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Troy Stecher, Mitchell Stephens Out Through Olympic Break

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The Detroit Red Wings have updated a pair of long-term injuries, as both Troy Stecher and Mitchell Stephens will be out through the February Olympic break. Stecher underwent wrist surgery, while Stephens is dealing with a lower-body injury.

Stecher has played just six games so far this season, and he’ll miss another few months as the Olympic break doesn’t end until February 22. The 27-year-old defenseman was such a difference-maker at this year’s World Championship that it appeared as though he might be taking a step forward, but through those six games he averaged fewer than 15 minutes and had just a single point for the rebuilding Red Wings.

Stephens meanwhile had suited up 16 times for Detroit this year, only leaving the lineup after suffering an injury on November 13. The 24-year-old forward hadn’t registered a goal yet, but did have four assists through those games as he filled in as a bottom-six center option.

The Red Wings have come back to earth recently after a nice start to their season, and now sit 8-9-3 on the year. Still extremely young, mounting injuries will only test their depth even further. While they are technically just a few points out of the playoffs, a four-game losing streak and -13 goal differentially certainly don’t have them heading in the right direction.

Injury Updates: Ryan, De La Rose, Stecher, Beecher

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Calgary center Derek Ryan has resumed skating as he works his way back from a thumb injury, reports Postmedia’s Daniel Austin.  The veteran has missed the last dozen games due to the issue and was placed on LTIR.  Since he has missed the required 10 games and 24 days, he’s eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return, as long as the Flames can get back into cap compliance.  Ryan cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and was likely headed back for the waiver wire again had he not been injured in his tenth game; he had been getting shuffled to and from the taxi squad, being demoted on non-game days to bank cap space.  Another placement there will likely be what ultimately signifies his readiness to return.

More injury news from around the league:

  • The Blues have placed center Jacob de la Rose on injured reserve, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He suffered a lower-body injury early in yesterday’s wild game against San Jose.  While de la Rose cleared waivers to start the season, he had been a regular on the fourth line for the past three weeks, averaging just under 10 minutes per name, a total that’s slightly skewed by his early exit on Saturday.  He’s the sixth Blue on either regular IR or LTIR with Vladimir Tarasenko being the closest to returning.
  • The Red Wings have placed defenseman Troy Stecher on injured reserve, CapFriendly reports. The 26-year-old has missed the last five games due to a lower-body injury and his placement is retroactive to February 19th.  Accordingly, he’s eligible to be activated at any time.  Detroit used the roster spot to recall winger Mathias Brome from the taxi squad in advance of their game tonight against Chicago.
  • Bruins prospect John Beecher has undergone shoulder surgery which puts his college season to an end, relays Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now. It was a bit of a tough year for the 2019 first-rounder as a bout with COVID-19 put an end to his World Junior hopes and between that and this, the center was limited to just 16 games with the Wolverines this season, notching four goals and four assists.  Boston will now have to decide if he’s better off returning for his junior year or turning pro.

Red Wings Sign Troy Stecher

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After signing Thomas Greiss earlier today, the Red Wings are dipping their toes into the UFA waters again as they announced (Twitter link) the signing of defenseman Troy Stecher to a two-year contract.  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (via Twitter) that the deal carries an AAV of $1.7MM.  The 26-year-old was non-tendered by Vancouver on Wednesday instead of giving him a $2.325MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights.

Stecher is coming off of a quiet season with the Canucks.  After being a part of their top four, the addition of Tyler Myers and Chris Tanev staying healthy pushed him into primarily a spot on the third pairing in 2019-20.  As a result, his playing time dipped by more than four minutes a game (from 19:55 to 15:21) although he still managed to put up five goals and a dozen assists in 69 games.  In 17 postseason appearances, he had two tallies and a helper while logging a little over 16 minutes per game.  Those numbers are still good for someone on the third pairing but at his qualifying offer number, it was just a bit too expensive for Vancouver to justify.  However, with him and Tanev now gone, there is a hole on Vancouver’s back end that will need to be filled.

