Snapshots: Hedman, Capitals, Daley
Tampa Bay Lightning fans can breathe now, after Victor Hedman‘s eye has been declared safe following his visor exploding at the World Championships today. Aftonbladet out of Sweden has photos of his laceration (*WARNING: GRAPHIC*), which needed four stitches to sew back up. Apparently it was the actual visor that cut him, after a shoulder or elbow broke the protective shield.
Hedman is an important part of the Swedish defense, but is perhaps even more important to the Lightning’s chances over the next few years. The Norris trophy finalist will be entering an eight-year extension in 2017-18 which will pay him $63MM over the duration. His point total exploded this season while his defensive play is as steady as ever.
- Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Philipp Grubauer will all head to the World Championships now that their season is finished and lockers are cleaned out. Following their exit interviews today, the quartet will head to Europe to compete in the remainder of the tournament. While Backstrom is signed for the next three seasons, the other three are restricted free agents this summer and will be key to how Washington comes back from their latest playoff exit. While Vegas may go after Grubauer in the expansion draft, Kuznetsov and Orlov represent a big piece of the team going forward, and will both command hefty raises. For a team with so many free agents, there may not be enough money to go around for everyone.
- Trevor Daley isn’t expected to play in game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals for the Pittsburgh Penguins, but is still just being classified as a day-to-day lower-body injury. Head coach Mike Sullivan said that Tom Kuhhackl was a healthy scratch in game 7, while Carl Hagelin was dealing with a lower-body injury of his own.
Snapshots: Bieksa, Stamkos, Pyatt
Anaheim defenseman Kevin Bieksa is not expected to take the ice in Game 2 against Edmonton. Bieksa had not been logging major minutes lately, averaging just over 16 minutes on the backend, good for 6th best on his squad. However, his nasty, physical edge was felt everytime he took the ice. The defenseman had an awkward looking collision early in Wednesday’s game with teammate Shea Theodore. He left the game, briefly returned, and exited again for good. Further information is unknown at this time.
Bieksa is perhaps best remembered for being a pivotal part of the defense that led the Vancouver Canucks to Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final in 2010-11. He has played 82 career NHL playoff games, with a solid 30 points over that span. He had already potted 4 assists for the Ducks through 5 games. Replacing such a force will be difficult for Anaheim, especially since they struggled to deter the high-flying Edmonton forwards from creating offense and crashing the net. Sami Vatanen would be a safe bet to re-enter the lineup in his place, in an attempt to recoup some of that experience.
- Steven Stamkos should be ready to go at the beginning of next season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He had undergone intensive surgery on his knee, after tearing his meniscus. Although his return was expected, the reassuring news should bring a sigh of relief for Bolts’ fans. Stamkos’ absence was sorely felt this season as his squad was kept afloat largely due to the individual efforts of Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman. Scoring depth was harder to come by and the team was noticeably less effective at line-matching. Stamkos is the sort of offensive superstar that is nearly impossible to replace, even with a roster that had been as well constructed as GM Steve Yzerman‘s. Stamkos has won two Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies for top goal scorer in a season, including an absurd 60 goals in 2011-12. He had posted 9 goals and 20 points through 17 games this season before succumbing to injury.
- Tom Pyatt did not play in Game 1 between the Senators and Rangers. The Ottawa forward was hopeful to be slotted in the lineup tonight, but was a late scratch. Pyatt had also missed the deciding Game 6 against Boston in the first round. The undersized fourth-liner had been held pointless through 4 games, and posted a -2. Although his veteran status and feistiness would have been welcome attributes in what is sure to be a tough series, his contributions this season were minimal. His advanced stats show that he is a net negative in terms of scoring opportunities and shots (CF% of 43.6), and his versatility isn’t even much of a bonus, as he only took 49 draws this season, losing the bulk of them.
Golden Knights Expansion Roster Will Be Revealed At NHL Awards
The NHL announced today that the 2017 NHL Awards will return to Las Vegas for an eighth straight year on Wednesday, June 21 at the T-Mobile Arena and this year will include Las Vegas like it never has before. The NHL plans to incorporate the NHL Expansion Draft into the festivities as it will announce the 30-player roster that the Las Vegas Golden Knights select in a two-hour broadcast.
