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Snapshots: Three Stars, Hanifin, Trouba

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The NHL released their three stars for last week, and leading the way was Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues. After starting the season in the conversation for the Norris trophy, Pietrangelo’s point production dropped off a bit in the middle of the season and the Blues’ record suffered because of it (and other things). Now, with the team surging into the playoff picture once again, Pietrangelo has been front and center with 11 points in his last five games. Back in the top ten in points from defensemen, the Blues captain is now just two away from setting a new career high.

Rounding out the stars are Nathan MacKinnon and Curtis McElhinney, two players at opposite ends of their careers. MacKinnon is just hitting his stride and becoming the superstar everyone expected him to be, while McElhinney is showing there is still some fight left in a 34-year old goaltender. The Maple Leafs netminder was forced into the starting role when Frederik Andersen went down, and now leads the NHL in save percentage at .935.

  • The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that Noah Hanifin suffered a concussion and is out indefinitely, likely meaning his season is finished. Hanifin had another solid season in Carolina, posting 29 points in 71 games, but still wasn’t given the responsibility of a top pairing defenseman. The fifth-overall pick is a very interesting case to watch this summer, as he’s a restricted free agent and will be one of the first and most important negotiations of whoever takes the Hurricanes’ GM job. There has been talk over the last few years that perhaps Hanifin would be dangled as bait for a star forward, but the Hurricanes need to be careful they don’t trade away a budding #1 defenseman as he’s still just 21 years old.
  • Speaking of good young defensemen, the Winnipeg Jets will know more about Jacob Trouba’s condition over the next few days after he took a crushing hit from Jamie Benn on the weekend. Trouba left the game in the third period and saw specialists today while under the concussion protocol. Luckily, if you can call it that, the Jets may get Dmitry Kulikov back sooner than expected, as the defenseman has elected not to have back surgery just yet. Kulikov was originally ruled out eight weeks, but could be back in three or four according to the team. With the Jets looking like Stanley Cup contenders for the first time, they can use all the help they can get.

Tavares Notes: Potential Suitors, Rangers, Deadline Moves, Snow

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The worse the New York Islanders play as their recent struggles continue, the more NHL teams are salivating at the chance to steal away a star player, which is a rare thing, according to the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons. The last significant star free agent that signed with another club dates back to 2006 when the Boston Bruins signed Zdeno Chara away from the Ottawa Senators. However, usually franchise free agents sign with their former team like Steven Stamkos did back in 2016.

Simmons writes that the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues are the two teams that are thought to be at the top of the list of suitors for Tavares. He adds that several teams with cap space might also be interested in attempting to lure Tavares to their team as they lack that superstar player, including the Vegas Golden Knights, New Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks. Other teams like Montreal, Detroit, Carolina and even Toronto might also attempt to make a stab at acquiring the 27-year-old center.

  • It doesn’t look like the New York Rangers are expected to go after Tavares, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. With the Rangers rebuilding their franchise, it just doesn’t seem to make sense that Tavares would sign with them. Considering Tavares is fueled by team loyalty, it seems unlikely he would sign with the Rangers who could offer only seven years, while the Islanders can offer eight years and are much closer to reaching the playoffs.
  • The lack of trade deadline moves might also count against the New York Islanders in their quest to re-sign Tavares, according to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos. While saying that he would not move Tavares, Islanders’ general manager Garth Snow also said he would not make moves for rental players. In the end, the biggest acquisition the team made was trading a third-round pick for defenseman Brandon Davidson, who had been placed on waivers only months earlier. Now after seven losses since the deadline, Kypreos questions whether Snow’s moves were the right ones. Certainly bolstering the team for a playoff run might have shown Tavares how committed the team is to winning. Instead the losing could easily drive the soon-to-be free agent away. The team is sitting in last place in the Metropolitan Division, well out of range of a playoff spot. “It almost feels like this thing is snowballing away from the Islanders and Tavares,” said Kypreos.
  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that co-owners Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky have some tough decisions to make in the next few weeks. The scribe writes that they chose to keep Snow last offseason because he and then-new head coach Doug Weight were close with Tavares. However, with fans calling for Snow’s head, ownership may want to make a change before Tavares hits free agency. Even if they don’t make an immediate move, Snow’s job may come down to whether Tavares stays or goes. “It’s out of my control,” Tavares said regarding Snow’s job status. “I’m here to play hockey, be the best player I can be for the Islanders. Those things are above my head. I just try to have the right attitude every day, not take this for granted, enjoy the group we have, the staff we have. Ever since I’ve been here I’ve been treated great, just tried to come out and give everything I can. We wish we’d have more success, but anything that happens, anything that has happened is out of my control.”

