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Snapshots: Robidas, Bartkowski, Zuccarello

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It appears the playing career of defenseman Stephane Robidas is over but that doesn’t mean he’s leaving the sport of hockey altogether, according to Lance Hornby in the Toronto Sun. The veteran of 15 NHL seasons injured his leg during training camp last year and is still unable to resume any hockey-related activities. But while he can’t suit up for the Maple Leafs, Robidas will still be able to contribute to the organization in his new role as a consultant.

Robidas, in the final year of a three-year 35+ deal with an AAV of $3MM, says he will be based in Montreal and work with the Toronto Marlies and scout some NCAA games. While not technically retiring – he will be placed on IR by the team thus negating his cap charge – Robidas concludes his NHL career with 258 point and 713 penalty minutes in 937 NHL games.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • The Ottawa Senators announced via the team’s website that they have signed defenseman Matt Bartkowski to a PTO agreement. Bartkowski, who has appeared in parts of six NHL campaigns, five with the Bruins, saw action in a career-high 80 games last season with Vancouver. He tallied a career-best six goals – ironically the first goals of his NHL career – and tied his career-high with 18 points. Bartkowski, a left defender, will likely compete with Mark Borowiecki for a spot on the third pair. Borowiecki, coming off he season in which he netted just two points and averaged just 14:38 of ice time, could be vulnerable to a challenge for his job.
  • Due to cap restrictions and the desire to get younger, the New York Rangers have had to make some difficult roster decisions the last two summers. Among them were the decisions to deal winger Carl Hagelin and pivot Derick Brassard in back-to-back offseasons. Those trades were particularly tough on the team’s leading scorer in 2015-16, Mats Zuccarello, who saw both of his best friends shipped off to other organizations. While he understands that’s the nature of the business, he did have some advice for his teammates: “Don’t be friends with me. Or else you might be traded,” as Larry Brooks of the New York Post writes. All kidding aside, Zuccarello already feels in mid-season form due to his participation in both the Olympic qualifying tournament and the World Cup of Hockey. As Brooks notes, Zuccarello has already seen action in 10 games, helping Norway qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics and skating with Team Europe in the World Cup. He is also looking forward to the new NHL season getting started and is excited by what management has done this summer.

Snapshots: Fleury, McDavid, Oilers Training Camp Battles

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If he had it his way, Marc-Andre Fleury would spend the rest of his career in Pittsburgh.

The first overall pick in 2003 has been with the Penguins his whole career, winning two Stanley Cups. However, there are two major roadblocks to Fleury’s wish: next summer’s expansion draft and teammate/ heir apparent Matt Murray.

The 31-year-old Fleury had an unbelievable season in 2015-16, winning 35 games and posting a 0.921 SV%. Unfortunately, he suffered a concussion towards the end of the season, which allowed Murray to take over the starters role on his way to the Penguins’ Stanley Cup victory.

In an interview with Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Fleury said both he and Murray give the Penguins a chance to win games, and “bottom line, that’s what matters. It doesn’t matter who’s in the net.”

Fleury said he met with management after last season and knows where he stands.

When asked if he would request a trade to get more starts, Fleury was emphatic, “No. No. No. I’ve always said this is like my home. I wish I could play here my whole career.”

With next summer’s expansion draft looming, the Penguins will only be able to protect one goaltender. It seems unlikely they would chose Fleury at the expense of the 22-year-old Murray. Fleury has a no-move clause and will need to be protected by his team, unless he chooses to waive it. The Penguins may ask him to move before then, to avoid losing him for nothing, but Fleury isn’t thinking about that, telling Bombulie he plans on going with the flow, and that he’ll “see what happens”

In other news from around the hockey world:

  • Team North America coach Todd McLellan isn’t worried about Connor McDavid going pointless in the World Cup preliminaries. According to TSN’s Frank Seravelli, McLellan thinks McDavid needs to be more selfish, comparing it to McDavid’s first three games in the NHL, where he was “asking for permission” while he was feeling out the style of play.
  • Back in Edmonton, the Oilers expect college free agent Drake Caggiula to contend for a forward position to start the season, according to Bob McKenzie (via Chris Nichols). The smaller Caggiula models his game after Bruins star Brad Marchand: pesky, fast, and skilled.
  • The Edmonton Journal’s David Staples has a new article on Oilers camp invite Kris Versteeg. Staples praised Versteeg as “the kind [of player] the team needs and has sorely lacked”, calling him an “excellent bet”. Versteeg has played with Milan Lucic, trained with Brandon Davidson, and played for GM Peter Chiarelli. He cited McDavid, Rogers Place, and playing close to home as reasons for picking the Oilers over other teams who offered PTOs.

