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Schenn, Parayko, Perron Placed In COVID Protocol

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Jan 11: David Perron has now been placed in the protocol, taking another key player out of the lineup. Perron is having another big season, scoring 20 points in 25 games for the Blues.

Jan 10: The St. Louis Blues are still likely celebrating from their last-minute regulation win yesterday, but when they start preparing for Thursday’s tilt against the Seattle Kraken it’ll be without two key players. Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko have both been placed in the COVID protocol.

They’ll join Vladimir Tarasenko, Scott Perunovich, and Jake Walman there, though those players will be soon eligible to return. Schenn and Parayko will not be eligible for Thursday’s game if they tested positive, whether they’re symptomatic or not. The next game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday is also in jeopardy and likely won’t have at least these two active.

That’s a big blow, especially given how much Parayko has played this season for the Blues. The 6’6″ defenseman is averaging more than 24 minutes this season, the highest of his career, and has 16 points in 36 games. Schenn meanwhile is having a disappointing year and has played just 22 games, only activated from injured reserve a week ago.

Blues Place Tarasenko, Perunovich, Walman In COVID Protocol

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After icing a nearly fully healthy team last night against Pittsburgh for what felt like the first time in forever, the St. Louis Blues got hit with bad news today. The team released a statement Thursday saying they’ve placed forward Vladimir Tarasenko and defensemen Scott Perunovich and Jake Walman in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

These are large absences for this team, especially Tarasenko. He’s been a somewhat unexpectedly huge contributor to the lineup after requesting a trade this past offseason, potting 14 goals and 20 assists in 34 games, seemingly fully recovered from years of shoulder issues.

Perunovich and Walman have been valuable depth pieces on defense, especially Perunovich. The young 23-year-old has impressed during his first NHL stint, scoring six assists in 18 games and averaging 15:33 per game. The 45th overall pick in 2018 will have to wait a little longer to score his first NHL goal, however.

Walman, through 18 games, has a goal and two assists in 12:06 of ice time per game.

James Neal Clears Waivers

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Jan 3: Neal has cleared waivers according to Friedman meaning he can now be sent to the taxi squad or minor leagues.

Jan 2: The St. Louis Blues placed forward James Neal on waivers today, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Neal did have an impressive training camp with the Blues which led to a one-year, league-minimum contract, but he hasn’t retained that same magic in the regular season. The embattled former 40-goal scorer has just two goals and two assists through 17 games this season.

With the Blues continuing to get back to full health, there’s no clear spot for Neal at the NHL level anymore. He’s been surpassed on the depth chart by names like Logan Brown and Klim Kostin, making him expendable.

Teams have until 1 p.m. CT tomorrow to put in a claim for Neal.

Brayden Schenn Likely Out For Winter Classic

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Per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas, St. Louis Blues forward Brayden Schenn seems to be unavailable for the Winter Classic tonight in Minneapolis. He didn’t take warmups.

Schenn’s been day-to-day with an upper-body injury since the middle of December, but many were hopeful he could return in time for the biggest outdoor game of the year.

His absence is compensated for by the return of other key portions of the team. Pavel Buchnevich and Ivan Barbashev are back in the lineup and will be counted on to play larger roles tonight.

Schenn’s struggled to stay healthy this year. Through just 19 games, he still has 10 points.

 

Mike Van Ryn Placed In COVID Protocol

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The St. Louis Blues have placed assistant coach Mike Van Ryn in the COVID protocol, meaning in all likelihood he’ll unfortunately miss tomorrow’s Winter Classic. The Blues are holding their breath hoping no other players or coaches will be ruled out at the last minute, while the Minnesota Wild are just hoping that Jonas Brodin will be able to test out of the protocol before the game.

Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues Complete Minor Trade

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The Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues have completed a minor trade, with Will Bitten and Nolan Stevens changing organizations.

The Wild will receive Stevens, a 25-year-old forward that has 12 points in 20 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds this season, his fourth in the AHL since signing out of Northeastern University. Standing 6’3″, he offers some size and skill as a potential depth player for Minnesota. More likely though he’s headed for Iowa where he can continue his season in the AHL. Stevens is on a one-year, two-way contract that carries a cap hit of $750K at the NHL level.

For St. Louis, Bitten comes to town after scoring eight points in 23 games for the Wild. A third-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2016, he is still just 23 but has yet to make an appearance at the NHL level. Like Stevens, Bitten is on a one-year, two-way contract with the Wild but his actually carries a cap hit of $840K at the NHL level–not exactly the easiest to fit in for a team like St. Louis that is battling cap issues.

In all likelihood, both players spend the majority of the season in the minor leagues, perhaps seeing some time on the taxi squad if needed.

Armstrong, Guerin Among Staff No Longer Involved In Olympic Selections

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Dec 27: As expected, Quinn will take over the head coaching duties of Team USA. John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of USA Hockey, will serve as general manager–a position he already holds for the National Junior Team that is currently competing in Alberta. Without NHL participation, several members of that junior group could find themselves on the Olympic team in a few months.