 

Ville Husso Recalled On Emergency Basis With Carter Hutton (Neck) Hurt

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The Blues announced that they have recalled goaltender Ville Husso from San Antonio of the AHL under emergency conditions.  This comes on the heels of Carter Hutton missing practice today as he deals with a sore neck.  Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that Hutton went to a specialist and an update on his condition is expected on Thursday.

If St. Louis is going to be without Hutton for any extended period of time, that could deal a big blow to their postseason hopes.  Jake Allen opened up the season as the starter but has struggled for the most part, posting his highest goals against average of his career (2.76) while Hutton has the lowest GAA (2.02) and highest save percentage (.934) among qualifying goaltenders.  Heading into tonight’s games, the Blues are sixth in the Central Division and are three points out of a tie for the last Wild Card spot in the West.

Minor Transactions: 03/13/18

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The entire hockey world was watching last night as the league’s top two goal scoring talents went up against each other in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy. Though Patrik Laine is quite the challenger, Alex Ovechkin showed once again why he is regarded as one of the greatest of all-time. Ovechkin scored two, including the 600th of his career, just the fourth player in history to do so in fewer than 1,000 games.

As the league sends out congratulations to Ovechkin for his impressive accomplishment, they’ll continue to try and make minor tweaks to their roster to take him down once again in the postseason. We’ll keep track of all the minor transactions right here.

Minor Transactions: 3/11/18

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With a busy 11-game schedule Saturday, the NHL has a lighter schedule today with just four games. With all the injuries, many teams will look to make moves to shore up their roster for the upcoming week.

  • The Arizona Coyotes announced they have assigned defenseman Andrew Campbell to Tucson of the AHL. Strome, the Coyotes third-overall pick in the 2015 draft, has had trouble finding a role with the Coyotes so far as he has just one goal and no assists in 11 NHL games, but has been dominant with the Roadrunners. He has 22 goals and 27 assists in 44 games with Tucson. Campbell was recalled last Sunday as an emergency while defenseman Alex Goligoski was with his wife, waiting for the birth of their child. He did not appear in a game.  Center Dylan Strome was recalled on an emergency basis at the same time but later in the day, the team announced that that recall was cancelled.
  • The St. Louis Blues have announced they have assigned goaltender Ville Husso, forward Samuel Blais, and defenseman Chris Butler to the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. Husso had been recalled on Thursday as an emergency replacement for goaltender Carter Hutton, who injured his neck, but Husso did not see any playing time. Butler was recalled Saturday as an emergency defenseman, but wasn’t needed. Blais, who has been out with a concussion, skated Thursday and might be ready to play with San Antonio. The 21-year-old has three points in 11 games with St. Louis.
  • The Buffalo Sabres announced they have assigned forwards Justin Bailey and Daniel O’Regan to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Both players, who have been shuttled back and forth recently between the two teams, are likely being sent down with a four-game break coming up for the Sabres. Buffalo doesn’t play again until Thursday against Toronto. Bailey, the team’s second-round pick in 2013, scored a goal in Saturday’s game against Vegas, but only picked up 8:39 minutes of ice time. O’Regan, acquired in the Evander Kane trade at the trade deadline, has not picked up a point yet in two games with San Jose. The 24-year-old only got 10:19 of ice time Saturday.
  • As reported yesterday, the Colorado Avalanche officially assigned forward Vladislav Kamenev to the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL last night, according to CapFriendly. Kamenev, who came over to the Avalanche from Nashville in the Matt Duchene trade, broke his arm on his first game with Colorado. He is ready to get some playing time in San Antonio and could be recalled once he’s back in game shape.
  • As reported yesterday, the Calgary Flames officially announced they have activated goaltender Mike Smith and have assigned goaltender Jon Gillies to the Stockton Heat of the AHL. Smith has been out of the lineup since Feb. 11 with a groin injury and has been listed as day-to-day for weeks. However, he is expected to start today. The return is critical for Calgary who is fighting for a playoff spot. Smith, an all-star this year, has a 2.53 GAA, but more importantly, a .921 save percentage in 47 games for the Flames. The 24-year-old Gillies struggled in limited playing time for Calgary as he played in seven games, putting up a 2.78 GAA and a .904 save percentage.
  • The Colorado Avalanche announced they have recalled goaltender Spencer Martin from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL to serve as an emergency backup after Jonathan Bernier was hit in the head with a puck during Saturday’s game. He had already missed several weeks due to concussion symptoms. Martin has had to fill in due to multiple injuries to both Bernier and Andrew Hammond. Martin hasn’t appeared in a game for Colorado, but has a 3.05 GAA and a .895 in 31 appearances with the Rampage.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled winger Valentin Zykov, per a team release.  He has yet to play with the ’Canes this season but has been productive at the AHL level with 30 goals in 57 games which leads their affiliate in Charlotte.

