Snapshots: Brannstrom, Komarov, Tarasenko
The Ottawa Senators aren’t competing for the playoffs this season, even if a recent hot streak brought them a little more respectability—the team had won four of their last six before getting pummeled by the Carolina Hurricanes last night. No, this season is entirely about development as they look to turn the page on the old guard and install a new identity under rookie head coach D.J. Smith.
Because development should be their primary concern, Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet examines how the team is using one of their top defensive prospects and suggests that Erik Brannstrom could benefit from a little more time in the AHL. The Senators are back in action tomorrow night against the New Jersey Devils, in a battle for the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
- Leo Komarov has been activated from injured reserve by the New York Islanders, giving them another one of their veteran forward options for their game tomorrow. That game is against Komarov’s former team as the Islanders welcome in the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time this season. The 32-year old forward is a versatile player and registered 26 points for the Islanders last season, but will be playing just his eighth game this year after dealing with injury for the last several weeks.
- Speaking of forwards missing time to injury, St. Louis Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko spoke for the first time today and explained to reporters including Lou Korac of NHL.com that he’s not sure if he’ll be able to play again this season. Tarasenko underwent shoulder surgery on October 29th and will be re-evaluated in five months, but hopes he can come back sooner than expected like he has from previous injuries.
St. Louis Blues Sign Troy Brouwer, Jamie McGinn To Professional Tryouts
The St. Louis Blues have decided to go a different route to address their injury woes, signing a pair of veteran forwards to professional tryout contracts in the hopes they’ll show they can still play in the NHL. Troy Brouwer and Jamie McGinn have both been brought in and will practice with the team this week, though neither has been issued an NHL contract yet.
Brouwer skated with the Florida Panthers in training camp this season after playing 75 games with the team last season, but wasn’t able to secure a deal. The 34-year old actually had a nice campaign with them, scoring 12 goals and recording 21 points in limited minutes. Still, it was hard for a Panthers team loaded with talent to justify a contract for the aging forward, especially when they had young stars pushing for playing time in the NHL.
St. Louis fans will be very familiar with what Brouwer can do, after he spent the 2015-16 season with the Blues and was a key part of their Western Conference Finals appearance. Brouwer was actually second on the team in postseason goal scoring behind only Vladimir Tarsenko. Perhaps St. Louis will be able to squeeze some of that magic out of him again.
McGinn meanwhile comes to the Blues after a spending a short amount of time with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL just to prove he was healthy enough to compete. His goal was always getting back to the NHL, and he’ll try to do just that in St. Louis. The 31-year old has played just 35 professional games since the start of the 2018-19 season, but was once a reliable bottom-six forward that provided physicality and a nice touch around the net.
The Blues are without Tarasenko and Alex Steen for a while, but remain in first place in the Western Conference. Any player trying out for them will have to buy-in to Craig Berube‘s system that continues to wear down opponents with relentless physicality and puck pressure.
Blues Unlikely To Recall A Replacement For Alex Steen
- While the Blues will be without winger Alex Steen for at least a month, they’re unlikely to call anyone up to replace him in the short-term, suggests Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While it leaves them thin up front with just a dozen healthy forwards on the active roster, there could be some longer-term cap considerations at play. While Vladimir Tarasenko is on LTIR which allows them to easily recall a replacement for him and Steen, doing so would whittle away at their minimal remaining cap space (about $20K per CapFriendly); a team in LTIR on a long-term basis generally finishes with zero cap space remaining. With three players on the active roster with performance bonuses in their deals, anything that they earn will be carried over to next year’s cap if they don’t have enough cap room to absorb it this season.
Alex Steen Out Four Weeks With High-Ankle Sprain
The St. Louis Blues will be without another veteran forward for the next month, announcing that Alex Steen is out for at least four weeks with a high-ankle sprain. He has been moved to injured reserve.
While losing Steen for a month is obviously not ideal, the injury looked like it might be much worse when his leg got twisted underneath Edmonton Oilers forward Alex Chiasson. Hopefully he will be able to get back on the ice before the end of the year.