Snapshots: Steen, Ristolainen, Sobotka, Halak, Bobrovsky

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Although he withdrew from the World Cup of Hockey last month, Blues forward Alex Steen is hoping he will be ready to suit up for St. Louis in their season opener on October 12th, reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Steen stops short of saying he’ll definitely be ready to play against Chicago on opening night but hopes to be ready by then or shortly thereafter:

“(The opener) seems like a realistic target, but we’ll see how it reacts. I haven’t done much. These (practice) skates, there’s not a lot of contact, so we’ll see once we get a little bit of contact. But I think for sure I see myself playing in October.”

Although he won’t be able to play for his native Sweden in the tournament, Steen noted that the goal of being able to play there actually forced him to accelerate his rehab process from his shoulder surgery back in early June.  Without doing so, the chances of him being available to start the season would have been lower.

Steen also denied the speculation that he has given the team an ultimatum to re-sign him before the end of the preseason:

“I don’t know where that surfaced, that’s not something that’s come from me. I want to be in St. Louis and the organization knows that. I’m sure we’ll get to it when we get to it, so we’re not stressed about it. Right now, the whole focus has been on the shoulder, getting that ready and getting the group back together again.”

Steen is entering the final year of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of $5.8MM and a salary of $6.5MM.  He has been in St. Louis since late 2008 when he was acquired from Toronto along with defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo in exchange for right winger Lee Stempniak.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Buffalo blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen isn’t yet worried that he doesn’t have a new deal with the Sabres, writes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. Ristolainen is coming off his entry-level pact which carried a guaranteed salary of just $925K.  He was one of the bigger bargains on the back end last season, one where he had a career high 41 points in 82 games.  Harrington suggests that Ristolainen, who will suit up for Team Finland at the World Cup of Hockey, is seeking a five or six year deal which would cover his remaining restricted free agent years.
  • There is still no deal in place yet to officially allow Vladimir Sobotka to return to St. Louis for the upcoming season, notes ESPN’s Joe MacDonald. The Blues and his KHL team Avangard Omsk as well as his agent are expected to talk during the World Cup to try to come to a resolution.  Sobotka has one year on his deal remaining in Russia but also owes St. Louis one year with a salary of $2.725MM, an arbitration award from back in July of 2014.
  • New York Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak has earned the #1 job for Team Europe at the World Cup, head coach Ralph Krueger announced. He beat out Islanders teammate Thomas Greiss and Washington’s Phillip Grubauer for the job.  Team Europe plays their first game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon against Team USA.
  • Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky will start Team Russia’s first game on Sunday afternoon, reports NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika.  He beat out Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the start in the opener.  Head coach Oleg Znarok wouldn’t say who he plans to start beyond that and noted that no decisions have been made on what their lineup against Sweden will be.

2016 World Cup Of Hockey: Final Rosters

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The World Cup of Hockey makes it’s triumphant return this Saturday in what should be a competitive and exciting tournament and a great way to kick off the hockey season. The first World Cup since 2004, the tournament will take place in Toronto, Ontario at the Air Canada Centre, unlike its predecessors which featured many venues. The host nation of Canada is one of eight competing teams, which also include the United States, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Team Europe (composed of players from all other European countries), and Team North America (composed of Canadian and American skaters under the age of 24). The tournament will have two groups of teams competing in a round robin format, with two teams advancing to a semi-final knockout round, followed by a best-of-three final series. The groups are divided up as follows:

Group A – Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe, Team U.S.A

Group B – Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia, Team Sweden

With the pre-tournament wrapping up and the schedule set, the World Cup is about to get underway. Pending any unexpected, last-minute changes, below are the final rosters for each team:

Canada (A)

G Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks

G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

G Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens

D Jay Bouwmeester, St. Louis Blues

D Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings

D Jake Muzzin, Los Angeles Kings

D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues

D Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks

D Shea Weber (A), Montreal Canadiens

F Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

F Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks

F Sidney Crosby (C), Pittsburgh Penguins

F Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche

F Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks

F Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers

F Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins

F Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

F Ryan O’Reilly, Buffalo Sabres

F Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

F John Tavares, New York Islanders

F Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks

F Jonathan Toews (A), Chicago Blackhawks

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2016 World Cup Of Hockey: Schedule

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The World Cup of Hockey makes it’s triumphant return this Saturday in what should be a competitive and exciting tournament and a great way to kick off the hockey season. The first World Cup since 2004, the tournament will take place in Toronto, Ontario at the Air Canada Centre, unlike its predecessors which featured many venues. The host nation of Canada is one of eight competing teams, which also include the United States, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Team Europe (composed of players from all other European countries), and Team North America (composed of Canadian and American skaters under the age of 24). The tournament will have two groups of teams competing in a round robin format, with two teams advancing to a semi-final knockout round, followed by a best-of-three final series. The groups are divided up as follows:

