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Zdeno Chara

Injury Updates: Bruins, Vilardi, Hertl, Maroon

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The Bruins have not had much in the way of good luck when it comes to injuries, particularly on their back end.  They can add Zdeno Chara to the list of the walking wounded after he sustained a lower-body injury on Wednesday night and the team has sent him back to Boston for testing.  It doesn’t appear any help is on the immediate horizon either; Matt Porter of the Boston Globe notes that of their injured defensemen (which also includes Charlie McAvoy, Kevan Miller, Brandon Carlo, and Urho Vaakanainen), Miller is the only one that is somewhat close to a return but isn’t expected to be ready to play for a few more games.  As a result, they project to have a pretty inexperienced unit when they face off against Dallas on Friday night.

More injury notes from what has been a particularly rough day around the league:

  • Kings prospect center Gabriel Vilardi has been cleared to participate in full practices, GM Rob Blake told Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). He is expected to be re-evaluated in two weeks where the team will determine the next step.  Although Vilardi can’t play full-time for their AHL affiliate in Ontario, he can go down on a conditioning loan while the Canadian World Junior training camp is roughly one month away and will also be an option for the 19-year-old given his performance at the OHL level last season.
  • Sharks winger Tomas Hertl is dealing with a lower-body injury, notes Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (Twitter link). Head coach Peter DeBoer stated that no surgery is needed and that he won’t be out for weeks so fortunately for San Jose, it appears to be a somewhat minor issue.  The 25-year-old is off to a very strong start to his season, collecting 16 points (5-11-16) in 16 games and sits fourth on the team in scoring despite missing three games earlier this month with a head injury.
  • In his first game back after spending two games as a healthy scratch, Blues forward Patrick Maroon suffered an upper-body injury. The team announced that they have sent him back to St. Louis for testing and have ruled him out of the final three games on their current road trip.  The veteran got off to a good start to his first season in his hometown with six assists in his first nine games but has just one in five contests since then.

Zdeno Chara May Play Past 2018-19

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Among the oldest active players in the NHL is Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, who will turn 42 next March and is on just a one-year contract for 2018-19. While many have pointed to his dwindling point totals in recent years as a signal that Chara’s game is declining, many in Boston will tell you that there is still quite a bit of hockey left in the Bruins captain. Head coach Bruce Cassidy is one of those who thinks there may be more to Chara than just this season, and he told WEEI radio that directly:

[Chara]’s got a lot of hockey left in him. I know that for a fact. He trains harder than anyone I know, his conditioning is through the roof. He’s trying to stay current with the game and the way it is played, working on his puck skills and getting back on pucks. Those little things that maybe the average person doesn’t see every night, that he’s working on maybe three or four games after we lost out [of the playoffs]. He wants to have his legacy run a lot longer than just one more year, and I wouldn’t put it past him to play four or five more years in this league.

Chara is projected to come into the season only behind Matt Cullen of the Pittsburgh Penguins in age, but still logged nearly 23 minutes a night for the Bruins in 2017-18. The ageless defenseman even received Norris Trophy votes, something he hadn’t done since finishing as the runner-up in 2013-14. That’s because of his incredible penalty killing ability and support for the new wave of Bruins defensemen led by Charlie McAvoy. Chara no longer gets the powerplay opportunities for Boston, but kills almost four minutes of short-handed time every night and is still extremely tough to play against in his own end.

With over 1,400 games played already, another four or five seasons would certainly be an incredible accomplishment. Chris Chelios currently ranks first all-time in games played by a defenseman with 1,651, a number that Chara could potentially eclipse in just three seasons. If he can continue to play at such a high level—and his infamous fitness and health regime gives him a good chance at that—there’s no reason to think he couldn’t take over the all-time lead. The Bruins will have to decide whether that will be in Boston though, as the team will have lots of contracts to worry about in the near future. McAvoy is a restricted free agent for the first time next season, as are Danton Heinen, Ryan Donato and Brandon Carlo. There’s little chance that Chara would test free agency if Boston wanted him back though, especially if he’s still making a positive impact on the ice.

