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Samuel Girard

Avalanche Notes: MacKinnon, Lindgren, Girard, Coyle

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The Avalanche will be giving franchise center Nathan MacKinnon some rest as the postseason nears. He’s dealing with a minor injury and may not play again in the regular season, Corey Masisak of the Denver Post was first to report. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed MacKinnon won’t play tonight against the Canucks and called him doubtful for their other two remaining contests (via Masisak).

That will mean extended rest for MacKinnon ahead of the first round. Colorado is the first team in the league to end their regular season schedule, playing Game 82 on Sunday. They’ll have at minimum six days of rest before Game 1 of their first playoff series.

It’s virtually confirmed that MacKinnon will be ready to go when the postseason starts, and today’s absence is more precautionary. Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now wrote, “It sounds like he’d be playing if the Avs were still fighting for something to close out the regular season.”

If that’s the case, MacKinnon ends his season with 32-84–116 in 79 games, along with a +25 rating. On a goals-per-game basis, it’s his worst showing in eight years, and his 1.47 points per game are his lowest since the 2021-22 season. That doesn’t mean much in a season where high-end scoring has regressed heavily. MacKinnon still enters game action tonight leading the league in assists and points, and could very well capture his second straight Hart Trophy in a few weeks’ time.

Unfortunately, there’s a more legitimate upper-body injury holding defenseman Ryan Lindgren out of tonight’s game, Bednar told Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports. The 27-year-old complementary defender, acquired from the Rangers in March, had gone without a point in his last eight games and has 2-1–3 in 18 contests since the swap, averaging 19 minutes per game with a minus-one rating. His second-pairing role will be filled by Samuel Girard, who Bednar confirmed returns tonight after a four-game absence due to an undisclosed injury (via Deen).

Also playing is pivot Charlie Coyle, who was banged up while recording two assists in Tuesday’s shootout win over the Golden Knights. That’s important with MacKinnon out to reduce the load increase on names like Jack Drury and Brock Nelson down the middle. Coyle has 1-7–8 in 16 games since being acquired from the Bruins for Casey Mittelstadt at the trade deadline.

West Notes: Norris, Girard, Ohgren, Dach

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While Ottawa ultimately moved center Josh Norris within the division when they traded him to the Sabres on trade deadline day this month, that wasn’t the only team they had serious talks with.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported earlier this week that the Sens held trade talks with the Canucks and Predators before the deadline but obviously, neither move materialized.  Nashville certainly had ample salary cap space to absorb his $7.95MM cap charge along with three first-round picks but didn’t have the young impact center to send that Buffalo did in Dylan Cozens.  Vancouver, meanwhile, would have been able to cover Norris’ cap charge as well (though longer term, it would have been a challenge) but also lacked the core center to go the other way with Elias Pettersson pulled out of trade talks before the deadline.

More from out West:

  • Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard won’t play tonight against Montreal due to a lower-body injury, notes Corey Masisak of The Denver Post (Bluesky link). The 26-year-old suffered the injury late in Wednesday’s game against Toronto and was out the following night in Ottawa.  Already missing Josh Manson, Colorado’s recently strengthened defensive depth is certainly getting tested.  Girard has 22 points and 94 blocked shots in 66 games this season while averaging just under 21 minutes a night.
  • After being recalled on Tuesday on an emergency basis, the Wild announced (Twitter link) that winger Liam Ohgren has been returned to AHL Iowa. The 21-year-old got into the lineup on Wednesday but with Marcus Johansson returning today against Buffalo, the emergency conditions no longer existed, necessitating his demotion or conversion to a regular recall which would have counted against their post-deadline limit of four.  Ohgren is in his first full season in North America and has five points in 24 games with Minnesota but has been quite productive on the farm, tallying 14 goals and 14 assists in 28 outings with Iowa.
  • Blackhawks winger Colton Dach won’t play tonight against St. Louis due to an elbow injury, relays NHL.com’s Tracey Myers (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has been a regular for Chicago since being recalled in early January, getting into 25 games.  In those outings, he has two goals and five assists along with 86 assists while averaging a little over 12 minutes a night in his first taste of NHL action.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

Injury Updates: Demko, van Riemsdyk, Girard

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To say there has been a lot of speculation about Thatcher Demko’s injury would be a considerable understatement.  After playing the series opener against Nashville, Demko was ruled as out day-to-day and then week-to-week soon after, fueling plenty of theories about the nature of the injury.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the best way to qualify this injury is that it’s a unique one.  The Canucks are hopeful that it’s not as bad as they initially feared and it might not be something that surgery can ultimately fix.  Accordingly, they don’t have an idea of the true timeframe for a return other than he’s not going to be back within the next week or two.