Stecher should fit in well with Detroit.  Their depth on the right side of their back end is limited with Filip Hronek basically being the only one ahead of him on the right so this should be an opportunity for him to go back to playing in a top-four role.  He’ll only be 28 when his deal is up which should give him a chance to hit the open market while still being in the prime of his career.  Meanwhile, this may be it for the Red Wings when it comes to the rebuild of their defense.  With this addition plus Jon Merrill yesterday and Marc Staal last month, they now have seven NHL blueliners under contracts with a few youngsters that should contend for playing time at some point next season.

Ten Notable Non-Tenders

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Lost in the shuffle on the marathon second day of the draft is that Wednesday also represented the deadline for qualifying offers to be tendered.  The flattening of the salary cap increased the concerns about salary arbitration which has certainly affected the quality of players that are now set to hit the open market on Friday.  As these players will not be a part of our annual Top-50 UFA Rankings, here’s a rundown of ten notables to keep tabs on over the coming days, listed in alphabetical order.

Andreas Athanasiou (Edmonton)

Back at the trade deadline, the Oilers dealt a pair of second-round picks and Sam Gagner to secure the speedster, one that GM Ken Holland had plenty of familiarity with from his own days with Detroit.  While the winger was having a tough season, he’s only a year removed from a 30-goal campaign.  In a normal salary cap world, his $3MM qualifier would have been tough to swallow but still would have happened.  Instead, he hits the open market with Edmonton not getting much return for those two fairly high picks while becoming an intriguing bounce-back target for some teams.  He won’t get paid like a 30-goal scorer but as a third-liner with upside, he’ll land one of the bigger contracts out of this group of players if not the biggest.

Matt Benning (Edmonton)

There was a time that the Oilers hoped that Benning could step into a role on their second pairing but it didn’t come to fruition.  However, he has been a serviceable third-pairing player over the past few years but a cap-strapped Oilers team couldn’t justify qualifying him at $1.95MM.  Given that he’s a right-handed shot in a market that doesn’t have a lot of them, he should have interest from a few teams.

Nick Cousins (Vegas)

On the surface, a $1MM qualifying offer to a player who had 25 points in 65 games and got into 17 postseason contests doesn’t seem too pricey.  But this is a case where the potential for a higher award through arbitration is a risk that Vegas didn’t want to take with Cousins.  It’s the second-straight year that the 27-year-old was non-tendered for this reason after Arizona did the same thing a year ago.  A versatile depth player, he should be able to land somewhere for around the same contract as he played on this past season.

Anthony Duclair (Ottawa)

Despite finding an opportunity to play a bigger role than he had at any other point in his career, it seems as if Duclair may have overplayed his hand in contract talks.  After scoring 23 goals this season, he opted to represent himself in contract negotiations against the recommendation of GM Pierre Dorion who indicated that a sizable raise was offered before getting to this point.  Still just 25, Duclair becomes a very interesting addition to the open market but having bounced around the league already (he has played for five different teams in six NHL seasons), it’s hard to tell how strong his market may be.

Vinnie Hinostroza (Arizona)

A year ago, it looked like the 26-year-old was set to be a useful part of Arizona’s long-term plans.  He was coming off of a career-best 16-23-39 stat line and was pushing for a spot in their top six.  Things went sideways this year though as he potted just five goals in 68 games which made a $1.5MM qualifier untenable.  Hinostroza could fit on a third line for some teams and should have a fair bit of interest.

Dominik Kahun (Buffalo)

This was one of the more surprising non-tenders of the group.  Although Kahun has just two years of NHL experience, he’s arbitration-eligible since he’s 25.  He followed up a 37-point rookie campaign with 31 points this pandemic-shortened season (including four in six games with Buffalo after being acquired in a deadline day deal from Pittsburgh) while he also missed time with a concussion and a knee injury.  With his point per game average, he played at a 45-point full-season pace.  Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams has indicated they are interested in retaining the winger but if he makes it to the open market, he should be one of the most sought-after players from this list.

