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Pittsburgh Penguins Trade Phil Kessel To Arizona Coyotes

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have traded forward Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes, finally ending a long saga in which Pittsburgh has been trying to unload the unhappy veteran. The Penguins will send Kessel, prospect Dane Birks and a 2021 fourth-round pick to Arizona for forward Alex Galchenyuk and prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

“First and foremost, I want to thank Phil Kessel for his contributions to the Penguins. He was a key component to our success in winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. We couldn’t have done it without him, and for that, we are grateful,” said Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford. “With that being said, we are excited to welcome a young, skilled player in Alex, and add depth to our defense with first-round draft pick Pierre-Olivier Joseph.”

Kessel’s name has been in the news all offseason as the team is interested in moving the veteran forward and the three years remaining on his deal at $6.8MM and with some bad blood between Kessel and the Penguins, general manager Jim Rutherford was looking to move him. Rutherford said that Kessel requested to be traded several times during last season and then changed his mind, although Kessel denies that, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. The Penguins attempted to trade Kessel to Minnesota in May in a package that included Jason Zucker, but Kessel, who has a modified no-trade clause where he can pick eight teams that he can be traded to, rejected the deal as he had no interest in going to Minnesota. However, Kessel would be interested in going to Arizona as he has a great relationship with their coach, Rick Tocchet, who was an assistant coach in Pittsburgh before he took the Coyotes’ job. Tocchet was, in fact, known in Pittsburgh as the “Phil Kessel Whisperer,” and is considered the one coach who can get the most out of the veteran.

The 31-year-old Kessel is coming off a solid season in which he scored 27 goals and 82 points, which would have been tops on Arizona’s squad by 35 points as the team’s points leader was Clayton Keller, who put up 14 goals and 47 points. Kessel provides the Coyotes with a proven veteran scorer, something that was desperately needed as no one in Arizona got to 20 goals last season. In fact, Kessel has scored 291 goals in the last 10 seasons, which is only behind a handful of top players in the league, including Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Joe Pavelski. Kessel’s contract will be the second-biggest on the team behind defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Kessel also should provide some stability in the lineup as Arizona was ravaged by injuries last year. Kessel has gone nine straight seasons without having missed a regular-season game. While Kessel isn’t known for his defensive play, it evens out as Galchenyuk is considered to be just as weak defensively.

In Galchenyuk, the Penguins would still get a solid top-six forward, but at both a cheaper price tag and with less term. Galchenyuk has just one year remaining on his deal at $4.9MM, which gives the Penguins some much-needed cap room to attempt to add to a team that got swept in the first-round of the playoffs last year and have a limited time to make a Stanley Cup run as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin aren’t getting any younger. The 25-year-old Galchenyuk put up 19 goals and 41 points in 72 games last season, his first in Arizona after being acquired last offseason via trade from Montreal and should become a solid winger on one of Pittsburgh’s top two lines.

The Penguins also added some young defensive depth as Joseph was Arizona’s first-round pick in 2017 and is ready to turn pro, although he will likely need at least one year in the AHL. The 19-year-old posted nine goals and 42 points for two junior squads last year. Birks is likely to even out the trade as the 23-year-old spent all of last season in the ECHL with the Wheeling Nailers.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the trade. 

2019 Hart Trophy Finalists Announced

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The finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the player most valuable to his team, have been announced. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the three finalists are Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid.

Kucherov is considered to be a favorite for the award after putting up a tremendous year. The 25-year-old took his game to another level as he has already captured this year’s Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in total points. He finished the year with 41 goals and 128 points, the most in the league since the 1995-96 season. His totals are also the most-ever by a Russian-born NHL player. Kucherov has also been nominated for the Ted Lindsay Award, awarded to the most outstanding player and voted on by the players. Kucherov led his team to the Presidents’ Trophy, given to the team with the best regular-season record.

Crosby had an impressive season as well. Often forgotten when talking about the league’s best players, Crosby helped lead the Penguins to the playoffs this year and did it by breaking the 100-point mark for the first time in five years. On top of that, he was 18-points better than any other players on his team, making his season quite valuable for a Pittsburgh franchise that struggled to get into the playoffs this season.

