San Jose Sharks Expected To Extend Head Coach Peter DeBoer
The San Jose Sharks have the second-best record in the Pacific Division and the second-best record in the Western Conference. With all that success, the Sharks have indicated they intend to extend head coach Peter DeBoer shortly to a multi-year contract, according to Nick Kypreos on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday.
DeBoer, currently in his fourth season with San Jose, has been having an impressive season as the Sharks have a 43-21-8 record and his team’s 94 points is good enough for fourth best in the NHL with two of those teams ahead of them being just one point ahead of them with 95 points in the Calgary Flames and the Boston Bruins. Many people have picked San Jose to win the Western Conference.
The 50-year-old coach has a career record of 317-180-106 over 11 seasons in the NHL, which has included stints with the Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils.
Pacific Notes: Karlsson, Canucks, Woo, Stone
The San Jose Sharks got some promising news as star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has missed most of the second half of the season with a groin injury, skated for 30 minutes this morning at the team’s morning skate for the first time since he re-injured his groin on Feb. 16, according to Paul Gackle of the Mercury News. Regardless, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said that Karlsson still is not close to returning.
“Good sign. Out there, no setbacks. No pain,” DeBoer said. “First step, obviously. We’re not close yet.”
Karlsson skated figure eights around the faceoff circles, practiced hard stops, and sprinted down the ice at full speed several times. Karlsson missed nine games after initially getting injured on Jan. 16. He returned for four games in February, but re-injured it on Feb. 23.
- In a mailbag series, The Athletic’s J.D. Burke (subscription required) writes that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Vancouver Canucks look to be active in the free-agent defense market, suggesting the Canucks could opt to make a big offer this season on Winnipeg Jets’ free agent Tyler Myers. With the Jets expected to have even more cap problems than usual with several big restricted free agents to take care of this summer, including Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba, the team might have to allow Myers to leave to free up some cap room. The 29-year-old Myers would be a big addition if Vancouver wants to make a big offer to the 6-foot-8, 229-pound blueliner.
- Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal writes that the Vancouver Canucks and the representation for prospect Jett Woo have had positive talks about bringing the physical blueliner on board soon. The team’s 2018 second-round pick has had a breakout season with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors with 12 goals, 62 points and 63 penalty minutes in 61 games this season.
- The Calgary Flames are adding some much needed depth to their blueline as defenseman Michael Stone is expected to play tonight in his first game in 125 days, according to Ryan Dittrick of NHL.com. Stone hasn’t played since Nov. 11 since he was diagnosed with a blood clot and placed on blood thinners. Regardless, Stone expects an easier transition back to the ice since he was able to get back on the ice four days after starting blood thinners and has been able to stay in good cardio shape the whole time. Stone has played 11 games this year and has four assists. He just returned from the Stockton Heat of the AHL, where he got three games of conditioning in.
Minor Transactions: 03/16/19
The playoff picture received a shake-up last night. The Maple Leafs stormed back from down three to beat the Flyers, crushing Philadelphia’s postseason hopes in the process; the Blue Jackets blanked the Hurricanes to pull even in the wild card race; the Golden Knights held off the surging Stars, who had an opportunity to leapfrog the Blues in the Central race; and the Avalanche suffered an upset at the hands of the Ducks that may very well have wiped out their chances of a playoff run. We have entered the home stretch, as no team has more than a dozen games left on their regular season schedule. Each day’s slate of games will have more of an impact on the postseason placement than the next and today is no different, with match-ups like Blues-Penguins, Bruins-Blue Jackets, Flames-Jets, Capitals-Lightning, and Predators-Sharks that can cause four-point swings in playoff races. Even the smallest moves can be crucial the rest of the way, so keep up with all of those transactions here:
- Cody Goloubef‘s stint with the Ottawa Senators lasted just one game this time around, as the team has announced that the veteran defender has been reassigned to AHL Belleville. Goloubef has played in five NHL games with the Senators this season, which is five more than he had played with the Boston Bruins prior to a mid-season trade.
- The Detroit Red Wings have made veteran defenseman Brian Lashoff an emergency recall, the team announced. The 28-year-old has not played in the NHL this season and in fact has just 17 games with Detroit to his credit since the end of the 2013-14 season, in which he started nearly every game for the team. Nevertheless, Lashoff – a leader for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins – earned a two-year extension this week and the Red Wings may be rewarding that commitment by giving the long-time defender another shot at the top level.
- Jacob Middleton‘s shot at filling a gap on the Sharks’ blue line was short-lived. CapFriendly reports that the rookie defenseman has been returned to the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Fortunately, that just means he’s down the hall in the other locker room, so Middleton can easily be used as needed down the stretch. With Radim Simek done for the year and Erik Karlsson still sidelined, the Sharks are thin on the back end and Middleton has been a consistent defensive asset for the Barracuda this season.
