Snapshots: Blackhawks, Ferraro, Cogliano, Biega
The Blackhawks are a team that many are keeping an eye on when it comes to the trade front with long-time veterans Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews among those that could potentially be on the move between now and the March 3rd trade deadline, assuming that they’re willing to waive their trade protection. However, GM Kyle Davidson told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan that he has yet to have any specific trade talks on any of his players just yet. With the trade market largely being stalled out right now due to a lack of cap flexibility, there’s no immediate rush to start to get a sense of what the market might be for some of their veterans. That should change at some point in the new year, especially when Kane and Toews decide whether they’d like to move on or if they want to remain with Chicago.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro confirmed to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that he’ll return to the lineup tonight against Calgary after missing close to four weeks with a foot injury. The 24-year-old is second on the team in ice time per game at a little under 23 minutes a night while he has chipped in with five points and 47 blocked shots in 23 games. San Jose had an open roster spot to activate him off injured reserve so no corresponding roster move needed to be made.
- Avalanche winger Andrew Cogliano will miss at least the next two games after suffering an upper-body injury in last night’s game against the Islanders, relays Kyle Frederickson of The Denver Gazette (Twitter link). The 35-year-old tumbled into the boards in the third period on Monday and did not return. He has four goals and three assists in 30 games so far this season while being an important part of a bottom-six group that has gone through plenty of turnover thus far. Now, he’ll be out until after the holiday break and will be re-evaluated at that time.
- Veteran defenseman Alex Biega announced his retirement on his Instagram page. The 34-year-old had a 12-year professional career, seeing NHL action in eight of those seasons. Biega suited up in 243 NHL contests between Vancouver, Detroit, and Toronto, picking up 42 points along with 624 hits. He also got into 397 career AHL games, collecting 129 points.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Novak, Sharks
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Alex Ovechkin taking the top spot. The legendary Washington Capitals forward became just the third player in NHL history to score 800 goals, and the third to record 18 consecutive 20+ goal seasons. Gordie Howe, ahead of him on both of those lists, is the target now, as Ovechkin’s next goal will tie him with Mr. Hockey at 801.
Second and third place went to Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres and Mats Zuccarello of the Minnesota Wild, who both had eight points on the week. Thompson, 25, continues what has become one of the most impressive breakouts in recent memory, with 25 goals and 49 points this season. Through his first six seasons of professional hockey, Thompson scored 44 goals at all levels combined (including playoffs). Since the start of 2021-22, he now has 63. Zuccarello meanwhile just continues to impress in Minnesota. The undrafted, 5’8″, 35-year-old playmaker now has 36 points in 31 games and is well on his way to another outstanding campaign.
- The Nashville Predators have recalled Tommy Novak from the AHL, and he’ll get quite the opportunity. Team reporter Emma Lingan tweets that Novak will center Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund while also getting a chance on the powerplay. The 25-year-old has 26 points in 25 games for the Milwaukee Admirals this season after getting his first chance in the NHL during 2021-22.
- The San Jose Sharks, off today after a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames last night, have sent Nick Cicek and C.J. Suess to the minor leagues. With Tomas Hertl likely facing a suspension, it wouldn’t be surprising to see additional moves tomorrow ahead of the rematch in this odd two-game, no-travel series with the Flames.
Snapshots: Van Riemsdyk, Clutterbuck, Palmieri, Oshie
Now approaching Christmas and New Years, we seem to have a lot of the big trade chips at this year’s deadline pretty clear, with Jakob Chychrun, Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, and Patrick Kane making up the biggest names. Surely, as time goes on and other teams fall out of the race, other exciting names could drop in, and plenty of secondary pieces will be added onto the list. Still, a few solid options that aren’t being talked about as much remain very much in play approaching the deadline.
One of those names, as pointed out by Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek during tonight’s 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night In Canada, is Philadelphia Flyers power forward James van Riemsdyk. The winger is in the final year of a five-year, $35MM contract he signed to rejoin the Flyers organization prior to the 2018-19 season. The veteran’s production has been up and down over the life of the deal, but his 10 points in 11 games thus far, while navigating through some injury issues, does make him an attractive trade asset. While he does carry a $7MM cap hit, Marek adds the Flyers would be willing to retain some of that figure. A number of teams would make sense for van Riemsdyk, but for the New Jersey native teaming up with the Devils might be an especially solid fit, given their need for a net-front presence, as detailed in our Thankful For series.
