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Western Notes: Vlasic, Shipachyov, Kossila, Oleksy

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The San Jose Sharks seem to have faired well on a five-game East Coast road trip and the team is 5-5. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) released his 10 Sharks observations, and is quick to lodge his complaint on the team’s usage of veteran defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who he believes should not be used on the power play any more.

While Kurz writes that he isn’t taking away from Vlasic’s defensive game as he is fantastic at covering other team’s top players, he points out that he is the wrong guy for the power play and has been for some time. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Vlasic has played 169:25 minutes of ice time on the power play for San Jose, sixth-most on the team. He has one goal and seven assists in those two-plus years on the power play and just a lone assist this year in 25 minutes of power play time.

The team needs to look for a younger defenseman to take over that role on San Jose’s second power play unit and Kurz pointed to rookie Joakim Ryan as a possible candidate. While the 24-year-old has been pointless so far this season, Ryan led the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda in shots on goal last season with 185. His 10 goals and 39 assists last year, suggest he might be able to handle that role.

  • The Vadim Shipachyov saga isn’t over yet. Expected to skate tonight with the AHL Chicago Wolves after being assigned there Wednesday by the Vegas Golden Knights, the 30-year-old playmaker is not in tonight’s lineup for the Wolves in their game against the Milwaukee Admirals, according to Jesse Granger of The Las Vegas Sun. Chicago has not specified why he isn’t in the lineup. However, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, Shipachyov will not play and is returning to Las Vegas to be with his family. He did practice with Chicago yesterday, which is why he was expected to play today. The KHL veteran had been assigned at the start of the year to Chicago, but didn’t report and Vegas allowed him to stay in Vegas. However, there is no indication the team had planned to allow him the same courtesy this time around.
  • The Anaheim Ducks announced they have reassigned center Kalle Kossila and defenseman Steven Oleksy to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. Two moves had to be made after the team activated both Sami Vatanen and Ryan Miller for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kossila, played in two games for Anaheim this week, putting up a goal and an assist. The 24-year-old had two goals and four assists in five AHL games. Oleksy was called up Thursday, but did not play. The 31-year-old blueliner has two goals and two assists in five games for the Gulls.

Injury Updates: Zajac, Connolly, Miller, Vatanen, Teravainen

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While he is still a long way from returning to the lineup, Devils center Travis Zajac took a step forward in his recovery on Friday in the morning skate for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle back in mid-August.  However, head coach John Hynes was quick to caution to Andrew Gross of The Record that he still has a long way to go and that there’s no updated timeframe yet for his return.  At the time of the surgery, Zajac was expected to miss four-to-six months but if he doesn’t experience any setbacks as he begins to skate, he could potentially push to be back for the shorter end of that timeline.

Other injury notes from around the league:

  • The Capitals will likely be without winger Brett Connolly for at least the next two games as he has been placed into concussion protocol, notes Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. Anthony Peluso, who was recalled yesterday, is likely to take his spot on the roster while Tyler Graovac (upper-body injury) was transferred to injured reserve.
  • The Ducks have activated goaltender Ryan Miller off IR, reports Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. The netminder is expected to serve as the backup tonight and then potentially make his first start of the season on Sunday.  Miller is in his first season with Anaheim after signing a two-year deal with them in free agency but suffered a wrist injury in the preseason and has yet to suit up in a regular season game in 2017-18.
  • Also coming off the IR in Anaheim is blueliner Sami Vatanen, Stephens notes in the same column. He has missed the entire season so far after undergoing surgery in May to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder.  His return to the Ducks’ lineup comes at a great time with Cam Fowler (knee) and Kevin Bieksa (hand) both dealing with injuries.
  • After leaving Friday’s game with an upper-body injury, Hurricanes winger Teuvo Teravainen will skate Sunday morning and is listed as a game-time decision for their game against Anaheim, the team announced (via Twitter). Teravainen is off to a nice start in his second season with Carolina, recording five points in the first nine games of the season which ranks him tied for third on the team.

