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Snapshots: Lantosi, Worlds, Lambert

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At the IIHF World Championship every year, you will find countless scouts and front office executives from the NHL in attendance to try and get a glimpse of the best international free agents. While hyped draft-eligible players like Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are thrilling the fans with their potential, general managers are trying to find the 24-year old who has been overlooked for too long and deserves a chance at the highest level. One of those this year may be Slovakian forward Robert Lantosi, who Darren Dreger of TSN reports is drawing NHL interest.

Lantosi, 23, certainly wouldn’t have been a total unknown to scouts in the crowd. As an alternate captain of HK Nitra this season in Slovakia he registered 58 points in 56 games, good enough for fifth in the entire league. Lantosi recorded an assist today against the Canadian team, while playing on a line with Winnipeg Jets minor league forward Marko Dano.  Dreger does not reveal which teams are interested in Lantosi, but it makes sense that someone would take a chance on the 5’11” winger. Signing him to an entry-level contract represents very little risk, and if he shows the capability to produce offensively in the NHL he could be a cheap upgrade.

  • Speaking of the World Championship, a couple of teams have some late additions to the roster. Zach Werenski will join Team USA at the tournament after initially refusing the invitation, while Gabriel Landeskog will join Team Sweden according to Colorado Avalanche teammate Nikita Zadorov. Werenski’s decision to play is particularly interesting, given that he is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. That contract status was part of the reason he gave for not committing to the tournament in the first place, something many players do because of the chance of injury. Werenski’s change of heart could potentially mean a deal is already worked out, though obviously nothing has been officially announced at this point.
  • Lane Lambert has been a fixture next to Barry Trotz for nearly a decade, serving as his assistant and then associate coach in Nashville, Washington and New York. Now perhaps it is time for Lambert to branch out and take on an NHL head coaching position of his own, and John Shannon of Sportsnet reports that the Anaheim Ducks will interview him for their vacancy. The prevailing thought was that the Ducks were just waiting for Dallas Eakins to finish his Calder Cup playoff run with the San Diego Gulls before promoting him, but that speculation may be a bit premature.

Adam McQuaid, Ryan Murray Remain Out For Blue Jackets

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For anyone hoping to see Adam McQuaid face off against his former team this postseason, you’ll have to wait a while longer. As the Columbus Blue Jackets departed for Boston today to face the Bruins in their second-round series, Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports that neither McQuaid nor fellow defenseman Ryan Murray made the trip. There is no clear timeline for either’s return, but they will at least miss the first two games in Boston.

McQuaid, 32, has yet to play this postseason after suffering a concussion late in the regular season. The veteran defender was acquired by the Blue Jackets from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline, but many still remember him most from his time with the Bruins. McQuaid, ironically a Columbus draft pick, spent the first nine years of his career in Boston before he was traded this past off-season. At the time, Boston was dealing from a position of strength, but ended up struggling with injuries on the back end all season and could have used McQuaid. Now, they could face the physical stay-at-home defender in the playoffs, that is if he can get healthy. Not only would McQuaid sure up the Blue Jackets’ bottom pair and provide insight into the Bruins’ inner workings, he would also provide the playoff experience sorely lacking from the roster. McQuaid has appeared in 68 playoff games and two Stanley Cup Finals, including winning it all with the Bruins back in 2011.

Murray, like McQuaid, is no stranger to being injured. The 2012 No. 2 overall pick has only played in more than 66 games in a season once in his six-year NHL career and finds himself on the sidelines again this postseason with a back injury. Murray has actually had a career campaign, recording 29 points in just 56 games and +20 rating that led all Columbus defensemen. Yet, Murray has been out since early February and it grows harder to imagine a comeback with each missed game. If Murray is able to return versus Boston or perhaps later in the playoffs, it would give the Blue Jackets a major boost and make them an even more dangerous puck-moving team.

Fortunately, Hedger notes that Markus Nutivaara did make the trip and is not expected to miss any further time with the upper-body injury that cost him the final two games of the first round sweep. He joins Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, and David Savard as a very capable top-four unit for Columbus. However, with McQuaid and Murray still out, the Blue Jackets could struggle matching up their bottom pair against the Bruins. Scott Harrington played very well against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but will have to keep up with that level of play if he and Dean Kukan (or Adam Clendening or Vladislav Gavrikov) want to defend against a deep Boston team.