Group A – Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe, Team U.S.A

Group B – Team Finland, Team North America, Team Russia, Team Sweden

With the pre-tournament wrapping up and final rosters set, the World Cup is about to get underway. Below is the schedule for the tournament:

Group Stage (Round Robin)

Saturday, September 17th

Group A: United States at Europe (3:30pm EST)

Group A: Czech Republic at Canada (8pm EST)

Sunday, September 18th

Group B: Sweden at Russia (3pm EST)

Group B: North America at Finland (8pm EST)

Monday, September 19th

Group A: Europe at Czech Republic (3pm EST)

Group B: Russia at North America (8pm EST)

Tuesday, September 20th

Group B: Finland at Sweden (3pm EST)

Group A: Canada at United States (8pm EST)

Wednesday, September 21st

Group B: North America at Sweden (3pm EST)

Group A: Europe at Canada (8pm EST)

Thursday, September 22nd

Group B: Finland at Russia (3pm EST)

Group A: United States at Czech Republic (8pm EST)

Semi-Final Round

Saturday, September 24th

Group B 2nd-place at Group A winner (7pm EST)

Sunday, September 25th

Group A 2nd-place at Group B winner (1pm EST)

Final Round

Tuesday, September 27th

Game One (8pm EST)

Thursday, September 29th

Game Two (8pm EST)

Saturday, October 1st 

Game Three* (7pm EST)

*if neccessary

Seguin Expected To Miss World Cup With Injury

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UPDATE (8:20pm CT): Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly will replace Seguin on Team Canada, the league announced in a press release tonight. Although O’Reilly was not considered one of the most likely replacement candidates (the Hall omission continues to puzzle many), he brings a strong all-around game and two-way ability, adding some versatility and defensive presence to the Canadian forward corp. Seguin has officially been ruled out of the World Cup.

It seems as though another Team Canada forward has fallen victim to the injury bug. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos first reported that Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin sustained an injury during the pre-tournament for the World Cup of Hockey and is now likely to miss the actual event. Kypreos added that the injury, believed to be concerning his right knee, is not deemed to be serious. However, Seguin likely needs a week or more to recover, which is time that Team Canada does not have. They are likely to leave Seguin off of the roster, meaning he will miss the entirety of the World Cup. Elliotte Friedman has corroborated the story, and reports that an official announcement is expected tomorrow.

This injury comes after fellow Team Canada forward, Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter, was hurt while training for the World Cup. As they did when Carter went down and was replaced by Corey Perry, it seems likely that Canada will add another winger to a center-heavy roster. The team has 24 hours to make an addition before the tournament officially begins. The top candidate is likely to be the newest New Jersey Devil, Taylor Hall, who would be a fitting replacement for Seguin, as the top two 2010 draft picks will forever have their careers compared to one another. Depth is hardly an issue for the Canadian side though, and there are any number of options should they choose to add another body to the roster.

Seguin meanwhile will look toward getting healthy for the start of the NHL season. With line mate and fellow NHL star Jamie Benn also on the shelf, recovering from injury, the Stars hope that the pair can rest up and be ready for puck drop on the 2016-17 campaign. The team is hopeful that Benn will be at 100% by game time, and Seguin’s injury is not considered serious, so he too is likely to be ready for action when the new season begins next month.

 

Rickard Rakell To Miss World Cup; Patrik Berglund Named Replacement

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Anaheim center Rickard Rakell will miss the World Cup of Hockey, Team Sweden announced.  Taking his place will be St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund.

Rakell played in Sweden’s first pre-tournament game, collecting an assist in 13:47 of ice time vs Finland on Thursday but did not play in the rematch on Saturday.  He did not travel with the team as they flew to North America and is currently in a Swedish hospital being treated for an unspecified illness.

Rakell is currently a restricted free agent and is coming off his best NHL season so far, picking up 20 goals and 23 assists in 72 regular season games last year.  He’s expected to play a top six role for the Ducks this coming season.

The issue may pertain to the surgery Rakell had back in March to remove his appendix, reports Eric Stephens of the OC Register.  His agent, Peter Wallen, noted that Rakell is currently unable to eat.

Berglund, meanwhile, is coming off a tough year with the Blues.  He didn’t get into game action until January after undergoing shoulder surgery last August and suited up in just 42 regular season contests, scoring a career low ten goals and five assists.  He did, however, fare better in the postseason, tallying nine points in 20 games.

[Related: Sweden’s World Cup Depth Chart]

Snapshots: Capitals, Zetterberg, Team Canada

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Washington Capitals fans will get a taste of what could have been on Wednesday night, when Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom and former Capitals first-rounder Filip Forsberg line up together for Sweden in D.C.