Anaheim Ducks Recall Steve Oleksy

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Journeyman defenseman Steve Oleksy is set to make to join the Ducks for the first time, as Anaheim announced that they have called up the veteran blue liner. The Ducks are in Florida tonight to face the Panthers, so don’t expect Oleksy to make his debut right away, but with dates with the Lightning and Hurricanes still to come this weekend, the expectation is that Oleksy will join the team on their southeastern swing and could see some game action before the return trip to Anaheim.

Oleksy, 31, signed with the Ducks as a free agent this summer after spending last year with the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins after playing the three seasons prior with the rival Washington Capitals. Oleksy has never been an NHL regular – his career-high 33 games came in 2013-14 – but he has proven to be serviceable when called upon.

That’s all that Anaheim can ask for, as they are already on to their tenth different defender of the season. The Ducks revealed today that Kevin Bieksa is out indefinitely with a hand injury, as he joins stalwarts Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler on the sidelines. With Shea Theodore and Clayton Stoner now in Las Vegas, the Ducks simply don’t have the depth that they used to on the blue line, leading to this opportunity for Oleksy on top of regular roles already for 37-year-old addition Francois Beauchemin and the likes of Korbinian Holzer and Jaycob Megna. 

Snapshots: Athanasiou, Dubois, Lindholm, Vatanen

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Although Andreas Athanasiou has now agreed to terms on a new deal with Detroit, it’s still going to take some time before he rejoins the team.  GM Ken Holland told reporters, including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, that the team will apply for a work visa for the winger on Monday morning.  As we’ve seen in recent weeks, it can take a few days if not longer for that to be approved.  Once that happens, he’ll need some practices before being game-ready; while Holland wouldn’t definitively rule out an AHL conditioning stint for Athanasiou, he did note that it’s an unlikely scenario.

In the meantime, Holland will likely be busy working the phones as he looks to make a roster move or two to free up the cap space required to add Athanasiou to the active roster.  A trade seems likely but if there is a significant injury between now and then, the Red Wings could use LTIR to get back into cap compliance in the short-term and give them more time to work out a trade.

More from around the league:

  • While Blue Jackets winger Pierre-Luc Dubois isn’t lighting it up (just one goal through seven games), Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that there are no indications that the team is planning on sending him back to junior before he plays his tenth game next week. The 19-year-old isn’t eligible to play in the AHL yet and the fact that he is playing a regular shift (he’s averaging nearly 13 minutes per game) is a good sign for him to officially burn the first season of his entry-level contract.  The focus will then shift to 40 games on the active roster when he will accrue a year towards UFA eligibility.
  • Although Ducks defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen have started skating with the team, both are out for tonight’s game against Montreal, the team announced (Twitter link). Both players had been targeting November 1st as a return date and while they’ll miss at least one more game, they still appear to be ahead of schedule in their recoveries from offseason shoulder surgeries.

Afternoon Notes: Duchene, Chabot, Lindholm, Vatanen

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While Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene remains with the team despite the constant trade rumors that have hounded the 26-year-old center all offseason and entering the preseason. In fact, despite earlier reports that general manager Joe Sakic still has high trade demands for Duchene, there are others who look at the situation differently. Long-time Avalanche great Peter Forsberg was a guest in-studio analyst for a Swedish of the Avalanche-New Jersey Devils game said the team needs to “bench and trade” the disgruntled center, according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post.

Duchene, who has reportedly been visibly unhappy to still be with the Avalanche and has said very little to the press, was a target for Forsberg during that broadcast, who believes that while putting up points might be important to raise his value, the center is not going go all-out to help his team.

“Doubtful that he should be allowed to play (with Colorado),” Forsberg, whose words were translated by Expression reporter Robin LIndgren, said in the Swedish broadcast. “Put him in the stands. If I were playing with a player that I know doesn’t even want to be in the team, it’s not like he is going to throw himself on the ice and block shots with his head. It is mostly difficult to have a player like that in the team, although he is skillful and is doing his best. I would rather play with someone that wants to be there. I would put him on the bench and trade him.”

