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Ryan Kesler

Snapshots: Edler, Montreal, Kesler

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The Vancouver Canucks have had an interesting start to the year, with impressive performances from rookie Elias Pettersson but bad losses at the hands of the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes. The team has allowed 14 goals in three games, and is busy shaking up their blue line to try to find answers. One player that won’t be taken out of the lineup because of his play is Alexander Edler, but there might be a break-up coming down the line anyway. Edler is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, but has made it clear he wants to spend the rest of his career in Vancouver.

Still, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet points out in his latest 31 Thoughts column, Edler would be an attractive rental piece at the trade deadline for a contender. The 32-year old defenseman is averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time through the first three games and is coming off his most effective offensive season in some time. Friedman notes that the Tampa Bay Lightning has shown interest in the left-hander before, and that “someone” will again even if he’s determined to return to the Canucks in 2019-20.

  • The Montreal Canadiens will face a tough decision in the coming days, as Eric Engels of Sportsnet writes that the team will likely put either Jacob de La Rose or Nikita Scherbak on waivers once the former is back to full health. Both high draft selections, neither player has really found much consistency in the NHL and even their youth can’t get them into the current lineup. Engels believes that both would be prime targets for a waiver claim, given that they still hold some substantial potential. There are obviously other ways out of the roster crunch, but if it does come down to a waiver placement and attempted minor league assignment, the Canadiens could find themselves losing some of their forward depth for nothing in the coming days.
  • Ryan Kesler was on the ice at the Anaheim Ducks morning skate, and even took line rushes between Andrew Cogliano and Kiefer Sherwood according to Josh Cooper of The Athletic. The veteran forward was not expected to return so soon, and head coach Randy Carlyle wouldn’t even confirm that he’ll be in the lineup tonight against the Arizona Coyotes. If he is back to health it’s at the perfect time as the Ducks are without Ryan Getzlaf and are struggling to find much offense up front. An expected Stanley Cup contender, the Ducks have been ravaged by injuries early and could use some good news on that front.

Anaheim Ducks Place Pontus Aberg On Waivers

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Monday: Aberg has cleared waivers according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, an interesting move given that the Oilers could have reclaimed him for their minor league squad. That means Aberg will now be able to go to San Diego should the Ducks decide to send him there.

Sunday: The Anaheim Ducks decided that Pontus Aberg may not be the best fit after all. After claiming him on waivers from the Edmonton Oilers last week, Elliotte Friedman reports that the Ducks have put the 25-year-old winger on waivers Sunday.

Aberg played just one game for the Ducks, who added Aberg due to multiple injuries to their roster, including Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry and Ondrej Kase. Aberg played 20 shifts in the team’s season opener against San Jose and played 13:47, but didn’t register a point. He did have a minus-one rating and picked up two penalty minutes, made one hit and blocked a shot.

There is no guarantee that any team might take a flier on Aberg after being waived after a one-game trial, but if Edmonton opts to claim him back and no one else does, the Oilers can send him directly to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL without having to re-waive him again. If Edmonton opts not to bring him back and he passes through waivers, he can be sent to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL.

Ondrej Kase Suffers Concussion, Out Indefinitely

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The reasons for the Anaheim Ducks claiming Pontus Aberg are becoming even more clear, as the team today announced that Ondrej Kase suffered a concussion in the final preseason game and has no timetable for his return. Brian Gibbons has been cleared to play after suffering a bone bruise, but Josh Cooper of The Athletic reports that Ryan Kesler will not play in the opener and Patrick Eaves was not at practice today.

The Ducks of course are already without Corey Perry for the next several months at least, and still have not signed restricted free agent Nick Ritchie. Any team in the league would be desperately trying to find replacements at this point, given their decimated depth on the wing the last few weeks. Kase, the latest to go down, broke out last season with a 20-goal campaign and is an integral part of their offense. The seventh-round pick recorded 38 points in just 66 games and was expected by some to even eclipse that total this season given the opportunity presenting itself, but this injury will quickly put a damper on those projections.

Obviously there could be a quick recovery in this case, but head injuries can affect players long after they are medically cleared to play. If Kase does return to the lineup soon, there’s no telling how effective he’ll be in an increased role. Instead, the Ducks will have to find offense from some different sources which could include rookie Sam Steel, who is still with the club for the time being.

Ryan Kesler Cleared For Contact, Aiming For Season Opener

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At one point this off-season, there were major questions about Ryan Kesler’s health and whether the Anaheim Ducks center would play at all in 2018-19. While Kesler has a ways to go before he is back at 100%, he is certainly trending in the right direction and far from the doomsday speculation. According to The Athletic’s Eric Stephens, Kesler has been cleared for contact and may even be available to the Ducks when the team debuts this season on October 3rd.