Minor Transactions: 3/10/18

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There are eleven games on the docket today, including action for each of the league’s top eight teams and a match-up with major wild card implications in Blues-Kings. As teams continue to push toward the playoffs and jockey for position, here are the roster transactions being made before a busy day:

  • Last night, the Colorado Avalanche recalled defenseman David Warsofsky from the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage. The 27-year-old journeyman rearguard is in his fifth NHL season, but has seen less and less of the NHL ice as the years have gone on. Thus far in 2017-18, Warsofsky has suited up for just six games for the Avs and hasn’t done much to prove he deserves more, with zero points to his credit, zero hits, and just two shot attempts per game. Currently the eighth defenseman in Denver, don’t expect Warsofsky to be the spark that ignites a playoff-clinching stretch run for Colorado.
  • Ahead of their Original Six matinee match-ups today and tomorrow versus the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Blackhawks added some grit to their lineup in the form of John Hayden. The team announced this morning that they had called up Hayden from AHL Rockford and he will play this afternoon in Boston. The move was an emergency recall, with Vinnie Hinostroza dealing with family issues, but also a timely addition for Chicago. With Tommy Wingels gone, ironically to the Bruins, the ’Hawks could use a degree of toughness, which the 6’3″, 220-lb Hayden certainly brings. The Yale product has 11 points in 39 games with Chicago this year, as well as 103 hits and 43 penalty minutes.
  • Another Central Division moves comes from the Winnipeg Jets, who have brought back Tucker Poolman. It was a brief demotion for the young defenseman, who has spent much of the season as an extra man for the Jets. Poolman, playing in his first pro season out of the University of North Dakota, has played in 15 games with Winnipeg, recording just one point, and 17 games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose crammed into several short trips, where he has posted 10 points.
  • The St. Louis Blues announced they have recalled journeyman defenseman Chris Butler from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL today under emergency conditions. Butler has been up and down several times this season, but has only appeared in two games for the Blues. While there is no official word on who is out, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmerman writes that defenseman Robert Bortuzzo did not practice Friday.

Jay Bouwmeester Out Rest Of Season

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If the St. Louis Blues are going to make a late push for the playoffs, they’ll have to do it without their most experienced defenseman. The team announced today that Jay Bouwmeester will be out for the remainder of the season dealing with his hip injury, and faces a four to six month recovery timeline. Scottie Upshall is also in danger of losing the rest of the year, and will be re-evaluated in four weeks after suffering an MCL sprain.

Bouwmeester had been dealing with an injury to his hip for some time, but ended up leaving Saturday’s game against the Dallas Stars after playing just 9:46. The 15-year NHL veteran will have a long rehab in front of him, but hopefully will be ready for the beginning of the 2018-19 season. He’ll be 35 when the Blues start their year in October, and on the final season of his current contract that carries a $5.4MM cap hit.

Upshall, 34, turned a professional tryout with Vancouver into another contract with the St. Louis Blues this year after injury struck their team in training camp. Despite being expected to be an extra forward, he’s played in 61 games and actually has contributed 18 points. The physical, energy-filled forward has been an effective checking line player for his entire career, playing in 757 NHL games. He’ll have to fight to get another one-way contract next season, but has never been one to underestimate.

Western Notes: Yeo, Bouwmeester, Nugent-Hopkins, Tolvanen, Kamenev, Bernier

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While they’ve hardly been eliminated from the playoffs, the St. Louis Blues are definitely having a disappointing season. With that in mind, the St. Louis Blues are likely to make some changes this offseason. The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes in a mailbag column that one change that shouldn’t happen is a coaching change. While the coach always must be held accountable for his actions, the scribe writes that it’s too early to push all the team’s failings on head coach Mike Yeo, who has only been with the team a little more than a year. Many of the leadership and chemistry issues that the team has were already there before Yeo got there.

While Rutherford does admit it’s disturbing that Yeo’s last coaching stint with the Minnesota Wild had many of the same issues, Yeo deserves more time to right the ship, which might require some personnel changes on the ice as many players are not pulling their weight.

One other issue is the team has struggled with key injuries to key players. The team failed to find an offensive replacement when Robby Fabbri or Jaden Schwartz were injured. In fact in 20 games without Schwartz, the team was 9-10-1.

