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Penguins Acquire Pierre-Oliver Joseph

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After leaving the Penguins this summer, Pierre-Olivier Joseph is heading back there.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve acquired the blueliner from St. Louis in exchange for future considerations.

The 25-year-old spent five seasons in Pittsburgh’s system, split between them and AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  Over his time with the Penguins, Joseph primarily played in a depth role and was generally sixth or seventh on their depth chart.  Last season, he got into 52 games with Pittsburgh, recording 11 points while averaging a little over 15 minutes a night of ice time.  However, they elected not to tender him a qualifying offer of $935K, knowing that doing so would have given him arbitration rights.

That made him an unrestricted free agent and while the Penguins were believed to have interest in keeping him around, Joseph instead elected to sign a one-year, $950K deal with St. Louis on the same day that the Blues acquired his brother Mathieu Joseph from Ottawa.  However, the change of scenery hasn’t changed his role as Joseph has remained in that depth role.  He has played in 23 games so far this season, picking up two assists while averaging just 13:06 per night, a career low.

With the Blues bringing in Cam Fowler recently, playing time was going to be that much harder to come by for Joseph while they also have Matthew Kessel and Tyler Tucker in the minors, players with some NHL experience.  Presumably, they’ll be bringing up a defender – quite possibly one of those two – before long.  As for Pittsburgh, Marcus Pettersson landed on injured reserve yesterday while Jack St. Ivany was injured with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link), leading GM Kyle Dubas to seek out some low-cost depth in the interim.  Joseph will once again be arbitration-eligible this summer but barring a change in role in the second half of the season, he could be trending toward being non-tendered for the second year in a row.

Following the swap, the team announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Nate Clurman was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  He was recalled on Tuesday but Joseph will take his place on the active roster.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Pittsburgh was acquiring Joseph.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Evening Notes: Pegula, Gourde, Bannister

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Elliotte Friedman reported on his 32 Thoughts podcast that Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula met with the team in Montreal to discuss their recent woes. The Sabres are 0-7-3 in their last ten games and have had trade rumors swirling around the team as they are on the way to extending their 13-year playoff drought.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff is reporting that Pegula’s message to the Sabres was largely a positive one as he believes the solution to the teams problems are within the room and he said he has faith in general manager Kevyn Adams and head coach Lindy Ruff. Many believed that Pegula could be headed to Montreal to make major changes, however, that doesn’t appear to be the case, for now.

In other evening notes:

  • Seattle Kraken forward Yanni Gourde was in a regular contact jersey and fully participated in team practice today (as per Kraken contributor Alison Lukan). The Kraken are going to monitor the 33-year-old to see how he responds to the practice before they decide on whether or not he will play tomorrow night. Gourde has been dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the last two games, and unfortunately broke up a bit of a hot streak as he had 11 points in his last 14 games, after posting just three assists in his first 15 games of the season.
  • Former St. Louis Blues head coach Drew Bannister made his first public comments today since being fired by the team (as per St. Louis Today). Bannister said that he holds no resentment towards the organization because they were so good to him during his time there and he forged a lot of good relationships with people inside the club. Bannister was the head coach for just 76 games after spending seven years with the Blues in various roles and was replaced by former Bruins bench boss, Jim Montgomery.

Radek Faksa Missed Third Consecutive Game

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The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they’ve assigned forward Aatu Räty to the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. The 22-year-old was recalled on Saturday before the Canucks game against the Bruins but didn’t end up dressing and served as a healthy scratch.

The former second-round pick has spent considerable time in the NHL this season, dressing in 20 games and picking up two goals and two assists. His AHL campaign has been limited, playing just eight games with Abbotsford, but Räty has been very productive posting four goals and three assists.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Chicago Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno was sick today and didn’t dress today in Chicago’s 5-3 win over the New York Islanders (as per Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Sports). The 37-year-old had points in each of his previous two games and is having a decent offensive season with seven goals and six assists in 30 games. He was replaced today by Joey Anderson who went scoreless in 13:27 of ice time.
  • Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic tweeted that St. Louis Blues forward Radek Faksa missed his third consecutive game tonight due to a cut on his leg. The 30-year-old suffered the injury in a game against Vancouver and is making progress towards a return. Veteran Brandon Saad replaced Faksa in the lineup. Faksa is in his first season with the Blues after spending the first nine years of his NHL career with the Dallas Stars.
  • Michael Russo of The Athletic writes that Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson is dealing with some soreness in his lower body and was getting looked at today. The ailment is reportedly nothing major, but it was enough to prompt the Wild to take a longer look at the issue. The 26-year-old is having a terrific bounce-back season with a 14-5-3 record along with a. 2.24 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Gustavsson took warmups last night and did serve as the backup, but the issue prompted the team to act today as well as call up top prospect Jesper Wallstedt.