Dec 22: The NHL isn’t going to the Olympics, and that doesn’t mean just Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane. The active NHL executives and coaches that had previously been announced will also be pulled out, meaning, for instance, that Bill Guerin is no longer the general manager of Team USA and Doug Armstrong is no longer with Team Canada.

For the U.S. the announcement that the managers and coaches will no longer be involved was made this morning, though no direct replacements have been officially named. David Quinn, formerly of the New York Rangers, has been linked to the head coaching position by several reports, including Chris Peters of Daily Faceoff. The U.S. management group is expected to name the final roster–one that will now be made up of players from college, the minor leagues, and European leagues–by mid-January. Peters projected a potential “Plan B” roster earlier this month.

For Canada, Armstrong confirmed to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that he will step down as general manager. He’s handing the reins to Hockey Canada’s Scott Salmond who will now have to find a roster outside the NHL to compete at the Games, one that doesn’t have the luxury of the Spengler Cup later this month to prepare. In LeBrun’s interview with Armstrong, the St. Louis Blues manager confirms that Crosby would have been the team’s captain, something that was decided very early on. He also explained that they had already locked in “three full forward lines and two sets of D” with January 12 the date they would reveal the entire group.

The managers and coaches involved will all now have to focus on their own NHL schedules–ones that are currently on hold and seemingly changing by the hour.

Four St. Louis Blues Enter COVID Protocol

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Four St. Louis Blues — forwards Dakota Joshua, James Neal, Ivan Barbashev, and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo — have entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols, per a team release.

There are now five Blues on the protocol list, joining Oskar Sundqvist on the list.

Barbashev’s been a shocking producer to start the year, going on a tear with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 31 games. He’d been averaging over 17 minutes a game, too, so his absence can’t be taken lightly.

Joshua, Neal, and Bortuzzo had combined for just 11 points this year, but it’s just more depth missing from a Blues roster that’s been rocked by absences all year.

Barbashev entered protocol on December 23, so he’s eligible to return three days earlier than the other three players. However, due to an open schedule, all four could come back into action on January 5 against Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, it seems like all four will be unavailable for the Winter Classic on New Years Day.

2022 WJC Participants By NHL Team

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The 2022 World Junior Championships will get underway from Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta on Sunday. As is the norm and to be expected from the top U-20 competition in the world, the World Junior tournament field is loaded with drafted NHL talent. While most nations don’t have the prospect depth to form a roster completely composed of NHL prospects and those that do have opted to include some younger, future draft picks, there are still a whopping 106 drafted players on WJC rosters. Nine of ten WJC have at least one current NHL prospect and six of those nine have at least ten draft picks. Those players come from 30 of the NHL’s 32 teams, with the Carolina Hurricanes leading the way with ten prospects. While enjoying the WJC action in the coming days, keep track of who may one day be playing at the highest level:

Anaheim Ducks (4):
F Mason McTavish, Canada
D Ian Moore, USA
F Sasha Pastujov, USA
D Olen Zellweger, Canada

Arizona Coyotes (1):
F Dylan Guenther, Canada

Boston Bruins (1):
F Fabian Lysell, Sweden

Buffalo Sabres (4):
F Jakub Konecny, Czechia
D Nikita Novikov, Russia
D Owen Power, Canada
F Isak Rosen, Sweden

Calgary Flames (1):
F Matt Coronato, USA

Carolina Hurricanes (10):
F Nikita Guslistov, Russia
D Aleski Heimosalmi, Finland
D Ville Koivunen, Finland
D Scott Morrow, USA
F Zion Nybeck, Sweden
D Joel Nystrom, Sweden
F Alexander Pashin, Russia
F Vasily Ponomarev, Russia
G Nikita Quapp, Germany
D Ronan Seeley, Canada

Chicago Blackhawks (4):
G Drew Commesso, USA
D Wyatt Kaiser, USA
D Michael Krutil, Czechia
F Landon Slaggert, USA

Colorado Avalanche (1):
F Oskar Olausson, Sweden

Columbus Blue Jackets (4):
F Kent Johnson, Canada
D Samuel Knazko, Slovakia
F Martin Rysavy, Czechia
D Stanislav Svozil, Czechia

Dallas Stars (4):
F Mavrik Bourque, Canada
F Daniel Ljungman, Sweden
F Logan Stankoven, Canada
F Albert Sjoberg, Sweden

Detroit Red Wings (8):
G Jan Bednar, Czechia
G Sebastian Cossa, Canada
D Simon Edvinsson, Sweden
F Carter Mazur, USA
F Theodor Niederbach, Sweden
F Redmond Savage, USA
D Donovan Sebrango, Canada
D Eemil Viro, Finland

Edmonton Oilers (2):
F Xavier Borgault, Canada
D Luca Munzenberger, Germany

Florida Panthers (5):
F Elliot Ekmark, Sweden
D Kasper Puutio, Finland
F Mackie Samoskevich, USA
F Ty Smilanic, USA
F Justin Sourdif, Canada

