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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.

NHL/NHLPA Pause Cross-Border Travel, Issue Updates On Season And Olympics

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The NHL and NHLPA released a joint statement today that the league will postpone any games that require cross-border travel through the holiday break. The 12 postponed games are as follows:

Canadiens @ Islanders (12/20), Ducks @ Oilers (12/20), Blues @ Senators (12/21), Canucks @ Sharks (12/21), Canadiens @ Rangers (12/22), Jets @ Stars (12/22), Oilers @ Kings (12/22), Blues @ Maple Leafs (12/23), Hurricanes @ Senators (12/23), Canadiens @ Devils (12/23), Ducks @ Canucks (12/23), Oilers @ Sharks (12/23)

Adding on these 12 games, there are now 39 games that the league has postponed this year. As instances pop up of players stuck on the wrong side of the border and potentially unable to get home for the holidays, the pause comes now to prevent any future situations like this from occurring.

However, the NHL and NHLPA in today’s statement remained with their stance today against placing a pause on the entire regular-season schedule. The league will continue to monitor COVID outbreaks on teams on a case-by-case basis, stating that they “will be monitoring not only the number and pattern of positive COVID results but also the depth of Club line-ups so as to ensure both the health and safety of the Players and the integrity of League competition.”

The two parties also gave an update on the potential of Olympic participation, stating they’ll reach a final determination within the coming days. They’re “actively discussing the matter” and commit to remaining flexible. The NHL has until January 10, 2022, to opt out of the Olympics without incurring a financial penalty. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman speculates that an “Olympics without NHL players seems to be a reality,” but doesn’t expect a formal announcement for a few days.

COVID Notes: Sundqvist, Flames, Protocol, World Juniors

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The Blues have placed center Oskar Sundqvist in COVID protocol, per a team release.  It has been a tough year for the 27-year-old who missed 14 games at the beginning of the season due to a knee injury and Sundqvist has struggled to produce when he is in the lineup, collecting just a goal and three assists in 16 games.  St. Louis had been carrying an extra forward on their active roster so they won’t necessarily have to bring anyone up from AHL Springfield to cover for Sundqvist’s absence which will last for at least the next ten days.

Other COVID news from around the hockey world:

  • The Flames announced (Twitter link) that they did not have any positive tests among their players or staff yesterday. That’s certainly notable considering that they have 19 players and 13 staff in COVID protocol at the moment and this is the first day since Sunday that they didn’t have a single positive test among their group.  Calgary has had their games postponed through the holiday break although it wouldn’t be surprising if another game or two get postponed after it to allow some of their players to have a chance at being ready to return after serving their quarantine period.
  • The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced a return of the enhanced COVID protocols through at least January 7th. Among the highlights are daily testing, a reduction of in-person meetings, and dining restrictions.  The full document can be found here.
  • As a result of the recent increase in positive tests, Hockey Canada announced that the first four days of World Junior pre-tournament games have been cancelled. Originally, each country was supposed to play in at least two exhibition contests but that won’t happen now.  There remains a possibility for pre-tournament contests to be held on December 23rd and 24th.

New Jersey Devils Acquire Jon Gillies

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The St. Louis Blues are set to get Jordan Binnington back after he was removed from COVID protocol, meaning they no longer needed the services of recently-signed netminder Jon Gillies. They’ve traded Gillies to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for future considerations, giving him a chance at a roster spot that wasn’t going to be available in St. Louis.

It’s been a pretty good stretch for Gillies, who went from signing a professional tryout with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on November 23 to signing an NHL deal on December 8, posting a 36-save performance for the Blues in an emergency start and then finding himself shipped to the Devils where he will likely remain in the NHL.

The Devils currently have 21-year-old Akira Schmid up under emergency conditions as Jonathan Bernier deals with an injury; Schmid can now be sent back down to continue his development as soon as Gillies arrives. The 27-year-old netminder has just 13 games of NHL experience under his belt, but plenty of minor league time. Should the Devils decide to send Gillies to the minor leagues at some point, he’ll need to clear waivers.

For the Blues, they now have their normal starter back in the fold and Charlie Lindgren to handle any backup duties. Gillies was redundant, meaning clearing the contract slot is actually a big win for the team, even if they didn’t receive an actual asset in return.

Roster Notes: Lehkonen, Korpisalo, Maple Leafs

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As the Montreal Canadiens continue to falter in 2021-22, now last in the Eastern Conference and leading the league in goals allowed, a fire sale seems imminent for the franchise. As pundits across North America discuss who could be moving on from the Habs, a story has emerged from TVA’s Renaud Lavoie about one potential candidate who was nearly moved last season. Lavoie reported on their air on Saturday that the Canadiens and St. Louis Blues had a deal in place for forward Artturi Lehkonen at the deadline, which would have seen Sammy Blais go the other way. However, a condition of the deal was an extension for Lehkonen, then an impending restricted free agent, and the restricted free agent refused to agree to a new contract with the Blues, nixing the trade. The 26-year-old ended up re-signing for just one year with Montreal this summer and will be an RFA once more this off-season. However, it seems more and more unlikely that he will be negotiating with the Habs once again, as Lehkonen’s scoring is up from last season, making him an attractive trade piece for the Canadiens. Although Blais is now a member of the New York Rangers, the Blues could still be a suitor for Lehkonen with a different offer if they can make the cap implications work. The forward could be seen as a rental or as a long-term investment which should provide a deep pool of potential trade partners for the new front office administration in Montreal.

