The move comes minutes after the Red Wings traded center Riley Sheahan and a 2018 fifth-round pick to Pittsburgh for winger Scott Wilson and a 2018 third-round pick. The Red Wings are likely ensuring they have a backup center in their system in Puempel after trading away Sheahan.

Sproul has spent the entire 2017-18 season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, putting up one goal and three assists in five games. He was not able to make the NHL roster and was sent down. The 24-year-old former second round pick in 2011, is an offensive defenseman, but has had trouble breaking into the Red Wings lineup. He played 27 games with Detroit last year, putting up seven points, but has spent most of his career in Grand Rapids.

Puempel, also has spent the entire year in the AHL. He has scored one goal and three assists for the Hartford Wolfpack. The 24-year-old was claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators last November after scoring no points in 13 games for Ottawa. However, in 27 games for the Rangers, he put up six goals and three assists and didn’t spend any time in the AHL last year.

Both Sproul and Puempel have already been sent to their new respective AHL teams as Sproul has been assigned to Hartford, while Puempel will join Grand Rapids.

 

Detroit Trades Sheahan To Pittsburgh

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The Detroit Red Wings completed a trade that will send center Riley Sheahan and a 2018 fifth-round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for wing Scott Wilson and a 2018 third-round pick, according to Cap Friendly. The deal was originally reported by TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

A move was expected after the Red Wings reached an agreement with winger Andreas Athanasiou yesterday. The team needed to make a corresponding roster move to get under the cap before the deal with Athanasiou becomes official and this trade accomplishes that. Sheahan is making $2.075MM this year, and will be a restricted free agent next year. However, by swapping Sheahan for Wilson, who makes just $650K, it will clear enough room for Athanasiou. According to CapFriendly, the trade gives Detroit $1,470,220 in LTIR salary relief.

As for Pittsburgh, the team finally gets its long coveted center it needs for its line. The Penguins, who have been rumored to be looking for a center to fill a hole on their third line, have been mentioned in multiple rumors since the team lost Nick Bonino to Nashville and Matt Cullen to Minnesota in the offseason, including earlier talks with Detroit about Sheahan, but the team finally got their center. In the meantime, the Penguins have been using Greg McKegg and Carter Rowney on the back two lines, but Sheahan should be an upgrade. McKegg has a goal and two assists in eight games, while Rowney has a goal and one assist.

Sheahan, a former 2010 first-round pick, has been in the league for many years, but at 25, has never been able to break out like Detroit had expected. In his third full season last year, Sheahan managed just two goals and 11 assists in 80 games. His best season was in 2014-15, when he put up 13 goals and 36 points. Sheahan has zero points in eight games this season. The young center has struggled with the speed of the game, but the general belief is that the center just needs to continue to develop his offensive game.

Wilson, a fan favorite, hasn’t cracked the lineup in Pittsburgh much as he’s played in just three games so far this year with the Penguins, but is coming off a 2016-17 season in which he scored eight goals and 18 assists. As he was often a healthy scratch, the general belief is that he would eventually have to be placed on waivers with the eventual promotion of prospect Daniel Sprong.

 

 

 

Atlantic Notes: Canadiens, Bogosian, Sheahan

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With the Canadiens struggling considerably out of the gate, some are wondering if a big change is going to be made in the near future.  In his latest column, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that it’s unlikely that ownership would consider changing general managers during the season.  It’s worth noting that GM Marc Bergevin is believed to be signed for four more years after this one so making that change would be an expensive one if it were to happen.

Dreger also notes that the team isn’t willing to consider dealing captain Max Pacioretty just yet although if they were to put him on the block, there would be no shortage of suitors around the league.  Pacioretty has led the Canadiens in scoring for six straight seasons but hasn’t been productive so far in 2017-18 with just one goal through seven games.  The 28-year-old is signed through 2018-19 with a cap hit of $4.5MM which is good value for a player who has hit 30 goals in each of the last four years.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • It doesn’t appear like Zach Bogosian will be suiting up for the Sabres anytime soon. Head coach Phil Housley told John Vogl of the Buffalo News that the blueliner remains week-to-week and that “As we look further into it, we’ll have more information as we move forward”.  Considering that Bogosian’s lower-body issue that was sustained at the end of the preseason was classified as a day-to-day issue for more than two weeks, Housley’s comments suggest that the 27-year-old will be out of the lineup for a while yet.
  • The Red Wings were close to dealing center Riley Sheahan to the Penguins over the offseason but there is nothing imminent on that front currently, reports TSN’s Bob McKenzie (Twitter links). Pittsburgh’s interest in adding another depth center is well-known while Detroit will soon have to shed some salary with Andreas Athanasiou agreeing to terms on a new deal earlier today.  Sheahan is off to a slow start this season, being held off the scoresheet through seven games and carries a $2.075MM cap hit that also represents his required qualifying offer in June.