  • In the same piece, Rutherford writes that while many people would like the team to buyout players who are struggling in St. Louis like Patrik Berglund, Jake Allen and Alex Steen, that won’t happen this offseason. All of their contracts would be too expensive to buyout. Berglund’s buyout cost would be $9.7MM, Allen’s would be $9MM and Steen’s contract would cost them $10.6MM. The most likely buyout candidate might be defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who would only cost the team $3.6MM and would count just $1.8MM against the cap for the next two years.
  • The Edmonton Oilers announced they have activated center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins off of injured reserve Saturday. The 24-year-old has been out since Jan. 13 with a rib injury. While the former first overall pick will not be rejoining a team headed for the playoffs, he might bring up his own value with a good end of the season. Nugent-Hopkins could be a legitimate trade candidate this offseason. He was having a solid season in which he had 16 goals and 31 points in 46 games. With teams being desperate for centers and the Oilers having quite a few of them, they might find a taker for him.
  • The Eeli Tolvanen countdown continues as the Nashville Predators are awaiting their top prospect after his KHL team wraps up their season. The Tennessean’s Adam Vingan writes that Tolvanen’s team, Jokerit, opened their first-round playoff series Saturday with a double-overtime loss. The earliest possible day for Jokerit to be eliminated would be this Wednesday. If so, Tolvanen could join Nashville for their remainder of the season and the playoffs if they feel he can contribute. Of course, the Predators are loaded with depth since the trade deadline after acquiring Ryan Hartman and signing Mike Fisher.
  • Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that Vladislav Kamenev, who has been out with a broken arm since November after being injured in his first game for the Avalanche, has been cleared and might be assigned to the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL in the next couple of days for a conditioning assignment, according to Denver Post’s Mike Chambers. Kamenev, who was acquired on Nov. 6 in the three-team trade between Colorado, Ottawa and Nashville involving Kyle Turris and Matt Duchene, was injured while playing in his first game with Colorado. A key prospect included in the Avalanche’s haul for moving Duchene, Kamenev has played just 14 AHL games this year, having totaled three goals and nine assists. His return is just another talented player ready to step into the Avalanche’s lineup.
  • Chambers also mentioned in the same tweet that goalie Jonathan Bernier has also been cleared after suffering a concussion on Feb. 16. The Avalanche added that he was a full participant in practice Saturday and is expected to be activated soon.

Injury Notes: Bortuzzo, Mason, Matthews

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The St. Louis Blues are getting some reinforcements on the blue line, as they have activated Robert Bortuzzo from the injured reserve. Bortuzzo has been sidelined for more than two weeks with a knee injury suffered against the Dallas Stars back in mid-February. The big defenseman had played in 55 games with the Blues up to that point and should jump back into the starting lineup sooner rather than later. According to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford, that could even be tonight in a re-match with the Stars with crucial divisional points on the line. The Blues then take four days off ahead of a season-defining road trip against Western wild card contenders: San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, and Colorado. If St. Louis is still alive in the playoff race after these next five games, they could look forward to another addition on defense in the return of Joel Edmundson. In the meantime, Bortuzzo will be looked upon to step up in his return.

  • Another Central Division squad is getting deeper at a key position. After nearly two months of dealing with concussions symptoms, Steve Mason is on his way back to the Winnipeg net and just in time for the stretch run. The Jets announced today that they have assigned Mason to their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, on a conditioning stint. The Moose in turn announced that Mason will get the start tonight against the Iowa Wild. With just 11 appearances and two head injuries to his name this season, Mason may need some time in the minors to get back in the swing of things and a week plus in the AHL would not be a surprise, but he will eventually make his return to Winnipeg. However, his role has changed dramatically over the course of this season. Signed to a two-year, $8.2MM starter-value contract this summer to presumably bridge the gap to Connor Hellebuyck, Mason instead has performed poorly and missed considerable time, while Hellebuyck has flourished. Mason will settle for a backup role down the stretch, supplanting Michael Hutchinson, and likely next year as well.
  • Auston Matthews isn’t quite ready to return to the Toronto lineup, but he is getting closer. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, in speaking with Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, says that Matthews has been skating regularly. Johnston adds that the fortunate part of an upper-body injury, in this case a separated shoulder, is that it doesn’t stop one from skating and keeping up with his conditioning. Matthews is known for his work ethic and has surely been skating hard while on the sidelines. Whenever the Leafs’ doctors give his shoulder the okay, he should be back at full force for Toronto. Sadly, that approval won’t be coming ahead of today’s outdoor game between the Leafs and Washington Capitals at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Matthews will miss his fourth straight game and fourteenth game due to injury in 2017-18.

Blues Tried To Flip First-Rounder From Stastny Trade For Another Proven Player

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  • While on the surface, the Blues’ trade of center Paul Stastny yesterday suggests that St. Louis was in selling mode, GM Doug Armstrong told reporters, including Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that he was involved in trade talks that would have seen the first-round pick they acquired in that swap flipped for a more proven player. However, they weren’t able to find a match, nor were they willing to part with their top prospects to bring in someone that would help for just the next 12-18 months so instead, they will look to try to get back on track without any additions outside the organization.

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