Central Notes: Spurgeon, Koivu, Thomas, Avalanche, Copp
The Minnesota Wild announced earlier today they signed Jared Spurgeon to a seven-year, $53MM extension that will kick in during the 2020-21 season. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Spurgeon’s deal has a no movement clause this year as well as the first four years of the first contract. After that, Spurgeon has a 10-team modified no-trade clause for the final three years, which will kick in during the 2024-25 season.
- Sticking with the Wild, Minnesota got some good news about injured forward Mikko Koivu, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL back in February. The 36-year-old, who was expected to be eased back into practices and scrimmages in training camp, told coach Bruce Boudreau that he’s ready and is expected to participate in scrimmages on Monday, according to StarTribune’s Sarah McLellan. Koivu was cleared for practice on Thursday, but now looks like he’s ready for full play. He scored eight goals and 29 points in 47 games last season before going down with the knee injury.
- NHL.com’s Lou Korac reports that the St. Louis Blues have been without forward Robert Thomas for a second straight day as he recovers from offseason surgery to repair a tendon in his left wrist. He and Jordan Kyrou, out with a knee injury, are expected to be brought back slowly from their injuries. “We’ve got them in that third group right now,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “We’ve got to be a little cautious with them right now.”
- BSN Denver’s A.J. Haefele writes that Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar had quite a few positive to point out after Day 2 of training camp. Bednar pointed out quite a bit of improvement in the play of winger Andre Burakovsky and the standout play of A.J. Greer and the impressive leaderships skills of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. He also said that he believes that the next step for defenseman Samuel Girard is his offensive game. The 21-year-old scored four goals and 27 points last season. While both were career highs, Bednar would like to see those numbers rise this season.
- The Athletic’s Ken Wiebe reports that the Winnipeg Jets are without a few player at the moment. The team has been without forward Andrew Copp due to a minor groin injury, while Kristian Vesalainen and Sami Niku were stiff Saturday after being in a fender-bender on Friday. They should return soon.
Central Notes: Colorado’s Defense, Little, Kiviranta
After impressive performances on the ice at their rookie tournament over the past two days, the Colorado Avalanche dream of a dominant group of franchise defensemen are much closer than they had initially imagined. The team already has two established cornerstones on defense in Samuel Girard and Cale Makar, but the play of 2019 first-round pick Bowen Byram and 2017 second-rounder Conor Timmins suggest they might be closer to join the other two sooner rather than later, according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post.
Both will be with the team on Friday when training camp begins. Byram will have to prove that he’s ready for the challenges of the NHL already as a recently-turned 18-year-old. He broke out in a big way in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants, scoring 26 goals and 71 points, but he either must make the Avalanche or be returned to Vancouver. Timmins is a different story. The 20-year-old missed the entire 2018-19 season last year after dealing with concussion-like symptoms and likely will begin the season in the AHL until he gets some game experience, but could be recalled at any time if Colorado needs him.
- One story that has been an issue for years in Winnipeg has been the Jets’ need to establish a No. 2 center. The team has gone with veteran Bryan Little over the years only to acquire a second-line center at the trade deadline the previous two years in Paul Stastny back in 2018 and Kevin Hayes in 2019. Unfortunately, due to cap issues, the Jets were unable to retain either player and are once again on the lookout for someone internally to step up into that role. For Little, the job remains his to lose. The 31-year-old’s numbers continue to decline little by little, scoring 15 goals and 41 points (his least productive season since 2009-10), but he remains the top option, according to Winnipeg Free Press’ Mike McIntyre. The only other options look to be Andrew Copp and Jack Roslovic, both of which seem like longshots to claim that role.
- The Dallas Stars have a number of young prospects who might have a chance to make their opening day roster, including prospects Ty Dellandrea, Jason Robertson, Denis Gurianov and Riley Tufte amongst many. However, the Stars might have another player who could step up after Joel Kiviranta scored a hat trick against the New York Rangers squad Saturday, suggesting that the recently signed forward out of Finland could make an immediate impact for Dallas, according to NHL.com’s Mike Heika. The 23-year-old Kiviranta is still adjusting to the smaller North American ice, but has a lot of experience playing amongst men in Finland after five years there. He has tallied 35 goals over the past two years there.
Central Notes: Girard, Dach, Honka, Robertson
The seven-year, $35MM contract that Samuel Girard signed with the Colorado Avalanche earlier this week as a sign that the team has found an heir apparent for recently traded Tyson Barrie. While the team has a ton of talent in Cale Makar, as well as the 2019 fourth-overall pick in Bowen Byram, the Avalanche believe they have a top-four defenseman in their 21-year-old.