Mark Jankowski (Calgary)

While he had shown progress in his development over his first two full NHL seasons, things went off the rails in 2019-20.  Jankowski scored just five times in 56 games and while he wouldn’t have been able to get much more than his $1.75MM qualifier in arbitration, that was still too high of a price tag for Calgary’s liking.  Still just 26, Jankowski now heads to an open market that isn’t exactly loaded in available centers so while a pay cut is likely, he should have no issues finding a new team.

Dominik Simon (Pittsburgh)

A natural center, Simon has spent the majority of his time with Pittsburgh on the wing, playing on all four lines along the way.  While not a gifted point producer, he has surpassed 20 points in each of the last two seasons while posting above-average possession numbers.  Owed a qualifier of less than $800K, the fear of arbitration sealed Simon’s fate on a cap-strapped Penguins squad.

Troy Stecher (Vancouver)

In 2018-19, Stecher looked to be on the verge of securing a spot in Vancouver’s top four after averaging nearly 20 minutes a night and chipping in with 23 points.  But the return of a healthy Chris Tanev and the addition of Tyler Myers helped push the 26-year-old onto the third pairing and a much lower ATOI than usual.  A $2.325MM qualifier is a bit high for someone in that role but there should be a few teams that see him as a potential fourth or fifth option which makes him a notable addition to the UFA market.

Lucas Wallmark (Florida)

One of the notable parts of the Vincent Trocheck deal, Wallmark was coming off of a league-minimum salary which means this non-tender was solely arbitration related.  The 25-year-old only has two full NHL seasons under his belt, putting up 25 and 23 points in each while posting a faceoff percentage that’s a bit above the 50% mark each time.  There is still some upside with Wallmark and with a weak market down the middle, he’ll have no trouble generating interest.

While these players (among the others that were non-tendered) can become unrestricted free agents on Friday, some teams will still be negotiating with their players to try to get them at a lower salary than either their qualifying offer or their expected arbitration salary.  Usually, a handful wind up re-signing so at least for some of these players, their fates may not be completely sealed yet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Rumors: Kreider, Barrie, Green, Frolik, Coyotes

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The New York Rangers are working on two fronts with Chris Kreider as the trade deadline nears on Monday. The Rangers are negotiating with Kreider and his agent on a potential contract extension, but at the same time, are preparing for the possibility they will have to trade him if a deal can’t be worked out.

Now TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that hopes for a contract extension between the two sides are fading. That could make the trade deadline on Monday even more interesting as it is quite clear that the Rangers will trade him if the two sides cannot get negotiations to shift. The likely sticking point is term as New York doesn’t want to find itself stuck with a major contract headache in a few years and if Kreider, who is likely heading for his last big contract, is looking for a seven or eight-year deal, that could be the sticking point. New York may have some cap room to work with now, but with a number of young players likely needing big raises in the next few years, the team must be careful with asset management.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs got a scare Saturday when Tyson Barrie went down with an apparent shoulder injury in the first period against Carolina. Many thought that might be the end of rumors that the Maple Leafs were planning to trade the gifted offensive defenseman for a more defensive-minded blueliner. However, Barrie returned and finished the game. Now, The Province’s Patrick Johnston reports that the Vancouver Canucks are very much in the mix for Barrie, which would likely be a package built on defenseman Troy Stecher. TSN’s Rick Dhaliwal confirms that the two teams are deep in talks. Barrie would provide the Canucks an offensive playmaker, but Johnston adds that isn’t what the team truly needs on their defense, making the trade a confusing one.
  • Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal writes that the Edmonton Oilers are a likely destination for Detroit Red Wings defenseman Mike Green. The scribe writes that Green’s no-movement clause turned into a 10-team modified no-trade clause on Feb. 1 and he believes that Edmonton is not on that 10-team list. Considering the familiarity between general manager Ken Holland and Green, the two teams might be a perfect match and Detroit is likely very willing to retain half of Green’s $5.375MM AAV.
  • The Athletic’s Ken Wiebe wonders whether whether the Buffalo Sabres might be willing to move forward Michael Frolik. The 32-year-old has six goals and 13 points in 54 games, but more importantly, is a efficient penalty killer, something that playoff teams are often interested in. Throw in the fact that Frolik will be an unrestricted free agent, meaning he won’t count against any team’s cap long-term. Frolik does have a $4.3MM AAV, but Buffalo could consider retaining some of that to add to make a deal work.
  • The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta writes that the Arizona Coyotes are likely entering the trade deadline with a need for a defenseman after Jakob Chychrun went down with a lower-body injury, who currently has no timetable for a return. However, with little cap room to work with, if the team attempts to acquire a player with a significant salary, Arizona may be forced to trade off a current roster player to make that work.