Forsberg told NHL.com’s Katie Brown that playing with his countryman Backstrom was a dream of his when he was drafted by the Capitals back in 2012. Unfortunately for Capitals fans, it didn’t work out that way as Forsberg was dealt to Nashville for Martin Erat in one of the worst trades in recent memory. Forsberg told Brown “it’s pretty cool” to play with Backstrom, even though “a lot has changed since then”.

In other news out of D.C., Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post reports that Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov isn’t sure where he’s going to end up playing next season. Orlov posted 29 points in 82 games last season, posting good possession numbers while averaging just over 16 minutes per game. Coach Barry Trotz said he’s looking for Orlov to play top-four minutes with John Carlson or Matt Niskanen at even strength, and to contribute at both special teams disciplines.

[Related: Capitals’ depth chart at Roster Resource]

The 25-year-old Russian is coming off a two-year contract worth $2.25MM per season, and will likely be looking for a raise on that. Based on the Capitals’ salary cap situation, Khurshudyan estimates the most the Capitals could give Orlov is around $2.6MM. That has lead to Sergei Fedorov, former Capital and GM of the KHL’s CSKA Moscow to contact Orlov’s agent. CSKA owns his KHL rights, and expressed interest in bringing him over to Russia, even if it’s just for one season. Despite the interest from overseas, Orlov says he enjoys playing in the NHL and “would like to stay there, but I don’t know how it’s going to happen. We’ll see.”

In other news from around the hockey world:

World Cup Injury Updates: Rakell, Kruger

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Joe McDonald, writing for ESPN, provides more info on an earlier note mentioning the absence of Team Sweden forward Rickard Rakell from practice today due to an unspecified illness. McDonald says Rakell remians hospitalized and did not travel with the team to the U.S today. McDonald’s article states Sweden’s head coach Rikard Gronberg had this to say about Rakell’s illness:

“He didn’t feel any better this morning, so he went back to the hospital. So far we haven’t found anything. We’ve got to be in contact with him [Monday] and then we’ll see where we’re at, and hopefully for his own sake we know what it is because right now we don’t.”

Rakell, a RFA who the Ducks are still trying to sign, was named to Team Sweden as a replacement for Blues forward Alexander Steen. He had a breakout season for Anaheim in 2015-16, scoring 20 goals and 43 points in 72 regular season games.

Should Rakell not recover in time to participate, Sweden would have until September 16th to designate a replacement, according to McDonald. His piece does not list any specific possibilities in that regard but speculatively speaking, the Swedes could choose either Alexander Wennberg, who tallied eight goals and 40 points as a rookie with the Blue Jackets, or Detroit’s Gustav Nyqvist, who has recorded three straight seasons of 40-plus points for the Red Wings.

On a side note, McDonald does say that Marcus Kruger, who missed Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury, was back on the ice for practice today. Kruger also said that he hopes to return to the lineup in Wednesday’s tuneup game against Russia. If Kruger is a go, he could step into the lineup and replace Rakell.

World Cup Notes: Muzzin, Kruger, Rakell

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Jake Muzzin isn’t a household name, but he should be. The oft-overlooked Los Angeles Kings defenseman is one of the best players in the league, and his selection to Team Canada proves that. With a roster of all-stars and first overall picks, Muzzin didn’t arrive quite the same way. In a new article by Jonas Siegal on TSN.ca, he examines how long it took for Muzzin to become, well, Muzzin. He’s not just a great defender, he’s an elite one, as hall of fame blueliner Rob Blake says:

You’ll get D that can make extremely high-level plays or you’ve got solid (defensive) defencemen. But to be an elite one, in the category that I think Jake has put himself in with this World Cup, you have to do both and that’s what made him pretty special.

Indeed, Muzzin has shown that he can play at both ends of the rink with any player in the league, including his own teammate Drew Doughty, also at the tournament for Team Canada. He’s 27 now, and is only just hitting his stride. Bank on Muzzin suiting up for Canada at the next Olympics, and perhaps even the one after that.

  • In other World Cup news, team Sweden took the ice for a practice today without Rickard Rakell, who is out with an illness, according to Stephen Whyno. Marcus Kruger however, who missed Saturday’s pre-tournament game, was back on the ice for a full practice, seemingly ready to go for the beginning of the tournament.
  • In the second Team North America game, who are now seemingly the darlings of the tournament, the young-guns got off to a good start scoring four goals on just eight shots (three by defensemen), again because of their speed. As we reported yesterday, the North American squad has a great shot at upsetting some of the favorites in the tournament, and making a real push for the championship.

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