The show, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN in America and in Canada on Sportsnet, is expected to put quite a bit of emphasis on the new expansion franchise, highlighting majority owner Bill Foley, general manager George McPhee, new head coach Gerard Gallant and even highlight some of the players the Golden Knights will select.
NHL Awards and nominations for the awards will begin being revealed day-by-day, starting tomorrow with the Selke Award. Here are a list of some of the top awards and potential nominees:
Selke Trophy (nominations will be out tomorrow) — It should be a tight race, but the leading candidates for the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game come down to a handful, including Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler, Washington’s Niklas Backstrom, Boston’s Patrice Bergeron and possibly even Calgary’s Mikael Backlund.
Calder Trophy (nominations to be released Thursday, April 20) — The trophy that goes to the top rookie is almost guaranteed to go to Toronto’s Auston Matthews, but other possible candidates include Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, Pittsburgh’s goaltender Matt Murray and Columbus’ Zach Werenski.
Norris Trophy (nominations to be released Friday, April 21) — The top defenseman award will come down to a few including the Senators’ top blueliner Erik Karlsson, Lightning’s Victor Hedman and Sharks’ veteran Brent Burns.
Vezina Trophy (nominations to be released Saturday, April 22) — The top netminder award falls to a few including Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky, Washington’s Braden Holtby and Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk.
Other nominees that will be announced before the June 21 awards include Lady Byng Trophy on Sunday, April 23; Masterton Trophy on April 24; NHL Foundation Player Award on April 25; Jack Adams Award on April 26; Mark Messier Leadership Awards on April 27; Hart Trophy on May 1 and the Ted Lindsay Award on May 2.
Eastern Notes: Yzerman, Tavares, Hellberg
The Tampa Bay Lightning might be currently watching the playoffs rather than playing in them, but Steve Yzerman is already working on his offseason plans. The GM has said his top priority this season is to lock up three core restricted free agents in Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin, which is expected to be quite a challenge, considering how up against the salary cap the Lightning are this offseason.
Tampa Bay Times writer Joe Smith suggests Yzerman might have trouble signing all three of them and acquire a top-four defenseman they desperately need and acquire a goaltender they need at the same time. That doesn’t include Victor Hedman‘s $7.875MM extension that kicks in (and almost doubles) next year and the future contract they will have to negotiate with Nikita Kucherov in two years, which is likely to be huge.
Yzerman successfully helped Tampa Bay’s cap situation at the trade deadline when he moved the contracts of Ben Bishop ($4.76MM), Brian Boyle ($2MM) and Valtteri Filppula ($5MM). While all three were important to the Lightning, getting their cap numbers off their books only increased their chances of resigning the trio of young stars.
The scribe writes the Lightning should focus their efforts on resigning both Palat and Johnson who are integral to the team’s success and even went on to suggest that the team should consider trading the 22-year old Drouin, who enjoyed a breakout campaign this year. The thought being that Drouin may have the most trade value of the three and might net them a nice haul right before the 2017 NHL draft.
Smith also suggested other possibilities including looking to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, which has heavily scouted Tampa Bay in the last couple of months, as an option to move a player like Johnson as there is a potential replacement for him in rookie Brayden Point.
All said and done, Yzerman has his work cut out for him this offseason.
Other notes:
- The New York Islanders, also sitting home during the playoffs, need to focus their attention on re-signing star player John Tavares. The belief is that the Islanders naming Doug Weight the permanent coach was critical to get the 26-year old star to return. Weight, who served as interim coach since January, produced a successful second half for the Islanders as he posted the second-best NHL record during that time. Unfortunately, they fell short of reaching the playoffs, but it is believed that Weight’s return will only help in Tavares opting to return. Tavares, who led the team with 28 goals and 38 assists for 66 points, is in line for a potential 8-year, $100MM extension this summer. A free agent defection would be crippling to the Islanders’ franchise.
- The New York Rangers have recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg for Game 3 of their playoff game with the Canadiens today. He will serve only as an emergency backup as the Hartford Wolf Pack just finished their regular season.
