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Metro Division Snapshots: Raanta, Calvert, Capitals

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New York Rangers backup net minder Antti Raanta is 5 – 0 – 0 in six starts this season after besting the Penguins 5 – 2 Monday night and since joining the Blueshirts in 2015, the Finnish goalie 16 – 6 – 2 with a GAA of 2.20 and a Save % of 92.4%. While he isn’t a threat to the job of longtime Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist, his superb play at the bargain basement price of $1M this year and next does give the Blueshirts one of the best backup bargains in the league, writes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post.

Raanta was acquired from Chicago in the summer of 2015 in exchange for minor league forward Ryan Haggerty to replace Cam Talbot as Lundqvist’s understudy. He spent two seasons with the Blackhawks and saw action in 39 games. Raanta was originally inked by Chicago as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

Even though “King” Henrik is the unquestioned starter in New York, the plan is for the Rangers to limit his usage somewhat in order to keep him fresh for the playoffs. As such, Raanta is expected to see action in around 25 games this season. His stellar play means there is little to no drop off  from Lundqvist when Raanta is in goal.

Even though Raanta is under contract for one more season, it’s quite possible he won’t be with the Rangers beyond the 2016-17 campaign. With the Rangers required to protect Lundqvist in the expansion draft, the new Vegas Golden Knights franchise will have the option of selecting the 27-year-old Raanta. At the very least he would be an excellent #2 goalie at an inexpensive price for the Golden Knights in their inaugural season.

More from the Metro Division:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets announced via their official Twitter account that Matt Calvert would miss tonight’s game against Calgary with an upper-body-injury. To take his place the team recalled forward Markus Hannikainen from Cleveland of the AHL. Calvert, who was hit by a shot in a recent game against the Rangers which ultimately required 36 stitches to his forehead, has two goals in 17 games this season. Hannikainen, 23, made his NHL debut tonight and was held scoreless in 9:47 of ice itme. He has five goals and eight points in 14 games for the Monsters.
  • With just more than $700K in salary cap space, the Washington Capitals have had to be creative managing their roster as injuries have begun to pile up, as Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post writes. After forward Paul Carey was reassigned to the AHL following Sunday’s game, the Caps were left with just 11 healthy forwards. Subsequently, reserve defenseman Nate Schmidt skated as a forward at practice. It’s an option head coach Barry Trotz may need to employ in an actual game should the situation warrant it. The piece gives an interesting insight into the complexities of roster management in the salary cap era. Every day the Capitals can avoid having to call up a minor league player such as Carey adds to the amount of salary cap space the team banks for use later in the campaign. While they may need to recall a player to play in a game, there is no sense carrying him on the roster during breaks in the schedule.

 

Central Notes: Blues, Blackhawks, Predators

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The Blues offense have received a spark in their offensive production writes the St. Louis Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann. It’s been the shifting of lines that has opened up the scoring for the Blues, who were struggling to put the puck in the net. Timmermann reports that Hitchcock began tinkering with his lines after the second period began during their 4-2 vicotry over Boston, and success was born. Timmermann adds that Hitchcock is a big fan of Jaden Schwartz and Paul Stastny on a line and they’ve seen a bump in their production with the pairing. Timmermann also writes about Jake Allen’s dominance in net, stopping all 64 shots he’s faced in third periods dating back to November 3. In his last four games, Allen has allowed two goals or less, and has posted a .953 save percentage.