For the Blues, this is the second alternate captain to go down to serious injury in just a few weeks. Vladimir Tarasenko is already out for several months with a knee injury, meaning the team will need to rely on a different group of forwards this season. Robby Fabbri was also traded last night, meaning there will be plenty of opportunity in the top-nine of the Blues.
Detroit Red Wings Acquire Robby Fabbri
The Detroit Red Wings have acquired Robby Fabbri from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Jacob de La Rose a swap of disappointing high draft picks from a few years ago.
Fabbri, 23, comes with much more fanfare because of his past, but it is hard to know exactly what the Red Wings are getting. Selected 21st overall in 2014, the speedy Guelph Storm winger looked like a lock to become a middle-six scoring forward that could help on the powerplay. Fabbri did exactly that in his first season in the NHL, scoring 18 goals and 37 points as a rookie in 2015-16.
Unfortunately, his career would be completely derailed by major knee injuries thereafter. Fabbri would miss the entire 2017-18 season and has played just 164 total games in his NHL career. He had just six points in 32 contests in 2018-19 and has been ineffective during limited opportunity this year. In Detroit he’ll be given a bigger chance, but it is a disappointing return for the Blues after they invested so much in the young forward.
The 24-year old de La Rose never did grow into the two-way power forward center that the Montreal Canadiens were hoping for when they picked him 34th overall in 2013. Instead, he found himself bouncing up and down from the minor leagues for short stints, never finding much consistency in his game or his opportunity. Eventually, the Canadiens decided that they could no longer justify his roster spot and put him on waivers where the Red Wings snatched him up, though the results wouldn’t really change.
In 60 games last season de La Rose scored just nine points, and though he’s off to a better pace this time around—four in 16—it appears he’ll never be much of an offensive threat in the NHL.
Amazingly, the two carry the same $900K cap hit and will both become restricted free agents at the end of the season.
Hurricanes, Sabres Shopping Defensemen
The Carolina Hurricanes were seeking a top-nine forward when they traded away long-time defenseman Justin Faulk this summer. However, the best return they could find was a prospect forward, Dominik Bokk, and another established defenseman in Joel Edmundson from the St. Louis Blues. Now, the Hurricanes are more or less back in the same situation, trying to deal from their blue line depth for help up front. Even after moving Faulk and Calvin de Haan in the off-season, the additions of Edmundson, Jake Gardiner, and Gustav Forsling has created yet another logjam on defense. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Carolina is calling around to other teams and shopping veteran Trevor van Riemsdyk, as well as 23-year-old Haydn Fleury, who is no longer waiver-exempt, in hopes of landing a scoring forward in return.
However, they aren’t alone. LeBrun’s colleague Darren Dreger reports that the Buffalo Sabres are also making calls to dangle defenders in anticipation of their team getting healthy. Dreger states that Zach Bogosian and Marco Scandella will make their returns “right around the corner”, but first Buffalo will need to clear space. The red-hot Sabres likely want to avoid a major shake-up, such as moving the now-content Rasmus Ristolainen, but also likely aren’t keen to move recent additions like Brandon Montour and Colin Miller. The team can demote Lawrence Pilut and even Henri Jokiharju, but will still need to make room on the blue line. Dreger states that Buffalo is hoping to land both a top-six and bottom-six forward, so trading away a John Gilmour won’t get the job done. Bogosian, Scandella, and Jake McCabe seem like the most likely to be dealt at this point.
So who could take advantage of a market flush with capable defenders? Top contenders like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, and San Jose Sharks are all struggling defensively this season and have the depth of forwards to swing a deal. The Minnesota Wild are known to be open to moving several forward and could pursue a defenseman that they see as a long-term fit. The same could be said for other struggling teams, especially those with intriguing impending free agents, such as the Los Angeles Kings (Tyler Toffoli) and New York Rangers (Chris Kreider). The Hurricanes’ and Sabres’ competition to make a deal may even lower the acquisition costs for any interested teams. The trade market appears to be heating up early this season and the odds of a deal – or several – before the holiday trade freeze are high.
Minor Transactions: 10/31/19
Happy Halloween hockey fans! There are just two games on the schedule tonight, but it’s hard to imagine a better venue for a dress-up night than in Vegas where the Golden Knights will welcome in the Montreal Canadiens. Last night saw some spooky finishes too, with Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils even saying that the team is “kind of battling their own fans” after being booed consistently as they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-6.