  • CBS Sports reports that Ottawa Senators have recalled top defensive prospect Thomas Chabot Sunday to help fill in for their many defensive injuries. The team is currently without Erik Karlsson, who is still out after foot surgery this offseason, as well as Johnny Oduya, who is out with a lower-body injury. The team attempted to fulfil their defensive needs a couple days ago when they promoted Ben Harpur, who has two years of AHL experience, unlike Chabot who has just two games of AHL experience, but Harpur suffered an upper-body injury in last night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. The 20-year-old Chabot had a goal and an assist in his first two games with the Belleville Senators. The 2015 first-rounder was one of the team’s final cuts, which surprised many, but he was held responsible for a poor preseason performance, a 9-2 drubbing to the Montreal Canadiens, in which he finished the game with a plus/minus rating of -5.
  • Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register tweeted that Anaheim Ducks’ injured defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen were both full participants in practice today, suggesting the team may eventually be getting back their top defenders. They are not that close to returning, however, as they are both on LTIR, which requires them to miss 24 days and 10 games. Both required shoulder surgery at the end of last season.

West Notes: Duchene, Ducks, Steen, Juolevi

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With the start of the regular season now less than a week away, Matt Duchene remains a member of the Avalanche and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested to 630 CHED in Edmonton (audio link) that things are currently pretty quiet on the trade front with Colorado.  GM Joe Sakic has set a very high asking price and as of yet, no one has been willing to meet it so it appears there’s a good chance that this will drag out into the season.  Friedman notes that Columbus remains very interested in Duchene’s services while a trio of Western teams, Edmonton, Anaheim, and Nashville have been in and out of talks at times as well.  Duchene has two years left on his contract with a $6MM cap hit but aside from the Ducks, the other three teams all have the cap room to take him on without sending any money the other way.

More from the West:

  • Ducks defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen are progressing well from their respective offseason shoulder surgeries, head coach Randy Carlyle told Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. Both players have been skating in recent days, albeit in non-contact jerseys.  Both rearguards are expected to miss all of October but have set a target to return to Anaheim’s lineup on November 1st.
  • While Alex Steen’s hand injury will keep him out for the first week of the regular season, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the issue isn’t expected to keep him out too long beyond that. Steen is going to be counted on to play a big role when he returns, especially with long-term injuries to center Patrik Berglund (out until December) and winger Robby Fabbri, whose season is over before it even started due to a torn ACL.
  • The Canucks have not yet decided where to assign defenseman Olli Juolevi. His agent Markus Lehto told Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 (Twitter link) that a team in Europe could be a possible landing spot.  The OHL’s London Knights – where he has spent the past two seasons – seems to remain the likeliest destination for the 19-year-old for now.

Vegas Storming 1st Round Of Draft

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The Vegas Golden Knights are in an odd position, where they control a strong negotiating position over teams who don’t want to lose valuable roster players. Vegas is under no obligation to comply with any requests, and can essentially extort other teams for maximum return. If Anaheim wants to protect Josh Manson, for example, Vegas will play hardball. They will do so for two reasons: first, the better the player, the more important he will be to a future Knights team, and two, they have no incentive not to take that player for anything less than an optimal return. GM George McPhee is already looking to have a better competitive jump-start than any previous NHL expansion team by a significant margin. And it doesn’t look as though he will opt out of choosing the best available players for anything short of a ransom. Some teams might be desperate enough to do so.

Vegas is already assumed to have three picks, and could easily snag more. They have their own pick at #6, and are believed to have side-deals with Columbus and the New York Islanders in order to acquire the #24 and #15 picks, respectively. Anaheim is definitely in discussions to keep Manson and possibly even Sami Vatanen, who they desperately tried to trade for value before Saturday’s roster freeze. It’s quite conceivable that picks are in play there, but Anaheim no longer has its 2017 first after trading it to Dallas for Patrick Eaves.