In fact, The Athletic’s Scott Burnside (subscription required) writes that he believes that general manager Joe Sakic believes strongly that the 162-pound Girard is ready for a full-time role this season as their top defender, which is a big task to take on. Barrie averaged 24:11 in the playoffs last year, while Girard averaged almost five minutes below that. However, the team believes he will take his game up a notch and make his seven-year deal a steal of a signing in the future.
- Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago writes in a mailbag column that he wonders whether the Chicago Blackhawks will seriously consider keeping 2019 third-overall pick Kirby Dach on the roster entering the season. Last year, the top four draft picks in the 2018 draft made their respective teams in the NHL, and Chicago does have an opening for a third-line center which could be a perfect match. Of course, much of that decision will come down to how Dach performs at training camp as well as how many minutes he might play as Dach is used to being a top-minutes player on his junior team.
- In his latest mailbag, Sean Shapiro of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Dallas Stars may have trouble moving defenseman Julius Honka, who the team was expected to move this offseason. Shapiro believes the team is hoping to get a fourth-round pick for the 2014 first-rounder who has fallen out of favor in Dallas, but he writes that many teams believe that they can just get the blue liner off of waivers at the start of the season as its highly unlikely that Dallas will keep Honka on their roster.
- Sticking with the Stars, Matthew DeFranks of SportsDay writes in a mailbag column that he believes that while Jason Robertson could be an excellent addition to the Dallas Stars team, he doubts that Robertson will play more than a handful of games with the Stars next season. The 20-year-old is turning pro this season after Dallas selected him in the second round of the 2017 draft and saw him net 48 goals and 117 points in 62 games in the OHL last season. Franks writes that Robertson will spend most of next season in the AHL with the Texas Stars as he learns to adjust to the pro game.
Samuel Girard Signs Seven-Year Extension
The Colorado Avalanche have locked up one of their young defensemen before he ever gets close to restricted free agency. Samuel Girard has signed a seven-year extension which will keep him under contract through the 2026-27 season. Girard is on the final year of his entry-level contract currently. PuckPedia reports that the deal will carry a $5MM salary in each year with no signing bonuses, and includes a nine-team no-trade clause the final three seasons.
While it is easy to see how much skill Girard possesses, this contract does come with its fair share of risk for the Avalanche. The 21-year old defenseman was acquired as part of the Matt Duchene trade in 2017 and has played 150 games for Colorado so far in his young career. He has just 47 points in those games including 27 last season despite getting ample powerplay time and averaging close to 20 minutes a game. The undersized puck-mover has tremendous skating ability and offensive upside, but hasn’t quite been able to reach the lofty expectations put on him when he came over from the Nashville Predators.
Still, there’s reason to be excited for the Avalanche. He turned 21 just over two months ago and has already proven he can at worst be a capable middle-pairing defender on a playoff team. If the offense does ever click or if he continues to develop in his own end a $5MM cap hit could be a bargain down the line. The deal buys out three unrestricted free agent seasons and takes him to age-29, essentially covering his entire prime at a fixed salary. That kind of cost certainty is valuable, especially for a team like Colorado that has so much uncertainty still to come. Mikko Rantanen is still unsigned and could be looking at a huge contract, while others like Cale Makar and Tyson Jost will need new deals down the line. Even captain Gabriel Landeskog only has two years remaining on his current contract, meaning the Avalanche needed some locked in numbers to build around moving forward.
That $5MM cap hit will give Girard something to live up to however and put even more pressure on the young defenseman. With Erik Johnson and Ian Cole out with injuries to start the season there will be huge responsibility placed on Girard and fellow youngster Makar. For a team that expects to compete for the Stanley Cup this season they need Girard to take another step forward in his development.
The contract gives the Avalanche 11 players signed to one-way contracts for the 2020-21 season. They have committed more than $48MM in those deals.
Central Notes: Blues’ Defense, Perreault, Girard, Makar
The St. Louis Blues have had quite a bit going right for them and while much of the team’s success could easily be handed to goaltender Jordan Binnington, one key reason the team won both games in Winnipeg is the play of their top defensive pair, Colton Parayko and Jay Bouwmeester, according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required).
The pair are being used to stop the Jets’ top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler and have played more than 25 minutes matched up against that line in 5-on-5 play. Wheeler does have one goal on four shots in that span, but both Scheifele and Connor have each tallied just two shots combined in those situations.
