Morning Notes: Glendale, Niederreiter, Halverson
When Gary Bettman wrote a letter to Arizona lawmakers compelling them to pass Bill 1149—which would allow more than $200MM to be allocated from the state budget to build a new arena for the Coyotes closer to downtown Phoenix—he used some very strong wording. “The Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale,” the Commissioner wrote in a thinly veiled threat that would hopefully force the Senate’s hand. He has received much backlash from the letter, including from a former mayor of Glendale herself, Elaine Scruggs (published by AZCentral).
Before the Coyotes moved out of downtown Phoenix they ranked 29th in attendance out of the league of 30 teams. Their first year in the Glendale Arena they ranked 19th in attendance. Attendance stayed in that tier until the floundering team started losing their disappointed fans’ support.
The truth is that the Coyotes have a world-class, taxpayer-funded arena that is designed for hockey and is only 12 years old. They have a City Council and City Manager ready to work with them to achieve an equitable long-term lease.
Scruggs makes a clear point in her letter, saying that it is not the people or city of Glendale’s fault, but the ownership groups the NHL has installed over their 19-year run. As the team struggles in last place in the Pacific Division, it is looking more and more like it won’t matter for the city that once loved their Coyotes. If they don’t get funding for another new arena, they might end up moving further than anyone—fans or the NHL—have ever wanted.
- According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Nino Niederreiter will not receive any supplementary discipline for his knee-on-knee collision with Tyler Johnson last night. The Tampa Bay forward had to leave the game and is still being evaluated, but looks like he’ll miss at least some time with an injury. The Lightning also lost Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette to injury last night, leaving them with several openings going forward.
- The New York Rangers have sent Brandon Halverson back to the ECHL after his emergency backup last night. The Swamp Rabbits goaltender filled in for Henrik Lundqvist on the bench last night, but wasn’t needed for any time on the ice. Lundqvist appears healthy enough to play in one of the Rangers’ back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday and Monday.
- Ottawa has called up Phil Varone today prior to their game against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow. It’s the final game of their current three game road trip, and as Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen reports, the team will likely be without Kyle Turris and Mark Stone. They’ll try to get a win against the NHL’s worst team before licking their wounds in the comfort of their own homes for the next three games.
Lightning Lose Two Players During Wild Game
The Tampa Bay Lightning may be dominating the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Wild so far tonight, but they’ve lost two regular forwards in the process.
According to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov have both left the game with lower-body injuries and will not return.
Namestnikov left the game clutching his left leg; Tampa Bay Times reporter Joe Smith tweeted that the injury “doesn’t look good.” After the Lightning went up 3-0 on the Wild, Johnson was hit by winger Nino Niederreiter and needed to be helped off the ice by his teammates.
If Johnson is out for any extending time, it could seriously hurt the Lightning’s slim playoff chances. He has 43 points in 63 games, good for third in team scoring. However, a serious injury to Johnson could be partially relieved by Steven Stamkos‘ impending return to the lineup.
Namestnikov, meanwhile, has 24 points in 61 games, which ranks eighth on the Lightning for the season.
Atlantic Notes: Sheahan, Ullmark, Lightning, Galchenyuk
While many are keeping an eye on Detroit’s pending unrestricted free agents as potential players to be moved as rentals by Wednesday’s trade deadline, center Riley Sheahan is drawing some interest from Toronto, reports Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos (video link). It’s not entirely surprising that the Leafs have some interest as head coach Mike Babcock is certainly familiar with Sheahan from his days behind Detroit’s bench.
To say that Sheahan has underachieved this season would be a big understatement. Through 58 games, the 25 year old is still looking for his first goal while he has collected just nine assists. Needless to say, the Wings would be selling low if they were to move Sheahan and there’s no indication they’re willing to do so just yet. The center has one year left on his contract after this one with a cap hit of $2.075MM.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sabres announced that they have recalled goaltender Linus Ullmark from Rochester of the AHL. It’s the fifth time this season that Buffalo has summoned him but he has yet to see NHL action so far. At the minor league level, he has a 20-20-2 record with a 2.90 GAA and a .910 SV% in 42 appearances. It’s believed he’ll dress as the backup in place of Robin Lehner who was shaken up against the Avalanche on Saturday.
- A trio of young Tampa Bay forwards in Vladislav Namestnikov, J.T. Brown, and Cedric Paquette are all wild cards heading into the deadline for the Lightning, suggests Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. He notes that all three are unlikely to be protected for June’s expansion draft as things stand and as a result, GM Steve Yzerman could elect to move one to avoid the possibility of losing that player for nothing to Vegas. Doing so would also free up a bit more money for next season as each player is already under contract for 2017-18 and every dollar will count for Tampa in the offseason with key players such as forwards Jonathan Drouin, Tyler Johnson, and Ondrej Palat all needing new deals.
- One player who is likely to benefit from Montreal’s recent coaching change is center Alex Galchenyuk, Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe opines. The scribe notes how new head coach Claude Julien was able to improve the defensive game of several Bruins forwards and if he can do the same here, the youngster should have a chance to play more down the stretch. Despite being second on the Canadiens in points per game, Galchenyuk has actually seen his ice time cut compared to the last two seasons, in part due to his struggles at the defensive end. The 23 year old is slated to be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility in the offseason and will likely seek a long-term deal, a strong finish to the year would go a long way towards landing that contract.