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Sean Couturier

Metropolitan Notes: Murray, Couturier, Lundqvist, Merzlikins

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have a lot invested in their goaltender of the present and future in Matt Murray. You would think replacing Marc-Andre Fleury might be a challenging procedure, but Murray’s .923 save percentage in 49 games proved that the youngster was ready for the full-time role, one of the reasons why it wasn’t as hard to let Fleury go. However, last year’s struggles already has several fans worried about Murray’s long-term success.

Murray struggled with both injuries as well as the death of his father during the 2017-18 season in which he still played in 49 games, but didn’t fare as well, posting a .907 save percentage as well as a 2.92 GAA. However, Murray as well as the team’s other backups, Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry, have worked hard with goaltending coach Mike Buckley, who challenged each one of them, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Buckley feels that Murray has put too much pressure on himself to replace Fleury and needs to accept that he’s the “guy” now.

“The next step for him is to take it all in and enjoy it. ‘Hey, I’m the guy now. I can accept that. I don’t have to be Marc-Andre Fleury, but I can be tighter with my teammates and really open up to them.’” Buckley said.

Buckley added that Murray has worked hard on his conditioning and hopefully should be able to avoid injury, although some injuries like concussions are just unavoidable.

“In terms of how he takes care of his body, he’s meticulous,” Buckley said. “The problem is the things that you can’t control. A concussion, for example. Someone coming down and landing on you the wrong way. There’s really very little you can do about that.”

  • Sam Carchidi of philly.com writes that Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall says that No. 1 center Sean Couturier will be “absolutely” 100 percent at the start of the season in October and is already ready to resume skating. Couturier, who was expected to miss four weeks on Aug. 22 with a lower-body injury, is coming off a career-best season in which he scored 31 goals and 76 points and was a key part to the Flyers’ late-season success on a line with Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny.
  • Shayna Goldman of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that this will be a challenging season for New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who is coming off two poor seasons and now finds himself in the middle of a rebuilding project. Lundqvist has endured a very physical workload over the course of his career and didn’t get significant rest last season from then-head coach Alain Vigneault. One thing is imperative. The 36-year-old needs rest, which will be a key for new head coach David Quinn. The problem is that the team lacks an adequate backup as the no longer have either Cam Talbot or Antti Raanta serving behind him. The team now has a number of prospects, including Alexandar Georgiev, Dustin Tokarski and Marek Mazanec. However, unless one of them can step up, none seem likely to provide Lundqvist the kind of rest that he needs.
  • With the possibility that the team could lose star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to another team when he hits free agency next season, the Columbus Blue Jackets are placing more emphasis on the future suddenly, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required). While the team has their immediate goaltender of the future in their backup Joonas Korpisalo, the team is focusing their long-term hopes on Elvis Merzlikins, their third-round pick in 2014, who has been a dominant prospect for Lugano of the Swiss League. The 24-year-old has been one of the top goaltenders in the league, posting a .924 save percentage last year and is ready to come to North America next season.

Sean Couturier Out Four Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that Sean Couturier would be out for the next four weeks with a lower-body injury, which was reported by TVA Sports last night to be a re-injuring of his knee. The injury occurred on August 10th, and Couturier will be limited during the start of training camp for the Flyers, but if everything goes right should be ready for the start of the season.

Couturier, 25, is coming off his best season as a professional and one in which he jumped from solid role player to elite two-way center. With Claude Giroux’s move to the wing in Philadelphia, Couturier was given the first line center role and ran with it, scoring 31 goals and 76 points while logging nearly 22 minutes a night. He finished second in Selke Trophy voting as one of the league’s best defensive forwards, and was recently ranked one of the top-20 centers in the entire league by the NHL Network and here on PHR.

In the postseason, Couturier collided with Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas in practice and injured the MCL in his knee forcing him to miss the fourth game of their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Incredibly, Couturier was able to return for the fifth and sixth games of the series, recording a five-point game in a series-losing effort in game six. That kind of production is what the Flyers hope to get from Couturier this season, and will likely play it slow to make sure that he’s fully ready for the start of the regular season. With the team expected to once again compete for a playoff spot, they’ll need their star center in the lineup for as many games as possible.

Snapshots: Stars, Hutton, Couturier

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The Stars don’t appear to be in a hurry to find a replacement for Ken Hitchcock behind the bench.  GM Jim Nill told Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News that he plans to pare down his list of candidates in the coming weeks and then begin interviewing his short list in May.  That would appear to take them out of the running for Carolina bench boss Bill Peters, whose opt-out in his contract expires on Friday.