Kesler, 34, has been dealing with chronic hip issues for the past two seasons. After undergoing surgery during the 2017 off-season, Kesler began last season on the injured reserve and missed the Ducks’ first 37 games of the season. Yet, even once he returned, Kesler was still plagued by a sore hip and it showed in his play. He registered only 14 points in 44 games, saw a decrease in ice time, and was even forced to sit for a game and leave several others early. Kesler continued to rehab his hip this summer, but both he and the Ducks were unsure what the results would be in camp.

Per Stephens, Kesler’s performance to this point has been far better than expectations. Kesler has been skating throughout camp, but working separately from the rest of the team. That changed yesterday, when Kesler finally took part in line rushes and contact drills. Now the only question is how his body handles this increased workload. If Kesler is able to get back to full strength and work through a healthy level of pain management, then perhaps an opening night appearance is not out of the realm of possibility. However, working slowly and avoiding any further setbacks will be the primary focus of Kesler and the team.

Injury Notes: Crawford, Kesler, Roussel

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Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford finally admitted that it was a concussion that ended his season last year and has been causing him so many problems over the last few months. On the ice working his way back to playing shape today but not taking part in normal training camp activities, Crawford told reporters that is now “really close” despite still experiencing some concussion symptoms.

The Blackhawks are desperately trying to bounce back from their disappointing 2017-18 campaign, and probably the most important player on the entire roster is Crawford. Without him the team will have to go with a tandem of Cam Ward and Anton Forsberg, a duo that while upgraded from last season is still underwhelming at the very best. Ward does have experience as a starter of course, but hasn’t shown much over the last few seasons to prove that he can handle carrying a team to the postseason. Crawford getting back into the net at full strength would be a huge boost for the Blackhawks, but we’ll have to wait and see if he can get there.

  • The Anaheim Ducks were pleased to have both Ryan Kesler and Patrick Eaves on the ice today when the team opened training camp, though it’s still not clear what their status is for the start of the season. There had been some rumors about Kesler perhaps missing the entire 2018-19 campaign with his ongoing hip troubles, but having him out on the ice even just skating is a step in the right direction. Eaves of course is coming back from his Guillain-Barre Syndrome diagnosis but would be an incredible boost to the Ducks’ secondary scoring group if he can return to full strength this season. In his 22 regular season games with the Ducks since being acquired in 2017, Eaves has scored 12 goals including 10 at even strength.
  • The Vancouver Canucks added some size and toughness to the lineup this summer when they signed Tim Schaller, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, but have already lost one of them to injury. Roussel will not be participating in training camp at this point after suffering a concussion in pre-camp scrimmages. Still skating, Roussel’s timeline hasn’t been made public and at this point is likely still undecided. It’s a tough start for a player who was signed to a four-year contract in July, despite never scoring 15 goals or 30 points in a single season.

Pacific Notes: Juolevi, Kase, Smith, Klefbom

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While asking the question of when will Vancouver Canucks prospect Olli Juolevi play his first NHL game, Ben Kuzma of The Province writes that his chances of making this year’s squad has already been hampered when he suffered a lower-back injury during offseason training. The 20-year–old fifth-overall pick in 2016 had a minimally invasive disk procedure to relieve pressure on his spinal nerve column, which was expected to sideline him for eight to 10 weeks.

Kuzma writes that defenseman Alexander Edler suffered a similar injury back in the 2010-11 season and needed a full 10 weeks to recover. Juolevi likely won’t begin full-intensive training until the end of August, therefore, and will only get about three weeks to get in shape for training camp. With his chances of making the team already a question mark before 2018 first-rounder Quinn Hughes announced he would return to the University of Michigan, what are his chances now?

“He’s on schedule,” said Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning. “He has been working out and will be ready for training camp. We expect him to come to put his best foot forward. We’ll see where he is at and go from there.”

  • Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that with the signing of Ondrej Kase to three-year, $7.8MM deal, the Anaheim Ducks may have quite the logjam at the forward position this year as the team likely will have to find a more prominent role for Kase, which could be challenging. The team has a logjam at the right wing position as many believe that veteran Patrick Eaves could likely join Ryan Getzlaf on the team’s top line next year. The second line will be either manned by Jakob Silfverberg or Corey Perry, which could force Kase to move to the fourth line. That’s not likely to happen. So what can they do for Kase? Move him to the left side? Stephens writes that might work for temporary situations such as injuries that come up, but is hardly a permanent solution for the 22-year-old who is just starting to enter his prime. Stephens adds that a more likely possibility, especially if Ryan Kesler is not ready for the regular season, would be to move Silfverberg off the right side to accommodate Kase.
  • Kent Wilson of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Calgary Flames may have redesigned their team, but they are taking a big gamble in the net with 36-year-old Mike Smith. The veteran had an amazing first-half of the season before suffering an injury and never looked the same. While the hope is that Smith is fully recovered and should return to form for this season, Wilson writes that he’s entering the “danger age” for goaltenders who have historically fallen off a cliff at 36. If the team can’t get a big year from Smith, the team only has David Rittich and Jon Gillies as insurance, which could crush the team’s hopes for a playoff berth in a very deep Pacific Division.
  • Jamie Umbach of NHL.com takes a look at the Edmonton Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom, who regressed last season after a breakout season in the 2016-17 season in which he tallied 12 goals and 38 points. However, a shoulder injury sustained in the Western Conference Finals hovered over him all of last year to the point that he five goals and 21 points in 66 games before he opted to have season-ending surgery to repair his shoulder. Klefbom has been given a clean bill of health this offseason is ready to return for a big season next year. “It feels good going home knowing the shoulder is 100 percent so I don’t have to go through this again with medications and injections,” Klefbom said.

Snapshots: Eaves, Bjork, Kunin

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The Anaheim Ducks look to be getting back a familiar face next season as general manager Bob Murray told a group of season ticket holders today that he expects veteran Patrick Eaves to return and play a full season, according to the Orange County Register’s Elliott Teaford.

After coming over in 2016-17 during a trade deadline deal, Eaves proceeded to ink a new three-year, $9.45MM extension that summer only to miss all but two games last season after being diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. However, he is expected to return to the Ducks next season to add to their veteran core, although the team might now lose Ryan Kesler, who has been limited with a hip injury from last season and could miss part or even all of next season.

“I’m more confident that Patrick Eaves is going to play for the full season than I am of Ryan Kesler at the moment, although ‘Kes’ says he’s going to be fine,” Murray said during an event with Ducks season-ticket holders at Bolsa Chica State Beach.

Eaves, 34, came off a 32-goal season in 2016-17 between the Dallas Stars and the Ducks and could provide significant help to an offense that has aged quickly over the last season or two.

  • Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Hub writes that one forgotten player among the Boston Bruins is Anders Bjork, who underwent shoulder surgery in the middle of his rookie season. The 21-year-old prospect out of Notre Dame put up just four goals and 12 points in 30 games, but Anderson notes that Bjork was considered to be the team’s top prospect just a year ago behind Charlie McAvoy. Bjork will attempt to win a spot on the team’s top-six this year. “I definitely think the games I got were helpful,” Bjork said. “I learned a ton, just tried to soak it all up when I was playing those games, and even just practicing and being around, tried to soak up as much as I could. I think I’m going to use that as an advantage for going into camp next year and trying to learn from the guys I watched, especially the young guys — what worked and what didn’t.”
  • Dane Mizutani of twincities.com writes that the Minnesota Wild’s 2016 first-round pick Luke Kunin, who suffered a torn ACL injury on Mar. 4 and had surgery in April, says that he intends to lace up his skates this week, but isn’t sure he will be ready by the time training camp comes around. “I’m not going to put a timeline on it or anything like that,” Kunin said. “Obviously, I would love to be ready by training camp. That’s my goal. I want to play. That said, at the end of the day, it’s up to the doctors and what they say as far as how it’s going. It’s one of those things that I know I can’t rush. Just trying to stick with it and trust the process.” Kunin split time this season with Minnesota and the Iowa Wild. He posted two goals and four points in 19 games at the NHL level, but was likely to get brought back for the team’s stretch run at the end of the season before being injured.

Ryan Kesler’s 2018-19 Season Still Up In The Air

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Among the biggest disappointments in the Anaheim Ducks season was Ryan Kesler, who battled through injury to return midway through the year only to be a shadow of his former self. In 44 games, Kesler registered just 14 points and averaged his lowest time on ice in more than a decade. He was visibly not the same shutdown two-way center of the past, and he registered just two assists and six shots on goal as the Ducks were swept out of the first round. Now, in the latest 31 Thoughts column by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the possibility of Kesler missing the entire 2018-19 season is brought up.

Kesler underwent hip surgery last summer in an attempt to solve a chronic issue, but Friedman now reports that he’ll undergo “aggressive rehab and treatment” this time around to try and get back on the ice. There is a chance that he sits out the entire season and tries to return in 2019-20, when he’ll be 35 years old. He still has four years on his contract that carries a $6.88MM cap hit, meaning it’s unlikely he’ll retire either way. But now there is a chance that he could spend all of next season on LTIR should the rehab not work as hoped.