Atlantic Notes: Backes, Kotkaniemi, Cholowski

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A last minute scratch on Saturday has many people worrying that Boston Bruins forward David Backes might have a more serious problem when they look back to a hit that Backes took a shoulder to the head in Thursday’s game against Edmonton from defenseman Matt Benning in the first shift of the game. He was checked for a concussion and cleared to return, but only skated 6:28 during the game.

While the 34-year-old participated in Saturday’s morning skate, there are many concerned that Backes, who has suffered numerous concussions over the course of his career, has another, according to Matt Porter of The Boston Globe. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said he was “absolutely” worried about Backes.

“We’ll list it as an upper-body injury,” Cassidy said. “I think we all saw the hit. You want to be cautious, first of all. This is a player’s health, that left at the end of last year with a concussion.”

  • The Montreal Canadiens got a great game out of 18-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi despite losing to Ottawa Saturday. The third-overall pick in this year’s draft is starting to show his skills and while he only has three points in seven games so far, he is clearly making a positive impact on the Canadiens, according to The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required). Throw in the fact that Kotkaniemi has made fewer than a half dozen mistakes on the ice, Montreal has a big piece in place for the future.
  • Another player receiving quite a bit of praise is Detroit Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski. The 20-year-old has received a big opportunity with injuries to Mike Green, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson and Danny DeKeyser, and has taken advantage of it, according to Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The 2016 first-round pick has shown off smooth skating and on-ice intelligence and has shown an offensive instinct, posting two goals and five point in six minutes. Dylan Larkin believes that Cholowski is a big piece to their future. “His head is always up and he’s always there to make passes and get it in the forwards’ hands,” Larkin said of Cholowski. “He reminds me a lot of Zach Werenski in that sense, where their posture with the puck is almost if you’re forechecking him, you don’t know what he is going to do because he’s got his head up and his feet are moving. It’s awesome having him back there.”

Metropolitan Notes: Columbus’ Defense, Maatta, Butcher, Kreider

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With losses of both Jack Johnson and Ian Cole this offseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets will have some changes on their defense. Those changes could alter the entire defense, as head coach John Tortorella said recently in a Q&A with The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). In fact, Tortorella said he will have to consider whether he’s ready to break up his two star defensemen in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. At the moment, he’s not ready to do so.

“It certainly makes me think about it, and I have thought about it this summer,” Tortorella said. “I’m going to let it play out. Right now I’m going into the season with ‘Z’ and Jonesy together, and we’ll see what comes of that second pair.”

Jones had a breakout season a year ago, while Werenski had an off year, but dealt with a shoulder injury that hampered him all season. However, Tortorella hopes that others will fill in for the team’s offseason losses, including Markus Nutivaara and Ryan Murray.

“I think (Markus) Nutivaara has improved tremendously,” Tortorella said. “I think (Murray) looked different to me in the playoffs. He can’t even grow a beard yet, he’s just got this stuff all over his face, but he looked different to me. He had more of a game face than I’ve seen since I coached him. He was really good in the playoffs. Can he take those minutes? I know he wants to. I know he’s pissed at me that I don’t give him enough time at certain times, but hopefully, he stays healthy and plays with an attitude.”

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins look to be breaking up their top-four as well as the team promised to give top minutes to free-agent signee Jack Johnson, which will force the team to make some changes, according to Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Jason Mackey in a Penguins’ chat. While the team has no intention of breaking up their top defensive pair of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang. That means the likely second line will be Johnson and Justin Schultz, which will likely force Olli Maatta out of the top four. Maatta, who tied a career-high in 29 points last season, will likely be moved to the third pairing next to Jamie Oleksiak.
  • The Athletic’s Ryan Clark’s (subscription required) writes a Q&A interview with New Jersey Devils defenseman Will Butcher, the second-year defenseman has said he’s spent his offseason working on his shot. “My huge emphasis this summer has been on my shot from one-timers to just getting it off quicker,” Butcher said. “Just try to shoot the puck more. Look to shoot the puck more than pass.” The 23-year-old posted impressive numbers in his first year in the league, putting up five goals and 39 points last season. An impressive shot could improve his goal numbers in the future.
  •  When New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider returned from a two-month break when he was recovering from a blood clot, the 27-year-old had lost 15 pounds, which actually proved helpful to him, according to The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman (subscription required). In fact, Kreider played some of his best hockey upon his return, which could fit in well around head coach David Quinn’s new system. The scribe writes that Kreider found the perfect balance between his size, speed, strength and skill, which could carry over to this season, especially now that he’s out of Alain Vigneault’s system that focused only on his speed.