- The New York Islanders will be down a pair of forwards when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights this evening. Wingers Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Palmieri will both miss the game with undisclosed injuries, the team announced. Fortunately, it seems the team avoided anything too major, as both are listed as day-to-day, however they’ve both dealt with their own injuries throughout this season, Palmieri only returning from a three week absence last night. It’s unclear how Clutterbuck injured himself, though he did leave last night’s game and didn’t return. Palmieri on the other hand left the game in concussion protocol after taking a big hit from Arizona Coyotes forward Nick Ritchie, but did return to action later on.
- Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie left tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs with an upper-body injury and did not return, per a team announcement. According to the Capitals, Oshie will be re-evaluated tomorrow. What exactly happened to the veteran is unclear, however he did return to the Capitals bench, but declined to actually sit before later heading down the tunnel gingerly.
Snapshots: Korpisalo, Maatta, Hunt, Kazbekov
Heading into the season, it seemed likely that Joonas Korpisalo was entering his final season with the Blue Jackets. His re-signing allowed Daniil Tarasov to spend one more year in the minors before moving up to the NHL full-time in 2023-24. However, as Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch suggests, Korpisalo’s performance this season coupled with his contract could make him one of their top trade chips heading into the trade deadline. While his numbers aren’t great on their own (3.53 GAA, .903 SV%), they’re considerably better than Elvis Merzlikins’ by comparison (4.68, .864). That, coupled with a low-cost $1.3MM expiring deal, could give them a chance to get a better draft pick they were offered the last time that Korpisalo was on the block.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Prior to their game this afternoon against Ottawa, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they activated defenseman Olli Maatta off injured reserve. The 28-year-old is off to a nice start in his first year with Detroit, notching 10 points in 25 games heading into today’s action while logging nearly 20 minutes per game. That’s a pretty good early return on the one-year, $2.25MM that Detroit gave him early in free agency.
- A day after being papered down to the minors, the Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Brad Hunt from AHL Colorado. The 34-year-old inked a two-year deal with the Avs in the summer and has played in four games with the big club so far, collecting an assist while logging a little over 10 minutes per game. He has been quite productive with the Eagles though, notching six goals and 14 helpers in 22 games at the minor league level.
- There was some sad news in the OHL with the league jointly announcing with London that forward Abakar Kazbekov passed away today at the age of 18. Kazbekov was the first-overall pick from the 2021 OHL U18 Priority Selection and had played in 21 games in parts of two seasons with the team including in Friday’s game against Owen Sound.
Snapshots: Flames, Board Of Governors, Capitals
The Calgary Flames are without two key players tonight as they take on the Montreal Canadiens. Before puck drop, the team announced center Elias Lindholm and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar are out with an upper-body injury and a non-COVID illness, respectively.
Mikael Backlund slides up to the top line in Lindholm’s absence, while Connor Mackey makes his sixth appearance of the season in place of Weegar. Lindholm isn’t quite producing at last year’s clip, but he still leads the team in scoring with 23 points in 28 games. Weegar’s yet to score his first goal as a member of the Flames, but has six assists in 28 games and is averaging over 20 minutes per game. Still, Calgary would like some more offense out of Weegar, who had a career-high 44 points last season as a member of the Florida Panthers.
- Today wasn’t the most eventful opening day of the NHL’s Board of Governors’ meeting in Florida, but NHL.com’s Dan Rosen expects that to change tomorrow. Rosen notes that tomorrow’s docket includes salary cap projections for the 2023-24 season, updates regarding the ongoing sale process for the Ottawa Senators, and a potential fan code of conduct. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will likely issue an update after tomorrow’s meetings conclude.
- Speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said the team won’t enter a rebuild while Alex Ovechkin is still chasing the NHL’s all-time goals record. Ovechkin has noted a desire to remain competitive while chasing the record, vying for team and individual success. Leonsis also noted that Wayne Gretzky himself will be in attendance for all Capitals games as Ovechkin inches toward his record of 894 career goals.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Hockey Canada, Jiricek
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with an unlikely name leading the way. Charlie Lindgren, who stepped into a starting role for the Washington Capitals with Darcy Kuemper injured, went 4-0 with a .949 save percentage. The veteran netminder allowed two or fewer goals in all four games and has helped the Capitals claw their way back into the Metropolitan Division race. Signed to a three-year deal in the offseason, Lindgren has already nearly set a career-high in appearances for a single season.
Because of that outstanding performance, Tage Thompson‘s five-goal game was good enough for only second place. The Buffalo Sabres forward had seven points, though six of those came in one outing against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a game that saw him play a season-low 13:56 after it got out of hand early. Thompson now has 21 goals and 41 points in 28 games so far this year. The third star went to Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, who had his own five-point effort over the weekend, taking him over a point-per-game pace on the year. The 26-year-old winger is averaging the most ice time of his career and is on pace to set career highs in basically every offensive category.
- Hockey Canada has released its nominees for a new board of directors, a group that will serve on a one-year term if confirmed by a member vote on Saturday. Among those nominated is Cassie Campbell-Pascall, a familiar name for hockey fans both for her days as a player and broadcaster. Campbell-Pascall captained Team Canada to Olympic gold twice, and won six World Championship gold medals over her decorated playing career.
- David Jiricek will be loaned to the World Juniors by the Columbus Blue Jackets to play for Czechia at the upcoming event, joining several other top prospects headed to the event. The sixth-overall pick from 2022 made his NHL debut and played two games for the Blue Jackets earlier this year. A force in the minor leagues, the 6’3″ defenseman has 13 points in 15 games for the Cleveland Monsters.
Snapshots: Doughty, Pettersson, McIlrath
The Los Angeles Kings got a comfortable win last night against the Montreal Canadiens, but those two points may have come with a price attached. Today the team announced that top defenseman Drew Doughty would not be playing tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He is out with a lower-body injury and his status is considered day-to-day.
The loss of Doughty is significant due to just how heavy of a role he has been playing on the Kings’ blueline. The 33-year-old Norris Trophy winner has 17 points in 30 games so far this year and is also shouldering by far the heaviest workload of minutes on the Kings’ roster. Doughty averages over 26 minutes per night, including three on the power play and two on the penalty kill. With Doughty out, Tobias Bjornfot looks set to step into the lineup.
For some other notes from across the NHL:
- Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau told the media today, via The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, that star centerman Elias Pettersson was sick today and was sent home from practice. While this is likely just a normal illness that anyone might deal with over the course of a winter, Pettersson’s health is a situation to monitor given his importance to the Canucks. In 28 games this season Pettersson has 34 points and has also played some of the best defensive hockey of his career.
- Just after they recently called him up, the Washington Capitals sent Dylan McIlrath back to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. This move takes away the possibility of McIlrath playing in his first NHL game since 2019-20. McIlrath has spent this season as a top-four defenseman in Hershey, scoring five points in 22 games.
Snapshots: Salary Cap, Senators, Hall Of Fame
There will be a meeting of the Board of Governors next week at which time there will be another update about the projected salary cap for next season. The most recent estimates were that if the escrow debt was repaid, the Upper Limit could jump to $86MM, an increase of $3.5MM from where it is now. Meanwhile, if the debt wasn’t repaid, the increase would once again be limited to $1MM.
However, there could be a third option. As Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger detailed in TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment, the NHLPA is polling its membership about their possible interest in smoothing out the cap increases over the next couple of years without affecting escrow. That would likely result in a greater jump than $1MM next season which would allow for a bit more flexibility with so many teams capped out. On the flip side, the anticipated jump once the escrow debt is paid off wouldn’t be as dramatic. At this point, this is strictly a hypothetical scenario and it has not been discussed with the league just yet.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- While it’s still unknown who the next owner of the Senators will be, expect actor Ryan Reynolds to be a part of the ownership group. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the league is making it clear to all prospective owners that they want Reynolds to be a minority partner in the purchase for whoever winds up buying the team. Reynolds was initially planning to align with one bid but has been instructed by the league to hold off on doing so.
