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Canadiens Acquire Negotiating Rights To UFA Joel Edmundson

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The Montreal Canadiens had a free agent target in mind for this off-season, but rather than wait until October 9th they have decided to pull the trigger now. The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that they have traded impending unrestricted free agent defenseman Joel Edmundson to the Canadiens. The return for Carolina is a 2020 fifth-round pick.

The Canadiens now have nearly a month to negotiate exclusively with Edmundson on a new contract. A relatively young UFA at 27, Edmundson would be a great addition for the Habs. Edmundson showed this season that he is more than just his 6’4”, 215-lb. frame, posting both a career high 20 points and showing he is reliable defender with a career-best 55% defensive zone starts. Edmundson was less a rugged stay-at-home defender and more of a refined, two-way contributor for Carolina and the Canadiens hope that he can continue to grow in that role. Edmundson has also shown back in his days with the St. Louis Blues that he is capable of playing big minutes, which would provide even more value to Montreal moving forward. Given the lack of high-end talent on the Montreal blue line behind aging Shea Weber and 2021 free agent Jeff Petry, Edmundson could land a long-term deal with the Canadiens to lead a new generation of defenders, such as Victor Mete and Alexander Romanov.

On the other side, the Hurricanes have to be happy with landing a decent pick (No. 140 overall) for a player they seemed unlikely to re-sign anyhow. Edmundson was acquired by Carolina just last summer as part of a package from the St. Louis for Justin Faulk. While Edmundson was a valuable member of a very good ‘Canes team this year, prospect Dominik Bokk was always seen as the true prize in the return for Faulk. Edmundson was on an expiring contract and was joining the deepest defense core in the league, making him a likely rental candidate. The Hurricanes’ impressive blue line depth only improved this season as well, as the team acquired Brady Skjei and saw flashes of brilliance from young Haydn Fleury, who will join Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, and Jake Gardiner as the likely starters next year.

Nominees Announced For 2020 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The award has been voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2019.

Past winners of the award include Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), Jaromir Jagr (2016), Devan Dubnyk (2015), Dominic Moore (2014) and Josh Harding (2013).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Ryan Miller

Arizona Coyotes – Conor Garland

Boston Bruins – Kevan Miller

Buffalo Sabres – Curtis Lazar

Calgary Flames – Mark Giordano

Carolina Hurricanes – James Reimer

Chicago Blackhawks – Corey Crawford

Colorado Avalanche – Ryan Graves

Columbus Blue Jackets – Nathan Gerbe

Dallas Stars – Stephen Johns

Detroit Red Wings – Robby Fabbri

Edmonton Oilers – Connor McDavid

Florida Panthers – Noel Acciari

Los Angeles Kings – Jonathan Quick

Minnesota Wild – Alex Stalock

Montreal Canadiens – Shea Weber

Nashville Predators – Jarred Tinordi

New Jersey Devils – Travis Zajac

New York Islanders – Thomas Hickey

New York Rangers – Henrik Lundqvist

Ottawa Senators – Bobby Ryan

Philadelphia Flyers – Oskar Lindblom

Pittsburgh Penguins – Evgeni Malkin

San Jose Sharks – Joe Thornton

St. Louis Blues – Jay Bouwmeester

Toronto Maple Leafs – Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks – Jacob Markstrom

Vegas Golden Knights – Shea Theodore

Washington Capitals – Michal Kempny

Winnipeg Jets – Mark Letestu

Three finalists and the winner will be named at a later date.

Shea Weber Returns To Practice (3-5 Weeks Early)

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Tuesday: Weber will indeed suit up for the Canadiens tonight, returning just six days after being ruled out for four-to-six weeks.

Monday: Montreal Canadiens captain Shea Weber returned to practice today after missing the past week and a half with an injury. Normally, that wouldn’t be big news. However, just last week Weber was given a timeline of four-to-six weeks to recover from his ankle strain. Five days later, Weber is back at practice and questionable for Tuesday night’s game more than three-to-five weeks ahead of schedule.