Other teams who will be desperate to keep players include Nashville, who would lose James Neal, Chicago, who have exposed Trevor van Riemsdyk, and San Jose, who could lose one of Paul Martin or David Schlemko. If those teams, or any other organization, really want to hang onto particular players, there’s a very real possibility they will need to surrender a top pick.

For historical reference, only one team has ever drafted with 5 first-round picks – the 1974 Montreal Canadiens. The last team who had 4 first-round picks was the 1999 New York Islanders, when they selected Tim Connolly at #5. If Vegas could amass yet another first round pick, or even two, it would put them in an incredibly enviable position headed into the Entry Draft. The importance of flash and showmanship is rarely overlooked in the City of Lights, and the team looks to continue that philosophy by embracing the saga that the expansion draft has become.

Pacific Expansion Options Offer Weak Value To Vegas

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When looking at the massive lists that were released today, the Pacific Division might have produced one of the weaker set of options for the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Again, while many of these names may be intriguing to hockey fans, that doesn’t mean that Las Vegas will take all of them. The team has been active on the trade market and continues to work hard to acquire as many draft picks that can build the franchise’s future over the next five years. So, there are many side deals that will dissuade the Golden Knights from taking certain people. On top of that, the team may also look to draft several players with the hopes of flipping them to another pick for even more picks.

The Anaheim Ducks list stands out the most. They have two obvious names that stand out in defensemen Josh Manson and Sami Vatanen. Manson had a breakout year with his physical play and Vatanen is a top defenseman despite an off year. While both would be perfect pieces to a brand-new franchise as they are both high-quality and young defenders, most people believe that there is a side deal already in place that will prevent the Golden Knights from taking either one. The Edmonton Oilers, on the other hand, has little of value as the Oilers were able to protect most of what they needed to keep their core intact as well as several key players were exempt from the expansion draft.

The San Jose Sharks also didn’t have expose too much, although defenseman David Schlemko might be a solid veteran who has three years left at a reasonably priced $2.1MM per year. However, Las Vegas may attempt to kick the tires on star free agents Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau instead. The Calgary Flames have a few options available that could intrigue Las Vegas. The team could go after veteran forward Troy Brouwer, but he still has three years remaining at $4.5MM. Another option would be 23-year-old blueliner Brett Kulak, who is an emerging young defenseman. Again, Las Vegas might be better off going after one of their unrestricted free agents instead, either defenseman Michael Stone or veteran winger Kris Versteeg.

The Los Angeles Kings also are a team that didn’t have to expose too much. Perhaps their most interesting option is defenseman Brayden McNabb, who is an excellent physical defenseman. However, a collarbone injury derailed much of his season this past year and he wasn’t the same upon his return. The Arizona Coyotes are another team that didn’t have to protect too much. Forwards Jamie McGinn and Brad Richardson might be the best two options unless Las Vegas can convince veteran forward Radim Vrbata to sign with them. The Vancouver Canucks exposed center Brendan Gaunce, who has a lot of promise, but has never been able to put up numbers at the NHL level. Gaunce, a former first-round pick in 2012, had just five assists in 57 games.

Teams “Lining Up” For Sami Vatanen

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Amid several pieces of information in the latest edition of Insider Trading on TSN, Pierre LeBrun reported that teams are “lining up” with interest for Sami Vatanen hoping Anaheim Ducks are indeed going to trade him to solve some of their expansion problems. LeBrun mentions the Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning in particular.

The Ducks have a real crunch on defense that has been examined multiple times this season. Interestingly, they have several young players—Brandon Montour, Shea Theodore and Jacob Larsson in particular—who could step into any holes created by a trade of Vatanen or another defenseman. The team will need to find a trade somewhere, as Vegas would be hard to convince to take someone other than whichever defenseman ends up exposed. Watching Vatanen or Josh Manson be shipped off to Sin City for nothing would be painful for a team who fancies themselves a real contender for the Stanley Cup. "<strong

All of that is to say that Vatanen remains a real trade candidate this month, and it comes as no surprise that he has suitors all over the league. After another season with solid point totals and an average ice time number above 21 minutes, Vatanen projects as a solid addition to nearly every top-4 in the league. The fact that he is right-handed and comes with a sub-$5MM salary for multiple years makes him palatable to dozens of teams.