Snapshots: Oilers, Staal, Hedman
News and notes from around the NHL this evening
- The Edmonton Oilers have recalled forward Anton Lander from the Bakersfield Condors today. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector speculates that the move means Jujhar Khaira may be out for longer than initially thought. Khaira suffered an upper body injury yesterday in the first period against the Florida Panthers. Lander’s callup was inevitable given how he’s lighting up the AHL. Lander has 14G and 13A in only 16 games—almost a two points per game pace. Those stats have not translated at the NHL level, however, with Lander scoring only 1G and 3A in 20 games.
- New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal may be nearing a return. According to the Newsday’s Steve Zipay, coach Alain Vigneault did not rule out Staal returning soon, and that Vigneault will play Staal as soon as he is healthy. Staal is recovering from concussion symptoms that kept him out since January 3rd. He’s been skating with the team for the past week to keep up conditioning and monitor his progress.
- Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman still needs more time before returning to action, reports James O’Brien of NBCSports. Hedman misses his third straight game tonight with the vague “illness” tag. The Lighting are three points back of a playoff spot, but do not face a conference opponent until they visit the Florida Panthers next Thursday. Despite missing games, Hedman remains 2nd in scoring among defenseman with 7G and 31A in 44 games. The Lightning desperately need his production, so any absences indicate a more severe issue than initially thought.
Quotable: Darryl Sutter
Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter has been one of the best interviews in hockey for a long time. He’s the perfect blend of one-liners and no-nonsense. In her latest “Practice Quotes” column, Lindsay Czarnecki jotted down some of Sutter’s latest responses. The whole thing is an amazing read as always, but here are some highlights:
On the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman (the Lightning are in town to face the Kings tomorrow):
He’s going to win the Norris. Now they don’t say is he, they say he is. He’s dynamic. He has some risk in his game. He can play physical, he’s fast. Plays special teams. There’s a handful of guys in the league, exciting guys to watch, don’t like playing against them. Wish I had two or three of them.
On long playoff runs:
It takes its toll. Guys are human, not machines. Look at guy like Jonathan [Quick]. Since I’ve been here in six years he’s had three major surgeries. It takes its toll. These guys play a lot of — everybody looks at these sexy numbers, how many games they’ve played and all that. You should also factor 150 playoff games as they count almost as double.
On expanding roster limits:
I think as long as you’re under the cap why can’t you have whatever you want? What difference does it make? To me it doesn’t make — what’s the point? You got a salary cap, everybody’s now at 75 million dollars, well, why can’t you have 25 guys?
The Kings will take on the Lightning tomorrow afternoon at 3pm before welcoming in the San Jose Sharks to town. After that is stretch where the team will play nine out of ten games on the road before their mandated bye-week. The team currently sits in the final wild card position in the West, but has several teams nipping at their heels. This stretch will be huge in deciding the team’s fate this season.
Extension Candidates: 2017 Restricted Free Agents
After Artemi Panarin signed a two-year extension earlier today that will pay him $6MM per season and take him right up to unrestricted free agency, the RFA pool for this summer got a little bit smaller. Other extensions that have already been signed include Aaron Ekblad (Eight years, $60MM), Jake Allen (Four years, $17.4MM) and Victor Hedman (Eight years, $63MM).
Even though these big names are already locked up long-term, there are a ton of other restricted free agents that will be negotiating extensions between now and July 1st. Here are a few big names who become RFAs this summer.
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton: The former third-overall pick who once scored 192 points in 29 German junior-league games, has broken out this season with 31 points in 36 games. Already coming off a 50 point season, this 70 point pace puts him in elite territory up front. Only 21 years old, the Oilers will be looking to lock him up long-term to ride shotgun with Connor McDavid well into their peak years.
Alex Galchenyuk, Montreal: Another third-overall pick who put up a 50+ point season a year ago, Galchenyuk was off to a brilliant start before going down with injury early this month. Because he’ll be out for another month at least, Galchenyuk won’t rush into a contract that may not be representative of his development. This one might head into the summer, but if he comes back strong perhaps the two sides can come together before what looks like a long playoff run.
David Pastrnak, Boston: Not quite the same situation faces Pastrnak, who before this year showed promise but hadn’t played a full season in the NHL. With 26 points already he’s about to set his career-high and has a chance at a 40-goal season. Boston has a lot of money already tied up long-term in their forward group, with David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, David Backes and Brad Marchand all under contract through at least 2020-21. They may not be able to afford buying out UFA years this summer, meaning a one or two year pact is more likely.