Zach Werenski On Track To Be Ready For Season

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Considering Zach Werenski played with an injured shoulder for almost the entire 2017-18 season, imagine how good he could be if he is at 100% for all of the upcoming campaign. That is the goal for the young Blue Jackets blue liner, who recently sat down with Columbus beat writer Brian Hedger. Werenski continues to recover from off-season surgery, but says that his goal is to “be there for Game 1”.

Werenski suffered the injury of note all the way back on October 30th, 2017. The sophomore defenseman nevertheless played in 77 games and recorded 37 points, even though he played with a brace for much of the year. Werenski then underwent corrective surgery in early May and had his left arm immobilized for much of the summer. However, the 2015 eighth overall pick is already ahead of schedule in his rehab and training. Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen shared a recovery timeline back in June that assumed Werenski would miss most of training camp, but the young defender tells Hedger that he hopes to back toward the start of training camp. Werenski has already begun shooting drills and is essentially back to his regular off-season training minus taking any contact. While the offensive rearguard is obviously motivated to be ready for the season for his teammates, coaches, and fans, he also admits to Hedger that playing in the teams opener, a road game against the Detroit Red Wings in his home state of Michigan, is an added personal boost. “Suffer now, but I’m going to be able to play in my hometown in front of my family and friends ” has been Werenski’s mantra this summer and so far things seem to be going well.

Should Werenski suffer even a small setback that leaves him unable to start the season, the Blue Jackets are less equipped to deal with his absence than they would have been last year. With Jack Johnson, Ian Cole, and even others like Taylor Chorney now gone via free agency, Columbus is relatively thin on the blue line after their superstar young pairing of Werenski and Seth Jones. Ryan Murray or Markus Nutivaara would likely be the replacement on the top pair with Jones while the other skates with David Savard, leaving the Jackets with a bottom pair featuring two of Scott Harrington, Gabriel Carlsson, Dean Kukan or new addition Adam Clendening. Count the Blue Jackets as being right there with Werenski in hopes that he is able to go from day one.

Eastern Notes: Matthews, Werenski, Skinner

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After Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews changed agencies last week, the Maple Leafs are suddenly wondering what that means for them? After a turbulent offseason so far with their star player, which includes a poor playoff showing, two meetings with head coach Mike Babcock and an impending extension either this summer of next, there are suddenly more questions than ever, according to Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons.

Matthews switched from CAA to Orr Hockey Group, leaving behind super-agent Pat Brisson, who the Toronto franchise has had a great relationship with. While most franchises wouldn’t bat an eye when a player changes agencies, Matthews situation is different. Among those questions is whether the 20-year-old plans to stay loyal to the franchise. There have been plenty of questions raised about his rocky relationship with Babcock, which forced the coach to make two trips to Arizona to see Matthews this offseason. There are still questions about his future role as captain of the team and of course, how much money will his extension eventually get him? Will he demand the same money as Connor McDavid’s eight year, $100MM deal?

  • Brian Hedger of NHL.com interviewed Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen about the shoulder injury and subsequent surgery that defenseman Zach Werenski went through this season. Evidently, Werenski suffered the shoulder injury on Oct. 30 and played through the pain all season. The 20-year-old blueliner played with a brace that seriously affected his movement all season and affected his season significantly. “When your arm moves, like, this much, it’s pretty hard, battling for loose pucks in the corner,” Kekalainen said. “It affects everything, and he didn’t ever complain or use it as an excuse. He just kept playing through it and playing through it, and now he’ll be healthy for next year.” Despite the injury, Werenski still had a career high 16 goals, although his total points dropped by 10 from his rookie campaign. After undergoing surgery in early May, Werenski is expected to be ready for the regular season, but could miss all or part of training camp.
  • While there has been quite a bit of speculation surrounding Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner this offseason already, don’t expect a trade too quickly, according to The News & Observer’s Chip Alexander. General manager Don Waddell said neither Skinner, nor his agent Don Meehan, has been asked to waive Skinner’s no-movement clause, nor have they been asked to tell them what team he would be willing to accept a trade to. Skinner, who is entering his final year of his six-year, $34.4MM deal he signed back in 2012 with a no-movement clause that kicked in last season, has tallied 204 goals for Carolina in eight seasons, but hasn’t taken them to the playoffs yet.