The three teams that LeBrun mentions are all coming off very different seasons, and demonstrate how widespread the appetite for Vatanen could be. The Maple Leafs, building on a surprisingly good season by their young stars could jump-start their contention window with a few defensive additions. With Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Carrick penciled in as the top two options on the right side, Vatanen could take on a substantial amount of responsibility.

In New Jersey, the team is still in a window when it needs to try and make the playoffs. With a core group in their prime right now, they’re not quite in a rebuild and with a few tweaks could be right back in the postseason picture. The ironic part is that they dealt a right-handed defenseman last summer for Taylor Hall, but obviously could use an upgrade to the blueline for next season.

Tampa Bay was devastated by injury last season but is expected to be a contender not only for the playoffs but the Stanley Cup again next year. With a healthy Steven Stamkos and an improved blueline, they would be among the early favorites for the Atlantic division crown once again. While Victor Hedman has turned into one of the best all-around defensemen in the league, and Anton Stralman is still an underrated possession darling, the rest of the defense has not been as good.

Even though the Ducks are in a tough spot for the expansion draft, they remain in a great spot after drafting or developing a ton of good defenders. With Cam Fowler in extension talks after an outstanding year, they can now pick and choose which other players they keep for their current window. Should they make a trade, they’ll be able to either restock a prospect cupboard that is anything but bare, or add to their NHL squad for another shot at the Stanley Cup next year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen Require Shoulder Surgery, Out At Least Four Months

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According to Ducks GM Bob Murray, both Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen have torn labrums and require shoulder surgery. Lindholm’s recovery period is deemed four to five months, while Vatanen will need even longer. The GM also noted that Nate Thompson was playing with a hairline fracture in his ankle, while Jared Boll had a back injury during the playoffs. Kevin Bieksa told reporters earlier today that he played with a torn MCL.

Obviously, the repercussions for the Ducks are immense when it comes to Lindholm and Vatanen, two of their top three defenders. A minimum of four months puts them ready at the end of September after much of training camp, while anything longer will delay the start of their season. As Anaheim goes into the summer—and especially the expansion draft—looking to sort out their overflow at defense, injuries of this magnitude could easily change the appetite for them around the league. Vatanen in particular has been rumored to be available, as the Ducks prepare a contract extension for Cam Fowler. At 25 and locked into a reasonable deal for the next three seasons, Vatanen may have been the one dangled in front of potential trade partners.

The Ducks will have an issue with protection, as Bieksa still currently holds a no-movement clause and the team can’t really afford to go the eight skaters route. Even if Bieksa waived his clause, and the Ducks were able to protect all four of their young defensemen (including Josh Manson, who currently projects to be left exposed) it would mean exposing Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano up front, both players the team would rather not lose for nothing. Moving a defenseman has been expected, but with the start of the season now in doubt for two of them it gets even harder.

While every team comes out of the playoffs with terrible injuries—just ask Nashville, the Ducks’ opponent who lost Ryan Johansen to an emergency surgery right after a game—these two are particularly troublesome for the franchise. We’ll have to wait and see how the team deals with the situation, and whether they progress in their rehab quick enough to start the season.

If Bieksa needs surgery, it does complicate the idea some have of a buyout to protect the Ducks in the expansion draft. You can’t buyout injured players, and surely a torn MCL will not be healed by June 15th when the window opens. The buyout would have been a last-ditch solution anyway, as Bieksa is on a 35+ contract and would cause his full $4MM cap-hit regardless. It’s hard to imagine the Ducks eating that just to help them out in the expansion draft.

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