Snapshots: Canucks, Wahlstrom, Leskinen
No matter which side you came down on regarding the Vancouver Canucks-New York Islanders trade from last night, it was still something of a surprise. Many felt that the Islanders made a mistake by using futures in a season where they are struggling, while others believed the Canucks could have landed more for Bo Horvat. If you’re in the latter group, you probably won’t like hearing Kevin Weekes’ latest report for ESPN.
Weekes tweets that another club involved in the Horvat dealings told him the Canucks didn’t shop the offer around, seeing if anyone could beat it. Instead, they “locked in” on the package that the Islanders were putting on the table, which included Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty, and a first-round pick.
- Another thing to consider for the Islanders might have been the status of Oliver Wahlstrom, who according to David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period, may not return this season. The 22-year-old Wahlstrom doesn’t play the same position as Horvat, but was one of the team’s more offensively-driven players, and has been out since December. Wahlstrom had seven goals and 16 points in 35 games this year.
- He’s not the only player who is out for the year. Montreal Canadiens depth defenseman Otto Leskinen has been shut down after hip surgery, ending his season after just 24 games with the Laval Rocket. With Leskinen’s one-year contract up at the end of the year, it might be back to Europe for him moving forward. The 25-year-old played six games for the Canadiens, none of them coming this season.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Schenn, Thompson
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Ottawa Senators forward Claude Giroux taking home the top spot. The veteran scored four goals and seven points in three games, taking him to 19 and 47 on the year. Giroux is now 30 points shy of 1,000 for his career, and is scoring at nearly a point-per-game rate with the Senators, even at age 35.
It was an Atlantic Division sweep this week, as William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning took home second and third place respectively. Nylander continues to play at a different level for Toronto this year, scoring 28 goals and 59 points in 51 games. Vasilevskiy allowed just six goals on 102 shots across three games, winning them all. After leading the league in wins for five-straight seasons, Vasilevskiy has now closed the gap and trails Linus Ullmark by just two.
- Luke Schenn has emerged as one of the most talked-about trade deadline chips, thanks to his low salary, Stanley Cup experience, and physicality. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff takes a deep dive into Schenn’s market, suggesting clubs like Boston, Minnesota, Calgary, Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Vegas could all benefit from adding the veteran defenseman.
- Tage Thompson is listed as day-to-day for the Buffalo Sabres, with head coach Don Granato telling reporters including Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News that the star forward has been dealing with some nagging injuries. Granato does expect Thompson to be on the ice tomorrow and isn’t ruling him out for Wednesday’s game. What that means for his All-Star appearance isn’t clear, as it would provide a good chance for him to recover, if still bothered by injury later this week.
Snapshots: Islanders, Tanev, Guzda
The New York Islanders have now lost six in a row, scoring just 11 goals in the process. A group that was once expected to be serious buyers at the trade deadline have nearly fallen out of the playoff race entirely, making it a much different situation as February approaches.
When discussing the team’s deadline plans (as best as he can figure, with Lou Lamoriello at the helm), Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet noted on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast that there was real interest in Jakob Chychrun at one point. Apparently, the Islanders balked at the asking price, something that Friedman understands, given their current position.
- With Chris Tanev already ruled out through the All-Star break, the Calgary Flames have moved him to injured reserve. Brett Ritchie has been activated to fill his spot, and is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the team takes on the Seattle Kraken. Ritchie last played on New Year’s Eve, leaving the game after just six shifts.
- The Florida Panthers will go with Alex Lyon in net again tonight, and are set to have Mack Guzda as the backup after recalling him this morning. To make room, Grigori Denisenko was returned to the minor leagues. Lyon has allowed 17 goals in four games so far, including seven on 49 shots Tuesday night.
Snapshots: Schultz, Bortuzzo, Kapanen
The Kraken have been without Justin Schultz for the last week and it appears they’ll be missing him a little longer as team reporter Bob Condor mentions that the defenseman is now listed as being out week to week. Schultz has done well in his first season with Seattle, notching 24 points in 42 games so far, already surpassing his point total from a year ago in 32 fewer contests. With the All-Star break upcoming, it appears the earliest he’ll be able to return is February 5th. For the time being, the team is keeping Schultz on the active roster. If they need to open up a roster spot, they’ll be able to place him on injured reserve retroactively to the date of injury which means he could be activated at any time.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo could return at some point on their current road trip, relays NHL.com’s Lou Korac (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last two-and-a-half weeks with a lower-body injury sustained against Montreal. Bortuzzo doesn’t produce much offensively – he has just one point in 30 games this season – but is still a serviceable stay-at-home option on their third pairing. Louis has an open roster spot at the moment so whenever he is eligible to be activated, they won’t need to make room for him.