Other injury news from around the postseason:

  • It has been a rough playoff on the injury front for Washington’s back end. Already missing Rasmus Sandin and Nick Jensen to injury, Ethan Bear (Player Assistance Program), and injury recall Vincent Iorio, the team announced (Twitter link) that rearguard Trevor van Riemsdyk sustained an upper-body injury in the first period and did not return.  He was injured on a hit from Matt Rempe who received a minor penalty for interference on the play.  Now down 3-0 in the series, the Capitals will have to turn to Hardy Haman Aktell if none of Sandin, Jensen, Iorio, or van Riemsdyk can return for Sunday’s fourth game.
  • The Avalanche welcomed back defenseman Samuel Girard tonight against Winnipeg as NHL.com’s Tracey Myers relayed (Twitter link). The 25-year-old suffered a concussion late in the regular season against the Jets and hadn’t played since then.  Girard had a bit of a down year for Colorado as he was limited to 18 points in 59 games, the lowest output of his career while his ATOI dipped to 19:23, the lowest since his rookie season.  Still, as a top-four blueliner, his return was certainly a welcome one.

West Notes: Kraken, Barron, Girard

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Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis told reporters today (via Sound of Hockey) that he intends to start talking with restricted free agents Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen and fully expects that the sides will be able to come to agreements. Beniers is the reigning Calder Trophy winner but suffered a dramatic drop in his offensive production, posting just 15 goals and 22 assists in 77 games after posting 57 points in 81 games last season. While his play dropped off this season, he should still receive a sizeable raise on his $897,500 cap hit. Tolvanen was acquired off waivers by the Kraken back in December 2022 and developed into a solid depth scorer posting 16 goals and 25 assists in 81 games this season. He is also due a raise on his $1.45MM cap hit.

Francis added that the Kraken will have to decide whether or not to qualify forward Kailer Yamamoto, who suffered through another difficult offensive season posting just eight goals and eight assists in 59 games. While a $1.5MM qualifying offer seems steep for a player who tallied just 16 points this season, Yamamoto’s age and previous production could be enough to entice Francis to roll the dice one more time and qualify the 25-year-old.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Winnipeg Jets color analyst Mitchell Clinton is reporting that forward Morgan Barron has yet to begin skating as he deals with a lower-body injury and will be out of the lineup for at least another week. The 25-year-old reportedly suffered the injury in the Jets second-last game of the regular season back on April 16th and it will likely keep him out of the first four games of their series against the Colorado Avalanche. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native just completed his fourth NHL season and set career highs in games played with 80 and goals with 11. He posted 122 hits while averaging 10:30 of ice time per game.
  • Meghan Angley of DNVR Avalanche tweeted that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard was a full participant in practice today, but Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar would not confirm his availability for Game 2 tomorrow. The 25-year-old hasn’t played in over a week and skated for just 3:26 in a 7-0 loss to the Jets on April 13th. In his last 28 games, the native of Roberval, Quebec has just three assists.

Snapshots: Pinto, Sergachev, Girard

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The Ottawa Senators are reportedly working on signing young forward Shane Pinto to a new deal, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts article. Friedman adds that negotiations have been a “grind”. That lines up with Pinto’s previous negotiations, with Pinto holding out on a new deal last summer, before being suspended for 41 games in late October for sports wagering. Pinto signed a one-year, league-minimum contract in January that carried him the duration of this season. He went on to tally nine goals and 27 points in 41 games – a big step down from his 20-goal season last year.

