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Shayne Gostisbehere

East Notes: Lundqvist, Connolly, Gostisbehere, Canadiens

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Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist told SportExpressen’s Magnus Nystrom (link in Swedish) that he suffered an injury to a ligament in his knee while playing for Sweden at last month’s World Championships.  NHL.com’s Dan Rosen clarifies (via Twitter) that it’s an MCL sprain.  The rehab time is expected to be four to six weeks.  The netminder added that he plans to get back to on-ice workouts in early August.

The 35 year old didn’t specify when the injury occurred but he noted he had it before suiting up in the final game against Canada.  The issue didn’t appear to hold Lundqvist back in any form as he had a strong showing for the gold medallists, posting a 1.31 GAA and a .946 SV% in five games after joining the team midway through the tournament.  He was particularly sharp in that final match, allowing just a single goal while not allowing any goals in the shootout.

Other notes from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Capitals are interested in re-signing pending RFA winger Brett Connolly and in fact have come close to reaching an agreement a couple of different times with him, reports CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Tarik El-Bashir. Simply receiving his qualifying offer (worth just over $892K) would be a nice change of fortune for him after not being tendered one by the Bruins last summer.  The 25 year old set a career high in goals this season with 15 in 66 games and fit in nicely on the third line for a significant portion of the year.  However, he found himself in the doghouse in the postseason and was a healthy scratch for their final six games.
  • Flyers GM Ron Hextall has already tabled a qualifying offer to pending RFA Shayne Gostisbehere, notes CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio. Hextall wouldn’t comment on the status of negotiations, only commenting that he’d like to have a deal done before training camp starts in September.  After a quieter sophomore campaign that saw him as a healthy scratch at one point, Gostisbehere could be in line for a bridge contract instead of a long-term deal.
  • The Canadiens will not ask either of their players with no-move clauses to waive them in advance of expansion, John Sedgwick (Montreal’s director of legal affairs) told Hugo Fontaine of the teams’ official website. Goalie Carey Price wasn’t going to be left unprotected either way but defenseman Jeff Petry, who has four years left with a cap hit of $5.5MM, could have been a candidate if the team wanted to protect both Jordie Benn and Nathan Beaulieu.

Offseason Keys: Philadelphia Flyers

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While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Philadelphia Flyers.

After making the playoffs in 2015-16, expectations were high in Philadelphia this season.  However, they wound up taking a step backwards as inconsistency plagued them throughout the year and they came up a little short of making the postseason.  They did receive a nice consolation prize in the form of the second overall pick through the draft lottery, starting the offseason on a high note.  Here’s what’s in store for Ron Hextall and the Flyers this summer.

New Deal For Gostisbehere

Shayne Gostisbehere burst onto the scene in 2015-16 after a recall a month into the year as he quickly became one of the top offensive threats from the back end in the entire NHL.  Expectations were high heading into his first full NHL season but he struggled to repeat his freshman performance while even being scratched periodically.

Nov 23, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (53) passes the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsGostisbehere’s entry level contract expires in July and he is Philadelphia’s most prominent restricted free agent.  Although he had a down season, he still put up 39 points which ranked him in the top-25 league-wide.  He’s viewed as a key cog for the Flyers and accordingly, he has a case for a big contract.

Had the 24 year old taken a step forward or two this season, it would have been easy to anticipate Hextall being more than comfortable signing him long-term.  However, given Gostisbehere’s drop in production and role, the GM may be inclined to look for a short-term bridge deal.  From a cap standpoint, the Flyers have plenty of space to work with this offseason (something that hasn’t been said for quite a while) so they certainly have the flexibility to go either way with their young defenseman.

Find A Starting Goalie

This one is a familiar key for Philly fans.  Despite bringing in some prominent netminders over the years, they’ve struggled to find a consistent number one goalie.  The tandem of Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth didn’t get the job done this season and while Neuvirth signed a two year, $5MM extension at the deadline, he’s not really being viewed as the long-term solution.  Mason is set to become an unrestricted free agent and indicated after the season he wasn’t likely to re-sign if the platoon situation was in place again next season.

Anthony Stolarz is coming off a bit of a down season himself at the AHL level but is still viewed as a prospect with some NHL upside.  As things stand, he’s in line to make a push for a spot with the Flyers (assuming he makes it through expansion) but the pending RFA also has another year of waiver exemption remaining which increases the likelihood that he will start with AHL Lehigh Valley next year.

There are going to be quite a few goalies available between free agency and the trade market, several of which could come in and take over the starting role.  While there aren’t any long-term solutions available, there are some players who could hold down the fort for a year or two which, given the quality prospects Philadelphia has in the system between the pipes, might just be exactly what they need.

Reshape The Back End

One way or the other, the defense is going to likely look a lot different next season.  Mark Streit was dealt away at the deadline while other pending UFAs in Michael Del Zotto and Nick Schultz aren’t expected to return.