Bruins Expect Bergeron, Krug, And Carlo To Be Ready For Camp

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By the time the Boston Bruins exited the postseason in early May after a Game Five loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference semifinals, they were in rough shape. Defensemen Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug had both already been lost to broken ankles, David Backes, Riley Nash, and Rick Nash were all dealing with concussion symptoms, Zdeno Chara and Jake DeBrusk had both been playing through shoulder injuries, and Brad Marchand and Noel Acciari were working with groin issues. Soon after, it was revealed that Patrice Bergeron had been dealing with a recurring groin injury all year. This did not come as much of a surprise, considering that Bergeron has missed the beginning of each of the past two seasons due to groin ailments. However, Bergeron finally decided to go under the knife and his early June surgery date and subsequent recovery put his health at the start of the 2018-19 season in some doubt. Between Bergeron and barrage of other Bruins injuries, it seemed like a long shot that the team would begin the new campaign at full health.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy says not to fear, as he expects his team to be ready to go not only be ready for the season opener, but also the start of training camp. Cassidy recently spoke with Matt Porter of the Boston Globe and reassured fans that everyone is doing well in their recoveries and on track to start the year at full strength. Gone are both Riley and Rick Nash, but the numerous other injured Bruins are in good shape. Porter writes that DeBrusk, Acciari, and Backes are fully recovered from their issues and doesn’t even make note of Chara and Marchand, as the two superstars appear to be more than ready for the season. Cassidy even went so far as to say that Carlo and Krug would definitely be ready for camp. Despite each suffering a severe injury, a broken ankle, Cassidy states that they are already back skating and working towards game readiness.

Cassidy went a little further in depth with Bergeron, who he certainly would like to avoid having miss any time to begin the season for a third straight year. Cassidy says that Bergeron’s recovery is going well and he at least expects him “in uniform” if not participating fully when training camp starts. Cassidy did cast some doubt over Bergeron’s preseason usage. Especially given that team opens their tuneup schedule ahead of the rest of the league with a two-game series with the Calgary Flames, there’s little reason to rush the two-way ace into action. Cassidy expects that Bergeron will miss some preseason action but trusts that the veteran will “play [as much] as he needs”. Regardless of the preaseason workload, Cassidy expects Bergeron – and the rest of the team – to be ready to go when they square off with the defending champion Washington Capitals in the season opener on October 3rd.

Atlantic Notes: Red Wings, Krug, Reinhart, Kotkaniemi

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With the last piece of major housekeeping completed in Detroit after the Red Wings signed star Dylan Larkin to a five-year, $30.5MM deal, the team now has to take a look at their salary cap, which they will be over, even after they move forward Johan Franzen to LTIR. General manager Ken Holland told The Athletic’s Craig Custance, they will likely be “in the neighborhood” of $1MM over the cap.

“We’re very tight,” Holland said on Friday of the cap situation. “With this deal, we’re probably a dribble over. Not a lot, but we’re over. We’re going to have to make some decisions moving forward.”

One possibility would be to bury the contracts of Martin Frk and Luke Witkowski in the minors. However, if the team believes that veteran Henrik Zetterberg could end up missing the season as his injuries haven’t improved this summer, the team could place him on LTIR as well and wouldn’t have anything else to worry about. Custance adds, however, that if Zetterberg does return, that likely would end the chances of 2018 first-round pick Filip Zadina of making the roster out of training camp.