Blue Jackets Unlikely To Add At Center This Summer

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It was another strong regular season for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2017-18. The team had its second-best finish with 97 points behind the strong efforts of all-world goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, blossoming young defensemen like Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, rookie forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and game-changing acquisition Artemi Panarin. Yet, the Jackets were again ousted in the first round and still have yet to advance past that stage of the postseason in their 17-year history. In evaluating what area Columbus needs to improve in next season, some will point to poor special teams or a lack of shots on net. However, the major issue this season was the center position, where everyone not named Dubois had a disappointing campaign. The scoring depth, defensive ability, and face-off success of the group was all lacking this year. Entering the off-season with more than $13MM in salary cap space, many think the Blue Jackets should make a competitive offer to John Tavares or even Paul Stastny or Tyler Bozak in an effort to solve their problems down the middle. As The Columbus Dispatch’s Steve Gorten describes, that is unlikely to be the case.

While on surface level Columbus seems to be in fine shape regarding the salary cap, Gorten feels that GM Jarmo Kekalainen needs to tread carefully when contemplating adding salary to the current roster. In the short term, the team already faces several free agency dilemmas. Restricted free agents Boone Jenner, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Ryan Murray are in need of new contracts and the team is surely to be interested in retaining several impending unrestricted free agents such as Ian Cole, Matt Calvert, and possibly Thomas Vanek. The team’s long-term considerations are more pressing though; Columbus will need to pay Panarin, Werenski, and Bobrovsky after next season, all of whom will command significant contracts in both term and salary.

Given these spending limitations, both this year and in the future, signing a top free agent center is unlikely to be the right move for the Blue Jackets. Instead, Gorten suggests that Columbus stand pat and wait for their current centers to rebound from down seasons. 23-year-old Alexander Wennberg showed 60+ point potential last season, but injuries and long stretches of poor play kept him to just 35 points in 66 games this year, the first season of a six-year, $29.4MM deal. Health may be all it takes to get Wennberg back into that true #1 center range and the 2013 first-rounder may still make his contract look like a bargain and could even end up being a superior player to Dubois. For his part, Kekalainen has trust in the young forward, telling Gorten “I’m 100 percent confident with Wennberg that he’s going to have a great year next year.” What Kekalainen may be more focused on is improvement in the bottom-six, where the Jackets need a return to form from veteran Brandon Dubinsky. The 32-year-old is midway through a six-year, $35.MM deal but did not play to that level this season. Dubinsky was held to just 16 points in what was easily the worst season of his career. A buyout at this point in the contract would be very costly to Columbus, who are left to hope that he can bounce back. Gorten also suggests that the depth down the middle could be substantially bolstered by a prospects like Lukas Sedlak, Alexandre Texier, or Jonathan Davisson taking a step forward in their development, while there is also the off chance that the Jackets could land a potentially pro-ready pivot like Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Isac Lundestrom, or Barrett Hayton at pick #18 in the first round.

Even if all of that doesn’t work out, Columbus will also have options like Jenner and captain Nick Foligno, who they have hesitated to leave at center full-time, but are more than capable of playing the position if necessary. Rather than handcuff themselves with a free agent contract that could cause problems down the road, Gorten seems right in his take that hoping for the in-house options to step up their game seems to better suit the Blue Jackets this off-season.

Zach Werenski Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Out 5-6 Months

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According to Brian Hedger of NHL.com, Columbus Blue Jackets star defenseman Zach Werenski underwent shoulder surgery this morning and will be out for five to six months. The issue apparently had bothered Werenski since October 30th, when he first suffered the injury. In a statement, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen explained the decision to undergo surgery:

Zach has been dealing with this injury since early in the season and while he was able to play through it, our medical team determined that surgery was the best option at this time. The surgery went very well and the expectation is Zach will be ready to play by the start of the season or shortly thereafter

Five months would allow Werenski to start the season on time with the Blue Jackets, but it means he will at least miss all of training camp. Columbus is dealing with another early exit from the playoffs, and will be trying to overcome the other top teams in the Metropolitan. Losing one of their top pairing defensemen for any length of time is disruptive to that goal, and if he misses the first whole month of the season they could find themselves in an early hole.