In other Central Division news:

  • Mark Lazerus writes that the Blackhawks’ stars are struggling on their long Circus Trip that takes them away from Chicago for seven consecutive games. Lazerus reports that while the bigger name players filed out of the locker room after a 5-0 loss to Edmonton, it was Corey Crawford who stayed to answer the tough questions for the teammates who have been bailed out several times by his performances this season. Lazerus goes on:

Jonathan Toews hasn’t scored a goal in seven games, and hasn’t had a point in all four games on the trip. Patrick Kane hasn’t scored on the trip, and has one goal in his last seven games. After his blistering start, Artem Anisimov has no goals and one assist in his last six games. Artemi Panarin — who is emerging as one of the Hawks’ most important players, given his line’s consistently great possession numbers, and given the way he has rejuvenated Marian Hossa the same way he elevated Kane’s play last season — has just one goal in his last six games.  Even Richard Panik, who actually led the NHL in goals through six games, hasn’t scored in 14 games, and is pointless in his last 10.

About the only one who Lazerus feels is pulling his weight on the trip is Hossa, who has helped the Hawks through a tough road trip where they’ve managed to come back several times from large deficits and poor performances.

  • The Nashville Predators stunned the hockey world when they acquired P.K. Subban and according to the defenseman’s parents, the change has not been as simple as people thought it would be. Adam Vingan writes that the transition to Nashville has been made simpler because Montreal wasn’t always the best fit for him. But it doesn’t completely cushion the shock that Subban felt when he was dealt. His parents are both confident that he will acclimate to his new surroundings because P.K. is one who “never halfheartedly tackles life’s problems.”
  • In other Preds news,  Matt Carle and Cody Bass were waived tweets Chris Johnston. Carle was signed to a one-year deal for $700K back in July. Cody signed a two-year deal back in June.

Bruins Notes: Backes, Franchise Goals, Vatrano

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David Backes and the Boston Bruins taking on the St. Louis Blues tonight has been a big story around the hockey world today, even with so much else going on. It speaks measures about how much the former Blues captain meant to his former franchise. A second-round pick by St. Louis in 2003, the big power forward quickly established himself as one of the best two-way players in the league, as well as a strong leader in the locker room. Backes ranks in the top ten in Blues’ franchise records for games, goals, assists, points, and penalty minutes and has had a lasting effect on the team beyond just the record books.

With the Blues struggling defensively this season (51 goals allowed vs. 40 by the Bruins), there has been a lot of talk about the negative effects that the loss of Backes has had on the team and questioning the decision to let him walk. So when the two teams lined up at TD Garden in Boston tonight, St. Louis fans could only hope that Backes wouldn’t directly harm them as opposed to his absence indirectly hurting the team against other teams. Fittingly, it was Backes who scored the first goal of the game, early in the first period. Backes had told NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin that he was worried about shooting on the wrong goal tonight, but got it right when he he jammed home a rebound to put Boston up 1-0.

The goal was also a significant career achievement for Backes, as it officially gave him a goal against all 30 NHL teams. The long-time Blue has been a great addition in Boston, scoring his fourth goal and eighth point of the season early in the game, playing in only his 14th game. A big, strong player, who also wears the alternate captain “A” on the road (and at home tonight for this special personal circumstance), Backes has helped the Bruins to get back to the physical, defensively sound game that led them to two Stanley Cup appearances in three years not long ago, but has been lacking the past couple of seasons.

  • Backes’ goal was also a milestone for the Bruins franchise, as it marked 20,000 goals for the team. An Original Six franchise with a winning history, Boston joins their arch-rival, the Montreal Canadiens, as the only two teams to accomplish the feat.
  • Although the Bruins are off to a strong start, their is still room for improvement. The top line of Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak has been excellent, but a lack of consistency and cohesion among their other forward lines has limited an offense that was among the league’s best in 2015-16. The line combinations may finally sort themselves out when Frank Vatrano returns to the lineup and, fortunately for the Bruins, that appears to be coming sooner rather than later. Vatrano injured his foot in off-season conditioning, and was forced to undergo surgery that was expected to keep him out at least through the calendar year. Instead, he took the ice this morning in his first skate with the team and is ahead of schedule to return. The AHL’s leading goal-scorer in 2015-16 (36 goals in 36 games), Vatrano also contributed eight goals in 39 games in Boston last year. The former UMass star was expected to win a top nine job in camp and was a prime candidate for a breakout year. With line chemistry still unclear, a prime spot will surely still be up for the 22-year-old with a knack for finding the back of the net.