Blues Looking To Move Brandon Saad

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The St. Louis Blues made a surprising acquisition yesterday morning by trading for Cam Fowler from the Anaheim Ducks. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the organization isn’t done making moves just yet.

On yesterday’s rendition of ’Saturday Headlines’, Friedman reports that the Blues are looking to move on from veteran winger Brandon Saad after making him a healthy scratch last night.

Any trade involving Saad would involve some hurdles. He’s not performing up to his $4.5MM salary for this year and next, not to mention a full no-trade clause for this season that turns into a 12-team no-trade list next year.

Based on Friedman’s description of the environment, Saad appears willing to amend his no-trade protection to facilitate a deal. Still, that doesn’t make other teams more interested in adding an aging winger struggling to score.

Saad rebounded from a disappointing 2022-23 season with a 26-goal, 42-point effort last year. He played in all 82 regular season games for the first time since the 2017-18 season and posted the strongest possession numbers of his career as a member of the Blues organization.

His play hasn’t been as promising this year. Saad has scored four goals and 10 points in 27 games for St. Louis this season which would be his lowest goal-per-game pace since his sophomore campaign in the 2012-13 season.

This is likely the main contributing factor in St. Louis’ inability to move Saad at this point in the regular season. Many competitive teams don’t have the cap space necessary to acquire Saad and they’d likely want to use it on a player projecting higher than 12 goals on the campaign.

Blues Acquire Cam Fowler From Ducks

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Cam Fowler’s 15-year career with the Anaheim Ducks has come to an end. The St. Louis Blues organization announced they’ve acquired Fowler (38.5% retained) and a 2027 fourth-round pick for defensive prospect Jeremie Biakabutuka and a 2027 second-round pick.

Once the trade call is finalized, the Ducks organization will have parted with their longest-tenured player. Fowler was only nine games away from reaching the 1000th of his career with Anaheim but will now accomplish the career mark as a member of the Blues.

Consistency has been the name of the game for Fowler throughout his career. Anaheim selected Fowler with the 12th overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft and debuted a year later during the 2010-11 season. He finished his rookie campaign with 10 goals and 40 points in 76 contests finishing eighth in Calder Trophy voting.

He’s averaged approximately 38 points a season for the next 14 years and impressively averaged 23 minutes of ice time per game across that timeline. His career CorsiFor% of 49.7% and career on-ice save percentage in all situations of 90.2% show that the Ducks have leaned on Fowler’s two-way play and used him in nearly all situations.

St. Louis is filling a clear need on the left side of their defense for less than expected. The Blues organization will owe Fowler just under $4MM a year for the remainder of this season and next and he has the experience to move up and down the lineup.

Key injuries to Torey Krug and Nick Leddy have left a sizeable hole in the lineup. Philip Broberg has been a bright spot in the top-four but the team can’t continue to utilize Ryan Suter or Pierre-Olivier Joseph as the other option.

The addition of Fowler isn’t expected to pull St. Louis up the standings but it shouldn’t hurt their chances either. The Blues are four points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with one game in hand on their division rivals, the Colorado Avalanche.

At any rate, the acquisition of Fowler gives them cost certainty on their blue line for next season. Fowler makes seven St. Louis defensemen signed beyond this season and they’ll likely reprise their roles next year. The team could move out of Leddy’s contract as he’s also being paid $4MM by the Blues but their top-four is likely set.

Biakabutuka, from Longueuil, Quebec, is in his second full year with the Blues organization. He’s primarily spent time in the ECHL with the Orlando Solar Bears and Florida Everblades where he’s collected five goals and 22 points in 76 contests. It’s unlikely he’ll suit up for the Ducks in the AHL meaning he’ll suit up for their ECHL affiliate in Tulsa.

In the announcement from the Blues organization, the team also shared they’ve sent down defenseman Matthew Kessel to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. St. Louis didn’t require eight defensemen on the active roster and Kessel was the only waiver exempt among them.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report Anaheim and St. Louis were working on a Fowler trade. 

Friedman was the first to report the majority of the trade package. 

Friedman was the first to report Biakabutuka was included in the deal. 