“Fairly well,” Bouwmeester said when asked how the Blues have defended the group. “We had some breakdowns, and they had some chances. There were some odd-man rushes and things like that. They’ve got skilled guys and guys who don’t need a lot of room to get good chances. Bottom line is I think whoever’s going to control the puck and control the play is going to control what they give up.”
- Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that there will be just one change in the Winnipeg Jets’ lineup for Sunday’s Game 3 in St. Louis against the Blues. The Jets will bring Mathieu Perreault back into the lineup after the veteran missed Game 2 with an undisclosed injury and Par Lindholm will become a healthy scratch. Perreault hadn’t missed a game this season until Friday. “We’re going to need more of that (secondary scoring) if we want to have any kind of chance of coming back in this series,” said Perreault. “Whoever I’m playing with today, our line, the third and fourth line, we’ve got to find a way to make sure we don’t get scored on, and then chip in a goal here and there to try and help the team win.”
- A.J. Haefele of BSN Denver reports that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard is still being evaluated after leaving Saturday night’s game against Calgary in overtime after taking a hit from Sam Bennett. However, the scribe reports that he is a possibility to play. Girard played 22:05 of ice time in Game 2 and would be a huge loss if he wasn’t able to go.
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post reports that recently signed defenseman Cale Makar is expected to be at the team’s morning practice Saturday and could get into the lineup immediately. Dater adds that he gets the impression that Makar will be in the lineup even though head coach Jared Bednar has not made any announcements. The team’s first-rounder in 2017 will have to be protected for the Seattle expansion draft if he even plays one playoff game this season. However, it looks as if the Avalanche are willing to do that.
One Year Later: Matt Duchene Will Dictate The Senators’ Future
A year ago today, the Ottawa Senators made a three-team deal with the Colorado Avalanche and the Nashville Predators. Since then, names like Erik Karlsson, Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, Evander Kane, and Tomas Tatar (twice) have all been traded. Yet, it’s that November 5th deal that is still the most memorable recent trade for many, due to both the immediate impact and the lasting results.
In that trade, Ottawa – at a contract impasse with center Kyle Turris – dealt he, first-round prospect forward Shane Bowers, goaltender Andrew Hammond, a first-round pick, and a third-round pick to Colorado. The Avs then flipped Turris to Nashville for defenseman Samuel Girard, forward Vladislav Kamenev, and a second-round pick. It was quite a haul for Colorado and they have yet to even use either of Ottawa’s picks, including a likely lottery pick in the first round next year. The Predators meanwhile signed Turris to a six-year extension and he has 53 points in 79 games since joining the team. The return for all of this for the Senators? Matt Duchene, who a year later is in limbo with an expiring contract and a team that is far from the contender he was promised.
As TSN’s Ian Mendes notes, Senators GM Pierre Dorion was coming off a 2016-17 season that saw his team make a run to the Eastern Conference final. When he acquired Duchene, he thought it could be the final piece of the puzzle to get them back and through that third round of the playoffs. Instead, Ottawa sunk to the second-worst record in the NHL. It’s too late to reverse that trade or the events of last season. The team could have simply traded Turris for picks and prospects at the deadline, as Mendes points out, and certainly could have found a deal for a top-six forward this off-season that was far less expensive. Their first-round pick in 2019 could be first overall, franchise center Jack Hughes, and there’s nothing they could do. Boston University standout Bowers could blossom into a top-line forward, but there’s no recourse for that. The only element of the trade left in the control of Dorion and the Senators is the future of Duchene and with it potentially the future of the team.
Ottawa is faced with two choices this season: pay Duchene or trade him. The 2009 third overall pick carries a $6MM cap hit on his current contract. If he were to hit the open market, he would certainly be due a raise. Duchene’s alleged reason for wanting out of Colorado last season was ironically that he didn’t want to play through a rebuild. If that is still his mindset, it would take a substantial sum from the Senators to keep him around. Owner Eugene Melnyk has been unwilling to pay his better player their fair value, leading to the Karlsson trade and likely more moves to come. Will he make an exception for Duchene? If not, the Senators need to move Duchene and sooner rather than later. The trade deadline will be the final opportunity to trade the star center, who will have a long list of suitors, but his value drops each day leading up to that point. Dorion will likely never get back a package commensurate with what he gave up for Duchene, but his best chance to get close is to trade him as soon as possible to the highest bidder.