Full List Of Mandatory-Protection Players In Expansion Draft
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston has published the full list of players who, due to no-movement clauses in their current contracts, must be protected in the upcoming expansion draft for the new Vegas Golden Knights. These are players who will count against the protection limits should they choose not to waive their NMC rights prior to the draft.
Each team has the right to protect either:
A) Seven forwards, three defenders, one goaltender
or
B) Eight skaters, one goaltender
These players will count against those numbers, and as Johnston points out, there are some notable inclusions and omissions from this group. Players like Jordan Staal, Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan all had incorrect information spread about their contracts. The former two will now need protection, while the latter will not, due to his deal only having a no-movement to the minors clause.
The Chicago Blackhawks, with eight players listed, will have little flexibility at the draft, with only four forward spots (or one defenseman) left to use. Many others, according to Johnston, including Toronto’s Nathan Horton, are likely to be made exempt if they are still on LTIR as the draft approaches.
Nikita Kucherov Closing In On Bridge Deal With Tampa Bay
According to Bob McKenzie of TSN, restricted free agent Nikita Kucherov is en route to North America from Russia to sign a bridge deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the team has been trying to lock the winger up long-term, it doesn’t look like that kind of a deal will get done before the season starts; instead, the two sides will agree to a shorter term and re-evaluate in two or three years.
Kucherov is coming off back-to-back all-star seasons, scoring 65 and 66 points over the last two. Leading a team in scoring that includes Steven Stamkos is no small feat, though the winger did just that in 2015-16. Already a 30-goal scorer at 23, Kucherov will eventually be given a huge contract to play in this league.
After re-signing Stamkos, Victor Hedman and others this summer, the Lightning have to be careful with their cap space going forward, having just $5.5MM at the moment for this season. Though a bridge deal would likely come in just shy of that for Kucherov, a long-term deal that bought out any free agent years would have seen that rate jump quite a bit. Johnny Gaudreau recently signed for $6.75MM, and only gave up a single year on the open market.
World Cup Roster Changes: Keith, Bouwmeester, Kronwall, Lindholm
Earlier today Hockey Canada added St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to its World Cup team to replace Chicago blue liner Duncan Keith. Keith is still not 100% as he continues to rehab from a right knee injury suffered last season. Blackhawks team physician, Dr. Michael Terry, had this to say about Keith’s recovery:
“As Duncan continues offseason rehabilitation on the right knee injury that he sustained last season, we understand his decision not to participate in next month’s World Cup of Hockey. We believe it is in his best interests to focus on getting stronger and not risk further injury.”
Bouwmeester joins Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jake Muzzin as the only left-handed shooters on Canada’s blue line. That’s likely the primary reason Bouwmeester was chosen over right-handed options such as Kris Letang and P.K. Subban. It was also somewhat surprising that Bouwmeester was added over Mark Giordano of the Flames.
Giordano tallied 21 goals and 56 points while playing a full slate of games for Calgary. He has developed into one of the league’s best offensive defenseman over the last three seasons and like Bouweester, is a left-handed shot.
Bouwmeester, conversely, recorded just 19 points and was had a plus-minus rating of -4 in 72 games for the Blues. In all probability, Hockey Canada favored Bouwmeester’s extensive experience representing his home country. He was a part of the 2004 World Cup-winning team and also won a gold with Team Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
This is the second change in as many days to Team Canada’s roster. Yesterday, Logan Couture was added to replace Jamie Benn.
Team Canada is obviously still going to be one of the tournament’s favorites but if there is a weakness, it may well be the team’s blue line.
Elsehwere, Anaheim Ducks defender Hampus Lindholm, currently a RFA, has been named to Team Sweden to replace Niklas Kronwall. Kronwall is still recovering from knee surgery performed in January.
Lindholm, 22, scored 10 goals and 28 points last season for the Ducks and is considered one of the up-and-coming young defensemen in the league. He’ll join an excellent blue line group anchored by Erik Karlsson from Ottawa and Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay.
Sweden is expected, along with Team USA, to be one of the biggest threats to Canada’s chances in this tournament. In addition to an excellent defense corps, Sweden will have Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes. Up front they have plenty of skill led by the Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, Filip Forsberg and Nicklas Backstrom. Obviously Sweden boasts a formidable roster with plenty of talent.