Snapshots: Player Poll, OHL Awards, Price
The NHLPA released the results of their annual Player Poll, which takes the temperature of players around the league on a variety of topics. More than 42 percent of the league, for instance, would pick Connor McDavid if they had to win one game and needed to choose a single skater. McDavid lags well behind Sidney Crosby in terms of the “most complete player” according to the players, as nearly 30 percent of them voted for the Pittsburgh Penguins captain in that category.
While some of those answers may not surprise, the poll also includes things like which NHL arena has the best ice, which player has the best “hockey hair,” and which non-NHL athlete they would like to trade places with. It’s a fun exercise that certainly can cause some heated debate among fans.
- Meanwhile, the OHL released the results of their own polling, this time for the league’s award finalists. Wyatt Johnston and Brandon Coe are the finalists for the Red Tilson Trophy, given to the Most Outstanding Player. Johnston, a first-round pick by the Dallas Stars in 2021, scored 124 points in 68 games for the Windsor Spitfires, while Coe, a fourth-round pick of the San Jose Sharks, had 101 in 62. Cam Allen and David Goyette are the Rookie of the Year finalists, though the former won’t even be eligible for the NHL draft until 2023. Goyette, 18, was ranked 35th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
- After it came to light yesterday that Carey Price would consult with his surgeon about his knee, many eyebrows raised around the hockey world. The veteran goaltender only just made his return to the ice recently, playing in four games for the Montreal Canadiens. While he’s only listed as day-to-day, Price’s visit should raise some concern, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, who questions the future of the netminder in the NHL should he be facing another long rehab. Price is signed through the 2025-26 season and carries a cap hit of $10.5MM.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Ovechkin, Senators
The NHL has released its Three Stars for last week, with Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos leading the way. After racking up 13 points in four games Stamkos is now just three points away from cracking the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. Already with a career-high of 60 assists, Stamkos has changed his game dramatically over the last few seasons and reinvigorated a Hall of Fame-level career that had been held back by injuries.
Second and third went to Kevin Fiala and Jonathan Quick, two players that have been questioned at times over the last few years. Fiala, 25, has finally found a level of consistency that matches his talent, and with 11 points in four games last week now has 84 on the season. In fact, Fiala is on a ten-game point streak and is really establishing himself as one of the most dynamic offensive players in the entire league, something that certainly will complicate matters in the offseason when he hits restricted free agency for the final time. Quick meanwhile was left for dead a few years ago when injuries struck and his numbers fell off a cliff, but the 36-year-old has battled admirably for the Kings this season. With a .909 save percentage, he still lags behind some of the league’s elite netminders but just ask some of his previous Western Conference opponents about how dominant he can be in the postseason.
- Alex Ovechkin has been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury after leaving last night’s game for the Washington Capitals but was present on the ice and in full uniform at the team photo today. With the Capitals still trying to chase down the Pittsburgh Penguins for a better playoff position, losing Ovechkin over the last few games of the season will obviously be a big blow. But with their inclusion in the postseason secure, resting him through the next week may be the more prudent option. Ovechkin, who will turn 37 before the start of next season, has 50 goals and 90 points in 77 games this year.
- The Ottawa Senators had an exciting reinforcement at practice today as Shane Pinto joined the group, but he won’t actually play before the end of the season. Pinto hasn’t played since November, and totaled just five games on the season. It was more bad news when head coach D.J. Smith took the podium after practice, announcing that Colin White and Connor Brown are both not expected to play again this season. Brown is dealing with nagging injuries and his inclusion in the upcoming World Championship will be up to him and how he feels in the coming weeks. Brown finishes the disappointing year with ten goals and 39 points in 64 games.
Snapshots: Jets, Behrens, Lehner, Zadina
With Winnipeg now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, interim head coach Dave Lowry told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe (Twitter link), that center Mark Scheifele and winger Cole Perfetti aren’t expected to return by the end of the season. Scheifele has missed the last couple of weeks with an upper-body injury while Perfetti has been out for more than two months with an upper-body issue of his own. Perfetti, however, is expected to rejoin the team for practice sometime next week and could be a candidate to play for Canada at the World Championships next month for the second year in a row.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- After an impressive freshman season at the University of Denver, Avalanche defenseman prospect Sean Behrens told Peter Baugh of The Athletic (subscription link) that he sees himself remaining in college for one or two more years. The 19-year-old was a second-round pick (61st overall) last summer and had 29 points in 37 games as he helped lead the Pioneers to the NCAA title. With Colorado moving blueline prospects Justin Barron and Drew Helleson at the trade deadline, Behrens is now clearly their top prospect on the back end.
