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Ryan Murray

Ryan Murray Suffers Broken Hand

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After recently missing two games with a back injury, it appears that Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray is set to miss some more time, perhaps even a substantial amount. Columbus Dispatch beat writer Aaron Portzline revealed late last night that the Blue Jackets’ blue liner broke his hand while blocking a shot in the first period of a 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Murray did not return and the prognosis was confirmed following the game. While there is still no word on the severity of the break or a timeline for his return, Murray continues to have bad luck on the injury front in his young career.

Until last week, it appeared that Murray was well on his way to another full season, after skating in 82 games with Columbus last year. This is a change of pace for the young defenseman, whose injuries have hindered his development early on in his NHL career. Drafted second overall in 2012, Murray was expected to step in and have an impact right away in 2012-13, but a serious shoulder injury at the junior level with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips eliminated that possibility and held Murray to just 23 junior games that season. Nonetheless, Murray was able to make the team in 2013-14 and played in 66 games his rookie year. However, he did miss almost the entire month of March that year with a knee injury. In 2014-15, Murray was held to just 12 games all season long due to setbacks regarding his knee and other injury concerns. In his first three seasons since being drafted, Murray skated in just 101 hockey games. That all finally changed last season, when Murray played in all 82 games for the Blue Jackets. Yet, Murray managed to score only 25 points, less than his rookie season pace. Tabbed as a puck-moving, point-scoring defenseman out of juniors, there is some question as to whether or not injuries have played a part in the former top pick’s lack of production. Through 60 games this year, Murray has just 11 points, and depending on the extent of this injury, that could be all he gets.

Regardless of the development and offensive effectiveness of Murray, he is a capable defenseman whose loss leaves a hole in the Blue Jackets’ lineup. As Portzline points out, the trade deadline swap of physical Dalton Prout for puck-moving veteran Kyle Quincey is now even more vital, as Quincey can more accurately replace Murray’s play. Columbus continues to win, with 13 points in their last 10 games, and are holding tight to the final Metropolitan Division playoff spot, fending off the New York Rangers and chasing the Pittsburgh Penguins. The pressure is now on Quincey and the rest of the Blue Jackets defensemen to pick up the slack of losing Murray and keep the team moving forward.

Alex Galchenyuk Out Indefinitely With Lower-Body Injury

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With the Montreal Canadiens leading the Atlantic Division by four points, everything seemed to be going well for the club. Not so fast, as the team announced today that Alex Galchenyuk will be out indefinitely after suffering a lower-body injury last night in Los Angeles. While the young forward traveled with the club to St. Louis, he underwent various tests today that have ruled him out for the immediate future.

The injury occurred on a collision with Anze Kopitar in the 5-4 win over the Kings last night, with Galchenyuk leaving the game immediately. Renaud Lavoie of TVA reports that it’s his right leg and he obviously won’t play on Tuesday.

Galchenyuk played all 82 games for the Habs last season, registering his first 30-goal season of his career and establishing himself as a legitimate star in the league. Off to an even better start this year, the 22-year old has 23 points in 25 games and is in the mix among league leaders. A huge part of the Canadiens’ offense, Galchenyuk has been moved back to his natural center position this year and though his play has improved, he has been a dreadful 39.5% on draws.

The third-overall pick in 2012 (behind Nail Yakupov and Ryan Murray), Galchenyuk is another young US-born center thriving in the league. While this injury could obviously be only a few days, if it stretches far into the season the Canadiens will have to look elsewhere for their offense both 5-on-5 and with a man advantage.

Seth Jones Out Three Weeks With Broken Foot

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Some terrible news came down from the Columbus Blue Jackets today, as they announced that Seth Jones will miss at least three weeks with a hairline fracture in his foot. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch provides some graphic notes on how the injury occurred in a series of tweets, saying that Patrik Berglund’s skate cut through the laces and tongue of Jones’ boot to fracture his foot.

Jones came over from the Nashville Predators last season and made an immediate impact on their top defensive unit. Paired with uber-rookie Zach Werenski this season, Jones has six points in ten games and is logging over 24 minutes of ice-time a night.

Luckily, the team has other effective defensemen to take his place, though obviously he’ll be missed.  Ryan Murray and Jack Johnson, currently the second pair, will likely be asked to take on a greater responsibility while David Savard probably moves up to Werenski’s right side. Columbus next plays Anaheim on Wednesday night, in the first game at home since the 10-0 shellacking of the Montreal Canadiens.

Metropolitan Notes: Flyers Goaltending, Gordon, Rask, Kreider, Murray

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While the Flyers were hoping that goaltending would be a strength for them this season, the exact opposite has been the case so far, notes Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post.  Through ten games, Philadelphia has a team save percentage of .866, the second lowest in the NHL (Carolina is last at .864).  Not surprisingly, head coach Dave Hakstol has changed goalies in-game three times already.