- The back-and-forth continues for Jordan Kyrou, who has been reassigned by the St. Louis Blues yet again in his fourth move in about 48 hours. This time, Kyrou’s roster spot has been lost to the return of David Perron. The Blues announced that Perron has been activated from the injured reserve and will re-join the lineup. The veteran winger has missed the past 24 games with an upper-body injury, but is finally ready to get back to work. St. Louis could use the help as their hot streak has faded some and the Dallas Stars are suddenly right on their heels.
- The Philadelphia Flyers announced they have recalled Justin Bailey from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms. It his fourth recall in the last five weeks since Feb. 10. The team needs that extra forward with Mikhail Vorobyev injured Wednesday. Bailey has played seven games for the Flyers this season with no points.
- Despite a recall Friday, the New Jersey Devils have chosen to re-assign forward Nick Lappin to the Binghamton Devils of the AHL, according to CapFriendly. Lappin did not play Friday. The 26-year-old forward has 16 goals and 27 points in 45 games with Binghamton.
- The Boston Bruins have assigned forward Trent Frederic to the Providence Bruins of the AHL, according to Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont. Frederic was recalled Tuesday as an emergency call-up, but several player getting healthier, including the return of Jake Debrusk, the team can return him to Providence. The 21-year-old has appeared in 13 games for Boston, but has failed to register a point.
Quotable: Stamkos, Lehner, Tavares
It’s not hard to find a critic of the NHL’s current playoff format, but it refreshing to hear criticism come from a player, particularly one of the game’s biggest names. Asked by the media the other night how he felt about the current format and it’s effect on the Tampa Bay Lightning, Steven Stamkos has this to say (video courtesy of TSN):
It is what it is. It’s been that way for a while now… I understand where they’re coming from from a marketing perspective, wanting to get some rivalries early on, but from a perspective of what you’re grinding 82 games for during a season is to finish as high as you can so you can have that advantage come playoffs. I don’t think that’s an advantage to Toronto or Boston to be what could be the top three teams in the whole league from one division and then have to play that team in the first round. I don’t think that’s right…. It is what it is, you can’t change it now, but I don’t think it’s the most fair in terms of why you play and the advantage you’re supposed to have come playoff time.
Stamkos very clearly demonstrates the core problem with current format which is, in an effort to improve divisional rivalries and boost TV ratings in the postseason, the league is devaluing the entire regular season. As Stamkos references, the Bruins and Maple Leafs are inching closer to locking in the second and third spots in the Atlantic Division and a guaranteed meeting in the first round, despite the fact that they are both top-five teams in the league standings. While he avoids seeming like he’s complaining by framing the argument through Toronto and Boston, Stamkos also knows that the format is a detriment to Tampa Bay, who are awarded with a first-round win this year by likely having to play the next-best team in the conference in the second round. Similarly, the current format will prevent the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames, both top-three teams in the league, from meeting in the Western Conference final, as they will be forced to play in the second round per the current divisional emphasis. A strong performance in the regular season should offer more of an advantage to teams in the postseason, Stamkos states. For exmaple, by the old 1-8 playoff format, the Bruins and Maple Leafs could not meet until the second round and neither could play the Lighting until the conference final, while the Sharks and Flames also could not play until the conference final. The NHL has not expressed any desire to change this current format, but with a star of Stamkos’ caliber speaking out with a very logical argument, perhaps they will begin to look at changes.
- New York Islanders goaltender Robin Lehner is back from injury and ready to put an end to skaters crashing the net and running over goalies, as Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk did to him earlier this month. Lehner told Brett Cygralis of the New York Post that he won’t be a victim again. Instead, he’s advocating that goalies do a better job of defending themselves, perhaps with some leniency from the referees, to teach skaters that there are consequences for these dangerous plays:
Got to be honest, everyone always does it on purpose… Plays like that, all of sudden, you tear a knee and [your] career is over. They’re the ones that do it. It’s still part of the game. Maybe I need to brace myself more for next time. Next time someone comes in, I’ll protect myself and we’ll see if they do it again. I think it’s a joke… You look around at all the different hits and all the different stuff, it’s so inconsistent… I don’t think they really know what they’re doing. This is a problem around the league that a lot of goalies get run into like that. I cannot complain about it, but maybe all the goalies should start protecting ourselves with our blockers and our sticks, and they shouldn’t call anything about that if we do it.