McDavid’s name is not surprising either, other than the fact that the Edmonton Oilers didn’t have a very impressive season and while they weren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs until late in the season, they were never truly considered to be a playoff threat this season. In fact, McDavid is just the sixth player in NHL history to be a Hart finalist from a non-playoff team. McDavid, however, who won the Hart Trophy in the 2016-17 season when he tallied 30 goals and 100 points, continues to improve on each season as he tallied 41 goals and 116 points to reach new career highs.

Several interesting players were left off the finalist list as well, including Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane.

 

Snapshots: Three Stars, Hossa, Draft Rankings

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The NHL has released their three stars for last week, and Nikita Kucherov finds himself on top once again. The Tampa Bay Lightning forward now has 94 points on the season to lead the entire league and has recorded at least two in each of his last four games. That gives Kucherov 28 multi-point games this season and makes him a near lock for his second consecutive 100+ point season. The 25-year old has become an almost unmatched offensive powerhouse the last few seasons and will likely be a finalist for (if not the outright winner of) the Hart Trophy this year.

Fellow Russian sniper Vladimir Tarasenko took home the second star for his ten-point effort, another reason why the St. Louis Blues are the NHL’s hottest team. Tarasenko was included in trade rumors at one point this season, but is now on pace to come close to his career-high in points of 75. Third place went to Sidney Crosby who is having another incredible season even without some of the usual fanfare. Crosby has 72 points in 56 games and will likely continue his streak of point-per-game seasons that has lasted his entire career.

  • When Marian Hossa stepped away from the NHL in 2017 due to a mysterious skin condition, many struggled to accept his explanation. That was because it happened to coincide with Hossa’s salary dropping dramatically, meaning he wasn’t leaving very much money on the table by essentially retiring. Now, in an incredible interview with The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required), Hossa opens up about the condition and how it affected his life and playing career.  After a trade from Chicago, Hossa’s contract remains on the Arizona Coyotes books and will until 2021 when it eventually expires. He won’t be playing hockey again, but his health and life have returned to some level of normalcy.
  • While Powers was busy releasing a feature on Hossa, Athletic colleague Scott Wheeler was releasing his midseason draft rankings (subscription required). Wheeler continues to have Jack Hughes as an easy choice in the top spot and doesn’t see it as “a 1A and 1B” draft with fellow top prospect Kaapo Kakko. Arthur Kaliyev, who scored two more goals today for the Hamilton Bulldogs to give him 47 on the season, sits at 13th and is the top OHL player available. As Corey Pronman of The Athletic points out on Twitter, Kaliyev is in rare (and impressive) territory in terms of draft eligible goal scorers from the OHL.

Metropolitan Notes: Duchene, Pionk, Talbot, Elliott

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Now that the Matt Duchene sweepstakes have started up after it was announced Saturday night that the Senators have decided to trade their star center after they have failed to negotiate an extension. While the report suggested that the Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets were the two teams that have been in on acquiring the 26-year-old, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the New York Islanders and general manager Lou Lamoriello are also very interested in bringing Duchene over to Long Island.

While no one is ever sure what Lamoriello plans to do, he is also well known for making an impact at the trade deadline and even though the Islanders are in first place in the Metropolitan Division, the team is still looking for an identity and has plenty of cap room and prospects to work out a potential blockbuster package if Lamoriello wants to do it. The team is still looking for a replacement for the loss of star John Tavares, who left for Toronto during the offseason. Duchene might be a solid No. 2 center for New York and could be viewed as a long-term piece in New York.

  • The New York Rangers got some good news after defenseman Neal Pionk sat out the third period of Sunday’s game after taking a stick to the eye from Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, which many felt was a sign that the injury was severe. However, Rangers’ head coach David Quinn said that Pionk was held out for precautionary reasons and is expected to play Tuesday against Carolina.
  • Despite being acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday morning, the Philadelphia Flyers won’t have goaltender Cam Talbot available for their Sunday game against Detroit. The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription required) writes that while no reason was given, it’s likely because Talbot is moving from Canada to the U.S. and with his primary employment being moved between countries, he likely will be dealing with visa issues for a little while.
  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com writes that the earliest Talbot could be ready will be Thursday, but the team could get back Brian Elliott even sooner. Depending on how he feels after his game Sunday, Elliott could be available to join Philadelphia on Tuesday and serve as a backup. Elliott has been out of the lineup since Nov. 15 with a lower-body injury. However, with Mike McKenna on the roster and Talbot soon to follow, the team will have four goaltenders and will be forced to make a move, most likely waiving McKenna.