Pacific Notes: Edmonton’s Coaching Search, Hitchcock, Stecher

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The Edmonton Oilers and new general manager Ken Holland may have decided that Ken Hitchcock won’t be the team’s head coach going forward, but regardless Hitchcock has been a key figure in helping the Oilers find the next head coach, according to Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun. Holland spoke about the situation, saying:

I’ve known Hitch a long, long time. Certainly as I’m going through the process of whittling a list of potential coaches down, he’ll be one of the people I’ll lean on. He’s coached against some of these people and if he didn’t coach against them, he knows which coaches he can talk to gather information. He’s from the coaching world. He can gather information up quicker than I can gather it up.”

Holland is expecting Hitchcock to gather information on all the coaching candidates considering the veteran coach’s experience over the years. There isn’t a hurry to hire a coach quickly. It looks like Holland is content to gather that information on all the candidates and make a decision later.

  • Sticking with Hitchcock, the Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson writes that there are rumors that the Columbus Blue Jackets might have interest in Hitchcock as a possible team president if John Davidson leaves for New York. However, Hitchcock’s response is that he is not interested in running a team. “I’d like to dig in and help the coaches both NHL and AHL. I think Ken Holland and I would work well together. Just need to find a role for me that would have value,” said Hitchcock.
  • After stepping up in his third season and providing solid defense, the Vancouver Canucks have to decide whether they consider Troy Stecher as a piece of their future, according to the Vancouver Sun’s Patrick Johnston. Not only did he provide solid value as a second-tier defensemen, there are some who wonder whether he could be even better than that. Stecher, who had 11 points last season, finished this season with 23 points. However, if the Canucks don’t see Stecher as part of their future, the team could trade him for more assets for the rebuild. However, Johnston points out that isn’t likely as the team is quite weak on the right-side where Stecher plays.

Vancouver Canucks Will Not Qualify Derrick Pouliot

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The deadline to make qualifying offers to restricted free agents is still more than six weeks away, but the Vancouver Canucks have given one of their impending RFA’s an early heads up. Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that the team has informed defenseman Derrick Pouliot and his representation that they will not qualify him this off-season. As a result, Pouliot will now be an unrestricted free agent this summer, free to sign with any team he likes.

This move is both surprising and unsurprising all at once. On one hand, Pouliot’s name is still associated with youth and upside. On the other, he has never lived up to his expectations and that “youth and upside” may have very well passed him by. The 25-year-old was the 8th overall pick in 2012 by the Pittsburgh Penguins and dominated the junior level with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks before turning pro. In his first two pro seasons, Pouliot split his time between playing for the Penguins and putting up major numbers with their AHL affiliate and looked to be on the verge of a breakout in Pittsburgh. Instead, the 2016-17 season was a major disappointment; Pouliot was held scoreless in just 11 NHL games and his production dropped off in the minors as well. The Penguins dealt him to the Canucks that off-season in exchange for a mere fourth-round pick and Andrey Pedan, who never played a game in Pittsburgh and has since bolted for the KHL. Pouliot was handed a starting role in Vanouver last year and responded with a strong campaign. He set career highs across the board, recording 22 points in 71 games and playing second-pair minutes. He even showed he could be an adept shot blocker, knocking down 118 shots despite never previously displaying any ability in that area. However, just like in Pittsburgh, when Pouliot seemed primed to take the next step, it was instead a step backward. This year, he played in only 62 games, registered only 12 points, and saw his ice time and defensive responsibility cut back.

