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Lineup Notes: Boston, Buffalo, Big Names Scratched

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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.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Sixth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)
17th Overall: Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (168)
18th Overall: Lars Eller, St. Louis Blues (13)
19th Overall: Alex Killorn, Anaheim Ducks (77)
20th Overall: Nick Bonino, Pittsburgh Penguins (173)
21st Overall: Pat Maroon, Edmonton Oilers (161)
22nd Overall: Paul Byron, Montreal Canadiens (179)
23rd Overall: Sam Gagner, Nashville Predators (6)
24th Overall: Justin Braun, Calgary Flames (201)
25th Overall: Ian Cole, Vancouver Canucks (18)

While Cole ultimately slips from his initial draft position, he only dropped seven spots overall and winds up with a Vancouver team that has needed a stable blueliner like him for quite some time.

While he wasn’t a big point producer with the US National Team Development Program which St. Louis drafted him out of, Cole was reasonably productive offensively at Notre Dame over his three years there.  That helped convince the Blues to sign him with a year of eligibility remaining and he played in at least 15 games in each of his three entry-level years.

Despite seeing as much early NHL action as he did, Cole never really emerged as a key piece with St. Louis.  Instead, he was limited to a lower-end role and eventually, they decided to try someone else in that spot instead and sent him to Pittsburgh for blueliner Robert Bortuzzo and a seventh-round pick.

With the Penguins, he was quickly given more ice time and slowly but surely played his way into a top-four spot while winning a pair of Stanley Cup titles in his first two seasons with the team.  However, with GM Jim Rutherford needing to clear out money to bring in Derick Brassard in 2018, Cole became the cap casualty as he was sent to Ottawa and then flipped to Columbus just three days later.  His stay with the Blue Jackets was also short-lived as he finished out the season and hit the open market.

Despite bouncing around as much as he did, Cole had a fairly robust free agent market in 2018 and used that to land a three-year, $12.75MM deal with Colorado.  His $4.25MM AAV more than doubled that of his previous contract.  The 30-year-old is in his second season with the Avs and has been a dependable stay-at-home player on their back end.

All in all, Cole has been a fairly good selection from this class and currently sits 26th in games played out of that group, a ranking that should improve over the next few seasons.  While he’s not a flashy player, he has carved out a serviceable role for himself and should be able to land another multi-year deal in the 2021 summer.

Now, let’s turn the focus back to St. Louis who had the 26th selection as their third and final pick of the first round.  After scooping up Eller (13) and Cole (18) with their first two picks, they went with a riskier pick in David Perron, a second-year eligible player who had all of one major junior season under his belt.  The risk proved out to be quite beneficial as Perron sits fifth overall in scoring from this draft class, a great return for someone selected at the bottom of the first round.

Perron isn’t available now as he went 13th in our redraft so they will need to select someone else.  With the 26th selection of the draft, who should the Blues select?  Make your selection below.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

Sammy Blais Could Return This Weekend

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  • While Blues winger Sammy Blais missed Thursday’s game after suffering a thumb injury back on Monday, head coach Craig Berube told Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Blais could return for one of their upcoming games this weekend. The youngster has already surpassed his 2017-18 output with five points in his first nine games so far this season.

Jordan Kyrou Loaned To AHL

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According to the AHL transaction page, St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou has been loaned to the San Antonio Rampage. That would indicate that Kyrou is close to returning from the offseason knee surgery that had him on season-opening injured reserve to begin the year.

Kyrou, 21, is one of the top prospects for the Blues after impressing in the AHL last season. Though he recorded just three points in his 16 games with St. Louis, he was often the best player on the ice in the minor leagues and had 43 points in 47 games to show for it.

There’s obviously no guarantee that he’ll be back with the Blues right away whenever he is deemed healthy, but Kyrou could give the team another option as they look to overcome their sluggish start. Sitting at 4-2-3 so far, the team has allowed 30 goals in nine games and doesn’t quite look like the stingy team that took home the Stanley Cup just a few months ago.

Blues Tried To Get Long-Term Deal With Alex Pietrangelo Done Weeks Ago

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With Brayden Schenn’s extension getting done so quickly in St. Louis, some wondered if the Blues would also be getting something done soon with Alex Pietrangelo.  In an appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link), Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland provided an update on the situation, noting that GM Doug Armstrong wanted to get a deal done several weeks ago.  However, an asking price around the $9MM per year range appears to be too steep for their liking.  Also, Strickland notes that Pietrangelo’s agency with Newport is one that tends to stay away from a lot of early extensions in the hopes that getting closer to a firm deadline will work out to the benefit of their clients.  With that in mind, it may be a while yet before something gets done.

Carl Gunnarsson Unlikely To Play Saturday

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  • Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson left Thursday’s game early due to a lower-body issue, one that will keep him out of the lineup for Saturday’s contest against Montreal, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Head coach Craig Berube stated that the veteran is listed as day-to-day.  St. Louis has seven blueliners on the active roster so no recall is needed which is important considering they have less than $200K in cap room.