Looking Back At A Complicated Draft-Day Trade

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On Saturday night, Oilers winger Anton Slepyshev notched two assists as the Oilers beat the Stars 5-2.

The Russian winger has looked very good so far this season. While he has just three points in nine games, he’s also been playing just 11 minutes per night. Slepyshev has cracked the NHL lineup out of training camp both years he’s been in North America. He was sent down after 11 games last season, and struggled a bit in the AHL. However, he appears to be one of those players who plays well against better competition and doesn’t bring his best against lower tiers of competition. Because coach Todd McLellan clearly likes his game, Slepyshev appears poised to be a future tough and versatile middle-six forward.

It’s fascinating to look back at the series of trades that lead to Slepyshev being drafted by Edmonton.

It was the second round of the 2013 NHL Draft. The Edmonton Oilers were set to pick 37th overall, and had their eye on prospect goalie Zachary Fucale. Unfortunately for new GM Craig MacTavish, the Montreal Canadiens selected Fucale one pick before.

Their player gone, the Oilers then made a series of trades to move down in the draft, and turned that one second round pick into a two third round picks and three fourth round picks.

They traded pick 37 to Los Angeles for picks 57, 88, and 96. MacTavish turned around and traded pick 57 to St. Louis for picks 83, 94, and 113.

With those five picks acquired from trading down, the Oilers ended up with Bogdan Yakimov, Slepyshev, Jackson Houck, Kyle Platzer, and Aidan Muir.

Slepyshev was in his second year of eligibility, but was ranked 17th in his draft year and 45th in his second go-round by Corey Pronman. Pronman described him this way:

He is an above-average skater, with agility and free movement, as his shiftiness makes him hard to check. He has a plus shot and he knows it, as his mentality is often shoot-first, even from distance. He can still make plays, and he does not have tunnel vision, but his playmaking skills are not his best element. His physical game has progressed, and he has added strength since last season. He can protect pucks moderately well. He will display physical effort, although it could be better at times. He also needs to work on his defensive game.

It’s likely the “Russian Factor” lead to Slepyshev being passed over, in addition to the fact he had only scored 24 points in 101 KHL games before being drafted. He broke out the next year, however. He scored 25 points in 58 games and signed an entry-level contract with the Oilers shortly after Peter Chiarelli took over. TSN analyst and former NHLer Ray Ferraro called Slepyshev “a player… He’s not a 3 years in the AHL project.”

Yakimov is a 6’5 center who showed promise but also some inconsistency. He’s in the final year of his entry-level contract and currently on loan to the KHL. It seems unlikely he will return to North America; he returned to the KHL despite having a big chance to make the Oilers with their top three centers at the World Cup. Instead, rookie Drake Caggiula made the team and is playing out of position at center.

Platzer was drafted out of the London Knights, and was pigeon-holed as a checking center there. He was traded to Owen Sound for his last year-and-a-half of his OHL career, and exploded for 100 points in his 95 games with the Attack. He’s slowly gaining a foothold in the AHL and looks like he could turn out to be a solid bottom-six penalty killer and two-way forward.

As far as the other two players acquired: Houck never cracked the point-per-game level in junior, went unsigned by the Oilers, and is currently playing in the ECHL; Muir is playing Div. 1 college hockey. Neither man appears likely to make the NHL in any meaningful capacity.

The player Edmonton originally wanted, Fucale, has struggled mightily post-draft, and is looking more and more like a bust. Los Angeles selected Valentin Zykov at 37, and the Blues picked William Carrier at 57. The Blues traded Carrier at the 2014 trade deadline to Buffalo as part of a package for Ryan Miller, while Zykov was traded at the 2016 deadline with a 5th round pick for Kris Versteeg. Zykov has 23 points in 59 AHL games, and needs to have a bounce-back season this year to continue to be considered a legit NHL prospect. Carrier has 55 points over 126 AHL games and made his NHL debut this season.