As always, here are the minor moves around the hockey world.
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled J.C. Beaudin and Filip Chlapik once again, the same move they’ve made a few times now. Ottawa doesn’t play until Saturday night and is trying to keep their young players as fresh as possible with game opportunities in the minor leagues as well.
- With a back-to-back coming for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team has recalled Markus Hannikainen as an extra forward. Columbus is in St. Louis tomorrow to take on the Blues before returning home for a date against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.
- Kyle Capobianco is on his way back to the AHL, indicating that the Arizona Coyotes may be getting someone back from injury soon. The 22-year old defenseman has played in six games this season, even scoring his first NHL goal.
- Alexander Volkov apparently did enough to stay with the Tampa Bay Lightning in his NHL debut last night, as the team has instead sent Cory Conacher back to the minor leagues.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Sam Lafferty back to the minor leagues, another sign that Evgeni Malkin will indeed return on Saturday as planned. The 24-year old Lafferty showed that he could contribute at the NHL level, scoring six points in ten games this season despite relatively limited minutes.
Latest On Alex Pietrangelo
The St. Louis Blues have already made some big splashes this season, acquiring Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes and then extending both Faulk and Brayden Schenn to long-term contracts. Now all eyes are on captain Alex Pietrangelo who stands as easily their most notable player scheduled for unrestricted free agency after this season.
Pietrangelo’s camp met with the Blues front office a few weeks ago, but according to Bob McKenzie of TSN on last night’s edition of Insider Trading, there has been no contact since. While that certainly doesn’t mean that an extension can’t be worked out further down the line, it does still keep the spotlight on the veteran defenseman.
In terms of what it might take to retain Pietrangelo, an easy comparison can be made to yesterday’s eight-year, $72.5MM extension for Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators. In fact, there is an argument to be made that Pietrangelo could deserve even more than the $9.059MM cap hit that Josi secured, given his longer track record and recent playoff success.
Both drafted in 2008, Pietrangelo was picked 34 spots ahead of Josi as the fourth-overall selection. While it took a little while for the Predators to insert their second round pick into the lineup, Pietrangelo got a taste almost immediately and recently played his 700th game (Josi is at 575). The Blues captain also has more overall points with 405, though they have come at a slightly lower rate.
Both players will be 30 when their next contracts kick in, making these types of commitments dangerous, but Pietrangelo is such an integral part of the Blues team that it seems unlikely they would want to watch him walk out the door.
Still, the Blues have traded key players on expiring contracts before. At the 2018 deadline they moved Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets for a package of picks and prospects, and just a year before that moved Kevin Shattenkirk for a similar return. Obviously doing the same with Pietrangelo would be a different level of decision entirely, but there at least is some precedent.
In all likelihood however, there will still be an extension between the two sides at some point. The longer this goes on however, the more speculation will continue to bubble up to the surface.
Vladimir Tarasenko To Undergo Shoulder Surgery
The St. Louis Blues have announced that star forward Vladimir Tarasenko needs shoulder surgery and will be out for at least five months. He will be re-evaluated at that time, though it means he will miss the vast majority of the remainder of the regular season. Tarasenko will be placed on long-term injured reserve.
This news is absolutely disastrous for the Blues, who are trying to defend their Stanley Cup championship but have already struggled with some inconsistency early on. The team is off to a 6-3-3 start, but will now have to continue without one of their best offensive weapons for much of the season.
Tarasenko, 27, was off to a great start with ten points in nine games before he was forced out of his tenth early on. The sniper had potted at least 33 goals in each of the last five seasons and was a huge part of the Blues’ powerplay. All of that production will now have to be replaced somehow, though if anyone has the depth to accomplish that it might be the Blues.
Not only does the team already have names like Alex Steen and Tyler Bozak playing smaller roles than they have in the past, but young forwards like Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Klim Kostin could be ready to make bigger impacts. Though Kyrou has dealt with his own injury troubles, he was recently loaned back to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and should be approaching a return at some point soon.