Metropolitan Notes: Holtby, Bjugstad, Niederreiter

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The Washington Capitals finally broke their seven-game losing streak, but there still is plenty of concern on whether the Stanley Cup champions can re-establish themselves as top candidates to re-capture the title this season. While many point to fatigue as the team played a lot of extra games in the playoffs last season, there are even bigger concerns, including the goaltending.

Perhaps one of the biggest area of concern, according to The Athletic’s Scott Burnside (subscription required) is the play of their goaltending, most particularly the play of Braden Holtby, who is posting another disappointing regular season. Despite an impressive Stanley Cup championship run during the playoffs, Holtby struggled during the regular season with a 2.99 GAA and a .907 save percentage. This year has been even more disappointing as the veteran has a 3.10 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He ranks 19th, among goalies with 20 or more appearances, at even-strength save percentage with a .918.

“The goalies have just lost it here,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “They’re flailing away at it, letting in bad goals at bad times, stuff like that.”

  • Seth Rorabaugh of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the impressive play of Pittsburgh Penguins’ newly acquired center Nick Bjugstad could eventually bring about head coach Mike Sullivan’s dream of spreading out Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel over three lines. The belief is that the additions of Bjugstad as well as Jared McCann should open up multiple possibilities on offense which neither Derick Brassard or Riley Sheahan did. “Nick Bjugstad is a guy that’s shown an ability to score in this league,” Sullivan said of a player whose career season of 2014-15 saw him score 24 goals and 43 points in 72 games. “He’s a 45- to 50-point guy. He has more upside, he’s still young. He brings more size to our team and a whole lot of skill.”
  • News & Observer’s Chip Alexander asks the question ’What was Paul Fenton thinking?’ when referring to what so far looks to be a steal of a trade when the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Nino Niederreiter from Fenton and the Minnesota Wild for Victor Rask. Niederreiter has sparked the team with five goals in five games as the team has gone 3-1-1 in that span, including a big victory over Vegas Friday, while Rask has just one assist in Minnesota over four games. Niederreiter seems to have found a home on the team’s first line next to Sebastian Aho and veteran Justin Williams.

Minor Transactions: 01/27/19

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The All-Star festivities ended with Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby winning an award he’s never won before, All-Star MVP, as he scored two goal in the All-Star Game finals Saturday night and had eight points total as Team Metropolitan defeated Team Central, 10-5. Crosby has already won three Stanley Cups, two Hart Trophies, two Conn Smythe awards, three Lester B. Pearson (now Ted Lindsay) awards, two Art Ross Trophies and two Maurice “Rocket” Richard awards. Now he can add an All-Star MVP. However, with the 2019 All-Star games concluded, many teams will start making roster adjustments as several teams will be back on the ice on Monday. Check back to see continuing updates throughout the day.

  • The New Jersey Devils announced a number of roster moves today as the team started by placing defenseman Ben Lovejoy on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, retroactive to Jan. 15. That means the team can activate Lovejoy whenever they are ready. The team also recalled forward Kevin Rooney, defenseman Egor Yakovlev and goaltender Cam Johnson from Binghamton of the AHL. Both Rooney and Yakovlev were sent down a week ago to get some playing time in while the Devils were on break. The Devils play Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
  • With a game coming up Monday as well, the Winnipeg Jets announced they have recalled defenseman Sami Niku from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Niku was sent down to get some playing time while the Jets were on their bye week and now will return. Niku has made 10 appearances for Winnipeg this season, but picked up his first two points on Jan. 17. He will fill in for the injured Dustin Byfuglien and Ben Chiarot, although both are rumored to be close to returning.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers are getting ready to return from their bye week and have announced they have recalled goaltender Carter Hart and forward Mikhail Vorobyev from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The team also added they have assigned forward Dale Weise to Lehigh Valley to make room for both transactions. Weise cleared waivers on Jan. 16 and will now spend time with the Phantoms. Hart has been impressive in 12 games for the Flyers this year, posting a 2.66 GAA and a .918 save percentage and will continue his development in Philadelphia. Vorobyev struggled after making the team out of training camp, playing just seven games. However, the 22-year-old has been impressive in the AHL and will get another chance to prove that he belongs with the Flyers.
  • The New York Rangers announced they have recalled two players as they return from their bye week in forward Boo Nieves and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. Both were assigned to Hartford to get extra playing time while the Rangers were off. Nieves has played 16 games for the Rangers and has two goals and seven points, while Georgiev has struggled as New York’s backup goalie with a 6-8 record, a 3.66 GAA and an .883 save percentage.
  • The Dallas Stars announced they have recalled defenseman Connor Carrick from the Texas Stars of the AHL from his conditioning loan. He played four games with Texas, putting up a goal and an assist along with 13 shots on goal. The 24-year-old came over in a trade with Toronto at the beginning of the season, but has dealt with a lower-body injury and has appeared in just 13 games this season.