MacTavish was widely panned for a variety of unsuccessful roster moves and poor asset management, but this trade, his first, can likely be considered a success.

Three-plus years after the trade, it’s interesting to look back at these kinds of trades and see how things work out. Most insiders agree that the NHL Draft is something of a crapshoot; just look at Pro Hockey Rumors’ re-draft of the 2005 NHL Draft where there are some tremendous players picked long after after some serious busts.

Central Notes: Hitchcock, Bowman On Expansion, Avalanche

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While some have speculated that St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock could be at risk of losing his job, GM Doug Armstrong was quick to shoot that down, writes Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Speaking with Rutherford, Armstrong said that Hitchcock isn’t in danger of losing his position:

“The guy has the best winning percentage in hockey over the last six years.  If he’s in danger, then everybody’s in danger.”

Hitchcock’s unique situation has been well documented.  With associate coach Mike Yeo set to take over next season, some have suggested it may make sense to make the transition early and eliminate any ‘lame duck’ situation.  The team has had a decent start to the season overall, sitting second in the Central Division but have had some lulls along the way.  The up-and-down start doesn’t really surprise Armstrong, however:

“This season was going to have more peaks and valleys than years in the past. It’s part of the growing pains that you go through.  Obviously you’d like to have smooth waters all the time, but I don’t think it’s realistic.  When you look how many games we’ve played, we’re competitive.”

Still with the Blues, Alex Steen missed his second straight game on Saturday with an upper body injury.  Hitchcock noted that Steen is quickly getting better and remains day-to-day.

More from the Central:

  • Although some teams are beginning to plan around next June’s expansion draft, Chicago GM Stan Bowman isn’t too worried about it at this point, reports Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. Bowman tells Lazerus that the team has some flexibility when it comes to the expansion draft; as the roster currently stands, defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and center Marcus Kruger would be among the more notable players that would be left unprotected.
  • After shuffling back and forth between center and the wing in the past three years, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon is feeling much better this season as a full-time player down the middle, notes Terry Frei of the Denver Post. MacKinnon is winning a career best 51.4% of his faceoffs (his previous high was 48.4%), taking an average of over 18 per night.  However, the former first overall pick in 2013 off to another slower start offensively with 12 points in 17 games and has had to adjust to several different wingers lately thanks to injuries to Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog.  In a separate article from Frei, Duchene noted that he hopes to return from a concussion on Monday while Landeskog isn’t quite ready to return from his lower body injury but shouldn’t miss too much more time.

Central Division Snapshots: Landeskog, Barrie, Kristo, Bitetto

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It must be mailbag day on the NHL beat. Earlier we linked to Joe Haggerty’s piece on the Bruins and now Mike Chambers of The Denver Post chimes in answering some tough questions regarding the Avalanche. First and foremost, Chambers discusses Gabriel Landeskog and what his expectations are for the gifted power forward. In the opinion of the scribe, based on his talent and the fact he was the second overall pick in the 2011 draft, Landeskog has to start producing 30-goal seasons in order to live up to his billing.

Landeskog posted a career-high 26 goals in 2013-14 and since has recorded seasons of 23 and 20 markers. He has netted four goals in 15 games this season which would put him on a full-season pace of 20 – 21.

As Chambers notes, Landeskog is a good NHL player and is the Avalanche captain, but with Colorado once again off to a slow start, Colorado needs him to start being great if they want to sneak back into the playoff race. Currently, the five-year veteran left wing is out of action due to a lower-body-injury.

There were rumblings that Colorado could shake up its core this past summer and one player rumored to perhaps be moved in such a scenario was Landeskog. GM Joe Sakic instead kept the core intact and simply made a couple of changes around the edges. However, if Colorado doesn’t start playing better soon, they may revisit that choice and Landeskog could be made available later this season.

