Snapshots: Sabres, Maccelli, Cooper
There’s no doubt that the Buffalo Sabres will be sellers once again at this year’s Trade Deadline, but there have been many questions posed about how many desirable assets the Sabres actually have. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta can report, though, that Buffalo is “taking calls” on a good portion of their defense core, including Colin Miller, Mark Pysyk, Robert Hagg, and Will Butcher, who are all pending unrestricted free agents. Miller and Pysyk especially have had good results this season, and could command at least a mid-round pick and pose as solid depth for contending teams. The team has also received interest in power-play specialist and pending restricted free agent Victor Olofsson, per Pagnotta. While it may seem surprising that the Sabres would currently be willing to deal a young forward, it looks like Olofsson’s inconsistency and poor defensive play are making the Sabres front office question his future with the team.
More notes from the league on a sleepy Thursday:
- Matias Maccelli, who’s torn up the AHL this season with the Tucson Roadrunners, is making his NHL debut tonight for the Arizona Coyotes and rightfully so. He’s not exactly a household name, even among prospect aficionados, but the organization is high on him, said general manager Bill Armstrong in a radio appearance today. He’ll come into the team’s training camp next season with the chance to start the season in the team’s top six. He’s getting a look there tonight, as well, lining up alongside Alex Galchenyuk and Phil Kessel for his NHL debut. Maccelli has 14 goals and 41 assists for 55 points in 42 AHL games.
- A relative rarity nowadays, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was ejected near the end of the second period from tonight’s game against Pittsburgh after getting into a verbal spat with referee Wes McCauley. It’s something to watch out for in the coming days, as the incident will likely be followed up with a fine from the NHL.
Snapshots: Archibald, Reimer, Mantha
Josh Archibald has not played a single game at any level this season but is in Edmonton skating after dealing with myocarditis. Mark Spector of Sportsnet sent out a string of tweets today updating the depth forward’s status, including confirming that Archibald is still unvaccinated.
Because of how difficult that makes it for him to play with the Oilers or go on a conditioning loan to the Bakersfield Condors due to cross-border travel, Spector expects Archibald to be traded to a U.S.-based team at some point and suggests his time as an Oiler is effectively over. The 29-year-old forward is a pending unrestricted free agent in the second season of a two-year contract that carries a $1.5MM cap hit. He scored seven goals and 13 points in 52 games last season.
- James Reimer is considered out week-to-week according to head coach Bob Boughner, who spoke with Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Reimer’s injury further explains why the San Jose Sharks traded for–and subsequently recalled from the AHL–Alex Stalock. Adin Hill is still out with an injury, though Boughner explained that the goaltender “felt good” this morning. Losing Reimer is a pretty hefty blow to the Sharks’ fortunes, as the veteran netminder was having a nice bounce-back season and has a .916 save percentage in 34 appearances.
- Peter Laviolette wouldn’t confirm whether the Washington Capitals would have Anthony Mantha back in the lineup tonight, but he has been activated from injured reserve. Should he play, it would be his first game since leaving a match against the Florida Panthers on November 4 and just his 11th of the season. The 6’5″ forward had six points in his first ten games before going down and could be a trade deadline-like addition for the scuffling Capitals.
Snapshots: Capitals, Penguins, King
Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan gave a variety of updates in a midseason presser today, recapped in this article by The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell. First and most concerning is the health status of winger Carl Hagelin, who was hit in the eye with a stick during yesterday’s practice. MacLellan called the injury “serious,” and Hagelin has had surgery within the past day. MacLellan says the examination went in a positive direction, but that the next steps for Hagelin are “still to be determined.” However, it’s possible that winger Anthony Mantha could return to the lineup this week in Hagelin’s absence. Mantha had six points in 10 games this season before going down with a shoulder injury.
More notes on this Wednesday evening:
- As the Pittsburgh Penguins embark on a tough schedule ahead with a long string of games against playoff teams, they could be getting two reinforcements back in the lineup. Head coach Mike Sullivan says center Teddy Blueger is now taking full-contact practices but will need a few practices more before he’s ready to return the lineup. Winger Jason Zucker “isn’t as close” as Blueger, but will likely return to practice soon. Blueger has been out since late January with a broken jaw, while Zucker has been out with an upper-body injury since around the same time.
- Newly-named Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson called interim head coach Derek King “definitely a viable candidate” to be the team’s next permanent head coach today. While Blackhawks fans may be frustrated that their management crew won’t see fresh faces, the rebuilding team has kept up a .500 points percentage under King, an impressive feat considering a weak roster and some tough injuries. It would be King’s first NHL head coaching role.
Snapshots: Kraken, Trade Bait, Senators
The Seattle Kraken are “open for business” in regards to being a third-party broker for trade deadline deals or even a parachute for bad contracts, according to general manager Ron Francis. Francis spoke with Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic and was quite clear that he has already told every other GM in the league that they are willing to spend cap space and money to acquire other assets.
Interestingly enough, he also explained, among other things, that the team is planning on being aggressive again in free agency this summer. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet happened to include a note in today’s 32 Thoughts column that he sees John Klingberg as a good fit for Seattle in the offseason when the veteran defenseman hits unrestricted free agency.