Nill acknowledged that he won’t necessarily be looking for a veteran behind the bench which would be a change of direction from his recent hires (Hitchcock and Lindy Ruff).  He’s open to bringing in someone without any NHL experience although he was quick to admit that some of the people he’d like to speak with are still in their respective postseasons.  It sounds like the Stars are casting a wide net to find their new bench boss but that means it may be a while before they find the right fit.

More from around the league:

  • Despite the fact that Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton spent plenty of time as a healthy scratch this season and was publicly criticized by head coach Travis Green at times, he has not asked for a trade, his agent Andy Scott told Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. The blueliner, who turns 25 on Friday, recorded just six assists in 61 games in 2017-18 after putting up a total of 44 points over the previous two years.  With a cap hit (and salary) of $2.8MM next season that will also represent his qualifying offer in the summer of 2019, Hutton will need a bounce-back season to avoid potentially becoming a non-tender candidate.
  • Although he didn’t skate with the team at practice, Flyers center Sean Couturier could still play on Friday night against the Penguins, notes Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. The pivot skated on his own before the team did and travelled with them to Pittsburgh.  His return would a boost to a Philadelphia squad who finds themselves facing elimination in Game Five.

Injury Notes: Hornqvist, Couturier, Jets

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The Pittsburgh Penguins will have Kris Letang in the lineup despite missing practice as a “maintenance day” but won’t be as lucky with Patric Hornqvist. The high-energy winger is out for Game 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers and has been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Hornqvist has three points in the first three games for the Penguins, and is an integral part of their powerplay unit as the net front presence. The team certainly has enough firepower to get by without him, but any loss to their forward group will test the depth of the lower lines.

Metropolitan Notes: Ho-Sang, Bailey, Couturier, Rowney

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New York Islanders forward Joshua Ho-Sang isn’t having the season he expected. After being called up late in the season a year ago and putting up solid numbers, the 21-year-old winger hoped for a full NHL season this year with the Islanders with a chance to play on one of the team’s top lines. However, while the 2014 first-round pick has played in 22 games this year for the Islanders, he has also found himself playing a significant amount of time with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers and most recently found himself scratched from the lineup Wednesday for what sounds like discipline reasons, according to the New York Posts’ Greg Joyce.

“He’s a baby,” Bridgeport coach Brent Thompson said. “He’s a baby, he’s immature and he’s got a lot of growing to do. I’m excited. The upside of him is outstanding. He worked hard today, he’s been working really hard. We all make mistakes, we all have bad games. It’s how do we respond from those and what do we learn from them? Every piece of this season for Josh, with us, is a development piece. It’s just going to be a longer process with some people.”

Ho-Sang has played 16 games with Bridgport and has four goals and eight assists for the Sound Tigers. However, he wasn’t thrilled with his benching.

“Yeah, I’m only young, but I’m burning years off my NHL career. It sucks,” Ho-Sang said. “You want to be up top. For me, I didn’t look at it this way until this year. I was looking forward to hopefully my first [full] NHL season.”

  • Still with the Islanders, Dan Rosen of NHL.com writes that New York Islanders head coach Doug Weight said that winger Josh Bailey will return to the lineup next week after having missed two games with a lower-body injury. Recently named to the all-star game, the 28-year-old is having a big season with 12 goals and 38 assists in 42 games. His return should be welcome news for the Islanders, who are dealing with multiple injuries. The Islanders announced today they have lost forward Casey Cizikas with an upper-body injury and may miss a few games. “It’s upper body and it’s not great. We’ll find out after we get a look at it, but he won’t be playing the next little while at least. He won’t be on the trip,” said Weight.
  • Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi writes that despite the fact that Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux was the all-star choice by the NHL, he believes that center Sean Couturier is the Flyers first-half MVP. While Giroux has picked up 52 points in the first 42 games this season, Couturier, who has 23 goals and 42 points in 42 games, has gone from a defensive-minded center (which he still is) and become a top scorer finally. Even Giroux admitted that Courturier should have gotten the all-star nod over himself. “I really think he deserves to be there, even in my place,” said Giroux, the Flyers’ lone all-star representative. “If there’s one guy that really deserves it, it’s him.”
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Carter Rowney on injured reserve today with an upper-body injury after he was injured back on Jan. 2 against Philadelphia. Despite being listed as being out for a minimum of four weeks back on Jan. 4, he was not put on IR immediately. Rowney, who has served as the year’s third and fourth line center at different points during the season, has struggled so far this year with just two goals and two assists in 27 games. No corresponding moves have been made yet.