Either option serves to benefit the Senators. Duchene may not be a superstar, but he is a talented, well-rounded player who is capable of leading Ottawa out of the basement if provided with at least a little support. On the other side, the team cannot escape the reality of their own rebuild and could greatly use the trade capital that they would gain from a Duchene trade. The worst case scenario – and a veritable death knell for the franchise – would be to make neither decision, opting not to trade Duchene and waiting and hoping for an extension agreement only to watch him walk away in free agency. One year later, this notorious trade is still so prevalent around the NHL. The Senators should celebrate the anniversary by making another major move with Duchene – a new contract or another trade – as soon as humanly possible.
Central Notes: Allen, Parayko, Jokiharju, Honka, Girard
The St. Louis Blues got some good news today as goaltender Jake Allen, who has been out with back spasms and was expected to miss the first 10-14 days of training camp, said that he’s already feeling better and could return to the ice ahead of schedule, according to Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“It’s progressed way better than when it first happened,” he said. “It’s a lot better than I thought it was and I’m feeling really good right now. I’ve made some significant progress the last couple days. It looks like I’ll be on the ice earlier than that.”
The team needs a big season from the 28-year-old after a rough season last year. The veteran posted a career-low 2.75 GAA and a poor .906 save percentage as the Blues missed the playoffs. Allen changed his training routine this summer and was primed for a big year as the Blues redesigned their roster this offseason.
- St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko has been a solid defenseman in St. Louis for years, but after agreeing to a five-year, $27.5MM contract a year ago, the team was hoping that he might have a breakout season last year. While that didn’t happen, Parayko might get that opportunity this year, according to Fox Sports’ Andy Strickland, who reports that Parayko has come to camp in great shape, finishing near the top in off-ice testing. If he’s in the best shape of his career, a big year could follow.
- Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Henri Jokiharju has looked good early in training camp. The 2016 first-rounder played alongside veteran Duncan Keith and was both aggressive and helped create chances on offense. The team, desperately in need of defense, could get a huge boost if the 19-year-old proves that he’s indeed ready for the NHL. He scored 71 points in 63 games with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL last season.
- Sean Shapiro of The Athletic writes that one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Stars’ addition of new head coach Jim Montgomery will likely be young defenseman Julius Honka. The 22-year-old has regained his confidence after losing last season and has already impressed his new head coach, who hopes the 2014 first-rounder might be ready to make a significant impact in the Stars’ defense.
- BSN Denver’s AJ Haefele writes that Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said Saturday that he wants defenseman Samuel Girard to start this season with veteran Erik Johnson after the way Girard finished the season last year. The 20-year-old finished the season with four goals and 23 points between Nashville and Colorado and showed the ability to develop into a top-four defenseman. However, there is still a lot of time in camp before that decision becomes permanent.
Central Notes: Tarasenko, Kunin, Kamenev, Ranta
When St. Louis Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko separated his left shoulder on the final game of the season last year, he underwent surgery the following day and was expected to be out four to six months, which theoretically coincided with the start of the regular season if he needed the latter amount of time to recuperate.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann writes that Tarasenko just hit the four-month date in his recovery and he expects to be ready for the start of training camp in a month. He was cleared to skate and began skating nearly a week ago, but he has yet to test his repaired shoulder.
“I need to talk about it with the doctors more,” Tarasenko told the team’s website, “but I’m cleared to skate with the group, but only with some contact right now. But I can shoot. I feel great and I feel stronger. I’m ready for the season.”
Assuming there are no setbacks, Tarasenko should be ready. With a group of new additions to the Blues this offseason, they will need the 26-year-old to be ready to go if they want a chance to compete for a playoff spot this year. Tarasenko had a bit of a down year, posting 33 goals and 66 points.
- NHL.com’s Dan Myers writes that Minnesota Wild forward Luke Kunin still is not 100 percent after tearing his ACL five months ago against the Detroit Red Wings and undergoing surgery four months ago to repair it. However, the 20-year-old has already been skating for three or four weeks now and feels that he should be ready for training camp in September. The team’s first-round pick in 2016 hopes to make the club out of camp after appearing in 19 games for the Minnesota Wild last season. “I try not to look too far ahead, just take it week-by-week, keep getting stronger and more comfortable on the ice and just get that confidence back,” Kunin said. “It was definitely nice to sort of check that off I guess, but it’s not a goal of mine to just be up and down. I want to be there full time, I want to be there for a long time and be an impact player that’s going to help the team win.”