  • In a mailbag series, Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports writes that with eight quality NHL defenseman on the roster, the team will likely make a trade before the season starts. The team has Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Adam McQuaid, John Moore, Kevan Miller, Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo on the roster. The scribe writes that could mean that the team might be ready to move Krug if the team can get a big return for the blueliner. And they would need to, as Krug is one of the top offensive defensemen in the league as only Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, Brent Burns and John Klingberg have more points over the last two seasons. He has 22 goals and 110 points combined in that time.
  • The Athletic’s Ryan Stimson (subscription required) wonders where restricted free agent Sam Reinhart should play next year in the Buffalo Sabres’ lineup once he signs. The 22-year-old center has been a decent center for the Sabres in the past, but saw his game blossom once he was moved up and played on the wing next to top-line center Jack Eichel. With the team moving on from Ryan O’Reilly and bringing in prospect Casey Mittelstadt, what should the team do with Reinhart? The scribe breaks down Reinhart’s game and wonders if it would be best for the youngster to take over the team’s No. 2 center position and ease Mittelstadt in.
  • The Athletic’s Mitch Brown (subscription required) ranks the Montreal Canadiens’ top five prospects with 2018 third-overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi listed as their top prospect. The young centerman, who flew up the draft boards in the final weeks, anchors a list of prospects that Brown believes is the most exciting in the last five or six years. He has been successful playing in the SM-liiga as an 18-year-old and is expected to fill that long-waited hole in the middle.

Snapshots: Middleton, Sharks, Morrisonn

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The Boston Bruins will add another memorable name to the rafters of TD Garden this season, as the team announced today that they will retire Rick Middleton’s #16 on November 29th. Middleton starred for the Bruins for twelve seasons from 1976-1988 and recorded 898 points in 881 games, fourth-most in Bruins history. His 402 goals rank third on a long list of impressive Boston alumni, behind only Johnny Bucyk and Phil Esposito, while his 496 assists rank sixth behind the likes of Bucyk, Esposito, Ray Bourque, Bobby Orr, and Wayne Cashman. Seeing as all but Middleton and Cashman of that group have had their numbers retired, it seems fitting that “Nifty” was next up. Yet, Middleton was surprised to receive a call from President Cam Neely today, saying he was “knocked off (his) feet” by a “dream come true”. Middleton’s number retirement will be the eleventh by Boston and will ironically be the first for the Bruins since Neely himself was honored in 2004. Who could be next for Boston? A past great like Cashman or perhaps a current long-time star like Patrice Bergeron or Zdeno Chara?

  • The San Jose Sharks made some changes to their front office today that included players previously believed to still be active. The team named Ryan Hamilton, J.P. Cote, and Neil McKenney to their scouting staff, replacing Jimmy Bonneau and Michael Chiasson who have been promoted to AHL coaching roles. The release essentially served as a retirement announcement for Hamilton and Cote. Hamilton, 33, had been the captain of the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors for the past three years and last played in the NHL for the Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15. Cote, 36, has been playing in Europe for the past three years, but was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013-14. McKenney has been hired away from his position as Director of Hockey Operations for Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.
  • Former NHL defenseman Shaone Morrisonn is embarking on a interesting twist to his playing career. The 2001 first-round pick is entering his 17th pro season and will do so in largely uncharted territory. Morrisonn has been playing in the KHL since 2012, but will now move to the Oji Eagles of the Asia League. The league was only established in 2004, after Morrisonn had already begun his pro career, and has not attracted many well-known North American names over the years. Perhaps in closing out his own career, Morrisonn will open the door to more former NHLers continuing their careers in Japan, South Korea, and China. Hockey is certainly spreading to Asia and a player with at least some name recognition playing in the local pro league could go a long way in continuing to grow the game.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Phillip Danault To Three-Year Deal

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The Montreal Canadiens announced that they have avoided arbitration and signed restricted free agent center Phillip Danault to a three-year, $9.2MM contract with an AAV of $3.08MM.