St. Louis Blues Agree To Terms With Mathias Laferriere

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The St. Louis Blues have agreed to terms with another one of their young prospects, and will sign Mathias Laferriere to a three-year entry-level contract. Laferriere is currently playing with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL, where he will remain for the rest of the season.

Selected in the sixth round in 2018, Laferriere already looks like he’ll be worth the investment. The lanky forward exploded last season when given a bigger role on the Screaming Eagles, scoring 28 goals an 74 points in 68 games. Though injury has limited him to just one game so far this time around, he was named to the QMJHL team for the upcoming Canada-Russia series and is expected to retake his role as one of Cape Breton’s most dangerous forwards when he returns to action.

The entry-level deal will not start until next season for Laferriere, at which point he will be transitioning to professional hockey. Though any future in the NHL is still a distant dream, he took one big step towards it today by getting a deal with the Blues.

Alex Pietrangelo's Agent To Meet With Doug Armstrong

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When the St. Louis Blues went out and acquired Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes, only to sign him to a seven-year $45.5MM extension immediately, eyebrows raised around the hockey world. Where exactly did that leave captain Alex Pietrangelo, who plays the same position and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season? Well, the Blues tried to answer some of that question by pairing Pietrangelo and Faulk together for a time, but that didn’t take (though hasn’t been completely abandoned either, as we saw last night), and now there is a report about some recent meetings between the two sides.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes in his latest 31 Thoughts column that Pietrangelo’s agents met with GM Doug Armstrong yesterday, and reports that the Blues are hoping to use Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s eight-year, $66MM deal as a “baseline” in talks. That $8.25MM average annual value currently makes Ekman-Larsson the fourth-highest paid defenseman in the league behind only Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty and P.K. Subban. Another interesting comparable for Pietrangelo might be Roman Josi, who is also dealing with extension negotiations at the moment with the Nashville Predators.

Snapshots: Pietrangelo, Ho-Sang, Marleau

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Sportsnet’s “Saturday Headlines” segment was filled with interesting information this week, headlined by negotiations between the defending champion St. Louis Blues and No. 1 defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. The status quo has shifted dramatically over the last two weeks in terms of extension talks between the two sides, as the Blues first acquired Justin Faulk from the Carolina Hurricanes and handed him a seven-year, $45.5MM extension and then signed another impending free agent, Brayden Schenn, to an eight-year, $52MM extension. The team would obviously still like to re-sign their captain, but they have significantly more future salary committed now, as well as more security on the blue line in Faulk if Pietrangelo does leave. How that affects contract talks remains to be seen. Elliotte Friedman reports that GM Doug Armstrong plans to meet with Pietrangelo’s Toronto-based Newport Sports agents when the Blues visit the Maple Leafs this week to open up the conversation. Friedman adds that St. Louis’ preferred contract would be similar to that of Arizona Coyotes top defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who signed an eight-year, $66MM extension in 2018. Friedman implies that Pietrangelo would likely be able to beat an $8.25MM salary on the open market. However, a proportional contract to Ekman-Larsson’s based on either this year’s salary cap or next year’s projected salary cap would place that number between $8.5-8.75MM at least, which could be enough to keep Pietrangelo. The real question is whether the Blues can afford that, with nearly $74MM already committed to 17 players next season.

  • Joshua Ho-Sang isn’t opposed to playing in the AHL, just doing so any longer for the New York Islanders. At least that’s what Friedman reports that his camp is telling other NHL teams. Ho-Sang has requested a trade from the Islanders and the club is trying to oblige, giving him permission to talk to other teams. Ho-Sang is letting them know that he is willing to do “whatever it takes” to find a regular NHL role, even if that means starting the process in the AHL. This could potentially broaden the level of interest in the disgruntled winger, who may not have the best reputation but honestly seems in search of a fresh start.
  • Chris Johnston reports that Patrick Marleau remains “confident” that he will find a home in the NHL this season. The respected veteran had the final season of his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs bought out following a trade to the Carolina Hurricanes this off-season, but so far hasn’t been able to find an ideal fit to continue playing. Much of the speculation had him returning to the San Jose Sharks, with whom he played much of his Hall of Fame career with, but the team was not as receptive to a comeback as expected. Marleau maintains that he would like to stay close to his family in San Jose, making Pacific Division rivals like the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights the likely targets. However, given the Sharks’ 0-3 start and early scoring woes, perhaps the team will come calling after all. Marleau continues to work out and stay optimistic for whenever an opportunity does arise.

Robert Thomas Listed As Day-To-Day With An Upper-Body Injury

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  • Blues forward Robert Thomas will not play tonight due to an upper-body injury, notes Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The injury was sustained in the season opener back on Wednesday and he’s listed as day-to-day.  That opens up a spot for Zach Sanford to make his season debut.  Meanwhile, NHL.com’s Lou Korac mentions (Twitter link) that winger Sammy Blais was pulled by concussion spotters in that opening game but that he was cleared to return in the dying seconds of the third period so he won’t miss any time.

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