Weber’s seemingly miraculous healing powers are earning him a new nickname among hockey pundits: Wolverine. And for good reason. Not only is Weber returning to action far ahead of schedule, but even that initial timeline was considered good news after initial reports about the ankle injury were that it could cost him the season. On top of that, Weber was not only skating today, but was a full participant in practice alongside regular partner Ben Chiarot and was even working with special teams units as if he is expecting to play sooner rather than later. While Weber, 34, has dealt with his fair share of injuries, this is not the first time that he has reportedly returned from injury well before most or has braved pain that most would not endure to return to the lineup.

Of course, timeline aside, the injury is still in play and could limit the veteran. After speaking with Weber after practice, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels relays that Weber was told that he could not do any further damage to his ankle, but that he is certainly not at 100%. Yet, Weber says that he feels good to go, which is good news for the Canadiens. Their slim playoff hopes likely ride on whether or not Weber can contribute, so even a limited version of their captain is far better than what they believed could be four-to-six weeks of his absence.

Adding to the idea that Weber could be returning right away on Tuesday is Montreal’s other move today, sending defenseman Christian Folin as well forward Jake Evans to the AHL’s Laaval Rocket. The team needs to open up a roster spot before activating Weber from the injured reserve.

Shea Weber Out 4-6 Weeks With Ankle Injury

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After consulting a specialist in Wisconsin today, Shea Weber will be out for the next four to six weeks with an ankle sprain. The Montreal Canadiens announced today that the veteran defenseman is expected to fully recover.

That kind of a diagnosis actually probably comes as a relief to the team and fans alike after rumors had swirled all day that Weber could be facing a more long-term injury. The Montreal captain has obviously dealt with several serious injuries over the last few years, including missing most of the 2017-18 season.

This new ailment brought up discussions of Weber’s contract and whether he will be able to play out the remaining years, given his recent health issues and aging body. The defenseman will turn 35 this summer but still has six seasons left on the 14-year, $110MM deal he signed with the Nashville Predators in 2012. Because of the structure of that deal, the Predators could face massive recapture penalties if Weber were to retire early. Injury however, could be a solution.

If Weber instead goes on long-term injured reserve at some point for the rest of his contract, the Predators won’t have to deal with those recapture penalties. Even if he does recover fully from this latest injury, it seems likely that that the end of Weber’s career will be spent on LTIR.

For now though, losing arguably their best skater for the next month may be a death sentence for the Canadiens. The team had been playing well of late and was barely hanging on to some playoff hopes, but without their on-ice and off-ice leader it will be hard to keep up in the Atlantic Division. The team is seven points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final divisional spot, despite having played one extra game.

Shea Weber Placed On Injured Reserve

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In what has been a terribly frustrating season for the Montreal Canadiens, this may be the breaking point. Shea Weber has been moved to injured reserve with a lower-body injury, according to several reports including Eric Engels of Sportsnet. The star defenseman will be out at least a week, but the Canadiens have not determined the exact extent of the injury. With several other injuries piling up—including Jordan Weal, Tomas Tatar, Ryan Poehling and Jonathan Drouin who may all miss tonight’s game—the team has recalled Xavier Ouellet and Jake Evans from the minor leagues.

Weber has been a shining light in an otherwise dreary season for the Canadiens, who currently have a 25-23-7 record despite going 7-3 in their last ten. The 34-year old defenseman has turned back the clock and has 13 goals and 34 points through 55 games, undoubtedly serving as the team’s leader both on and off the ice.

It’s not like Weber hasn’t been great for Montreal in the past, but injuries have stolen the last two seasons and now threaten this year as well. Since coming to the Canadiens in 2016-17, Weber has played just 217 of a possible 301 games.

Even with their recent encouraging play, it seems as though this is a cursed season. You can bet Weber’s absence will only amplify the rumors already swirling around players like Tatar and Jeff Petry as the trade deadline approaches.