- Following Friday’s confusion of reports suggesting Robin Lehner was out for the season while Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer stated he expected the netminder at practice today, the Golden Knights issued a statement indicating that Lehner won’t skate today as he takes an additional maintenance day. However, the team remains hopeful that will be available to play tomorrow against San Jose. This strange situation will drag out a little longer as a result.
- Red Wings winger Filip Zadina won’t play again this season after undergoing an appendectomy back in Florida, relays MLive’s Ansar Khan. It was a tough year for the 22-year-old as he managed just 10 goals and 14 assists in 74 games. While those were career highs, Detroit was undoubtedly expecting more from Zadina, the sixth-overall pick back in 2018.
Snapshots: Kakko, Acciari, Clinching Scenarios
It’s no secret that New York Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko has had some tough injury luck this season. He was sidelined in late January with an upper-body injury, missing about two and a half months before returning. He played just four games before suffering another injury, this time lower-body in nature, but head coach Gerard Gallant believes Kakko, who was injured on April 16th against Detroit, is expected back for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (if not sooner).
Kakko hasn’t exceeded expectations by any means on the scoresheet this season, tallying just seven goals, nine assists, and 16 points through 41 games this year. The pending restricted free agent was one of the Rangers’ best defensive forwards prior to the team’s post-deadline resurgence in that regard, so it’s not as though he hasn’t brought any real value to the table this season.
- Noel Acciari is returning to the Florida Panthers lineup once again tonight against Detroit. The veteran forward has missed most of the season due to a combination of injuries, and now, he rejoins the team after missing 10 games with an undisclosed injury. Acciari has one goal and five points in 14 games this year.
- Clinching scenarios remain boundless for tonight’s 11-game slate, with many matches still having playoff implications despite 12 out of 16 teams already clinching playoff berths. The Florida Panthers can clinch both the Atlantic Division and regular-season Eastern Conference titles with a win against Detroit, provided the Tampa Bay Lightning also defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in any fashion. The Calgary Flames will also clinch the Pacific Division title with a win of any kind against the Dallas Stars. Toronto and Carolina can also clinch home-ice advantage in the First Round, while the Wild and Blues can lock in a First Round matchup against each other.
Snapshots: Mittelstadt, Kadri, Hogberg
Buffalo Sabres youngster Casey Mittelstadt looked like he may be taking a long-awaited step forward last season with his biggest role and best offensive production yet, but an injury-riddled season has seen Mittelstadt take a step back in his development, a concerning look for the eighth-overall pick considering he’s already 23. But after sitting down with Buffalo Hockey Beat’s Bill Hoppe, Mittelstadt detailed his extensive struggle with a recurring upper-body injury this year, one that’s kept him out of the lineup at length and has caused him to be shuffled around constantly when healthy, not finding any chemistry with consistent linemates. Sabres fans will remember that Mittelstadt sustained an injury in the first period of the season, causing him to subsequently miss more than 20 games and then re-aggravate the injury soon after returning. It’s been a lengthy, trying season for the young American, but he feels as though he’s settling back into his game ahead of next season.
More from around the NHL on this Wednesday night:
- Via a cryptic tweet, it appears as though Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri is making his return to the lineup tonight after missing the entirety of April with an upper-body injury. The original hope was that Kadri would be able to recover from the injury, suffered on March 31st against the San Jose Sharks, in time for the playoffs. That goal appears to have been exceeded here, and Kadri will get the chance to add to his career-high 83 points with six games left to go in the season. The team still managed to go 7-1-0 in his absence.