The Senators originally drafted Pinto with the 32nd-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft – then a second-round selection. He made his NHL debut in 2020-21, after two years at the University of North Dakota, and has since managed 70 points in 140 career NHL games. The 23-year-old centerman has proven capable of scoring, though he’s yet to find a consistent groove. He’s entering this off-season as a restricted free agent, meaning he’s likely due for a reunion with Ottawa, even if negotiations take some time.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has shared that Mikhail Sergachev will miss at least Round One, says Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Sergachev hasn’t played since breaking his leg on February 7th. It was a freak injury that occurred in Sergachev’s first game back from a separate lower-body injury that held him out for two months. He was limited to just 34 games last season, though he did manage a solid 19 points. Sergachev has remained a top defender for the Lightning, averaging over 22 minutes of ice time this season. The Bolts will hope he can return as soon as possible to patch up what is currently a weaker defense group.
  • Colorado Avalanche defender Samuel Girard has returned to full practice, wearing a regular jersey at the team’s Sunday morning skate per Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal (Twitter link). Girard has been battling a concussion that held him out of the team’s final two regular-season contests. They seem to have benefited from taking their time with the defender, who is now possible for Sunday’s Game One – though nothing has been confirmed. Girard has once again provided stout depth for Colorado, scoring 18 points in 59 games and averaging over 19 minutes of ice time.

Avalanche Notes: Landeskog, O’Connor, Girard

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While there has been plenty of speculation over the last calendar year that the Colorado Avalanche may see the return of their captain Gabriel Landeskog by the beginning of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, it appears this theory may have legs. In a report today from Colleen Flynn of The Hockey News, Landeskog will be traveling with the team to Winnipeg to start their first-round series against the Jets.

Infamously, Landeskog’s last game came on June 26th, 2022, the same date that the Avalanche unseated the Tampa Bay Lightning at the top of the hockey world, claiming their third Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. After the Stanley Cup celebration, however, Landeskog underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and has missed every game since.

Being that a return is unlikely given that it has never been done in the NHL prior, Landeskog’s drive and determination have at least produced non-zero odds of a potential return. As the Avalanche look to make it beyond the first found of the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, the return of their captain would certainly help their cause.

Other Avalanche notes:

  • In the same report from Flynn, forward Logan O’Connor will also be joining the team on their flight to Manitoba. Nevertheless, there has been no indication that O’Connor is close to returning in time for the start of Round One, as he continues to recover from hip surgery that has kept him out of the lineup since the first week of March.
  • Unlike O’Connor, one player who is close to a return is defenseman Samuel Girard once again according to Colleen Flynn of The Hockey News. Girard has been out with a concussion for about a week and remains questionable to return for the first game of the series against the Jets. If the Avalanche are able to get a few players back at the beginning of the series, the hockey world saw not all that long ago how dangerous a fully healthy Colorado lineup can be.

West Notes: Dunn, McDavid, Girard

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The Kraken shut down defenseman Vince Dunn for the season ahead of today’s 3-1 loss to the Stars, GM Ron Francis told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Their top blue-liner hasn’t played since sustaining an upper-body injury on April 3 against the Kings.

Dunn, 27, had barely played since the trade deadline, and his absence cost Seattle any small chance they had at making a late-season run to the playoffs. An upper-body injury sustained on a check from behind from Flames winger Martin Pospisil in early March knocked him out of action for nearly a month, and he played just one full game upon returning before taking an elbow to the head from Los Angeles winger Alex Laferriere.

While the team hasn’t confirmed, both plays involved head contact and could have resulted in concussions. As such, he’ll get an extended period of rest and will look to rejoin the team over the summer and be a full participant in training camp. His season ends after registering 46 points in 59 games, nearly last season’s exact point-per-game pace that helped him earn 11th place in Norris Trophy voting. He has three seasons remaining on his contract, which carries a $7.35MM cap hit.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference:

  • The Oilers will again be without Connor McDavid tonight against the Canucks, per Sportsnet’s Jack Michaels. A regulation win without their captain would put Edmonton within one point of Vancouver for the Pacific Division title with three or fewer games remaining for both squads. McDavid has a lower-body injury that’s been nagging him for a while, he said earlier this week, although it was aggravated in his last appearance, an April 6 meeting with the Flames. Tonight will be his third straight absence, which further delays his chase for 100 assists. The 27-year-old had a whopping 24 points in his last 11 games before exiting the lineup.
  • Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard left today’s game against the Jets with an upper-body injury and didn’t return, per the team. Head coach Jared Bednar said post-game that he’s entered concussion protocol. It’s a tough blow to a team already reeling from the 7-0 loss to Winnipeg, now primed to lose home-ice advantage in their upcoming first-round series. The 25-year-old Girard has yet again anchored their second pairing behind Cale Makar and Devon Toews, ranking third among Colorado d-men in average time on ice (19:39) and fourth in points per game (0.31). While his three goals and 15 assists in 58 contests have been underwhelming offensive production from the blue-liner, he’s cleaned up his possession game after a difficult couple of seasons. His 55.9 CF% and +7.5 expected rating are his highest since 2020-21.