Danault, who was in his second full season with the Canadiens, was having another solid season when he was hospitalized and was forced to miss more than a month after being hit in the head by Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara’s 124-kilometer-per-hour slapshot. He was released the next day, but suffered from both concussion-like symptoms as well as vertigo. When the center returned to the lineup, he struggled upon return, tallying just one goal and one assist in his final nine games of the season

With the Canadiens short on solid center options last season, Danault and Jonathan Drouin served as a top-six center for the team. Danault is likely to serve in the same capacity with some suggestions that he could be penciled in ahead of Drouin as the No. 1 center next season since the team failed to acquire any more established centers. Regardless of what line he ends up on, the 25-year-old defensive center did have a career-high on faceoff percentage at 52.8 percent and has had a career percentage of 50.9 percent and ranked third on the team in ATOI with 16:35 behind just Max Pacioretty and Drouin.

There was some surprise it took so long for Danault to get a contract as he represents one of general manager Marc Bergevin’s biggest successes when he was acquired via trade from the Chicago Blackhawks for Dale Weiss and Thomas Fleischmann back in 2016. His best season was in 2016-17 when he played in all 82 games, putting up 13 goals and 40 points. The center just completed a bridge deal where he made just $913K, so this is a significant raise for him.

Atlantic Notes: Pope, Bruins, Schlemko

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The Red Wings have put a hold on contract talks with college winger David Pope, reports Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.  The 23-year-old recently wrapped up his NCAA career with the University of Nebraska-Omaha with a 20-goal season but has informed the team that he would like to finish up his classes before discussing a contract.  Pope was a fourth-round selection of Detroit (109th overall) back in 2013 and will be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent if he does not sign by August 15th.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • The Bruins are set to get some good news on the injury front as the team announced that winger Jake DeBrusk will return to the lineup on Saturday night after missing the last eight games with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, blueliners Zdeno Chara (upper-body) and Charlie McAvoy (MCL sprain) have been ruled out for Saturday but could return on Sunday afternoon.  With Boston looking to lock down the top spot in the East (and home ice for the first three rounds of the postseason), these returns will certainly come at a welcome time.
  • Montreal could have blueliner David Schlemko back in their lineup tomorrow night against the Penguins after receiving the green light from doctors to return from his upper-body injury, notes Matt Cudzinowski on the Canadiens’ team website. The veteran has been out of the lineup for the past 12 games and has suited up just 34 times this season due to various injuries.  If he does play, the team will either have to return blueliner Brett Lernout to Laval (AHL) or convert his emergency recall into a regular one that will count against their limit of four between the trade deadline and the end of the regular season.

Boston Bruins Sign Zdeno Chara To One-Year Extension

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The Boston Bruins have decided to keep around one of their franchise greats, inking Zdeno Chara to a one-year extension worth $5.0MM. The deal also includes up to $1.75MM in performance bonuses, something that can only be added for a player of his age on a one-year contract. Chara was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Chara, 41, has had an outstanding season not only for his age, but as a pure defenseman. The hulking Boston captain can still get around the ice well enough to use his huge reach and strength to move players off the puck, and he’s routinely shown off his elite conditioning by logging extremely long shifts on the penalty kill and leading the team in minutes played. His 23 per night is still almost an entire minute longer than 20-year old partner Charlie McAvoy.

With the season he’s put together, it’s easy to see why the Bruins handed him an extension, and one that will actually see him collect a bigger paycheck. Because of the front-loaded nature of his last contract, and a quirk in the old CBA, Chara earned just $4.0MM this season and carried the same cap hit. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the performance bonuses are based around games played and playoffs, meaning it’s reasonable to believe Chara will earn even more than $5.0MM when it is all said and done.

Chara has always maintained that he wanted to stay with Boston, but there would have been ample interest in him had he hit free agency. Even as a player in his forties, Chara could have an immediate impact on any defense corps around the league. We ranked him 18th in our Midseason UFA Power Rankings, due to his age, but even at the time it seemed unlikely he would sign somewhere else.

The extension gives the Bruins six defensemen—Chara, McAvoy, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Kevan Miller and Brandon Carlo—under contract for next season, with Matt Grzelcyk under control as a restricted free agent. That group is good enough to go with to start 2018-19, but don’t expect Boston to sit on their hands in free agency. For a team that believes they can win the Stanley Cup, adding more defensive help is still always a consideration.