There’s obviously no one player that can replace Tarasenko immediately, but given that he’ll be out for almost the entire season the Blues will actually gain the ability to acquire someone if they decide to go down that route. Placing his $7.5MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve will open up some financial flexibility that could lead to them being trade deadline shoppers. That is of course if they decide to try and add instead of sell, given that captain Alex Pietrangelo is still scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
Hopefully the team will be able to stay afloat during Tarasenko’s absence and still look like Stanley Cup contenders when he is able to return, which could be just in time for the playoffs given this early timeline.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Lineup Notes: Boston, Buffalo, Big Names Scratched
Fresh off a decisive win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, the Boston Bruins’ forward lines will look a little different when they face the New York Rangers tonight. The team has announced that bottom-six forwards Chris Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom will both miss the game due to injury. However, the release does not make it sound as if either player is at risk of missing significant time, especially since both played the entire game last night with normal ice time. Wagner is listed as being out as a result of a shot block against the Blues, although no actual injury is listed and the aggressive winger may just need the night off for soreness. Nordstrom has been in and out of the lineup frequently in the young season, dealing with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Today’s news adds even more mystery to his condition, as the Bruins state he is dealing with an “infection issue”. With these two absences coming on top of the injuries to David Krejci and Karson Kuhlman – Kuhlman is expected to join Krejci on IR to create roster space – Boston is shorthanded up front and added that they will recall Peter Cehlarik from AHL Providence. Cehlarik, who played in 20 NHL games last season, leads Providence with six goals and eight points in eight games. The Bruins hope that he can provide the same offensive spark that Anders Bjork has since he was recalled. Tonight should also mark the return to action of David Backes, who has played in five games so far this season and has been held without a point.
- The Buffalo Sabres have gotten off to a hot start this season and their lineup has been almost identical night in and night out. That is about to change. The team has issued an injury report that includes two new additions in Marco Scandella and Jimmy Vesey. The pair both missed Buffalo’s last game, with Scandella suffering from a lower-body injury and Vesey an upper-body injury. Although the specific injuries are not expanded upon in this new report, Scandella is listed as being out two to three weeks, while Vesey is considered week-to-week. It is a blow to the chemistry and consistency that the Sabres have enjoyed so far this season, especially on the back end where they lose their veteran defensive leader. However, in more positive news, defenseman Brandon Montour has been upgraded to day-to-day and a return to the lineup could be imminent. Montour began the year on the injured reserve with a hand injury, but is nearing his season debut and will provide a major boost for Buffalo.
- At this point in their respective careers, both Brent Seabrook and Bobby Ryan are known more for their notorious contracts than for their performance. Yet, both are fixtures in their respective lineups. However, reports out of both Chicago and Ottawa state that Seabrook and Ryan will each be a healthy scratch tonight. It is only the second career scratch for both players in their careers and the first under their current head coaches. Per the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, Senators head coach D.J. Smith revealed that Ryan would be a scratch, after recording just three points through the team’s first ten games. Ryan, who is in the fifth year of a seven-year, $50.75MM contract, had been relegated to a fourth line role based on his production, but Smith reportedly does not feel he is a good fit as an energy forward. The team has recalled Filip Chlapik to take his place in the lineup and there is no indication of when Ryan may return. Ryan has not cracked 50 points in any of the past three seasons and has three seasons remaining at a $7.25MM cap hit. As for Seabrook, his contract is arguably even worse. The 34-year-old defenseman still has five years remaining on an eight-year, $55MM contract that carries a $6.875MM cap it. Seabrook’s game has fallen off in both the offensive and defensive departments over the past two years and things are only getting worse. The veteran rearguard has just one point in nine games and a -5 rating, on pace for a career worst in both categories. According to The Athletic’s Scott Powers, Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton will sit Seabrook in favor of untested rookie Dennis Gilbert. Colliton also indicated that Seabrook did not take his benching well. It could be the beginning of an even uglier situation in Chicago. Powers’ colleague Mark Lazerus points out that with Seabrook scratched alongside Zack Smith, the Blackhawks will have over $10MM in salary – approximately 12.4% of the salary cap ceiling – watching from the press box tonight.