2019 All-Star Rosters Announced

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The NHL has announced the four rosters for the 2019 All-Star Game today, scheduled to be held on January 26th in San Jose. Earlier today, Alex Ovechkin, who was elected captain of Metropolitan Division squad, told the league that he wouldn’t be attending and will accept the punishment of missing one game either before or after the break. Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Auston Matthews will represent the Pacific, Central and Atlantic respectively, as the other captains. A replacement Metropolitan captain for Ovechkin has yet to be named.

The full rosters are as follows:

Pacific Division

G John Gibson (ANA)
G Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK)

D Erik Karlsson (SJS)
D Brent Burns (SJS)
D Drew Doughty (LAK)

F Connor McDavid (EDM)*
F Johnny Gaudreau (CGY)
F Joe Pavelski (SJS)
F Elias Pettersson (VAN)
F Clayton Keller (ARI)

Central Division

G Pekka Rinne (NSH)
G Devan Dubnyk (MIN)

D Roman Josi (NSH)
D Miro Heiskanen (DAL)

F Nathan MacKinnon (COL)*
F Mikko Rantanen (COL)
F Blake Wheeler (WPG)
F Patrick Kane (CHI)
F Mark Scheifele (WPG)
F Ryan O’Reilly (STL)

Atlantic Division

G Jimmy Howard (DET)
G Carey Price (MTL)

D Keith Yandle (FLA)
D Thomas Chabot (OTT)

F Auston Matthews (TOR)*
F Nikita Kucherov (TBL)
F Steven Stamkos (TBL)
F John Tavares (TOR)
F David Pastrnak (BOS)
F Jack Eichel (BUF)

Metropolitan Division

G Henrik Lundqvist (NYR)
G Braden Holtby (WAS)

D John Carlson (WSH)
D Seth Jones (CBJ)

F Sidney Crosby (PIT)
F Taylor Hall (NJD)
F Mathew Barzal (NYI)
F Claude Giroux (PHI)
F Cam Atkinson (CBJ)
F Sebastian Aho (CAR)

*Denotes team captain

One final skater spot on each roster has yet to be announced, as it will be determined by the “Last Man In” fan ballot, a concept borrowed from Major League Baseball. The format of the current All-Star Game, which requires one representative from each team on these smaller 3-on-tournament rosters, was bound to cause some confusion with the initial selections. Seven top-twenty scorers were not selected – Mitch Marner, Brayden Point, Leon Draisaitl, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, Phil Kessel, and Gabriel Landeskog – and several will inevitably remain out of All-Star participation even after the fan ballot additions. Morgan Rielly, the league’s top-scoring defenseman, and Mark Giordano, enjoying an elite season on both sides of the puck, are two surprising omissions on the blue line. Several of the league’s top goalies are also going to miss out, ineligible for the fan ballot, including Ben Bishop, Frederik Andersen, and Andrei Vasilevskiy. The “Last Man In” will be an intriguing new addition to the All-Star process, with nominees to be named shortly, but more than a few notable names will be left out regardless. Meanwhile, the health of players like Price and Chabot for Team Atlantic and Hall for Team Metropolitan will bear watching, as those players may opt to skip the All-Star festivities, opening up more players to selection.

Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist Out With A Concussion

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The injury ride continues in Pittsburgh as Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan announced that winger Patric Hornqvist is out with a concussion after leaving Friday’s game against Boston during the second period. While no timeline has been suggested, it’s just another blow for a team that is trying to turn around its slow start.

The Penguins find themselves tied for last place in the Metropolitan Division with an 8-8-5 record as the team has struggled out of the gate, while also dealing with multiple injuries, including injuries to Justin Schultz, Matt Murray, Derick Brassard and even losing Sidney Crosby for three games recently. The team lost nine of 10 games at one point and have done little to improve on that since.