In that way, Chara’s role may be reduced next season, which should actually frighten Atlantic Division foes even more. As his body inevitably slows down, less responsibility actually could produce better results on a short term basis. Chara routinely faces some of the strongest competition on the team, something that may change as other, younger options become more and more adept. For now, he’ll remain the top shutdown option on Boston, a legendary penalty killer, and one of the most recognizable players in the NHL.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Jets And Bruins

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Two of the best teams in hockey, the Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets, are both in action today and will both see changes to their lineups due to injury. The Bruins take on the Minnesota Wild with a chance to climb within two points of the Atlantic-leading Tampa Bay Lightning while still holding a game in hand. The Jets need a win over the Central leading Predators to clinch a playoff spot with their own efforts, but could also get in today with at least one point and an Anaheim Ducks loss. However, the Jets will have to do so tonight and going forward down a man, whereas it seems like the Bruins task is about to get easier as their mountain of injuries is shrinking.

The Winnipeg Jets have a tough situation on their hands, but it could be worse. The team announced today that veteran defenseman Toby Enstrom will be shut down for the remainder of the regular season. Head coach Paul Maurice told TSN’s Brian Munz that Enstrom will not play again over the final two weeks as he nurses a lower-body injury. However, the important distinction is that this was the team’s choice and that it only includes the regular season. The team seems optimistic that some time off will give Enstrom a better chance of being ready to go in the postseason. With Dmitry Kulikov all but done for the year, the Jets could really use a healthy Enstrom if they want to make waves in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Bruins also have their eye on the Cup and have somehow stayed on course through mounting injuries over the past month. Boston’s last two games in particular have lacked Patrice Bergeron, Charlie McAvoy, Zdeno Chara, Jake DeBrusk, David Backes, Rick Nash, and Torey Krug, yet the Bruins picked up a combined three points against the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars. Overall, the Bruins are shockingly 9-2-2 since Bergeron went down in late February, with McAvoy out since March 3rd and Chara and DeBrusk having missed the last two weeks. Now, the team is getting healthier, announcing that Bergeron and Krug are set to return to the lineup tonight and adding that Chara, McAvoy, and Backes are making their way back as well. That just leaves DeBrusk and Nash without an update and neither injury was reported to be overly serious when they first occurred, which means that Boston could be back at full strength before the start of the playoffs. Given the emergence of Ryan Donato and the strong play of Brian Gionta, Nick Holden, and others, that begs the question posed by beat writer Joe Haggerty today: who will start for the Bruins if everyone is healthy?

2018 Midseason UFA Power Rankings: 11-20

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With the halfway point of the season now behind us and the trade deadline fast approaching, it’s time to take a preliminary look at the UFA Class of 2018.  Here is the first half of our top-20 rankings, based on votes from writers Gavin Lee, Brian La Rose, Nate Brown, Zach Leach and Holger Stolzenberg. We’ll run numbers 1-10 tomorrow, and release an honorable mention group on Friday.

11. David Perron, F, Vegas Golden Knights — When Perron was scoring 20 goals as a 21-year old in St. Louis, he likely wouldn’t have believed that he’d be joining his sixth NHL team just a few days after his 30th birthday. That’s what could happen this summer if Perron isn’t re-signed by the Vegas Golden Knights, and he hits the open market as one of the most consistent forwards available. The winger has 34 points in 37 games and could realistically set a new career-high should he stay healthy down the stretch. For teams looking for secondary scoring from a do-it-all forward, Perron is the easy answer.

12. Joe Thornton, C, San Jose Sharks — Thornton ranked #3 on our midseason list last season, and ended up taking a one-year, $8MM deal to stay in San Jose. This summer could be much of the same, after he proves his seven-goal 2016-17 was just a fluke. Thornton is still one of the great setup men in the league, and has 32 points in 43 games on the year. After playing through torn knee ligaments in the playoffs, he’s shown off inexplicable health once again by suiting up for all 43 games. At 39 next year there is still time for him to bring home that elusive Stanley Cup.