Morning Notes: Skills Competition Results, Barzal, Ryan

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The NHL kicked off its All-Star festivities on Friday night with the Skills Competition as well as a three-on-three women’s game to showcase some of their talents as well.  Here are the results:

The All-Star Game festivities run tonight with NHL games resuming on Monday.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Mathew Barzal’s pending restricted free agency is going to be one of the more interesting ones to follow this summer. He has led the Islanders in points in each of his first two NHL seasons and currently leads them in scoring this season.  Despite that, Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post suggests that the likeliest scenario is that he winds up with a short-term bridge contract.  GM Lou Lamoriello doesn’t seem like the type of manager to be willing to approach the contract that Toronto winger Mitch Marner received before the start of this season (a $10.893MM AAV) so the safer move would be to go with the short-term deal for now and go for the long-term deal down the road.
  • Kings defenseman Joakim Ryan is expected to be available for their first game after the All-Star break, notes Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. The 26-year-old has been out since late-December with a lower-body injury.  A pending unrestricted free agent with a cap hit of just $725K, Ryan could draw a little bit of trade interest over the next month from teams that are looking to add defensive depth but have limited cap space.  While he has just three points in 27 games this season, he’s averaging a career-high 18:48 in ice time per night.

NHL All-Star Selections Announced

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Although it took some time, with each individual team rolling out their own selections, the final rosters for All-Star Weekend have come into focus. Below are each of the four divisional team, set to face off in the Skills Competition on Friday, January 24th and the All-Star Game on Saturday, January 25th:

Atlantic Division

G Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
G Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
D Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
F Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings
F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
F Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
F Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
F Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins (C)

Metropolitan Division

G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
G Joonas Korpisalo, Columbus Blue Jackets
D John Carlson, Washington Capitals
D Dougie Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes
D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
F Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
F Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
F Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils
F Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers

Central Division

G Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche (C)
F Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
F Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
F Eric Staal, Minnesota Wild

Pacific Division

G Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
G Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes
D Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
F Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
F Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (C)
F Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
F Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks
F Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames

Additionally, each divisional squad will have one more addition as decided by the Last Men In fan vote. Voting opens on January 1st and closes on the 10th. Here are the candidates:

Atlantic Division – Patrice Bergeron, Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Larkin Aleksander Barkov, Max Domi, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Steven Stamkos, Mitch Marner

Metropolitan Division – Teuvo Teravainen, Nick Foligno, Nico Hischier, Brock Nelson, Mika Zibanejad, Claude Giroux, Kris Letang, T.J. Oshie

Central Division – Jonathan Toews, Cale Makar, Jamie Benn, Ryan Suter, Matt Duchene, David Perron Patrik Laine

Pacific Division – Ryan Getzlaf, Clayton Keller, Johnny Gaudreau, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Drew Doughty, Tomas Hertl, Quinn Hughes, Max Pacioretty

Poll: Toughest First-Round Opponent For Tampa Bay Lightning?

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It’s been months since any team in the East other than the Tampa Bay Lightning was considered to have any real chance at the top seed in the conference. The Lightning have been one of the most dominant regular season teams in recent memory, locking up the President’s Trophy more than two weeks ago and joining the 60-win club earlier this week.

What has also been clear for some time is that Tampa would be destined to face the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the playoffs, as their two divisional rivals have been near the top of the league standings for much of the year and always on a collision course to play each other in round one due to the NHL’s current playoff format. Yet, it’s easy to forget that the Lightning too have to win in the first round. Many have taken it as a foregone conclusion that Tampa would advance, but upsets occur in sports and the Lighting are as susceptible to a collapse as any heavy favorites that have fallen in the past.

So who has the best chance to knock off the regular season champs? Well, the defending Stanley Cup winners would have been an ideal match-up, but the Washington Capitals pulled out of range of a wild card finish earlier this week and clinched the top seed in the Metropolitan Division with a win on Thursday. The New York Islanders, with their suffocating defensive style and stellar goaltending, also would have been an intriguing opponent, but they have also assured themselves of a non-wildcard spot. Finally, the star-studded Pittsburgh Penguins would have made for a difficult and highly entertaining series with the Bolts, but a win on Thursday night guaranteed that they cannot finish any lower than seventh in the conference.