- NHL.com’s Maddie Karr takes a look back at the disappointing rookie campaign of Colorado Avalanche winger Vladislav Kamenev. Considering the haul that the Avalanche received in the Matt Duchene trade from the Ottawa Senators, many people forgot about Kamenev who has become an afterthought after the team received defenseman Samuel Girard and the Senators 2019 first-round pick, which could potentially be the No. 1 pick. However, Kamenev looked to be a key piece as the team recalled him from the AHL just nine days after the trade, but the high-scoring winger instead suffered a broken arm in that first game and missed 50 games. Despite just getting into three NHL games with the Avalanche, Kamenev still has a good chance to break with the team as a bottom-six forward if all goes well. “I know that he’s a trusted defensive player, but he has a great skillset,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. “He has good hands, good feet, smart player, committed on the defensive side of the puck.”
- Another Colorado Avalanche prospect, Sampo Ranta, the team’s third-round pick in this year’s draft who is expected to attend the University of Wisconsin, may not attend there after all, reports Providence Journal’s Mark Divver. The scribe writes that Ranta has hit an admission snag at Wisconsin and suggests the 6-foot-2 winger could find himself at Boston University.
Western Notes: Bennett, Murphy, Girard, Perron, Bieksa, Fowler
The Calgary Flames have a lot of questions this offseason after a disappointing season that leaves them wondering what happened. However, the biggest question probably falls on what to do with Sam Bennett. The former fourth-overall pick in 2014 should be improving every season, but that hasn’t been the case for the 21-year-old who has seen his numbers drop every year.
After putting up 18 goals and 18 assists in a promising rookie season, he has put up only 26 points in each of the last two seasons and his goals have dropped from 13 in 2016-17 to 11 this year. The Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson writes the team must decide whether he can take his game up several notches or whether to use him as trade bait. Of course, you don’t want to be the general manager that trades him away only to thrive with another team, but the team needs production out of the forward and is running out of time to figure out if he is the star they thought they drafted. He has one year left after this one at $1.95MM before hitting restricted free agency again.
- The Chicago Blackhawks think they have found something in defenseman Connor Murphy. The 25-year-old, who was acquired in the Niklas Hjalmarsson trade last season from Arizona, struggled early on in the season with Chicago, according to Chicago Sun Times’ Mark Potash, but was one of the team’s better defensemen in the second half and the team believes he can develop into a top-four defenseman. “If you look at the way he played over the last 30 to 40 games, I think there’s reason for excitement,” said Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman.
- The Colorado Avalanche is without defenseman Samuel Girard today as the young defenseman is out with an upper-body injury sustained in a hit from Nashville’s Filip Forsberg during Thursday’s game. The rookie defenseman is day-to-day.
- Vegas Golden Knights winger David Perron, who has been out since Mar. 26 with an undisclosed injury, says he hopes to play before the series with the Los Angeles Kings is over, but did not give a timetable on a potential return, according to SinBinVegas.
- The Anaheim Ducks expect defenseman Kevin Bieksa to play in Game 2 tonight against the San Jose Sharks, according to Orange Country Register’s Eric Stephens. Bieksa has been out since Mar. 12 after having hand surgery. Stephens also notes that defenseman Cam Fowler is no longer wearing a sling on his shoulder and will resume skating shortly. The blueliner has missed 13 straight games, but no timetable is set for his return.
Zac Rinaldo Suspended Six Games
Zac Rinaldo must be used to this phone call by now. The Arizona Coyotes forward has been suspended six games for his latest illegal incident, punching Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard. Rinaldo has now been suspended five times in his NHL career. The Department of Player Safety had offered Rinaldo an in-person hearing to defend himself, but he declined and instead had a phone hearing today with the league.
After delivering a hit on Nathan MacKinnon, Rinaldo grabs Girard and throws a punch without the Colorado defenseman even looking at him. As the accompanying video explains:
It is important to note that while we accept Rinaldo’s explanation that he believed that because Girard had approached him after the hit, meant that Girard was anticipating a fight, ultimately the video shows this is not the case. Whatever Girard’s intentions, he gives Rinaldo no clear indication that he is a willing combatant.
While he doesn’t qualify as a repeat offender in terms of the increased salary sacrificed during his suspension, the DoPS takes into account all of his former disciplinary matters. Rinaldo has also been fined by the league twice and received suspensions in the minor leagues.
The 27-year old will be kept out of the lineup until January 11th.