Fortunately for the Blue Jackets, they also have Seth Jones and the rest of an impressive defense corps that can come to the rescue. Just like the Anaheim Ducks signed Francois Beauchemin to help deal with injuries to Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm to begin the year, you can bet that Columbus will ensure their depth is fortified this summer.

The fact that he was dealing with a shoulder injury all season could explain why his point totals dropped from 47 to 37 this season, but certainly should make Columbus fans excited for what comes next. If this season’s 20-year old Werenski—nearly 23 minutes a night and excellent even-strength production—was him at less than 100%, one can only dream about what he’ll be in a few years. Werenski is eligible for an extension on July 1st, and could be locked up long-term this summer.

Columbus Has Key Defensive Decisions To Make This Offseason

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are enjoying some of their best defensive depth in team history as they currently have 10 blueliners on their current roster. Not even including the impressive play of their top line of Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, the team has a quality top-six with trade deadline acquisition Ian Cole to pair with David Savard on the second line. The recently extended Markus Nutivaara also makes a quality third pairing with Ryan Murray. Their depth is so great that veteran Jack Johnson finds himself as a healthy scratch lately and can’t seem to break into Columbus lineup on most days.

However, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Blue Jackets’ blueline should look quite different next season and much of those changes will revolve around what the team does with three players in particular, including Johnson, Cole and Murray.

Johnson has had a tough year and is wrapping up a seven-year, $30.5MM contract. The 31-year-old asked for a  trade midway through the season as his playing time had dropped this year, but the Blue Jackets found no takers and seems unlikely to return to Columbus considering how little he has been playing of late and now has been a healthy scratch for four straight games.

Cole, who many believed Columbus added as only a trade rental, has made quite a mark on the team’s defense and seems to be a good fit next to the physical Savard and the team is considering bringing him back next season. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen had a hand in drafting him back in 2007 when he was with the St. Louis Blues. According to Portzline, there have been rumors the team has already discussed a contract extension with Cole, but there are questions whether the team can afford him.

As for Murray, the team must make a decision on whether they want to retain the restricted free agent. Murray, who is currently making $2.825MM this year, is an excellent skater and puck mover, but has struggled his entire career with injuries. He’s only played out a full 82-game season once and has never come close after that as 66 games is his next highest. He’s played in just 41 games this year.

If the team signs two of those three players, Columbus should continue to have a strong defensive core in the future.

Columbus Assigns Ryan Murray To AHL For Conditioning Stint

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The Columbus Blue Jackets will soon get a boost to their blue line, but they’ll have to wait just a little bit longer. The team announced today that they have activated Ryan Murray from the injured reserve, but have assigned him to the AHL for a conditioning stint. Murray will play at least a game or two for the Cleveland Monsters before returning to the Columbus lineup.

Murray, 24, suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury back in November and has missed the team’s past 34 games. Murray’s early NHL career has been marred by injury, as he missed 22 games last season and all but 12 games in 2014-15 due to various maladies. Even when healthy, Murray has lacked the offensive impact he showed in juniors an in his 24-point rookie season. In the 24 games he has suited up for in 2017-18, Murray has only five points. The 2012 second-overall pick came with, understandably, high expectations that he has yet to reach due to his lack of play time.

Yet, there is still much potential for the smooth-skating defenseman to realize. Although he has been passed up by the likes of Zach Werenski and Seth Jones in Columbus, the Blue Jackets remain committed to Murray and he will surely fill an important role once for the team once he returns. Especially if the Jackets are entertaining ideas of trading away Jack Johnson before the NHL Trade Deadline while still trying to make the playoffs, Murray will be looked upon for solid play and big minutes. The conditioning stint in the AHL will be Murray’s first ever AHL action, after jumping right to the NHL from the WHL, and will hopefully both give him confidence and get him back in game shape and ready to help Columbus down the stretch – they need him.

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