Morning Notes: Leddy, Crosby, Nedeljkovic

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Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic speculated on the future of defenseman Nick Leddy and the St. Louis Blues. Rutherford doesn’t think the Blues can count on more than bottom-pairing minutes from the veteran rearguard, who has one year remaining on his contract after this season at a $4MM cap hit. The 33-year-old is out with a lower-body injury and appeared close to a return as he was travelling with the team on their road trip. However, the injury flared up, and he was forced to return to St. Louis.

The former Stanley Cup Champion has played just four games this season after playing a full slate of games last year. He hasn’t posted any points this year, but he did tally three goals and 25 assists last season, which were his best offensive numbers since the shortened 2020-21 season while he was a member of the Islanders.

In other morning notes:

  • Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby wasn’t thrilled with some fans who attended last night’s 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Crosby, who is notoriously positive, commented on the Penguins winning five of their last seven games, saying, “You wouldn’t know it tonight. Would you? I mean, getting booed on the power play (in the third period.)” The Penguins were down 4-2 at the time and weren’t generating much with the man advantage. However, the club has turned around in recent weeks and was coming off arguably their best game of the season on Saturday against Toronto. Crosby showed visible frustration at the end of last night’s game, smashing his stick after Colorado scored an empty netter to clinch the game.
  • Penguins’ backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic took a puck to the face while sitting on the bench last night in the Penguins’ loss (as per Josh Yohe of The Athletic). The 28-year-old was hit under his right eye by a puck in the first period and came back out in the second period sporting a black eye. Nedeljkovic told reporters that he would be fine, so it doesn’t appear to be a cause for concern going forward. The Penguins haven’t received great goaltending this season from Nedeljkovic as he has struggled to a 4-5-3 record with a 3.37 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage.

Kevin Shattenkirk Announces Retirement

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Unrestricted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has announced his retirement after 14 NHL seasons and 952 regular-season games, per an NHLPA release. The 35-year-old wrote a lengthy message to his seven NHL teams, their staffs, and his family, and shouted out many other specific helpers and mentors, one you can read entirely on his X account.

The 6’0″, 212-lb Shattenkirk made his NHL debut four seasons after being drafted 14th overall by the Avalanche in 2007, but the Boston University product didn’t last long in a Colorado uniform. After recording seven goals and 26 points in his first 46 NHL games for the Avs, they dealt him to the Blues in a blockbuster trade before the 2011 deadline that saw former first-overall pick Erik Johnson head the other way.

By the time the 2011-12 season rolled around, he’d established himself as a fixture in the Blues’ top four, posting 43 points and a +20 rating in his sophomore season while placing 18th in Norris Trophy voting. “Shatty” went on to have the most productive years of his career in St. Louis, routinely averaging over 20 minutes per game, earning Norris votes three times, and totaling 59 goals and 258 points in 425 regular-season games as a Blue. He ranks seventh in Blues franchise history in goals, assists and points and sits 12th on the all-time franchise games played list among blue-liners.

St. Louis routinely made the postseason with Shattenkirk in tow but only advanced past the first round twice. But with Shattenkirk in the final season of his contract in the 2016-17 campaign and set to earn a considerable raise on his previous $4.25MM cap hit, St. Louis made him arguably the top rental acquisition available at the 2017 deadline and shipped him to the Capitals for a haul that included a first-round pick, later flipped to the Flyers to acquire future captain Brayden Schenn (Philadelphia used the selection to draft Morgan Frost). Shattenkirk managed 14 points in 19 regular-season contests for Washington but hit a rut in the postseason, limited to a goal and six assists in 13 games with a -4 rating as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Caps were upset by the Penguins in the Second Round.

Shattenkirk understandably wasn’t brought back and hit free agency that offseason, inking a rich four-year, $26.6MM commitment with the Rangers. However, his offensive production and possession play dipped significantly upon arriving in Manhattan. After posting a career-worst 0.38 points per game and a -15 rating in the 2018-19 campaign, New York bought out the final two seasons of his contract and made him a UFA again ahead of schedule.

He landed a one-year, $1.75MM pact with the Lightning, receiving reduced minutes on a stacked defense core that featured names like Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Mikhail Sergachev ahead of him on the depth chart. He responded with 34 points in 70 games, a much-improved 53.7 CF%, and added 13 points in 25 playoff games as he captured his first and only Stanley Cup.