Both Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth are set to be unrestricted free agents following the season and so far, they aren’t performing well in their contract years.  Before the season started, GM Ron Hextall said that he didn’t anticipate signing either to an extension and right now that’s looking like a shrewd move.

For the time being at least, it’s likely that Hakstol will continue to platoon the two in the hopes that one will get on a roll.  If neither get going though, they could be a team who looks outside the organization for goaltending help before too long.

More notes from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Still with the Flyers, the team announced that center Boyd Gordon will be out for at least a week with an upper body injury. While the release doesn’t specifically note it, Gordon will be placed on injured reserve.  He has played in eight games so far this season, picking up a goal while averaging 8:30 per game on the fourth line.
  • While Carolina’s decision to sign center Victor Rask to a six year, $24MM extension in the offseason raised more than a few eyebrows, the early returns on the new contract have been quite promising, writes Luke DeCock of the News and Observer. Not only does he lead the team in scoring with ten points (4-6-10) in eight games, he has recorded a point in every game so far.  Coincidentally, the only other player in franchise history to pick up at least a point in each of the first eight games of the season is the person who signed Rask to that contract, GM Ron Francis.
  • The New York Rangers will welcome back left winger Chris Kreider to the lineup tonight, reports Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News. He has missed the last four games due to neck spasms.  Prior to the injury, he was off to a strong start to the season with seven points (3-4-7) in five games.  He’s expected to play alongside Mika Zibanejad who he has skated with going back to training camp and Mats Zuccarello.  Oscar Lindberg is expected to be a healthy scratch to open up a spot for Kreider to return.
  • Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray is expected to return to the lineup tonight, notes Tom Reed of the Columbus Dispatch. It has been a rocky season for the 23 year old so far.  He has missed the last four games with an upper body issue and has also missed time with a lower body issue suffered while blocking a shot in the season opener.  As a result, he has only seen action in two games this season.  Murray logged nearly 23 minutes a game last year and will be a welcome addition for John Tortorella’s blueline moving forward.

Snapshots: Flyers, Escrow, Murray, Despres

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While the Flyers are receiving some good news on the injury front, it will be a while before they can actually benefit from it, writes Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post.  Center Scott Laughton has been skating since Friday and is hoping to be ready in the next seven to ten days to return to the lineup from a knee injury.  As for Michael Del Zotto, he skated for the first time on Sunday after suffering a knee injury of his own.

On the surface, that might sound promising that both are nearing returns to the lineup but there is one hiccup they have to deal with.  At the start of the season, the Flyers placed both players on long-term injury reserve (LTIR), allowing them to have replacement players while remaining cap compliant.  As a result, both players must miss at least 10 games and 24 days of action.  Even though both players may be ready to go before the 24 days are up, neither will be able to return to playing until their November 5th game against Montreal.

Other news from around the league:

  • The NHL and NHLPA have agreed to set the first quarter escrow rate on pay at 15.5%, notes TSN’s Frank Seravalli. Teams withhold the escrow amounts in order to maintain an equal 50/50 split of revenues as listed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  While the 15.5% represents a reduction compared to last year (17%), it’s still unlikely that the players will receive a lot of that money back.  In 2014-15 – the last season where total revenues have been finalized – the players had 15% withheld as escrow and only received 2.05% of it back.  The large gap will likely continue to be a problem as league revenues begin to flat line with the NHLPA exercising at least some part of their cap escalator each offseason.
  • Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray is not currently with the team on their road trip but could join them at some point this week, reports Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. Murray missed Saturday’s game in Dallas with a head injury after a collision with Chicago’s Brent Seabrook on Friday night.
  • The Ducks have placed blueliner Simon Despres on LTIR, TSN’s Bob McKenzie notes (Twitter link). The move gives Anaheim some more financial flexibility in the short-term as they look to re-sign RFA defenseman Hampus Lindholm.  Despres is currently out with an upper body injury that is believed to be concussion-like symptoms.

Blue Jackets Agree To Contract With Seth Jones

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With rumors swirling last night about a possible Jacob Trouba offer sheet, the Columbus Blue Jackets have reportedly taken that option off the table with Seth Jones, their own high-prized RFA defenceman, says Darren Dreger of TSN and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.  Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tells us that it’s worth $5.4MM per season, for six seasons.  Cap Friendly also tells us that the deal includes a limited no-trade clause in years five and six. Jones will submit a list of 10 teams he cannot be traded to.