Avalanche Notes: Nichushkin, Girard, Kiviranta

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The Avalanche have listed winger Valeri Nichushkin as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Rangers, head coach Jared Bednar said (via Aarif Deen of Mile High Sports). It’s a lower-body injury that’s not anything long-term but “could possibly keep him out,” said Bednar. Nichushkin has missed extensive time this season, but not due to injury. He missed a splattering of games with illness before missing 21 games while in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program from mid-January to earlier this month. It hasn’t impacted his performance when healthy, as he’s passed the point-per-game threshold for the first time in his career. He’s posted a career-high 26 goals, 24 assists and 50 points in 48 games while averaging 21:36 per game, another career-high for the two-way dynamo.

Other updates from Denver:

  • Nichushkin may not be the only minutes-munching skater out of the lineup tomorrow. The Avs could also be without blue-liner Samuel Girard, who missed today’s practice with an illness and is accordingly questionable against the Blueshirts, per Brennan Vogt of The Rink Colorado. The 25-year-old has only 18 points in 51 games, his worst offensive showing in quite some time. He’s made up for it with some improved defensive and possession play after an iffy few seasons, rebounding for a 55.1 CF% at even strength and +6.2 expected rating, his best numbers in three years despite seeing the most defensive-zone usage of his career. Joel Kiviranta and Caleb Jones would draw into the lineup if both Nichushkin and Girard are unavailable…
  • …except Kiviranta is dealing with an illness of his own, per Vogt, which may prompt the Avs to recall a forward from AHL Colorado before tomorrow’s contest. They’d be eligible to do so under emergency conditions, as Kiviranta is the only extra forward available on the roster and they’d only be able to dress 11 if he and Nichushkin are sidelined. After beginning the season on a minor-league deal after attending Avs camp on a PTO, the depth winger has three goals and nine points in 52 games while averaging 9:56 per game.

Central Notes: Connor, Girard, Lehkonen, Reichel

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Winnipeg Jets’ leading goal-scorer Kyle Connor is making progress in his return from a knee injury, returning to the Jets’ practices in a no-contact jersey. The winger has been out for 20 days but still leads Winnipeg with 17 goals scored across 26 games, a mark tied for 11th in the NHL – despite Connor playing in at least five games fewer than any other player in the top 20. Winnipeg has leaned even heavier into Mark Scheifele in Connor’s absence, with the recently-extended centerman scoring eight points in the seven games that Connor has missed. The Jets have proven surprisingly successful for a team missing their top goal-scorer, setting a 4-1-2 record without Connor. And while that’s a great sign for optimism, the Jets were on a four-game winning streak leading up to Connor’s injury, and had a five-game winning streak just a few games prior. They will look to get back on that winning run as Connor continues to progress back to play.

Other notes from around the Central Division:

  • Samuel Girard is set to return to the Colorado Avalanche lineup on Sunday, after missing the team’s last 20 games for personal reasons. It was known that Girard would return soon, as the Avalanche anticipate the return of an option that averages over 20 minutes a night for the team. Girard has scored four goals in 15 games this season.
  • Artturi Lehkonen has begun taking full practices with the Avalanche, after working independently for much of the week. Lehkonen is working back from a scary-looking neck injury that’s held him out since late-November. Lehkonen has scored eight points in 12 games this season. And while Lehkonen returned, Ross Colton did not skate on Saturday.
  • Lukas Reichel could be set to lose a significant amount of money on his first NHL contract after his entry-level deal, per The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, who shares that the promising 21-year-old was set for a comfy pay raise from his entry-level contract prior to the season, but now may only receive a cheap qualifying offer as a restricted-free agent after a season of struggles. Reichel has managed just eight points through 34 games this season and currently sits with a -19. And while Reichel continues to struggle, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson and head coach Luke Richardson both told Lazerus that Reichel has proven he’s an NHL talent, and that a move to the AHL isn’t in the cards yet.

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