Flyers Notes: Couturier, Schenn Trade, Elliott

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In a holiday spirited story, Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi offers up presents for some Philadelphia Flyers and immediately points out that with the way that Sean Couturier has been playing this season, he deserves an opportunity to be named a finalist for the Selke Trophy, given to the league’s top defensive forward, although recent trends have included an offensive aspect to the award as well. Couturier already has a career-high in goals scored this year with 16 (15 was his previous high in 2014-15) and is just eight points away from his career-high in points. Don’t forget it’s still just December.

Carchidi also notes that while on a 39-goal pace this year, Couturier also could garner all-star consideration this year. His offense, a new bonus for Philadelphia, is just that — a bonus. He always has been one of the team’s top defensive forwards as Philadelphia has always matched the 25-year-old center up against the other team’s top offensive player.

  • Continuing with the same story, Carchidi also feels that any Flyers fan who hates the trade that sent Brayden Schenn to St. Louis in exchange for Jori Lehtera and a pair of first-round picks needs patience. Fans only see the swap of Schenn for Lehtera. On the surface, that trade looks quite lopsided with Schenn looking to have a career year with 17 goals and 40 points already this season. Lehtera’s two assists in 19 games leaves a lot to be desired. The scribe, however, says that 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost, who was drafted with one of the two first-rounders the Flyers received in the deal, has been tearing up the OHL as he’s already put up 19 goals in 33 games for Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The 18-year-old center had 20 goals in 67 games last year. He should be a major piece of the team’s future. On top of that, there is another first-rounder coming in the 2018 draft.
  • Carchidi also believes the team made a successful free agent move signing goaltender Brian Elliott to a two-year deal and believes Philadelphia should extend that even one more year. His 2.65 GAA and .913 save percentage have been respectable, despite the team going on a 10-game losing streak earlier this year. The 32-year-old veteran seems to possess a calming influence on his teammates and he might be a great addition in two years when the team brings in top goaltending prospect Carter Hart in the 2019-20 season. Hart, considered to be the goaltender of the future in Philadelphia, has a 1.32 GAA with his junior team, the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, and is currently playing with Canada on the World Junior team.

Metropolitan Notes: Hoffman, Lundqvist, Giroux, Hunwick

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The New York Islanders are doing everything they can to re-sign star forward John Tavares, which includes their attempt to build a new stadium, their hopes for a solid playoff run and now New York Posts’ Brett Cyrgalis writes that the team should consider taking advantage of the Ottawa Senators struggles and blow the team away with an offer for star defenseman Erik Karlsson.

The scribe writes that the Islanders are a perfect destination for the franchise defenseman, who recently told the press that he will not take a hometown discount after his contract expires in 2019. Many feel that the Senators nor their owner would want to pay as much as $11MM per year to retain him for the next eight seasons, especially after the team might be looking at a rebuild. Karlsson will be 29 when he is eligible to sign a new deal and if the team starts over again, there aren’t many good reasons to keep the star around. However, the Islanders are a team with assets and a will to win, especially if that might prove valuable to locking up Tavares.

Cyrgalis suggests the team offers top prospect Joshua Ho-Sang, one of the team’s 2018 first-rounders and second-rounders (they have two of each next year) and a few smaller pieces as the framework to the deal. The deal might vault the Islanders up a few pegs in the standings and create a dominant core of the future in New York.

  • Cyrgalis also wrote a piece about the amount of playing time that has been handed to New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The goalie, who has played both ends of back-to-back games twice in the last two weeks, says he prefers it that way as the more he plays, the more relaxing it is mentally for him to play in the net. The 35-year-old does admit, however, it’s harder on him physically to play so many minutes. “Physically, it’s more challenging,” Lundqvist said. “But mentally, it’s easier, I find. The biggest part to the game is the mental aspect.”
  • Philly.com’s Marc Narducci writes that one reason the Philadelphia Flyers have improved could be the transition of Claude Giroux from center to left wing this season. Giroux has been paired with Sean Couturier this season on the team’s first line and while in many ways the transition to a wing spot has been a success, the 29-year-old admitted that it wasn’t that easy earlier this year. “I think it was an adjustment early on in the season,” Giroux said. “Now being on the wing the entire time, you get a little more comfortable on the wall or even in the neutral zone defensively.”
  • Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey writes that the play of Pittsburgh Penguins’ defenseman Matt Hunwick has actually improved since he suffered a concussion earlier this year. The 32-year-old blueliner signed with the team this offseason to provide defensive depth. He has been playing with the team since Nov. 18 after missing 15 games due to a concussion, but has actually played even better since missing time. He has three goals on the season since the concussion, most among Penguin defenders. Hunwick was a 42.6 percent possession player before the concussion, which has now increased to a 51.6 percent in the past 12 games and a 58.6 in the last five games. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated well in the win column for the team, but it does make the team’s chances better.