- The IIHF has announced its 2023 Hall of Fame honorees, a list that includes three former NHL players in winger Henrik Zetterberg, defenseman Brian Leetch, and goaltender Cristobal Huet. Zetterberg, the long-time Red Wing, is the 21st member of the IIHF ‘Triple Gold’ club while Leetch suited up in 76 games internationally, including three appearances at the Olympics. As for Huet, he played in 13 World Championships for France along with two Olympics. Jimmy Foster and Caroline Ouellette were the others that will be entering the Hall in the player category.
Snapshots: Guenther, Barkov, Toporowski
With World Junior camps opening, many expected a handful of NHLers such as Shane Wright, Brandt Clarke and Dylan Guenther to leave their NHL teams for a short time to compete for gold. All three of those players will join their native Canada, making an already formidable squad just that much better. Although Wright and Clarke struggled to find consistent playing time and production with their NHL teams, both ultimately sent to the AHL on conditioning loans, the same cannot be said for Guenther. The 19-year-old, who was selected by the Arizona Coyotes ninth-overall in 2021, has 11 points in 21 games already, playing just over 12 minutes per game.
While Guenther’s loan to Team Canada wasn’t exactly shocking news, it also wasn’t the lock that Clarke and Wright’s loans appeared to be. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan had a chance to discuss Guenther with Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong, who said he wanted to see how prospects performed “under fire.” Armstrong continued, “[y]ou like to see them in those pressure situations because you find out a lot about them and they really tend to grow for them.” The GM cited two of his former St. Louis Blues players, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, who were sent to the World Juniors, and the impact the experience had on their development.
- After it was reported yesterday that Aleksander Barkov was expected to return today from a bout with pneumonia, the Florida Panthers confirmed their captain would play tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Adding the superstar back into the lineup will no doubt give Florida, who went 2-3-2 in his absence, a big boost. Still, illness will continue to hold them back. The team announced that goaltender Spencer Knight and forward Anton Lundell are both missing tonight’s game with non-COVID illnesses.
- NHL.com’s Mark Divver wonders if the Boston Bruins termination of Victor Berglund‘s contract could pave the way to an NHL contract for forward Luke Toporowski. As Divver points out, this will leave the Bruins with 47 contracts, perhaps enough flexibility to add one back in that of Toporowski. NHL teams are allowed to carry a maximum of 50 contracts within the organization, but generally prefer to stay away from having 50, or even 49, in order to give them flexibility in certain situations. Divver adds there is interest from other teams in Toporowski, but Boston has exclusive rights with him until January 1st, and even thereafter can match any other offer Toporowski accepts. A product of both the WHL and USHL, Toporowski went undrafted but signed on with the Providence Bruins this offseason after scoring 35 goals in just 49 games between the Spokane Chiefs and Kamloops Blazers last season. The 21-year-old has 17 points in 21 AHL games so far this season.
Snapshots: Barkov, Puljujärvi, Poulin
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov has missed much of the past few weeks with an illness, and now we have clarity on why his absence was so long. Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards relays a Finnish report that Barkov was dealing with a bout of pneumonia, causing him to be away from the team.
Thankfully, Barkov is now healthy. He’s returned to skating with the team and is expected to return to the lineup tomorrow against Detroit, says Richards. In the seven games Barkov missed, the Panthers went 2-3-2. The return of their captain can’t come soon enough, as the team currently sits outside a playoff spot after winning the President’s Trophy last year. Richards also notes the team is optimistic that Anton Lundell can return from an injury tomorrow after missing the last two games.
- After scoring just one goal in 26 games this season, offensive struggles are beginning to weigh on Edmonton Oilers winger Jesse Puljujarvi. Puljujärvi told a Finnish news agency today (translated) that “of course, I’d like to be a productive top-line player, but right now, it looks like I can’t do that in NHL. Maybe some other league.” The Finn had a career year last season with 36 points in 65 games and even received some Selke votes, but his play on both sides of the puck has dipped this year. Hopefully, the Oilers can help Puljujärvi figure out a way to regain his confidence.
- Team Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin has deservedly won the 2022 Northern Star award, given to Canada’s top athlete of the year. Poulin led Canada’s top women’s hockey contingent to both Olympic gold and World Championships gold, scoring a combined 27 points in 14 games. She’s the first hockey player to win the award in seven years.