Likely contributing to the decision to move on from Pouliot is also the influx of young talent on the blue line in the Canucks’ system. With Pouliot stalling in his development, the team probably figured they would be better off using the roster space elsewhere. Heading into 2019-20, the Canucks will have ample competition for jobs even without Pouliot. Calder hopeful Quinn Hughes will lead a young unit that could include fellow top pick Olli Juolevi, undrafted free agents Mitch Eliot, Brogan Rafferty, and Josh Teves, mainstays Troy Stecher, Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton, and Alex Biega, and AHL standouts Ashton Sautner and Guillaume Brisebois, and that’s not even including unrestricted free agents Alexander Edler and Luke Schenn, both of whom would like to re-sign. There’s too many cooks in the kitchen as there is, so it makes sense that the Canucks have decided to move on from a player they feel was given a fair shot and didn’t make the most of it.

Pouliot isn’t in danger of being dismissed by every other NHL team though. On a Vancouver club that was not very good during his tenure, Pouliot still put up respectable offensive numbers and showed more of his defensive game than he did in Pittsburgh. Still a high-end skater who is only 25, it seems likely that there will be plenty of teams lining up this summer to give Pouliot another chance. This may be the last time that his name value helps him out however, especially after a down year, so look for Pouliot to choose a team where there is both a clear path to ice time, but also enough protection that he can continue to grow and round out his game without being overexposed.

Canucks Notes: Hughes, Utica Comets, Schaller, Defense

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Earlier today, the University of Michigan announced that defenseman Quinn Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks 2018 first-round pick, will return to the team, crushing hopeful fans of having the smooth-skating blueliner from starting the season with the Canucks.

Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that he interviewed Hughes’ agent and father, Jim Hughes about the decision the Hughes family had to make last night about him returning to college for another season.

“Quinn talked to Jim and Travis last night, everyone was on the same page. Because we were travelling so much in last month, finally we got together and made the call,” said Jim Hughes. “Quinn went back and forth, he struggled with the call to go to the NHL, every kid wants to get there fast but we did not rush. 1 more year in college will not hurt him, he wants to get stronger and pack on some pounds.”

TSN’s Ray Ferraro suggests the team take a similar approach to Quinn Hughes to the direction that Boston took when they drafted Charlie McAvoy in the first round back in 2016. The Bruins allowed him to return to Boston University, then play at the World Juniors and then after his college season signed him and brought him in to play in six playoff games for them.

  • Ben Birnell of the Observer-Dispatch wonders how the resignation of Trevor Linden, the Canucks president of hockey operations, will affect the team’s long-term standing with their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Linden has been a supporter of Vancouver’s affiliation with the Comets over the years despite the distance between the two cities and with the six-year affiliation agreement between the two teams up in less than a year, there are questions whether Linden’s departure could end their long-time affiliation. Utica has been home to many of the Canucks top prospects and will likely be a focal point for the team’s depth at the forward position as several key prospects are likely going to be headed for Utica this season.
  • JD Burke of The Athletic (subscription required) takes a look at what forward Tim Schaller will bring to the Canucks, especially pointing to the veteran’s ability to play high-quality defensive hockey. Schaller, who was one of three bottom-six forwards to sign on July 1 to multiple-year contracts along with Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, was the one with the most reasonable deal. He signed a two-year, $3.8MM deal and might be worth that money, according to the scribe, who breaks down the 27-year-old’s positive qualities, which also include solid penalty killing skills.
  • TSN’s Jason Brough reports that while the loss of Hughes is likely going to keep the team’s defense the same, he wouldn’t be surprised if Vancouver makes a move to improve a below average defense that at the momemt is made up of Alexander Edler, Chris Tanev, Erik Gudbranson, Michael Del Zotto, Ben Hutton and Troy Stecher.