The Flyers have several young prospects that are nearly ready to make the jump to the NHL, including Samuel Morin, Robert Hagg, and Travis Sanheim.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see Hextall opt to leave a spot or two open heading into training camp for their youngsters to try to step up and seize a spot.

That said, given the payroll room they have to work with, it also wouldn’t be surprising to see them be active in free agency to try to add a quality veteran.  An alternative option may be to utilize the pre-expansion trade market as they really only have two blueliners that are must-protect players in Gostisbehere and Radko Gudas.  Hextall could opt to make a trade before Vegas makes their selection and add to their blueline that way.  Philadelphia has plenty of options to change up their defense corps for next season and it certainly will be interesting to see which route they wind up taking.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Zaitsev, Richardson, Flames Arena

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Earlier this week, news broke that the Maple Leafs were closing in on a seven-year extension for defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.

The deal is expected to be around $4.5MM per season, which would be a big raise for the 25-year-old rookie coming off his entry-level deal. The expected terms would be comparable to at least 20 top-four defensemen, at around 5-7 per cent of the salary cap and 5-8 years.

Zaitsev has been a solid addition to the Maple Leafs’ blue line, with four goals and 30 assists so far. He’s closing in on Borje Salming’s record of 33 assists for a rookie defenseman. He’s also leading the team in average ice-time, at 22:16 per game. Despite his good season paired with Morgan Rielly, the Maple Leafs need to be careful. The contract would take him to age 32, an age where defensemen begin to physically break down. In addition, Zaitsev has played just 76 games in the NHL. That’s not a long track record; Shayne Gostisbehere was very good in his rookie year but hasn’t found the same dominance this season as opponents figured out how to shut him down more effectively. The two defensemen play different styles, but the comparison illustrates the potential risk of judging a player based on one season. While a bridge deal minimizes that risk, the team then risks having to pay the player more should he develop further.

The rumored cap hit of $4.5MM is fair value for a top-four defenseman, but the term is risky. Nothing has indicated Zaitsev will struggle, but seven years is a long time.

  • Arizona Coyotes forward Brad Richardson will not play again this season, the team announced Saturday. Richardson hasn’t played since mid-November, when he broke his tibia and fibula in a collision with Canucks defenseman Nikita Tryamkin. GM John Chayka said Richardson underwent a procedure to “remove hardware” from the previous surgery. He’s expected to be ready for training camp. Richardson was having a very good season before the injury, with nine points in 16 games.
  • The same week that his team clinched a playoff spot, the Calgary Flames President and CEO Ken King made some less-than-popular remarks on Fan 590. Should the team and the city be unable to agree on a new arena deal, then King said “there would be no threat to move, we would just move, and it would be over” (via CBC). It’s not an unprecedented strategy to get public money for a new arena – Edmonton owner Darryl Katz publicly visited Seattle in 2012, months before the deal was finalized to build Rogers Place. Even so, it’s a risky ploy, especially as the team begins selling playoff tickets.

Philadelphia Flyers Sign Mark Friedman To ELC

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Tuesday: Kevin Gordon of the Bowling Green State site reports that Friedman has signed the contract this morning and will be going pro.

Monday: According to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, the Philadelphia Flyers are expected to sign third-round pick Mark Friedman out of Bowling Green State. The defenseman just completed his junior year, meaning he would be leaving school early to sign with the Flyers.

Friedman, 21, is another one of the sub-six foot defenders coming out of the college ranks who has succeeded in spite of his height. The puck-moving defenseman has always had loads of talent with the puck, but has trouble in his own end at times. With 26 points in 40 games this year, he’s proven once again he can contribute offensively—though that has never really been in doubt.

Should the Flyers pluck him out of school early, they can start giving him important minutes with Lehigh Valley immediately, and try to coax another NHL defender out of a mid-round pick. Shayne Gostisbehere was also a third-round pick that played three seasons in the NCAA before making an immediate impact last season. Perhaps Friedman, who is built much the same, can follow a similar path.

Snapshots: NHL Three Stars, Gostisbehere, Johnson

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The NHL has named its Three Stars of the Week: Sebastian Aho, Mikael Granlund, and Peter Budaj.

Aho had four goals and an assist in three games, including two game-winning goals. In the Hurricanes’ first game of the week, Aho had a hat-trick and assist, before scoring the winning goal on Friday against the Oilers and being held pointless on Saturday. In 51 games, the 2015 second-round pick has 16 goals and 31 points, good for sixth among rookies.

Granlund had three goals and six points in three games as the Wild went 2-1-0. After two assists in the first two games of the week, he too had a hat-trick plus assist in the third game of the week. Granlund currently leads the Wild in scoring with 48 points in 51 games.