- Defenseman Linus Hogberg is expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow for the Philadelphia Flyers, making him the tenth(!) player to make his NHL debut for the team this season. Hogberg is in the midst of his first full season in North America, making his AHL debut with Lehigh Valley after being recalled from a loan that had him playing in his native Sweden. The two-way defenseman actually put up more points last season there in 26 games (eight) than he has this year in 57 (seven), but the team seems to want to give their 139th overall selection back in 2016 a brief crack at the NHL.
Snapshots: Ellis, PHF, Kane
It’s been a trying year for Ryan Ellis, who played just four games for the Philadelphia Flyers after a trade from the only organization he had ever known previously. Injured, recovered, and injured again, the 31-year-old has basically lost an entire season, while watching his new team go down in flames. Now, the speculation over his future in Philadelphia is starting to ramp up, with a report today from Anthony Di Marco of The Fourth Period, who writes that some within the Flyers “wonder if Ellis even wants to be part of the organization.”
There has certainly been some confusion around where the veteran defenseman stands in his current recovery, as in late March, more than four months after he last appeared in a game, general manager Chuck Fletcher told reporters that they were still making a decision on whether Ellis needed surgery. Of course, with five years remaining on his contract and carrying a $6.25MM cap hit, Ellis is one of the most important players the Flyers have and one that is integral to any thoughts of competing for the playoffs next season.
- The PHF has announced that free agency will open May 1 and this year will not include an entry draft. Instead, all amateur athletes graduating from NCAA and USports programs will immediately qualify for unrestricted free agency. The salary cap has also been confirmed to be set at $750K for this season, with a floor of $562.5K, and players are now eligible to sign two-year contracts which can include signing bonuses up to 10 percent of the total value. These increases all come following a massive private investment earlier in the year, which has also allowed the league to provide comprehensive benefit plans.
- Evander Kane‘s grievance hearing was started yesterday but will require a second day, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Unfortunately, that doesn’t come right away, and the second day is still to be determined. As suggested yesterday, the outcome of this grievance is still not expected for some time and should not have any effect on Kane’s current contractual status with the Edmonton Oilers.
Snapshots: Byron, Team Canada, Perbix
Paul Byron can’t catch a break. The veteran forward has been limited to just 26 games this season due to injury. While many of these absences came while Byron was recovering from hip surgery, he has continued to be in and out of the lineup ever since he returned. The Montreal Canadiens announced that he was returning to the lineup on Tuesday night – but the return was short-lived. Less than two periods into the game, the Habs revealed that Byron has left the game and would not return due to a lower-body injury. Its unclear if this is another new injury or a reoccurrence of his hip issue. Either way, with just five games remaining in a lost season, it might be time for Montreal to simply shut Byron down for the year. Byron has one year remaining on his contract and will be back with the Canadiens in 2022-23 if he isn’t traded or bought out.
- The Canadian entry into the upcoming IIHF World Championship may look very familiar to the fans of a Canadian NHL team. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that Senators head coach D.J. Smith, who will be an assistant for Team Canada, has recruited several of his star players to join the tournament. If healthy, Drake Batherson, Connor Brown, and Thomas Chabot will suit up for Canada. Health is a question though; Chabot is currently on the injured reserve with a fractured hand and Batherson and Brown have both missed time due to injury this season and may not rush to play extra games if those issues flare up.
- Another notable name has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Defenseman Jack Perbix, an Anaheim Ducks fourth-round pick in 2018, is leaving the University of Minnesota. Most would have expected that if Perbix was leaving the Gophers, it would be for the NHL. Older brother Nick Perbix, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, signed his entry level contract last month after four years at St. Cloud State University. Rather than follow suit, Jack will instead stay in college for his senior year but will don a different jersey and have a different name on his degree.
Snapshots: Horvat, Kane, Matthews
The Vancouver Canucks are steaming toward the playoffs, and they’re doing it without captain Bo Horvat, who left a game last week with a lower-body injury. Ruled out for at least two weeks, it seems he only has a chance to return this year if the Canucks do in fact come all the way back and grab a spot in the Western Conference postseason. Even if they are able to do that, his regular season ended with 31 goals in 70 games, a career-high, and a total that sets him up for quite well the summer.