- Penguins winger Kasperi Kapanen returned to practice today in a non-contact jersey, notes Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He has been out for the last week with an undisclosed injury and while the 26-year-old declined to go into specifics, he did call it “something that I didn’t expect to turn into something bigger”. Kapanen had been scuffling a bit offensively before the injury, notching just a single goal in his last 19 games but he still has 17 points in 35 appearances this season despite logging less than 12 minutes a night.
Snapshots: Tanev, Jarry, Raty
The Calgary Flames won’t have Chris Tanev back before the All-Star break, as head coach Darryl Sutter told reporters including Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet that the veteran defenseman will miss at least the next two games. Tanev left Monday’s game with an upper-body injury.
Now 33, Tanev has eight points in 40 games this season while playing his usual shutdown role for the Flames. With him out early against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nikita Zadorov ended up playing nearly 27 minutes, his second-highest total of the season.
- Tristan Jarry will also be out through the break, after being a late scratch for the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. The netminder had only just recently returned from an injury suffered in the Winter Classic, and will miss at least the next two games. Pittsburgh recalled Dustin Tokarski but in the meantime, Casey DeSmith will have to carry the load.
- Should Aatu Raty play another game for the New York Islanders, his contract will no longer be eligible to slide. The 20-year-old forward played his ninth game of the season on Monday, registering two hits and a shot in under ten minutes of action. Burning the first year of an entry-level deal isn’t the end of the world, and actually may end up giving the Islanders some extra leverage in contract talks down the road by limiting his offensive stats as a rookie. Raty would hit RFA status in 2025 if he play another NHL game this season.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Canucks, Knight
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Zach Hyman leading the way. The Edmonton Oilers swiss army knife had four goals and nine points in three games. Hyman has already flown past the 54 points he had last season and with every point is setting a new career high. It’s been an incredible run for the 30, who has been everything the Oilers hoped for (and more) when they signed him to a seven-year, $38.5MM deal in 2021.
Second and third place went to Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks, two players in very different stages of their careers. Stamkos reached the 500-goal mark last week, joining just 46 other players in the history of the NHL and essentially sealing his future in the Hall of Fame (if it was ever in doubt). Zegras, meanwhile, put up eight points in four games, taking his career total to 114. He’s got quite a way to catch the Lightning captain, but Zegras continues to excite fans every time he touches the puck.
- The Vancouver Canucks now have three head coaches on the books, as they are still paying Travis Green, the bench boss that preceded the recently-fired Bruce Boudreau. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Tocchet’s deal is for two years and carries a $2.75MM salary, meaning altogether, the team is forking out $7.5MM this season for head coaches.
- The Florida Panthers have swapped Mack Guzda and Spencer Knight once again, with the latter coming back up to the NHL. Knight hasn’t played in the NHL since January 8, but did quite well in his two-game conditioning stint, recording a 23-save shutout for the Charlotte Checkers in his first AHL game since last season.
Snapshots: Graves, Stanley, Gauthier
The Devils have yet to begin discussions regarding defenseman Ryan Graves, his agent Allain Roy confirmed to James Nichols of The Fourth Period. The 27-year-old is in the final season of a three-year, $9.5MM contract and has 16 points in 42 games for New Jersey so far this year despite seeing his playing time dip by nearly two minutes a night compared to 2021-22. He’s well-positioned to earn at least a small raise that could push him toward the $5MM mark on his next deal. At the moment, the Devils only have four regular blueliners signed for next season with Damon Severson joining Graves among the UFA-eligible defenders this summer. They already have nearly $19MM in commitments to the four they have so they might not want to keep both Graves and Severson in the fold for next season knowing those two could push the combined cost on their back end past the $30MM mark.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Jets defenseman Logan Stanley wasn’t in the lineup tonight against Philadelphia but associate coach Scott Arniel told Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link) that the blueliner could be ready to return on Tuesday. Stanley has been out of the lineup for a little more than six weeks with a lower-body injury. The 24-year-old has been limited to just seven games this season which is a hardly ideal platform year for someone eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this summer.