13. Patric Hornqvist, F, Pittsburgh Penguins — We’ve seen the Penguins lose key players to free agency in the past, and if they can’t find the salary room to fit Hornqvist in there won’t be a shortage of teams calling his agent on July 1st. The 31-year old has never scored fewer than 21 goals in a season in which he played at least 64 games, and it doesn’t look like that streak will end this year. A weapon in front of the net on the powerplay and still capable at both ends of the rink, Hornqvist comes with the added bonus of some recent Stanley Cup experience.

14. Tyler Bozak, C, Toronto Maple Leafs — There’s a lot to like in Bozak’s profile, as an elite faceoff man with solid offensive upside, but he does come with some risk. No one would ever claim he’s a defensive specialist, and his game has slowed considerably over the past few seasons. He also will hit the open market at 32, and has seen his minutes diminished this season. Still, a 40-50 point center with plenty of powerplay experience will be an exciting prospect for a team looking to upgrade their depth down the middle.

15. Rick Nash, F, New York Rangers — Nash has certainly not lived up to his $7.8MM cap hit this season (or the last few), but there will surely be some teams convinced they can bring out some of the greatness that was once so apparent. The 427-goal man has just 11 this season, but can still skate well and kill penalties. Like fellow 33-year old Eric Staal, who has found a career renaissance after a stint in New York (albeit a much shorter one), Nash could be a sneaky bargain on the open market for a team willing to take a chance.

16. Thomas Vanek, F, Vancouver Canucks — Vanek was actually #8 on this list last season, but had to settle for a one-year deal with Vancouver after waiting until September to sign. This year, he’s done what he’s always done and continued to find a way to put up points despite obvious red flags in his game. With 32 points in 45 games and nice chemistry building with Brock Boeser, the Canucks could decide to keep him on for another few seasons as they continue their rebuild. If not, his market is about as easy to predict as the lottery numbers.

17. Patrick Maroon, F, Edmonton Oilers — After last year’s breakout playing mostly with Connor McDavid, Maroon looked like a key piece to the Oilers success going forward. Just a few months into the 2017-18 season though, and he looks like a sure-fire deadline rental with an unclear future. Save for the 27-goal output Maroon had last season, he has scored just 45 goals in 264 career games. If those point totals can creep back up in the second half, maybe someone believes he can be a real top-six option on a multi-year deal.

18. Zdeno Chara, D, Boston Bruins — He’ll be 41. He’s lost much of his mobility. He’s on pace for one of the worst offensive seasons of his career. But he’s still 6’9″ and logging more than 23 minutes a night for the Bruins. Chara isn’t the perennial Norris candidate of a decade ago, but there’s no reason why he can’t be an effective option going forward. He’s still a capable defenseman at even strength and one of the top penalty killing options in the league. With a reduced role he could be even more effective. It would be shocking to see him make it to the open market, but stranger things have happened.

19. Jack Johnson, D, Columbus Blue Jackets — The fact that Johnson wasn’t even in the top-20 of two ballots shows just how far he’s fallen in recent years. Once seen as an integral part of the Blue Jackets blueline, with the ability to quarterback a powerplay and log huge minutes, he’s now asked for a trade out of Columbus to get a bigger role somewhere else. At 31, there’s a real chance that his game may have taken a drastic negative turn and teams could stay away from giving him a long-term contract.

20. Daniel Sedin, F, Vancouver Canucks — Interestingly it’s Daniel, not Henrik Sedin that finds himself in the final spot on our rankings despite the latter having more points this season. Though his twin only missed the cut by a few spots, it’s likely Daniel’s better goal total (ten, to Henrik’s two) that makes up the difference. They won’t be going anywhere separately, but it would be a real shame to see them as part of a franchise other than Vancouver at this point in their careers. At 38 to start the 2018-19 season, it might be Canucks or bust.

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