While Friedman doesn’t go into what kind of odds there are of Kesler missing the season, just the fact that he won’t be back at full strength should drastically change the Ducks’ offseason plans. With him in the picture the team has some of the best center depth in the league, with Ryan Getzlaf, Adam Henrique and Rickard Rakell all able to play the position. Without him, things start to deteriorate down the middle for the Ducks. Antoine Vermette, who also dealt with injuries this season but is an effective bottom-six center when healthy is an unrestricted free agent this summer, as is Derek Grant who emerged as a capable option with 24 points this season.

The Ducks face an offseason where they already had to rethink the structure of their forward group, and with the news on Kesler that becomes even more integral. As Corey Perry continues to slow down as he and Getzlaf enter their mid-thirties, the team will be looking to the next generation of forwards to start carrying more of the load. Perhaps free agency is another place they can attract some support, but there isn’t a ton of cap space left. Brandon Montour, Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase all need new deals as they head into restricted free agency, and an extension for John Gibson is right around the corner. It’s not clear how the Ducks will improve their squad for 2018-19, but there is a clear need for something to happen.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pacific Notes: Raanta, Perry, Carter, Couture, Marchessault

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Nothing went exactly the way that Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta had hoped in the first half of the season. However, one thing the goaltender hopes is that he can prove to his team that he is a number one netminder, something he hasn’t accomplished so far this year, according to Arizona Sports Craig Morgan.

Acquired as part of a major package this offseason along with center Derek Stepan for defensive prospect Anthony DeAngelo and the seventh-overall pick in the 2017 draft (Lias Andersson), Raanta was supposed to make people forget about longtime veteran Mike Smith, who the team traded to Calgary in the offseason. Instead, Raanta has spent quite a bit of time on injured reserve with two lower-body ailments and a concussion and has only appeared in 21 games, posting a 2.82 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

“I’m waiting for him to get into a rhythm,” general manager John Chayka said Tuesday. “I don’t think you can evaluate him until he gets into a rhythm. There have been some games, Colorado is one (a 3-1 win on Dec. 27) where I thought he played exceptionally well. I’m hoping now is that time when he can get on a roll and solidify things for us in net.”

The 28-year-old netminder will be an unrestricted free-agent this summer and the team must decide over the next three and a half months whether Raanta is their goalie of the future and if he is worth locking up to a long-term deal.

  • Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register writes that Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry is set to return to the Ducks lineup tonight after missing 11 straight games with a knee injury. This will be the first time this year that Perry will get an opportunity to play with Ryan Kesler and Ryan Getzlaf. Kesler came back on Dec. 11, the same day that Perry went down, while Getzlaf hadn’t returned at that point. The three made one of the top lines in hockey in recent years. In 31 games before the injury, Perry has six goals and 16 assists.
  • While there is no timetable for his return, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes that Los Angeles Kings veteran center Jeff Carter has been much more visible in the last week. He’s shed the Roll-A-Bout and crutches and is walking around without a boot. He has suffered no setbacks so far since he was injured on Oct. 18 and required ankle surgery. “Progression-wise and everything he’s doing right now shows he will be back this season,” Blake said.
  • Paul Gackle of The Mercury News writes that center Logan Couture has finally found his pre-concussion form after Friday’s three assist night against Ottawa. Couture, who had been leading the team in scoring before going down with a head injury on Dec. 15. The scribe writes that Couture, who has struggled in his first three games back after missing four games, looked like the old Couture Friday. “He’s coming off an injury where you never know how long it takes to feel good again,” head coach Peter DeBoer said. “He was obviously good again tonight.”
  • One fact about the six-year, $30MM contract that Vegas Golden Knights winger Jon Marchessault signed earlier this week is that it has a modified no-trade clause in it, tweets SinBin. Details on the specifics of the NTC, however, is unknown, according to CapFriendly.

Injury Notes: Barrie, Kesler, Parise

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Tyson Barrie will be out four to six weeks with a hand injury according to Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, a huge loss for the team as they look to stay competitive in the Western Conference. Barrie was off to a great offensive start this year, recording 27 points through his first 34 games while once again logging more than 21 minutes.

In his absence, Bednar explained that Erik Johnson and Samuel Girard will take most of the powerplay time, though it will be tough to fill Barrie’s shoes with the man advantage. The 26-year old already had 10 powerplay assists on the season, the third time already in his career he’s hit double digits.

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