Elsewhere around the Central Division:

  • In the same mailbag, Chambers took a question on Tyson Barrie. Barrie, prior to inking a four-year, $22MM extension this summer, was also thought to possibly be available via trade. As a right-handed blue liner with plenty of offensive ability, many teams would have been interested in Barrie’s services. Clearly he is viewed as a top-end puck moving defender, which as Chambers notes, often comes with high-risk, high-reward tendencies. Chambers argues that when the team is going well, the mistakes are easily overlooked. On the flip side, when things are not going so well, each mistake is magnified.
  • St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh completed a minor deal today, with minor league forward Danny Kristo headed to the Penguins and defenseman Reid McNeill headed the other way. The news was first reported via the Blues official Twitter account. Kristo was Montreal’s second-round pick in 2008 and has also played in the New York Rangers organization. He appeared in 71 games for the Chicago Wolves, tallying 25 goals and 48 points. McNeill, two years Kristo’s junior, was selected in the sixth-round of the 2010 draft by St. Louis. With 409 penalty minutes in 234 career minor league games, the 6-foot-4, 216-pound blue liner appears to be more of a physical force than an offensive threat. The trade likely serves as little more than two clubs searching for minor league depth with the Blues moving a forward while acquiring some blue line help.
  • Nashville Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto has been assigned to the club’s AHL affiliate on a conditioning assignment, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Bitetto has been out since opening night with an upper-body-injury. It will be interesting to see what the Predators do once the 26-year-old blue liner completes his conditioning assignment. In his absence, Yannick Weber has stepped into the top-six and has three assists in 15 appearances. Former Shark Matt Irwin has replaced veteran Matt Carle in the lineup and has responded with three goals and five points in 10 games. It seems likely that Weber would be the odd man out though there is no indication from Nashville or Vingan that this is the case.

Atlantic Division Snapshots: Miller, Shattenkirk, Pastrnak, Sabres

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In a recent mailbag feature appearing on CSN New England, Joe Haggerty tackled several Bruins-related questions. Chief among them was a query regarding the possibility of Boston making a move for St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk, who is in the final year of his contract and is expected to be one of next summer’s most coveted free agents, has been rumored to be available at times since the outset of the offseason and Boston, thought to be in the market for a top-four blue liner for just as long, has been linked to the veteran defender previously.

Haggerty reasons that while the Bruins would likely welcome a player of Shattenkirk’s ilk, the fact he has been the Blues best defenseman so far this season and given St. Louis considers themselves Stanley Cup contenders, they would probably not have much interest in dealing him away at this point. Additionally, it’s been suggested the Blues would require a scoring forward in any hypothetical trade of Shattenkirk, and until Frank Vatrano returns from injury, the Bruins don’t have the depth at that position to sacrifice.

Ultimately, while Haggerty expects the Bruins to have interest in Shattenkirk closer to the trade deadline, assuming the Blues do indeed make him available, right now it doesn’t make much sense for Boston.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • One of the reasons Boston could eventually find themselves in the market for a top-four defender is the mediocre play of young blue liner Colin Miller. Haggerty noted in the same mailbag that Miller’s performance so far has been “indifferent,” and while he’s had his moments this season he simply hasn’t played up to his abilities. Miller has just one goal and two points in 15 games this season and carries a minus-6 plus-minus rating.
  • Staying in Boston, Bruins winger David Pastrnak has officially been ruled out for tonight’s home game against Winnipeg, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Pastrnak is day-to-day with an upper-body-injury. The Czech winger is tied for fourth in the NHL with 10 goals and has added four assists for a total of 14 points in 14 games.
  • The Buffalo Sabres and GM Tim Murray have not been shy about spending owner Terry Pegula’s money the last couple of seasons but still didn’t expect to be a “cap team.” Despite adding Evander Kane via trade a couple years back, taking on his $5.25MM cap hit in the process, and signing unrestricted free agent Kyle Okposo this summer to a seven-year, $42MM contract, Murray figured he’d still have plenty of cap space to work with this year. But, as John Vogel of The Buffalo News writes, injuries to several key contributors have forced Buffalo to call up replacements from their farm system and as a result they’ve walked a fine line relative to the salary cap ceiling. The Sabres have four players – Tyler Ennis, Cody McCormick, Jack Eichel and Nicolas Deslauriers – currently on IR. That totals $7.8MM in cap space on the shelf. As Murray noted in Vogel’s piece, Buffalo has 27 players drawing NHL salaries and pushing the team closer to the cap ceiling than they are comfortable being. It remains unclear why Buffalo hasn’t utilized LTIR as that would at least temporarily alleviate the problem. Ennis is out until mid-January after groin surgery and would have been eligible for a stint on LTIR.