Shattenkirk became a free agent again at season’s end. After rebuilding his market value in Tampa, he inked another multi-year deal, heading back to the Western Conference on a three-year, $11.7MM pact with the rebuilding Ducks. Anaheim had just a 71-114-35 record in Shattenkirk’s three seasons in Orange County. However, the New York native still averaged top-four minutes and posted 77 points in 212 appearances as a stable veteran presence along with Cam Fowler on an otherwise inexperienced Ducks back end.

After his tenure in Anaheim quietly ended in 2023, he joined the Bruins on a cheap one-year deal for the 2023-24 campaign. He played a supporting depth role more than anything else, serving as a semi-routine healthy scratch for the first time and averaging a career-low 15:47 per game. The right-shot defender still contributed 24 points in 61 games and received second-unit power-play duties, but that wasn’t enough to generate interest in a guaranteed deal for this season. Shattenkirk was connected to several teams on potential tryouts late in the offseason but opted not to sign any and didn’t participate in a training camp.

With Shattenkirk’s NHL career now officially in the rearview mirror, one of the few unsigned options on defense for teams still looking to add experienced depth is now off the market. He closes the book on a lengthy run in the pros that saw him record 103 goals, 381 assists and 484 points in 952 games. Along the way, he totaled 544 PIMs, 1,886 shots on goal, 928 hits, and averaged 20:17 per game for his career. His estimated career earnings total $60.725MM, per PuckPedia.

All of us at PHR extend our best wishes to Kevin as he enters the post-playing phase of his hockey journey.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Faulk Returns After Missing Two Games

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The Blues will welcome back a key blueliner tonight against Edmonton.  Team reporter Chris Pinkert reports that Justin Faulk will return to the lineup after missing the last two games due to an upper-body injury.  The 32-year-old has been more limited than usual offensively over the first couple of months as he has just one goal and six assists so far in 25 games.  However, Faulk is carrying a big workload, averaging a team-high 23:26 per night, his highest ATOI since the shortened 2020-21 campaign.

Pavel Buchnevich Could Return On Thursday

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  • Pavel Buchnevich will have to wait another game before returning to the lineup for the St. Louis Blues. The Cherepovets, Russia native has been dealing with a lower-body injury suffered during the Blues win against the New Jersey Devils on November 27th. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic shared a comment from Blues’ head coach Jim Montgomery saying, He’s not a player tonight, but he’s going to be a player — we hope — in Calgary.”

    [SOURCE LINK]

Central Notes: Montgomery, Jiříček, Hall

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Clear communication and detailed feedback are the early hallmarks of Jim Montgomery’s tenure as Blues head coach, multiple players told Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. They’ve yet to lose in regulation since signing the ex-Bruins bench boss to a five-year contract and relieving Drew Bannister of his duties, going 2-0-1 since the change.

Among the players praising Montgomery early on was captain Brayden Schenn, who said Montgomery had garnered a “tremendous amount of respect” from both the team’s veterans and up-and-comers. It’s not Montgomery’s first go-around with a good portion of the roster – the 2023 Jack Adams Award winner served as an assistant for the Blues in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns.

There’s still significant room for improvement if the 11-12-2 Blues want to sneak into a playoff spot. While they’ve outscored opponents 10-5 so far under Montgomery, they’ve been outshot slightly 92-91 in all situations and only control 44.2% of shot attempts at even strength.

“He’s not afraid to talk on the bench, and he’s quick on feedback, and I really like that from him,” sophomore forward Zachary Bolduc said. “It happened in New York and in New Jersey, too. I love getting feedback — good or bad. It’s always great to get during the game.”

More from the Central Division:

  • The Wild are dealing with an injury to stalwart defender Jonas Brodin, which should provide more opportunity than otherwise expected for new trade pickup David Jiříček out of the gate. Head coach John Hynes told Michael Russo of The Athletic that Minnesota will be patient with the 21-year-old as he makes the adjustment from Columbus to Minnesota but that they’ll lean on the puck-moving elements of his game and give him some power-play reps, likely bumping Declan Chisholm off the man-advantage units.
  • Blackhawks veteran Taylor Hall reaffirmed his desire to see through Chicago’s rebuild in a recent sitdown with Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. The pending unrestricted free agent said that he’d “like to stick around here and be a part of making this thing grow” but fully recognizes the possibility he’ll be on the move by deadline day to help the Blackhawks add some additional futures to their system. Injuries have significantly hamstrung the 33-year-old since Chicago acquired him from the Bruins in the summer of 2023, limiting him to seven goals and 14 points in 34 appearances while sticking in a middle-six role,
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