Hornqvist’s loss won’t help either as the 31-year-old was putting up solid numbers as he has nine goals and 15 points in 21 games, providing the team with a reliable top-six presence. Concussions aren’t anything new for the veteran, however. This is Hornqvist’s third reported concussion in his career. He missed six games back in November of 2016 and then missed another five games during the same season in March of 2017.

Snapshots: Outdoor Game, Penguins, Patrick

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The 2019 NHL Winter Classic is still more than a month away and the 2019 NHL Stadium Series game even further, but that hasn’t stopped discussions about where the league could turn next for an outdoor game. Today, BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater reports that the Colorado Avalanche are likely to be an outdoor game host “sooner rather than later.” In talking with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Dater learned that the league is very interested in placing a game at the nearby Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where Falcon Stadium normally plays host to the Air Force football team and a capacity crowd of close to 47,000. Given the success of the NHL’s last foray into an outdoor game in Colorado – the 2016 showdown at Coors Field in Denver – and their special interest in games played at American military institutions, such as last year’s game at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, not to mention the successful Division I hockey program at Air Force, the school seems like a great fit to host a gme.  For now though, the league remains focused on their next contest at a college football venue, when the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks square off at Notre Dame on New Year’s Day.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins hope that their team is in much better shape when they take part in their outdoor game later this season, a match-up with the rival Flyers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on February 23rd. The team continues to struggle and, even after his acquisition of forward Tanner Pearson, GM Jim Rutherford remains open for business per numerous sources. However, the next move might not be just a simple one-for-one to land a role player. TSN’s Bob McKenzie raised the stakes on the latest “Insider Trading” segment, stating that “anything and everything is on the table” in Pittsburgh. McKenzie says that the Penguins’ list of untouchables is rather short – just Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. McKenzie believes that anyone else could be move, perhaps adding fuel to the fire of recent rumors that Phil Kessel, Derick Brassard, Olli Maatta, and Matt Murray are among the names that could be on the move if things don’t improve.
  • The Penguins did make a noteworthy move today, announcing that legendary executive Craig Patrick has re-joined the team as a pro scout. The 72-year-old Hall of Famer served as Pittsburgh’s GM for 17 years, from 1989 to 2006. Patrick was the architect of the 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup-winning Penguins teams and much of the 2009 championship team and beyond were the products of Patrick’s regime, including Crosby and Malkin. Many will also recognize Patrick as an assistant coach to Herb Brooks on the famed “Miracle” 1980 U.S. Olympic team, while he also served as both coach and GM for the New York Rangers over a nine-year span in the 80’s. The extent of Patrick’s role is unclear, but particularly in the midst of a difficult season, this is a great hire by the Penguins if only for the wisdom and guidance of an experienced hockey guru.

Matt Cullen Out “Longer Term” With Lower-Body Injury

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are struggling to stay relevant this season, finding themselves at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division and on a three-game losing streak. The seemingly perennial Stanley Cup contenders haven’t been able to contend for much of anything this year, and still face the prospect of a Sidney Crosby-less lineup taking on the Buffalo Sabres later tonight. Unfortunately for the club, another key veteran center will be out as well. Head coach Mike Sullivan announced that Matt Cullen will be out “longer term” today after the morning skate, citing a lower-body injury.

Cullen, 42, has played more this season than some had expected when he signed a one-year contract at the league minimum this summer. The veteran is a beloved member of the Pittsburgh dressing room going back to his consecutive Stanley Cup victories in 2016 and 2017, but looked like a depth signing that would be buried behind several other options down the middle. Instead, Cullen has played in 18 games this season and is averaging nearly 12 minutes a night. He even has four points in those 18 games, contributing more than anyone could have expected.

Unfortunately, those contributions haven’t helped the team in the standings as the Penguins now sit at 7-8-3 and are tied with the Florida Panthers for last place in the Eastern Conference. That record includes a 2-7-1 run in their last ten, a plummet to the bottom that has only been amplified by Crosby’s recent absence. Losing Cullen obviously won’t make the same impact, but it’s just another factor in the decision making process of GM Jim Rutherford, who has already entered the trade market by swapping Carl Hagelin for Tanner Pearson, and could very well make more moves to try and turn things around.

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