Budaj won three of four games with a 0.930 SV%, 1.62 GAA, and two shutouts. After starting the season as the Kings’ third-string goaltender, he now leads the NHL in shutouts with seven and has a sparkling 0.920 SV% with 25 wins in 46 appearances. With Jonathan Quick out from opening night until March, Budaj has allowed the Kings to remain in a wildcard spot.

  • The offensively-starved Flyers will be without last year’s rookie standout Shayne Gostisbehere yet again when the Blues come to Philadelphia tonight, but it’s not an injury or illness that’s keeping him out. Gostisbehere will be a healthy scratch for the third-straight game. After scoring 17 goals and 46 points in 64 games last year, he has just four goals and 21 points in 48 games this season. That’s a pace of 7-29-36 over 82 games, much lower than his 59-point-pace in 2015-16. While Gostisbehere will remain out of the lineup, rookie forward Travis Konecny will draw back in for Matt Read. When asked about the lineup, coach Dave Hakstol told NBC’s Jason Brough that he’s “trying to dress the best roster possible to win hockey games. Point blank.” Without Gostisbehere, the Flyers are 1-1, winning 3-1 and losing 1-0.
  • In an appearance on TSN Radio in Edmonton, Bob McKenzie put forward the idea that Tampa Bay could look to move pending RFA center Tyler Johnson for defensive help. Despite Johnson’s lessened production this year (33 points in 53 games), McKenzie suggests a combination of “needing a defenseman and maybe having a surplus of forwards, and… the cap issues and maybe not being in a position to sign [Johnson] might make him more expendable over some of the other pieces.” Besides making a decision on potential rentals like Ben Bishop and Brian Boyle and RFA forwards Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Johnson, McKenzie believes GM Steve Yzerman will be looking for a cost-controlled defenseman to make his team better going forward. Regardless of who he choses to keep, it’s going to be a stressful next few months for Yzerman.

Lineup Notes: Neal, Gostisbehere, Predators

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News and notes from around the NHL this afternoon:

  • The Nashville Predators have activated  forward James Neal from the injured reserve, reports the Tennesean’s Adam Vingan. Neal has been out since January 3rd with an upper body injury. So far this season Neal has 14G and 6A in 33 games for Nashville, but went pointless in his last five games before his injury. Neal’s return is good news for the Predators as they continue to battle injuries elsewhere. P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, and Colin Wilson are all out right now as the Predators struggle to stay afloat in the NHL’s Central Division
  • Philadelphia Flyers scratched defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere once again this season, as first reported by the Courier-Post’s Dave Isaac. This is the sophomore’s second healthy scratch this season, but it comes off of a decent performance against the Vancouver Canucks. Points-wise Gostisbehere performs fine—4G and 15A in 42 games—but his defensive play leaves coach Dave Hakstol wanting more.
  • The Nashville Predators announced that they called up defenseman Petter Granberg and reassigned forward Pontus Aberg to the AHL Milwaukee Admirals. The move makes room for the returning James Neal, and also shores up Nashville’s bleeding blue line. Nashville plays the Colorado Avalanche tonight riding a two game winning streak.
  • The San Jose Sharks have recalled Ryan Carpenter prior to their game tonight against the St. Louis Blues. Carpenter has 18 points in 28 AHL games this season. Kevin Kurz of CSN thinks that it’s a sign that Joonas Donskoi, who missed yesterday’s practice, will be out for tonight.

Flyers Notes: Del Zotto, Defense, Raffl

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The start to this season hasn’t been a great one for Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto.  He suffered a knee injury in training camp that caused him to miss the first month of the season and since then, he has been a healthy scratch on several occasions with head coach Dave Hakstol looking for a better compete level.  Despite that, he still feels good about his play, writes Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post.

Through 19 games this season, the 26 year old has four goals and five assists which is pretty good production for a blueliner.  However, his ice time has been scaled back significantly as he is playing 18 minutes a night compared to 23:25 last season.

Being sat down while having your minutes cut is hardly a desirable spot for anyone to be in but the timing is particularly poor for Del Zotto, a pending unrestricted free agent in a market that isn’t all that strong when it comes to defensemen.  He told Isaac that his UFA status isn’t in his mind at the moment:

“I know I can contribute offensively and I’ve proven over the last couple of years that I can be a No. 1 defender and I have the ability to shut the other team’s top lines down. I think at this point whatever happens, happens. It is a business. I’m not too worried about it. I’m comfortable with my game. I know I can contribute and help the team win every night.”

While free agency may not be something Del Zotto is currently concerned with, he has to realize that a strong second half of the season would go a lot way towards cementing himself as one of the top free agent blueliners available.  Between that and being sat down at times, he’ll have plenty of motivation the rest of the way.