Starts and Scratches: Stars, Blues, Flyers

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Injury Notes: Hertl, Sharp, Bortuzzo

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Tomas Hertl has flown back to San Jose to undergo an MRI on his knee, according to Kevin Kurz of CSN. The Sharks forward injured himself in the second period last night, leaving the game and not returning. While the extent of the injury is unknown, “waiting for MRI results” has not been a nice feeling for fans around the league of late; both Steven Stamkos and Taylor Hall received terrible news following trips home for examination.

If Hertl is to miss any length of time, it would adversely affect a Sharks squad that is already having trouble scoring goals. With 39 goals scored, they rank ahead of only the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference. While the team is still carrying a positive 9-8-0 record through the first 17 games, losing one of their top scoring threats would be devastating.

  • Patrick Sharp is set to make his return to the lineup Saturday night for the Dallas Stars. The veteran sniper has missed the last fourteen games with a concussion suffered on a hit from Brayden McNabb in October. The consistent scoring threat is coming off his eighth 20-goal season, and hoping to reach that mark again in what is a contract year for the 34-year old. Sharp is earning $5.9MM this season in the final year of a five-year, $29.5MM deal signed way back in 2011. Even at his advanced age he’s likely to be looking for a multi-year contract to end his career.
  • The Blues are starting to get healthier, as Robert Bortuzzo will be returning this weekend as well. The defenseman has missed the past ten games with a lower-body injury, though it’s not a guarantee that he’ll crack the lineup right away. As Ken Hitchcock points out “The one challenge for us is we’re carrying lefty-righty right now and it’s working, so that’s something we’ve got to think about also.”  With Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk ahead of him, Bortuzzo would have to beat out Colton Parayko to skate on the right side, which is much easier said than done the way the 23-year old has established himself this season.

Blues Recall Ty Rattie From Chicago Following Conditioning Assignment

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With 14 NHL-caliber forwards on the roster it’s proven to be a challenge at times for St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock to find playing time for everyone. In fact, Ty Rattie, once the 32nd overall pick in the 2011 draft, has made just one appearance for the Blues, playing just eight minutes in an OT loss to Vancouver on October 18th. The inactivity prompted the team to send Rattie down to Chicago just to get him some game action. Today the team recalled the 23-year-old right wing from the AHL.

The Blues obviously still see potential in Rattie as evidenced by their refusal to expose him to waivers and risk losing him to another club. Still, the clock has to be ticking for Rattie on his Blues career and if he doesn’t impress the coaching staff at some point in the near future, it’s possible the team will finally choose to move on. Given the Blues roster situation and barring an injury to a top-nine forward, it doesn’t appear as if there’s a clear path to playing time in St. Louis.

Rattie has put up good numbers in the AHL, tallying 69 goals and 137 points in 196 games in Chicago. But he’s had limited chances in the NHL, seeing action in just 27 contests and averaging 9:18 of ice time. His junior pedigree suggests he has the talent to succeed at this level and perhaps only needs an extended opportunity with another team.

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