That leaves three potential opponents for Tampa Bay in round one: the Carolina Hurricanes, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Montreal Canadiens. Two of these three teams will make the playoffs – Carolina has clinched a playoff berth with a Thursday night victory – but only one will be lucky enough to land the second wild card spot and go up against the Lightning. Of these three, which one could pull off the eight seed upset?

The Hurricanes are on pace to finish seventh in the East and avoid Tampa and they cannot be caught by the Canadiens. However, if the the Blue Jackets pass by Carolina, the team would have to celebrate their first postseason in ten years by playing the Bolts. The ’Canes could give the Lightning problems with their ability to suppress shots, as they are the only team in the conference that allows less than 29 shots per game on average. A defense corps that is among the deepest and most talented in the league makes offense a struggle for the opposition and the added bonus of consistent play in net explains why Carolina is eighth-best in the league in goals against per game. Despite the franchise’s lack of postseason experience of late, Justin Williams and Jordan Staal are also major assets when it comes to playing smart, tough playoff hockey. The main concern for the Hurricanes though is that they have not been as successful offensively as they have been defensively. Despite leading the league in shots per game, the team is 16th in goals for per game and 20th on the power play and they’ve lacked game-breaking scoring talent this season outside of Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. It’s impossible to expect to shutout Tampa Bay, so if Carolina can’t find some secondary scoring they could struggle against the Bolts.

As of now, Columbus looks like the favorite to finish eighth and play Tampa. That might not be what GM Jarmo Kekalainen expected when he added Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, and Adam McQuaid at the trade deadline, but those moves will certainly help anyway. The Blue Jackets franchise has never won a playoff series and doing so against this Lightning team would be a tall task. However, they have both considerable talent and a chip on their shoulder. Like Carolina, Columbus does not allow many shots nor many goals and additionally have the best penalty kill in the conference. Unlike Carolina, they also have a star goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky. The Jackets would need Bobrovksy to shake off past struggles in the postseason, but if he does the Vezina Trophy-winner could be a game-changer. Offensively, Columbus has had an up-and-down year but are currently 12th in goals for per game. Duchene and Dzingel are major additions to a forward unit that already included elite talent like Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson. Unfortunately, all of this ability up front has still not led to consistent offense nor has it cured a miserable power play. Failure to capitalize on opportunities could be the Achilles heel of this team.

Then there’s Montreal, who need some help to make the playoffs, but could make waves if they do. The Canadiens can only end up in the eighth seed, so it’s Tampa or bust. Montreal can never quite be counted out with Carey Price in net and Shea Weber on the blue line, but the question is whether the other pieces are there to pull off not one but four wins against the Bolts. To their credit, the Habs have been a very balanced, consistent team this season that is right in the middle of the pack when it comes to goals and shots for as well as goals and shots against. Their power play is dead last in the NHL, which is obviously not typical of a playoff team, but it’s hard to find many other holes in their game. The problem is that nothing jumps out as being good enough for a massive upset, either. If Max Domi and Tomas Tatar stay hot and Price stands on his head as usual, anything is possible, but the Canadiens have simply been a good team and anyone who beats the Lightning will need to be great. Can they step up?

What do you think? The standings might say Columbus is the most likely opponent for Tampa Bay at this point, but who would be the toughest match-up for the President’s Trophy winners?

Kenny Agostino Will Not Face Further Discipline From Player Safety

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As the Montreal Canadiens prepare to take on the Detroit Red Wings tonight, they are fortunate to do so with forward Kenny Agostino in the lineup. Agostino, who has carved out a nice role for himself with the Habs this season, received a match penalty game misconduct in the first period of the team’s match-up with Minnesota last night for a late hit on the Wild’s Eric Fehr. Yet, missing most of the game and leaving his team shorthanded appears to have been a fitting punishment for Agostino in the league’s eyes. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that no further discipline will come from the Department of Player Safety and instead Agostino will take the ice this evening.