- If there is a theme to the changes on Frank Seravalli’s trade targets list for Daily Faceoff, it’s young forwards. Filip Zadina, Alexandre Texier, and Kasperi Kapanen all find themselves among the additions, with various reasons for their inclusion. Zadina especially is an interesting one, as he jumps directly to No. 12 on the list of the most likely pieces dealt, despite being on a team that would traditionally be holding onto young assets. The 22-year-old simply hasn’t been successful enough at the NHL level to this point, scoring just 22 goals and 54 points in 138 career games.
- The Ottawa Senators have opened extension talks with Nick Paul, but David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period tweets that those discussions haven’t progressed very far. The Paul situation is an odd one, given the fact that an extension with Ottawa shouldn’t be that complicated for a player with a career-high of 20 points, and will certainly conjure memories for Senators fans of the situations Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, and Erik Karlsson faced before ultimately being traded out of town.
Snapshots: Russia, Vegas, Vancouver
The NHL has made its stance public in regards to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, releasing a statement explaining what actions it will take:
The National Hockey League condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible. Effective immediately, we are suspending our relationships with our business partners in Russia and we are pausing our Russian language social and digital media sites. In addition, we are discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL.
We also remain concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL Clubs, and not on behalf of Russia. We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position.
The statement came just moments after the IIHF suspended Russian and Belarusian clubs from several international competitions. More from around the league:
- The Vegas Golden Knights have been struggling of late, losing their last two and six of their last ten. They still sit in a playoff position in the Pacific Division, but things are as tight as ever, with the sixth-place Vancouver Canucks just ten points out of first place in the division. It’s good news that Robin Lehner is set to return tomorrow night, but head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic that both Max Pacioretty and Mattias Janmark are out tomorrow and “wouldn’t call either close” to a return. Pacioretty has played just 25 games this season–though he does have 15 goals and 27 points in those appearances.
- Speaking of Vancouver, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on CHEK TV today and spoke about the Canucks current trade talks. The insider explained that the Canucks have “thrown everyone’s name out there” except for Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko, asking teams how they view and what they would pay for them should they become available. Still, the Canucks are still not out of the Pacific race by any means and don’t really have to make any decisions by the trade deadline, with players like J.T. Miller still under contract for next season and Brock Boeser still a restricted free agent this summer.
Snapshots: Muzzin, Oilers, Russia
When defenseman Jake Muzzin landed on long-term injured reserve earlier in the week, speculation ramped up that the Toronto Maple Leafs could make an unexpected big splash at the Trade Deadline with some added salary cap flexibility. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on yesterday’s edition of 32 Thoughts that Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is telling teams around the league that if Muzzin “is healthy enough to return before the end of the regular season, they’re not going to hold him out until the playoffs.” That’s to say that the team isn’t operating under the assumption that they’ll have the full $4.47MM in deadline cap space that CapFriendly suggests. While the team is still in a position to add a solid depth piece, or even a higher-end middle-six forward with some salary retention, any chance of Toronto being among the deadline’s biggest buyers is likely gone at this point.
Some more hockey notes on this Sunday:
- The Edmonton Oilers will be without both forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto for today’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Defenseman Philip Broberg continues to draw into the lineup as they’ll again ice 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Nugent-Hopkins and Yamamoto are both likely out with short-term injuries, both suffered during yesterday’s game in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers. Colton Sceviour and Brendan Perlini, who both have just five points on the year, will get opportunities to draw into the lineup as Edmonton’s two extra forwards.
- TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the IIHF is likely to make “significant decisions” surrounding the participation of Russia in future international hockey events during a council meeting tomorrow, beginning first and foremost with the upcoming Men’s World Championships in Finland, scheduled to take place in the middle of May. The report comes just as news broke that the Switzerland hockey governing body has requested additional sanctions placed on both the Russian and Belarussian hockey programs. Those additional sanctions include removing Russia as the host of the upcoming 2023 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship and 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship, as well as the immediate exclusion of Russia and Belarus as member federations of the IIHF as the country’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
Snapshots: Canucks, Johnson, Canadiens, Nugent-Hopkins
The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed defenseman Kyle Burroughs on injured reserve while transferring blueliner Tucker Poolman to LTIR. Burroughs has had his first taste of extended NHL action this season, playing in 36 games while collecting five points and was injured last weekend against Anaheim. The move was made to open up the roster spot for yesterday’s recall of Phillip Di Giuseppe. As for Poolman, he will be eligible to return at any time if the placement is retroactive to his injury in late January but it temporarily adds his $2.5MM to their LTIR pool, enabling them to recall other players if there are more injuries in the near future.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- The Blackhawks are expected to get center Tyler Johnson back in the lineup on Thursday against Edmonton, notes Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago (Twitter link). Johnson underwent artificial disk replacement surgery back in December, the same neck surgery Jack Eichel had. The veteran last played in late October and has a goal and two assists in eight games this season, his first with Chicago.
- The Canadiens are expected to hire Adam Nicholas in a player development role, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. Nicholas has worked as a skills consultant with Toronto since 2019 and is the founder of a player development company called Stride Envy.
- Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins left today’s game with an upper-body injury with Sportsnet’s Mark Spector suggesting (via Twitter) that it looks like a shoulder issue. He took a hit from Florida’s Ryan Lomberg in the first period. Nugent-Hopkins only has seven goals in 45 games this season but still sits third on Edmonton in points thanks to his 30 assists.
Snapshots: Blackhawks, Laval, Bunting
The Chicago Blackhawks have concluded the interview phase of their general manager search, with CEO Danny Wirtz announcing that the leadership team will move to the next step in the process. The Blackhawks are known to have interviewed Kyle Davidson, Eric Tulsky, Scott Mellanby, Peter Chiarelli, Jeff Greenberg, and Mathieu Darche for the position, and were also linked to Toronto Raptors executive Teresa Resch.
Davidson has been operating as the team’s interim GM since late October when Stan Bowman left the organization. The team has been transparent throughout the process, though today’s announcement certainly doesn’t provide much of an update on when the next front office leader will actually be hired.
- The AHL will head to Laval for the 2023 All-Star Classic, returning three years after they were supposed to originally host the event. The Rocket were picked to host the 2021 All-Star festivities, which were ultimately canceled. The 2022 event was also going to go back to Laval, before eventually being canceled in December. Hopefully, things will work out this time, and the Rocket will be able to host the best of the minor leagues.
- Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting has been fined $2,000 for diving/embellishment, meaning it was the second time he has been flagged this season. The first incident, which the league says occurred on November 16, results in a warning from the league. The latest, February 17 against the Penguins, results in a fine for the player. While embellishment fines never reach more than $5,000 for a player, after the fourth team violation a head coach starts to receive financial penalties. No player wants to be the reason why his coach is out money, meaning Bunting and the rest of the Maple Leafs will have to be a little more cautious when trying to draw penalties down the stretch.
Snapshots: Murray, PHF, Johnson
The Calgary Flames have hired former Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray as a scout, according to Eric Francis of Sportsnet. The long-time executive resigned his position with the Ducks a day after the team put him on administrative leave while an investigation was conducted into improper professional conduct. When he resigned, he indicated that he was entering an alcohol abuse program. Anaheim has since conducted and completed a search to fill the vacant GM position, hiring Pat Verbeek earlier this month.
According to Eric Stephens of The Athletic, Murray attended the Ducks’ recent game against the San Jose Sharks in a scouting capacity for the Flames. Murray and Flames head coach Darryl Sutter played together with the Chicago Blackhawks and have been connected several times since, most recently when Sutter was hired by the Ducks in 2019 as a coaching advisor.
- The PHF has tweaked some salary cap and roster rules as they head into the last part of their season, allowing teams to sign up to two new players from other professional leagues, spend over the salary cap, hold an extra skater on the roster, and dress an extra skater for each game. The league is set to more than double the salary cap for next season, after securing huge private investments earlier this year. In a statement, commissioner Tyler Tumminia–who will be moving on from the PHF after the 2022 Isobel Cup playoffs–used the words “attracting world class talent” in regards to this new rule tweak. That could indicate teams are going to target players from the PWHPA, which still includes many of the best women’s hockey players in the world.
- Tyler Johnson appears to be ready to return to action in the coming days, as Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago notes that the injured forward is practicing on the first powerplay unit at practice. Should he make his return on Friday as Roumeliotis suggests, it would mean a recovery period even shorter than Jack Eichel‘s, who had the same artificial disk replacement surgery. Johnson last played for the Blackhawks on October 29 and underwent the procedure on December 3.
Snapshots: Hertl, MacKinnon, Devils
One of the biggest question marks at this year’s Trade Deadline will undoubtedly be the availability of star San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl, who will be a pending unrestricted free agent this offseason. Despite an early-season surge, the Sharks aren’t likely to be in the playoff picture and although Hertl’s voiced his desire to stay in San Jose if the team doesn’t feel an extension is reachable, he could be on his way out for a nice return. However, while those contract talks have started, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the team hasn’t made an official extension offer to Hertl as the deadline is now just one month away. Pagnotta speculates that the Sharks should extend an official offer to Hertl within the next week or two, giving them an abbreviated timeframe to decide on whether or not to trade him.
Some more notes on this Monday night:
- Eyebrows rose across the internet when a video of Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon seemingly slashing a linesman on the legs after the opening faceoff of their game today against Boston went viral. However, Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet 590 says that he was told NHL hockey operations and officials investigated the incident, and no further discipline will be handed to MacKinnon for the play. That’s great for the Avs, who have already been without MacKinnon for chunks of time this season as injuries have limited him to 35 games.
- Also according to Pagnotta, the New Jersey Devils could be active at the Trade Deadline, but not necessarily as a stereotypical seller. General manager Tom Fitzgerald could look to make a traditional asset-for-asset type of deal, and that’s not entirely surprising. The team’s been linked, by multiple reports, in recent days to the Vancouver Canucks, and could look to acquire either one of Conor Garland or Brock Boeser to improve the team’s waning depth on the wings.