- Toronto Maple Leafs star John Tavares has a problem with a lack of calls in net too, but different from Lehner’s. Tavares is sick of non-calls for the goal being intentionally knocked off it’s moorings. The Maple Leafs went down 5-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night, but mounted an impressive comeback to come within a goal of tying the game. However, in the waning seconds of the game with goalie pulled and possession in the Chicago zone, the net came loose and play was stopped and Tavares at least suspects Blackhawks goaltender Collin Delia of doing it on purpose. Tavares told the media after the game, including TSN’s Kristen Shilton, that there should be more to it than just a whistle and a face-off:
If that’s on purpose by them, especially in the last couple minutes in big situations, I would love to see that be a challenge at some point. When we get that kind of pressure, that’s kind of a free out if that’s what happened. I didn’t really see it, but…”
Snapshots: Kane, Kakko, Veronneau
Evander Kane has been away from the San Jose Sharks for some time now, and today we found out why. Kane took to Twitter to explain that his expecting wife had lost their daughter, obviously explaining his absence and unavailability for the Sharks. Everyone at PHR passes along their well wishes to Kane and his family during this time.
More notes from around the hockey world:
- Kaapo Kakko scored again today and broke the Finnish top league’s record for scoring by a player under the age of 18. With 22 goals on the season Kakko passed the previous record holder Aleksander Barkov, who scored 21 in 2012-13. The 17-year old Kakko is expected to go second overall in the upcoming draft, but was recently ranked as the top available prospect by Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet.
- Not only will Erik Brannstrom be in the Ottawa Senators lineup for the first time tonight, but Max Veronneau will also make his NHL debut. The 23-year old forward was just signed out of Princeton this week and will immediately try to make an impact for the Senators. The team is focused on developing their young core as they rebuild, and giving a chance to college free agents is obviously a big selling point when trying to recruit them.
Radim Simek To Undergo Knee Surgery
The San Jose Sharks will likely be without Radim Simek for the rest of the season and playoffs, as today GM Doug Wilson announced that the defenseman will undergo surgery to repair both his ACL and MCL in his right knee. Simek was injured earlier this week when he collided with Andrew Copp of the Winnipeg Jets and had his right leg trapped underneath his opponent as they went to the ice. The team has recalled Jacob Middleton from the minor leagues.
Simek, 26, was signed out of the Czech Republic in 2017 and spent all of last season in the minor leagues. This year though the physical defenseman has morphed into a full-time option for the Sharks, even pairing with Brent Burns at times. In 41 games this year he has just nine points, but had become a reliable part of the blue line for a Sharks team heading to the postseason.
Losing him will put more pressure on a player like Joakim Ryan, who hasn’t suited up since January 22nd but will skate next to Burns tonight against the Florida Panthers. With Erik Karlsson already out, Ryan and the rest of the defense will need to work even harder if the Sharks are going to maintain their lead in the Pacific Division.
Minor Transactions: 03/10/19
After 24 teams were in action Saturday, the NHL should be a bit quieter on Sunday with just five games slated for the day. Regardless, there should be some key matches on the slate as the Metropolitan Division leader Washington Capitals will go up against the Central Divison leading Winnipeg Jets. The Calgary Flames, losers of four straight, will also be in action Sunday as well, in an attempt to reclaim the Pacific Division lead as they go up against the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights. With the playoff race getting more intense, teams continue to shuffle their rosters. Make sure to check back throughout the day to get all the team’s transactions for the day.
- The New Jersey Devils announced they have assigned forward Brandon Gignac back to the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. Gignac was recalled Saturday due to the massive amount of injuries the Devils have sustained recently and made his NHL debut. The 21-year-old played 9:04 of ice time, registering one shot, one blocked shot and a minus-two rating. With 20 forwards on the active roster, his assignment likely means that one of the Devils’ injured forwards will be ready to go.
- With the need to add a player to their roster, the Calgary Flames announced they have recalled forward Alan Quine from the Stockton Heat of the AHL. The Flames assigned Curtis Lazar to Stockton Saturday, as the team was more interested in bringing in a veteran minor leaguer to add to their roster. Quine has been quite successful this season as he has proven to be better-than point-a-game player with 19 goals and 52 points in 41 games with Stockton. The 26-year-old has also shown some success at the NHL level with three goals and an assist in nine games for the Flames.
- The up-and-down feeling for Dylan Gambrell continues as the San Jose Sharks have recalled the rookie once again, according to CapFriendly. Gambrell was recalled Thursday to San Jose, assigned back to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL Friday and now has been recalled once again. With the Barracuda, Gambrell has been practically a point-per-game player with 16 goals and 38 points in 40 games. However, in six games with the Sharks, he has zero points and is averaging just 8:11 of ATOI.
- While there has been no explanation yet for the transaction, Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have recalled goaltender Maxime Lagace from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on an emergency basis, suggesting that one of the team’s goaltenders, either Marc-Andre Fleury or Malcolm Subban, is injured, although there is no confirmation of that. The 26-year-old has been having a solid season with the Wolves with a 2.30 GAA and a .916 save percentage in 28 appearances.