Flyers Notes: Neuvirth, Injuries, Weise

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With the Philadelphia Flyers recently having a ten game winning streak, it’s difficult to imagine there being any frustrations.  As Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post writes though, that’s exactly the case when it comes to goaltender Michal Neuvirth.

Neuvirth entered this season poised to battle with Steve Mason for the number one job between the pipes after both goalies had an up-and-down season in 2015-16.  However, he got off to a slow start this season, posting a 3.59 GAA and a .859 SV%, both significantly worse than the league average.  Then in mid-November, he suffered a knee injury and hasn’t played since, allowing Mason to seize the starting role and run with it while Anthony Stolarz has also played well in limited action.

While that’s great for Mason and the Flyers, this certainly won’t help Neuvirth’s cause when it comes to getting a new contract this summer as an unrestricted free agent.  Neuvirth is making $1.75MM this season, the second of a two year contract that carries a $1.625MM cap hit.  A strong year where he took over as the starter while staying healthy could have allowed him to at least double his current salary but as things stand, that’s not likely to be the case unless his second half of the season goes a whole lot better than his first half has.

On the plus side, Neuvirth has been skating recently and he noted that there haven’t been any issues with his recovery so far:

“No setbacks, but it’s a difficult injury, especially for goalies. Can’t rush it back. Stolie and Mase are doing a good job, so there’s no pressure for me to rush it.”

Assuming there are no setbacks, Neuvirth is expected to return to the lineup sometime in January.

More from Philadelphia:

  • The ten game win streak has raised the bar when it comes to expectations for the rest of the season, GM Ron Hextall told CSN Philly’s Jordan Hall. Hextall acknowledged that he didn’t expect that the Flyers could pull off ten straight victories with as much parity as there is in the league.  He also provided some updates on their injured players.  He noted that there is a chance that center Sean Couturier (knee), defenseman Mark Streit (shoulder), and right winger Matt Read (oblique) could be back late this month but it’s more likely that all of those players will be out of the lineup until early January.
  • Right winger Dale Weise will be a healthy scratch as the Flyers take on the Predators, reports Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Weise’s first year with Philly has not gone as anyone had hoped as he has just two goals and two assists in 29 games and this is not the first time he has been scratched either.  The 28 year old is in the first of a four year deal with a cap hit of $2.35MM.  Center Boyd Gordon will slot into the lineup in Weise’s place.

Injury Updates: Myers, Nash, Puempel, Couturier, Read, Marchenko

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Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tyler Myers has suffered a setback as he recovers from a lower body injury suffered last month.  Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link), that Myers has “plateaued” in his recovery and that he’s not likely to return for at least a couple of weeks.

Myers has been out of the lineup since November 11th despite originally being classified as day-to-day.  He was off to a strong start prior to getting hurt with five points in 11 games while logging over 22 minutes per game in ice time.  In his absence, rookie Josh Morrissey has continued to play a bigger role than originally anticipated, something that will continue for at least the next couple of weeks now.

More injury updates from throughout the league:

  • Rangers wingers Rick Nash and Matt Puempel accompanied the team to Dallas as they begin a two game road trip and are nearing a return to action, writes Matt Calamia on their team website. Both players have missed the last week with a groin injury and a concussion respectively.  As Calamia notes, their decision to re-assign winger Nicklas Jensen back to the minors is a sign that at least one of the two forwards could be ready to suit up against the Stars tomorrow night.
  • Flyers center Sean Couturier (knee) and right winger Matt Read (oblique) both skated for the first time today as they continue to recover from their respective injuries, reports Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirier. Couturier, who expects that he will have to wear a knee brace for the rest of the season, is targeting Philadelphia’s road trip beginning December 28th for his return to the lineup.  Read does not know yet when he will be ready to return; the original prognosis was that he would be out until early January.
  • Red Wings defenseman Alexey Marchenko re-aggravated his sprained shoulder last night, just days after returning to the lineup from that injury, notes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Head coach Jeff Blashill says it’s a day-to-day issue for the 24 year old.  Through 22 games this year, Marchenko has five assists and is averaging a career high in ice time per game at 17:39.  He’s likely to be replaced in the lineup tomorrow by Jonathan Ericsson who is set to return after missing the last three games with back spasms.

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