Los Angeles Kings (6):
F Martin Chromiak, Slovakia
D Brock Faber, USA
D Helge Grans, Sweden
F Samuel Helenius, Finland
D Kirill Kirsanov, Russia
F Kasper Simontaival, Finland

Minnesota Wild (6):
F Marat Khusnutdinov, Russia
D Carson Lambos, Canada
F Pavel Novak, Czechia
D Ryan O’Rourke, Canada
D Jack Peart, USA
G Jesper Wallstedt, Sweden

Montreal Canadiens (3):
D Kaiden Guhle, Canada
F Oliver Kapanen, Finland
F Jan Mysak, Czechia

Nashville Predators (4):
G Yaroslav Askarov, Russia
F Simon Knak, Switzerland*
D Anton Olsson, Sweden
F Fedor Svechkov, Russia

New Jersey Devils (4):
F Alexander Holtz, Sweden
D Luke Hughes, USA
G Jakub Malek, Czechia
D Shakir Mukhamadullin, Russia

New York Islanders (0)

New York Rangers (4):
F Brett Berard, USA
F William Cuylle, Canada
G Dylan Garand, Canada
F Kalle Vaisanen, Finland

Ottawa Senators (5):
F Ridly Greig, Canada
F Roby Jarventie, Finland
D Tyler Kleven, USA
G Leevi Merilainen, Finland
D Jake Sanderson, USA

Philadelphia Flyers (3):
D Emil Andrae, Sweden
F Elliot Desnoyers, Canada
D Brian Zanetti, Switzerland*

Pittsburgh Penguins (3):
G Joel Blomqvist, Finland
G Calle Clang, Sweden
F Kirill Tankov, Russia

St. Louis Blues (3):
F Tanner Dickinson, USA
D Leo Loof, Sweden
F Jake Neighbors, Canada

San Jose Sharks (1):
F William Eklund, Sweden

Seattle Kraken (2):
F Matthew Beniers, USA
D Ville Ottavainen, Finland

Tampa Bay Lightning (0)

Toronto Maple Leafs (3):
F Roni Hirvonen, Finland
F Matthew Knies, USA
D Topi Niemala, Finland

Vancouver Canucks (1):
F Dmitry Zlodeyev, Russia

Vegas Golden Knights (4):
F Jakub Brabenec, Czechia
D Lukas Cormier, Canada
F Jakub Demek, Slovakia
G Jesper Vikman, Sweden

Washington Capitals (1):
F Oskar Magnusson, Sweden

Winnipeg Jets (4):
F Nikita Chibrikov, Russia
F Chaz Lucius, USA
F Cole Perfetti, Canada
F Daniel Torgersson, Sweden

*Switzerland roster pending finalization on Sunday; team has been in COVID-19 quarantine since Thursday but will be ready to begin tournament and participate as schedule, the Swiss announced.

Hockey Canada Names Captains For WJC

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There’s not a lot to be excited about when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens’ NHL squad this season, but that doesn’t mean fans won’t be in for a treat this holiday season. Kaiden Guhle, Montreal’s first-round pick from 2020, has been named captain of Canada’s World Junior Championship squad. He’ll be joined by Jake Neighbours from the St. Louis Blues and Cole Perfetti from the Winnipeg Jets, who will serve as alternates.

Guhle and Perfetti were both on last year’s squad, which took home the silver after losing to the U.S. in the final. Neighbours meanwhile was not, meaning he’ll get his first chance to compete for Canada at this level. All three were first-round picks in 2020 and have actually already played some professional hockey, though Guhle’s time in the AHL was limited to just three games last season.

The 19-year-old defenseman is an impressive, do-it-all blueliner who has the size, skating ability, and aggressiveness that will quickly make him a fan favorite. Known for his willingness to lay open ice hits when the chance presents itself, teams have actually started to avoid his side of the ice entirely when attempting a zone entry. The 6’2″ Guhle has improved his offensive output this season as well, racking up 18 points in 20 games so far this season, split between the Prince Albert Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings. That trade, which brought Guhle home to Edmonton, also took him to a WHL contender.

That contender also happens to have Neighbours in the lineup on a nightly basis, something that other teams fear when figuring out who to stop. The 19-year-old Blues prospect started the year in the NHL, scoring two points in nine games, and has 18 in ten contests since returning to the WHL. Able to create chances for himself and teammates almost at will, Neighbours should be a huge part of the Canadian attack even in his first go-round at the tournament.

It’s Perfetti though who was drafted the highest, and the one that’s currently starring at the professional level. The 10th-overall pick in 2020, he proved he could handle himself in the AHL as a teenager last season when he put up 26 points in 32 games. That performance hasn’t changed this season, as Perfetti has registered 15 points in 17 games with the Manitoba Moose as one of the few junior-aged exemptions. Last year the former Saginaw Spirit center was a difference-maker for Canada, this year will likely be no different.

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