Erik Karlsson Expected Back For Playoffs
The San Jose Sharks haven’t had Erik Karlsson in the lineup for the past three games (all wins) and shouldn’t expect him back “anytime soon.” That’s what Karlsson told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, but the star defenseman did say he would be back in time for the playoffs. Karlsson is dealing with a groin injury and hopes to get back on the ice for at least a few games before the Sharks start their first round playoff series.
When healthy, Karlsson has been an incredible performer for the Sharks, who currently sit just a point back of the Calgary Flames for first place in the Pacific Division. His 45 points ranks 12th in the NHL among defensemen despite him playing only 52 games—teammate Brent Burns leads the league with 73 points in 67 games—and he has logged an average of more than 24 minutes for the Sharks even including his last two games where he was extremely limited. There’s no doubt the Sharks are better with him in the lineup, and will hope to get him back on the ice to shake off the rust before an important playoff series starts.
Remember that Karlsson remains unsigned and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Showing he is healthy and playoff capable will go a big way to dissuade any hesitation to sign him, be it from the Sharks or another team on the open market. The last time the 28-year old was in the postseason was 2017, when he recorded 18 points in 19 games and pulled the Ottawa Senators within one goal of reaching the Stanley Cup Finals.
Minor Transactions: 03/07/19
The NHL has a busy schedule this evening with 11 games on tap, including an all-important battle in the Metropolitan Division. The Pittsburgh Penguins will welcome in the Columbus Blue Jackets in a game that could finish with the two part of a three-way tie with the Carolina Hurricanes at 79 points. Columbus pushed all their chips to the middle at the trade deadline by acquiring Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid and Keith Kinkaid, but are still at risk of missing the playoffs altogether. As teams prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll be here keeping track of all the minor moves.
- The San Jose Sharks have recalled Dylan Gambrell from the minor leagues as several players deal with the flu. Gambrell has been up and down several times this season, but is dominating in his first year of minor league action. In 39 games for the San Jose Barracuda, the former University of Denver standout has 38 points. The Sharks are in action against the Montreal Canadiens tonight.
- The Boston Bruins have recalled Karson Kuhlman under emergency conditions, giving the team an extra option for tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers. Kuhlman made his NHL debut earlier this season and has two points in four games overall.
- With Dylan Larkin missing tonight’s game against the New York Rangers, the Detroit Red Wings have recalled Christoffer Ehn from the minor leagues. The 22-year old center is up under emergency conditions, meaning he’ll likely go back down when Larkin is able to return to action.
Snapshots: Karlsson, Thompson, Lafreniere, Maple Leafs
The San Jose Sharks got some good news regarding the status of star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who will miss his second straight game Sunday with a strained groin. Head coach Peter DeBoer confirmed that Karlsson is suffering from the same strained groin injury that kept him out for nine straight games in January and February. However, the injury won’t require surgery, according to NHL.com’s Eric Gilmore.
“It’s a version of the same injury,” DeBoer said after receiving the latest medical test results on the 28-year-old defenseman. “I don’t anticipate it being long term. No surgery, nothing like that. But we’re going to be obviously extra cautious and make sure.”
Karlsson is a key piece to the Sharks’ success this year as they try to overtake the Calgary Flames for the top spot in the Pacific Division. Karlsson has three goals and 45 points in 52 games, but has only played four games since Jan. 16. He re-injured his groin on Feb. 23 against Columbus. DeBoer said that all Karlsson needs is time, but there is no timetable on how long he’ll be out.
- With the Buffalo Sabres falling further and further back in the playoff race, the Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington suggests the team send forward Tage Thompson to the Rochester Americans to allow him to gain confidence while the AHL squad battles it out for the Calder Cup. Thompson, acquired from St. Louis as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade, has been with the Sabres all season, but has appeared in just 56 games and has just seven goals and 11 points. The only problem is that with Vladimir Sobotka injured, the team may not be willing to let Thompson go down as well.
- It looks like Alexis Lafreniere of Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, the top candidate for the 2020 NHL draft, continues to show that he deserves the number one pick eventually. Lafreniere is the seventh 17-year-old within the last 15 years to record a 100-point season, according to TSN’s Gord Miller. He joins an impressive list, including Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Drouin, Nikolaj Ehlers, Claude Giroux and Jonathan Huberdeau.
- The Star’s Kevin McGran writes that the Toronto Maple Leafs have seen an increase in energy from their fourth line ever since the team recalled forward Trevor Moore. He picked up an assist Saturday on a goal by Nic Petan, while Tyler Ennis and Frederik Gauthier each have scored goals as well since Moore’s recall. The team has four players in three spots and it looks like the team will rotate them to keep that energy going.