Eligible for an extension in July when the calendar flips from 2021-22 to 2022-23, Horvat has just one year left on his current deal. He would be an unrestricted free agent after that and with the uncertainty surrounding the Canucks after making sweeping changes to the front office, it wasn’t clear if a new contract would be on the table. Today, his agent Pat Morris was on CHEK TV with Rick Dhaliwal, and explained that the Canucks management likes Horvat, and Horvat loves Vancouver and would like to stay. The two sides will “talk when the time is right,” suggesting no negotiations have taken place to this point. While the focus for everyone is on the playoff chase, things in Vancouver will quickly turn to the future if they aren’t able to secure a position in the postseason.
- Evander Kane‘s grievance hearing with the league over his contract termination began this morning, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. The Edmonton Oilers forward is away from the team for a few days while he deals with this grievance, which is fighting the process which the San Jose Sharks used to terminate the more than $22MM that remained on his seven-year contract. The decision is not expected for some time and will likely have no impact on his current contract status with the Oilers, regardless of the outcome.
- The league’s leading goal scorer will have to wait for a chance to chase 60, as Auston Matthews is still not playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening, despite feeling “really good” according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, who spoke with reporters including Mark Masters of TSN. The Maple Leafs are obviously more concerned about their first-round playoff matchup than individual performance records, as they still haven’t advanced in the postseason since 2004. Matthews still leads in the Rocket Richard race, four ahead of Leon Draisaitl in second place.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Andersen, Smith
The NHL has released its Three Stars for last week, with the top spot belonging to Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues. It’s been an incredible return to form for Tarasenko this season, after multiple shoulder surgeries had clouded his NHL future. After requesting a trade and going unclaimed by the expansion Seattle Kraken, he returned to the Blues with a renewed vigor and has posted the best offensive season of his career, with 76 points in 69 games. That includes 11 points just last week, as he continued what is now a six-game point streak.
Second and third went to Kevin Fiala and Mike Smith respectively, another two players whose futures with their current organizations looked murky not too long ago. The Minnesota Wild forward still might end up pricing himself out of the market given how well his season has gone since Matt Boldy‘s arrival. In his last 46 games, Fiala has 25 goals and 55 points, including ten last week. Smith meanwhile looked at one point like he would be out of the league entirely, but the 40-year-old netminder has turned things around of late, posting consecutive shutouts in his last two games to lengthen a personal win streak to six and raise his season save percentage to .911.
- Just as one veteran netminder turns things around, another may be out for a little while. Frederik Andersen has suffered an injury and will be re-evaluated in a week, according to Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who spoke to reporters including Sara Civian of The Athletic. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that Andersen’s MRI did come back negative and there is hope he’ll be ready for the playoffs, but a timeline is not clear at this point. Andersen has been one of the league’s very best this season, posting 35 wins and a .922 through 52 appearances.
- Speaking of being back in the playoffs, Vegas Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic that if they make the postseason, he would expect Reilly Smith to return at some point. The 31-year-old Smith hasn’t played since early March and was moved to long-term injured reserve a few weeks ago. The Golden Knights, however, are no sure thing to make the playoffs at this point, as they currently sit four points behind the Nashville Predators for the final wild card spot (but only three behind Los Angeles for a divisional position).
Snapshots: Seattle, Kakko, Blues-Coyotes
The Seattle Kraken have added some famous names to their ownership group, adding Marshawn Lynch and Macklemore as minority investors. The two will “lead major Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena initiatives to connect with hockey fans, music lovers, and community members alike.” Though the on-ice results haven’t come yet for the expansion franchise, the ownership group, led by billionaire David Bonderman, have already established a strong connection to the Seattle area.
More from around the league:
- The New York Rangers have ruled Kaapo Kakko out on a week-to-week basis, following his injury against the Detroit Red Wings this weekend. The young forward had only recently returned from an upper-body injury that stole nearly three months of his season. In 41 games so far, Kakko has just 16 points, a career-low, despite averaging more ice time when he is in the lineup. Two of his seven goals came last week against the Philadelphia Flyers, suggesting he was back on the right track; he was injured the following game.
- The St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes will play a preseason game in Witchita, Kansas next season, in the home of the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder. The two squads will do battle on September 24 in the 15,000-seat arena, giving a whole new fanbase a taste of NHL action. The full slate of preseason games will not be released until later this summer.