More news from Philadelphia:

  • Del Zotto is far from the only blueliner to make an impact offensively this season. Mark Streit, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Ivan Provorov are all in the top-35 league-wide for points by a defender, a byproduct of Hakstol’s request to have the back end get more involved at the offensive end, writes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  The decision to have them take more chances offensively certainly has worked so far as the Flyers lead the league in points by defensemen.
  • Left winger Michael Raffl is set to miss the next one-to-two weeks with a lower body injury that’s believed to be a knee sprain, notes CSN Philly’s Jordan Hall. This is the second time this season that the 28 year Austrian will be on the shelf as he also missed eight games with an abdominal injury sustained in mid-October.  In 27 games this season, he has seven goals and two assists and has frequently been up and down the lineup.

Shayne Gostisbehere Day-To-Day With Hand Injury

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A surprise omission from the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup tonight in Detroit was young defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. The team announced that their top blue liner would miss the game due to an upper body injury and that he is considered day-to-day. Gostisbehere in fact took a shot to the hand in yesterday’s game against the Dallas Stars, that forced him to leave. Although he was able to return before the end of the game, the injury appears to be more serious than originally thought, as it is now causing him to miss time.

Gostisbehere is in the midst of yet another strong year in his sophomore campaign, with 16 points in 29 games thus far. This mark is tops among Flyers defenseman, as his 46 points in 2015-16 was as well. After struggling through some defensive issues earlier in the season that earned him a healthy scratch, “Ghost Bear” has turned it around. He’s playing a more responsible defensive game, leading the team in ice time, and currently on a four-game point. The Flyers themselves are streaking right now, having won eight in a row and 10 of 13 since Gostisbehere was scratched.

With a hole on the back end now, Philadelphia is putting their great defensive depth to work by inserting Michael Del Zotto into the lineup. With the emergence of rookie Ivan Provorov and the return to form of Andrew MacDonald, to go along with what was already a strong corps of blue liners, Del Zotto has seen his role greatly reduced. Between some time lost to injury early in the season and several games spent in the press box with fellow defenseman Nick Schultz, Del Zotto has played in just 13 games this season. He’ll get a chance to earn more frequent play time with a strong performance as Gostisbehere’s fill-in.

Snapshots: Senators, Lindback, Flyers

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson has left the team again for personal reasons, reports the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. Anderson has left the team twice so far this season to be with his wife after her recent cancer diagnosis. Andrew Hammond will serve as back-up to newcomer Mike Condon, who the Senators acquired from Pittsburgh for a fifth-round draft pick. Condon is 2-0-0 since being acquired and has put up a stellar 0.48 GAA and a .983 SV%.
  • Former NHL goalie Anders Lindback was ostensibly released from, and reinstated to, his PTO today with the Los Angeles Kings affiliate Ontario Reign, reports Ontario Reign Insider Lindsay Czarnecki. The team initially announced that it released Lindback from the team before retracting that statement within the hour. Lindback was signed to the PTO on October 25th after the Kings found themselves without any starting goalies because both Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff were out with injury. The Kings are now carrying three goalies in Peter Budaj, Jack Campbell, and Zatkoff (injured), and will most likely send Campbell down when Zatkoff heals.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have scratched defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi. In an ironic twist, Gostisbehere was named Philadelphia’s Pro Athlete of the Year by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association earlier this morning. Coach Dave Hakstol says that the benching should be good for his growth and development. The young defenseman currently has 3G and 7A in 17 games for the Flyers. He will be replaced by Andrew MacDonald who has 1G and 2A in 10 games.

Flyers’ Michael Del Zotto To Return Saturday

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After a suffering a knee injury at the beginning of October, Flyers’ defenseman Michael Del Zotto is set to return to the lineup on Saturday night, according to Sam Carchidi of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Del Zotto was placed on injured reserve on October 7th, and originally given a timetable of 4-5 weeks which was clearly accurate.

After a successful first season with the Flyers in 2014-15, Del Zotto fought his way through another injury plagued year in 2015-16, a situation far too familiar to the 26-year old.  He’s played in 80+ games just once in his career, his rookie season with the New York Rangers, and has eclipsed 70 just one other time. If he’s to make the impact many Philadelphia fans hope, he’ll have to avoid injury for the rest of this season.

[Related: Philadelphia Flyers Depth Chart]

Expected to skate alongside Flyers’ star sophomore Shayne Gostisbehere, Del Zotto will deepen a Philadelphia defense corps that has allowed a league-leading 43 goals through 12 contests. Remarkably, the team is at 6-5-1 on the year and still poised to take a run at the playoffs again this season.

The team will have some roster work to do however before activating the defenseman, as they currently sit more than $1MM over the cap and have to be compliant before bringing Del Zotto back into the fold. The team could perhaps move Andrew MacDonald to LTIR, as he’s out at least a week with a lower-body injury.

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