Troy Stecher Signs Two-Year Contract With Vancouver Canucks

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The Vancouver Canucks had two restricted free agents left to sign this summer, Jake Virtanen and Troy Stecher. The latter was eligible to file for player-elected salary arbitration, and had a hearing scheduled for July 29th with an arbitrator in Toronto. That meeting will never happen though, as Stecher has signed a two-year contract with the Canucks that will carry an average annual value of $2.325MM. GM Jim Benning had this to say about his young defenseman:

Troy Stecher is an important part of our team. He’s a talented two-way defenseman who competes every shift. Troy has a willingness to always improve his game and is an example of a young player committed to being a professional.

Coming out of the University of North Dakota in 2016, it didn’t take long for the undrafted defenseman to make a name for himself in Vancouver. As a rookie in 2016-17 he recorded 24 points in 71 games, the best mark of any Vancouver defenseman. He also logged 20 minutes a night that season, and though that dropped slightly in 2017-18 he’s still obviously a big part of the team going forward. With more veteran players like Alexander Edler and Chris Tanev getting closer to unrestricted free agency, Stecher will likely take his place alongside Olli Juolevi, Quinn Hughes and other up-and-coming Vancouver defensemen.

Just 24 years old, Stecher will still be a restricted free agent at the end of this contract and looking for a long-term deal. At that point he will have four years of NHL action under his belt and just one year of RFA status remaining, leaving the Canucks to make a decision on whether he fits into their plans going forward. For now though he should continue to take on more and more responsibility for Vancouver as they transition their young players into more prominent roles. For a team who just a few years ago looked like it was floundering without much of a direction, Vancouver has built up quite the young core to move forward with and Stecher is a big part of that.

Amazingly, Stecher’s $2.325MM cap hit actually makes him the sixth-highest paid defenseman on the Canucks roster, a good value for the production he brings on the ice. Though his point total dropped to just 11 this season after being removed from the powerplay unit, he still posted good possession statistics and proved he could be a fine option on a second or third pairing in the NHL. One could expect that offensive production to rebound somewhat, but for such a relatively inexpensive contract it doesn’t even have to.

Massimo Rizzo Bound For North Dakota

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A top BCHL prospect is following in familiar footsteps. The Penticton Vees announced today that Massimo Rizzo has committed to join the University of North Dakota for the 2019-20 season, extending a trend of Penticton captains continuing their development with the Fighting Hawks. Rizzo was given the “C” for the Vees for the upcoming season earlier this month.

As a rookie last season, Rizzo turned heads with his impressive performance. The 16-year-old finished fourth on the team in scoring with 39 points in 50 games and then really held his own in the postseason with another ten points. The speedy forward showed good balance to his game and the potential to improve into a game-changing talent. His promotion to captain at such a young age also speaks to his leadership and locker room presence. Rizzo also performed well for Team Canada at the U-17 World Championships where he was again fourth in team scoring with four points in five games. As the Junior-A level in Canada continues to gain more recognition, Rizzo could be the next big name to trace his roots back to the BCHL.

Rizzo should take another step forward in Penticton next season before enrolling at North Dakota, where he will try to follow the path of several notable former Vees captains. Three recent Penticton captains have been recruited by the Fighting Hawks and have gone on to have great success in the college ranks and in the pros. Troy Stecher was a three-year star at UND before signing with the Vancouver Canucks and is now a top-four defenseman in the NHL. Tyson Jost was the tenth overall pick out of Penticton two years ago and showed his value in his one college season with more than a point per game with the Hawks.  He then played a critical role in the re-emergence of the Colorado Avalanche this season. Finally, like Stecher, Nick Jones was a star with the Vees, but went undrafted; however he showed in his first year for North Dakota that he has the makings of a future pro. When Rizzo joins North Dakota in 2019, he’ll reunite with Jones and draft-eligible defenseman Jonny Tychonick on a team that will draw much of its strength from former Vees.

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