- The Rangers are optimistic that winger Julien Gauthier will be able to return Monday against Florida, notes Ethan Sears of the New York Post. The 25-year-old has missed the last three games due to an upper-body injury and is currently on injured reserve although a roster spot was created when Jonny Brodzinski was sent down after clearing waivers earlier today. Gauthier started the season with AHL Hartford but has six goals in 32 games with New York since being recalled despite averaging just 8:29 per night.
Snapshots: Karlsson, Muzzin, Matheson
Erik Karlsson wants to win. That’s what he told Pierre LeBrun and Ryan Rishaug on the Got Yer Back podcast, explaining that if a trade was brought to him that included joining a contender, he’d have to consider it.
Karlsson, through all of the trade rumors and speculation, has never indicated a desire to leave the San Jose Sharks organization, where he has settled down with his family. He holds a no-movement clause and can determine his fate, even if a team does step up with the massive asking price that has been rumored. After a four-point effort on Wednesday, Karlsson leads the league in assists and is on pace for 110 points.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t given any update on the status of injured defenseman Jake Muzzin, and Chris Johnston explained on TSN’s Insider Trading yesterday that there has been no movement toward a return to play. When he went down to a cervical spine injury, the team explained that he would be re-evaluated in February. Clarity on his status will be important, given the Maple Leafs’ cap situation. If Muzzin misses the rest of the year, they can continue to use his $5.625MM cap hit for a replacement.
- Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson has been fined $5,000 for his interference on Florida Panthers forward Eric Staal in last night’s game, which became a bit of a circus. Ninety penalty minutes were handed out between the two teams, though none of them were for directly tied to the incident in question. Matheson and Matthew Tkachuk would fight later in the game.
Snapshots: Gavrikov, Maurice, Joseph
One of the names you will hear a lot as the trade deadline approaches is Vladislav Gavrikov, the Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman that is coming to the end of his three-year, $8.4MM deal. A pending free agent with a relatively low $2.8MM cap hit, he is one of the top rental defensemen on the market, given his size, mobility, and experience. Gavrikov had 33 points last season, and is still logging more than 22 minutes a night this year.
In an article by Arthur Staple of The Athletic, it is revealed that the New York Rangers are one of the teams to have called on Gavrikov. The ask from the Blue Jackets, reportedly, is a first-round pick plus a mid-round pick. Recent years have seen players like Ben Chiarot, and David Savard land first-rounders at the deadline, while Josh Manson was dealt for Drew Helleson and a second last deadline. The key to Gavrikov’s market is how inexpensive he will be. If the Blue Jackets retain half of his contract, the $1.4MM cap hit is easy to absorb for many of the league’s contenders.
- Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice has been fined $25,000 for his comments after Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those comments were critical of the officials, with the veteran coach saying the referees “weren’t Florida Panther-friendly,” and pointing out a specific situation when Radko Gudas received a charging penalty. He also referenced an issue he has with one of the referees in particular. Today, when speaking to reporters including David Dwork of WPLG Local 10, Maurice said it would be “fiscally irresponsible” for him to answer any more questions about the officiating.
- Mathieu Joseph missed a chance to play against his brother for the first time in their NHL careers because of a disciplinary scratch from Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith. Today, Joseph explained that he takes full responsibility for it and is excited to get back into the lineup on Friday. As Ian Mendes of The Athletic tweets, it appears as though whatever it was is behind both Joseph and Smith.
Snapshots: Puljujarvi, Letang, Luukkonen
The Edmonton Oilers are getting Evander Kane back tonight, and while that is a good thing for most of the lineup, it’s not for everyone. There are rumblings that Jesse Puljujarvi could be a healthy scratch tonight, and Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the team recently had discussions with other teams about the big Finn.
Puljujarvi, 24, continues to be a strong defensive presence for the Oilers but just can’t seem to score, with just four goals and ten points this season. The fourth-overall pick from 2016 has 50 total goals in his 304-game NHL career, and carries a $3MM cap hit this season on a one-year deal.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have taken Kris Letang off the non-roster list after he returned to the team, but have moved him to injured reserve. The move is retroactive to December 28, meaning he can come off IR whenever ready to return from his lower-body injury. Letang won’t play on Wednesday but is listed as day-to-day.
- The carousel continues in Buffalo, where Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been sent down and Peyton Krebs recalled, ahead of their game tonight. Luukkonen started last night for the Sabres so was never going to play tonight, meaning they can dress Eric Comrie and Craig Anderson instead, while taking Krebs along to Chicago.