Garrioch’s Latest: Sheahan, Duchene, De Haan

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Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch released his first Insider Trading column of the season and as always, many topics were covered.  The full piece is certainly worth a read but here are some of the highlights:

  • Red Wings center Riley Sheahan has drawn inquiries from several teams around the league as some anticipate that he will have to be moved if the team can agree to terms with restricted free agent winger Andreas Athanasiou. Sheahan’s struggles last season were well documented (he took until the last game of the season to score) but before that, he put up three straight years with at least 24 points.  He’s in the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $2.075MM and will require that as a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent in June.  If Athanasiou were to take Detroit’s two-year offer at an AAV of $1.9MM, moving Sheahan out would be enough to squeeze him in, as long as he was dealt for a prospect or draft choice.
  • Avalanche GM Joe Sakic continues to hold firm on his asking price of a top defenseman, a high-end prospect, plus a draft pick for center Matt Duchene and eight teams have been in talks with Colorado about his services. Duchene is off to a nice start to his season with two points through his first two games and if he can keep up a level of production even close to that, Sakic will at least have a bit more leverage in trying to land that high price in a return.
  • Islanders blueliner Calvin de Haan has been involved in trade speculation before and his one-year, $3.3MM deal signed in the summer won’t do much to change that. The Isles figure to be a bubble team in a highly-competitive Metropolitan Division and if they find themselves on the outside looking in at the playoffs by the trade deadline, de Haan should be one of the most sought-after rental players around the league.  While he won’t put up the points, the 26-year-old can log top-four minutes and serve as an important shut-down player which is something many contenders covet in late February as the deadline approaches.

Snapshots: Sheahan, Robinson, Aaltonen

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In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, the venerable hockey insider touches on several different trade topics we’ve heard about over the last few weeks. The most interesting is perhaps one brewing between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings surrounding Riley Sheahan. Friedman seems to think the deal could be contingent on whether Detroit comes to terms with restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou, who is currently still holding out of training camp without a contract.

The Red Wings wouldn’t want to lose Athanasiou and Sheahan both, but if they wait much longer Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford might move on to one of his other two options. The Red Wings need to take advantage of trades when they can, even if moving Sheahan would weaken their center depth considerably.

  • Larry Robinson has been hired by the St. Louis Blues as a Senior Consultant to Hockey Operations. Robinson is a legendary hockey player and mind who has found success everywhere in the game. From a player, winning six Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens to a coach, raising three more championships with the New Jersey Devils. Most recently, he has been an associate coach and director of player development with the San Jose Sharks, helping them reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their history.
  • Jonas Siegal of The Athletic penned an interesting piece on Toronto Maple Leafs’ new acquisition Miro Aaltonen, outlining his battle for a roster spot this season. Aaltonen was a free agent after the Anaheim Ducks—the team who originally drafted him—chose not to sign him in 2015, and apparently decided between the Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights on where to start his North American career. It’s interesting that he chose Toronto, as he likely could have made the Vegas roster out of camp but will have a tough battle for the Maple Leafs. Part of that likely has to do with him signing way back in March, before Vegas even had a roster at all.

NHL Snapshots: Horvat, Blueger, Witkowski

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After reaching terms to a new six year, $33MM contract yesterday, Vancover Canucks’ forward Bo Horvat is now labeled as a “foundational” piece of the team. But many question how good can the 22-year-old center get. After all, the young star had a solid season a year ago, putting up 20 goals and 32 assists. But how much farther can he take his game?

Mike Halford of The Athletic (subscription required) interviewed his former coach Willie Dejardins about what the potential future of Horvat is, who says that one of Horvat’s top qualities is that being average just isn’t good enough. The veteran coach writes that when he was first drafted, the big knock on him was his lack of skating skills. However, he has been working on those skills for the last few years, including instruction from power-skating expert Kathy McIlvaine. The results were evident when he found himself competing with St. Louis’ speedster Vladimir Tarasenko in the fastest skating event in the All-Star game this past January.

“The speed of his game – when he first came in, he wasn’t a great skater,” Desjardins explained. “And somehow along the line he changed that, and that doesn’t happen very often at that level, or to that degree. That shows a high commitment level.”

Desjardins also points out in the article that Horvat’s greatest gift is his defense, although the metrics don’t show that yet. What he does say is that Horvat’s will to become a great player will push him up among the top centers of the Pacific Division where he will find himself playing against top talent like Connor McDavid and Ryan Kesler daily.

  • Consider Pittsburgh prospect Teddy Blueger as a potential candidate for that third-line center spot. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette writes that Blueger has worked hard at his skating in the last few years in hopes of breaking into the Pittsburgh Penguins front lines. Although the Penguins could trade for a veteran at any time, Blueger, has the ability to break into that lineup. Having scored 108 points in for years at Minnesota State University – Mankato, putting him in the top 10 all-time in the school’s history, he will have quite a challenge to win a job with the Penguins this year. He will have to compete with veteran Carter Rowney, Jay McClement, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Greg McKegg for that spot.
  • MLive’s Ansar Khan breaks down Luke Witkowski, who signed this offseason to a two-year deal worth $750K per year. The 27-year-old  defenseman played sporadically for the past three years with the Tampa Bay Lightning and now, according to Khan, plan to move him to right wing. Khan writes that unless the team suffers numerous defensive injuries, that Witkowski will not play defense this year. Instead, he will compete with prospect Tyler Bertuzzi for the fourth-line wing spot opposite Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening and would be a perfect fit as the team’s 13th skater if Bertuzzi makes the team.

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