The incident in question occurred early in the first period of last night’s game in Montreal. Agostino hit Fehr with a late check along the boards, despite having enough time to slow up after Fehr had passed the puck away. Fehr fell against the boards in front of his own bench and hit his face on the way down (video). The veteran forward left the game and did not return. Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau told the media today that Fehr is out tonight against the Boston Bruins but due to soreness and not any long-term injury. Both Fehr and Agostino logged just 25 seconds of ice time apiece in the game due to their early collision. In addition to a game misconduct, Agostino earned a major penalty for interference, a penalty that was partially reduced by Minnesota defenseman Nick Seeler who came to the defense of his teammate and fought Agostino, but at the cost of an instigator penalty. Not long after Agostino’s exit, the Canadiens also lost Shea Weber, who was took a puck up high and left the game. Down two skaters for much of the game, Montreal somehow still held the Wild to one goal albeit in a 1-0 defeat.

In his defense, Agostino has no suspension history or past dealings with the Department of Player Safety. While his check on Fehr was certainly late, it was not a heavy or high hit with an intent to injure, but the unfortunate way that Fehr landed caused most of the damage. Although the league could have thrown the book at him for a late, careless hit that caused an injury, the decision not to further discipline Agostino with a fine or suspension seems fair.

Throughout most of his pro career, an absence by Agostino would not have mattered much to his teams. The former AHL standout struggled to earn play time in stops with the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Boston Bruins, but has already set a career high in games played (28) and points (11) in Montreal. Agostino is still playing a limited bottom-six role, but improved physicality and extraordinary possession numbers have helped him lock up a spot in the Habs’ lineup. On a $700K two-way contract this season, the winger is a bargain for the Canadiens. However, the 26-year-old is surely looking forward to being a free agent again this summer following his current breakout campaign.

Central Notes: Saros, Subban, Fabbri, Anisimov

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The Nashville Predators have succeeded this year based on the play of Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne’s play. While Rinne has posted a 14-5-1 record, a 1.96 GAA and a .929 save percentage, his backup Juuse Saros, who many felt might share net responsibilities with the 36-year-old Rinne this year, hasn’t fared nearly as well with an 8-5 record, a 3.14 GAA and a .893 save percentage.

However, while Saros’ numbers suggest that he’s struggling this season, head coach Peter Laviolette said Saturday that he believes that the team isn’t playing well when the 23-year-old is in net, according to The Athletic’s Adam Vingan (subscription required).

“I’m going to be perfectly honest. I think that we’ve played lousy in front of (Saros),” Laviolette said. “There’s got to be accountability to the 18 guys that go out in front of him. Just too many odd-man rushes, too many point-blank chances, and that’s got to stop. And when that stops, he’s going to feel better and look better in there. There’s just too much coming at him.”

While Vingan writes that there is some truth to the comment as the team has had some of their worst defensive showings with Saros in net, including losses to San Jose on Nov. 13, to St. Louis on Nov. 23 and Calgary on Dec. 8. However, when looking even deeper, Vingan notes that both goalies have faced the same number of quality shots per game and it’s just Rinne’s amazing play that has separated the two goaltenders.

  • Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos suggested (via The Athletic’s Adam Vingan)that the unknown injury that Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban is dealing with has nothing to do with the suspected back injury that he dealt with two years ago. Subban has missed 15 games this year with the undisclosed injury, but Kypreos said that Subban could be out for a bit longer. “It’s a real conservative approach by Nashville to keep him out. They think a 50-plus (game) regular season for P.K. could benefit him,” Kypreos said Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada.
  • Lou Korac of NHL.com writes that oft-injured forward Robby Fabbri said he still should have a better idea around Christmas of his timetable of returning from his separated shoulder injury. “We’re just taking it day by day. I’m listening to the shoulder. What I do that day depends on how I wake up feeling and how I felt from the day before.”
  • Jon Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that while he’s not playing today, Chicago Blackhawks forward Artem Anisimov is close to returning to action. The 30-year-old should be eligible to be activated off IR before Tuesday’s game as he continues his recovery from a concussion suffered by a hit from Montreal’s Shea Weber on Dec. 9. “He looks like he’s closer to coming back, so hopefully he can,” coach Jeremy Colliton said at the morning skate. “I haven’t heard that he’s ready-ready, but we think he’s not far away.”

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