Last week we speculated on the possibility of Jones receiving an offer-sheet because of the tight cap situation that the Blue Jackets are in, combined with his elite potential as a top-pairing shutdown defender. While GM Jarmo Kekalainen came out to say that they would match any offer sheet submitted, it would have been extremely difficult for the team to do so without having plans to move some contracts out.

If they truly have come to an agreement, it must mean that the Jackets have figured out at least a plan for what they’re to do this offseason. Currently less than $6MM from the cap (before the Jones hit), they have been trying to move out bad contracts desperately and had conversations with Edmonton on the draft floor. David Clarkson, Scott Hartnell and Fedor Tyutin all have big money left on their contracts and have performed terribly in recent years.

For Jones, this represents the first big money deal of his career after going fourth overall in the 2013 draft.  While he was hidden down an outstanding depth chart in Nashville, a mid-season trade brought him to Columbus where he is expected to take over on the top pairing with either Ryan Murray or Jack Johnson. Suddenly, the Blue Jacket blueline looks mighty intimidating with David Savard and Dalton Prout rounding out the group.

What’s Next For The Calder Cup Champions?

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On Saturday night in exciting fashion the Lake Erie Monsters, Columbus’ AHL affiliate, took home the Calder Cup for the first time in their history.  Up three games to none in the series against the Hershey Bears, the teams took a 0-0 tie into overtime before 21-year old Oliver Bjorkstrand iced the game with his playoff-leading tenth goal.  The finals sweep was the first of its kind since the Norfolk Admirals won in 2012, easily triumphing over the Toronto Marlies in four games.

Bjorkstrand took home the playoff MVP award, joining past winners such as Tomas Tatar, Robin Lehner and Carey Price. He’s carving out quite a playoff career thus far, having put up 77 points in 59 games throughout his time in junior to go with his 16 this season.

For head coach Jared Bednar, this not only is his first Calder Cup victory, it’s the first time an AHL team under his purview progressed past the first round.  Now carrying a strong .589 winning percentage through four seasons as an AHL head coach, he’ll surely start to get looks as a NHL boss soon enough.

If he does, he’ll be following in the footsteps of recent Calder Cup champions; Willie Desjardins took the Texas Stars to the Cup in 2014, and was immediately hired on by the Vancouver Canucks.  Jeff Blashill won with the powerhouse Grand Rapids Griffins in 2013, and was the successor in Detroit after Mike Babcock left for Toronto. In 2012, Jon Cooper took the Norfolk Admirals all the way, winning 55 games in the regular season and taking home the championship.  Two seasons later he was behind the bench for Tampa, and has now taken them deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs in consecutive years.

For players like Bjorkstrand, their days on the the Monsters might be numbered.  After being selected in the third round by the Blue Jackets in 2013, Bjorkstrand returned to the WHL and finished an impressive junior career with 118 points in just 59 games, adding 25 more in 17 playoff contests. This season, he scored 17 goals for the Monsters in the regular season, and made a solid debut for the Blue Jackets, putting up 8 points in just 12 games with the big club.  He’ll look to break camp with the team as early as next season.

The other Monster making waves this postseason was 18-year old Zach Werenski, last season’s eighth overall pick.  After completing his season at the University of Michigan, the defenceman signed an amateur try-out with the Monsters, as to preserve his status for any future expansion drafts. His entry-level deal with the Jackets will kick in in 2016-17, keeping him a first year professional for that season.

Werenski played seven games down the stretch for the Monsters, before becoming one of their top performers in the playoffs.  His 14 points ranked him third overall on the Monsters and second among AHL defencemen trailing only Marlies’ standout Connor Carrick.

While Werenski played exceptionally these playoffs for the Monsters, he’ll be hard pressed to crack the roster this fall.  The Blue Jackets have seven defencemen under contract for next season, including young standouts Ryan Murray and Seth Jones.  With a lot of money tied up long-term at forward in players that aren’t providing much value, the Blue Jackets will need to rely on their young pipeline on the back end for the next few years.

Winning the Calder Cup is an outstanding achievement, and for Monsters’ captain Ryan Craig, it’s a long time coming.  Breaking in with Tampa Bay just after their 2004 Stanley Cup run, Craig has bounced up and down for the next decade, never securing a place in the NHL or repeating his strong rookie season of 28 points in 48 games.  Now 34, he’s a champion at the pro-level for the first time in his career.

You can bet teams will be scouring this roster for players as the season draws closer, betting that success in the AHL could lead to success for their big club. It’s a young, talented group, with six players above the age of 29. While Columbus didn’t have much success at the NHL level this season, they possess the third overall pick in this June’s entry draft after moving up in the lottery and may find themselves in a position to deal from a stocked cupboard in order to improve the team this season.

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