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets could be forced to make a significant roster move later this season, but hopefully it does not come to that. The Finnish government released a list of names this week that included professional athletes who had not completed their required military service. All male citizens of Finland are conscripted to serve a certain number of days – 165, 255 or 347 days depending on the assignment – of military service and must meet this requirement between the ages of 18 and 28. Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo turns 28 this spring and has yet to complete any of his required service. Korpisalo tells The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline that he regrets putting it off, but he has had his in-season obligations every year since he was 18 and never wanted to disrupt his off-season training schedule in the summers. The Finnish government stated that those athletes who had not yet met this civic duty would be enlisted to begin service on April 11, 2022. Well, Columbus’ regular season does not end until April 29 and the team currently sits just one spot outside of playoff position as well. Korpisalo’s response to the possibility of missing time because of conscription: “If they want to come get me, come get me. I’m not leaving during my season.” Hopefully it doesn’t reach that point for Korpisalo and the Jackets, but it does seem like the goaltender at least plans to serve his time this summer. He has little choice as the Finnish government will not renew his passport if he does not complete his required service before turning 29, making it impossible for him to travel to North America let alone play in the NHL. This is especially concerning for Korpisalo this summer, when he will be an unrestricted free agent. While the veteran keeper expects that a “special arrangement” will be made that allows him to complete his current season, serve his time in the off-season, and be ready for next season, wherever that may be, the last-minute nature of the situation could still prove problematic. This likely isn’t the last we have heard about Korpisalo’s military requirements and its impact on his playing career.
  • Ilya Mikheyev appears to be getting closer to a return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. The Hockey News’ David Alter reports that both Mikheyev and defenseman Travis Dermott will be evaluated on Tuesday for a potential return against the Edmonton Oilers. Getting the skilled forward back from Long-Term Injured Reserve will be a nice boost for the Leafs, but it of course raises questions as well. Toronto is currently $4.9MM over the salary cap, but this is permissible given the LTIR usage afforded by Mikheyev and Mitch Marner. However, once Marner is healthy as well, a roster crunch will set in for the Leafs if no more extended injuries have arisen. Even if no one is on injured reserve at the time and the likes of Alex Steeves and Kyle Clifford have likely been bumped from the roster to accommodate the additions up front of Mikheyev and Marner, the team will still be over the salary cap. If the Leafs want to carry the full 23 skaters, they will need to save room for at least a minimum $750K contract too. This could result in a notable player being traded or waived in order to become cap compliant. For a number of bottom-six forwards, the return of Mikheyev is a warning and they have until Marner returns to prove that they belong on the team or else could be the one forced out of town.

St. Louis Blues Announce Several Roster Moves

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The St. Louis Blues continue to move players on and off the roster in an attempt to stay salary cap compliant while they deal with injuries and COVID absences. Today, several transactions were processed to make the puzzle pieces together. The team has moved David Perron to long-term injured reserve, while putting Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn on normal injured reserve. Tyler Bozak and Justin Faulk have been activated from the COVID protocol, while Alexei Toropchenko has been recalled.

Perron’s LTIR designation is retroactive to November 27, just after the last game he played in, meaning he won’t have to wait much longer if he is healthy enough to return. LTIR requires a player to miss either ten games or 24 days (whichever is longer), meaning he could potentially return for the Blues’ game next Tuesday. That gives the team some time to operate with the extra cap relief and hopefully get Jordan Binnington back out of the COVID protocol.

Faulk and Bozak’s return is a huge positive, given how the protocol affects a team’s cap. Their hits still counted toward the $81.5MM cap ceiling despite being unavailable, leading to the Blues playing shorthanded several times. If they’re healthy enough to return, it will be a big help while figuring out the rest of the roster.

Toropchenko meanwhile will be facing his NHL debut should he get into a game. The 22-year-old forward has nine points in 22 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds this season after spending last year in the KHL. The 6’3″ winger hasn’t shown a huge amount of offensive upside, but can add another big body to the Blues’ bottom-six–something head coach Craig Berube has used consistently since arriving in St. Louis.

St. Louis Blues To Play Short For Salary Cap Exemption

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Dec 9: A worst-case scenario has happened for St. Louis, as both Husso and Jake Walman are now out with injuries. The team will play short again tonight as eight players with the Springfield Thunderbirds are also dealing with COVID-19. The team doesn’t have cap space, doesn’t have recall options, and now will have just 11 forwards and six defensemen tonight. Jon Gillies, who was signed yesterday, will presumably backup Lindgren, though it’s not actually even clear how he can be added to the roster given the cap situation, unless they use their other emergency goaltender exemption (Lindgren is already up on one of them).

Dec 7: The St. Louis Blues head into tonight’s game at a serious disadvantage. Not only has the team lost two in a row and now has to play a second consecutive match against the league’s best team (by points percentage) in the Florida Panthers, but they’ll have to do it shorthanded. The Blues will dress just ten forwards tonight along with seven defensemen, because of the precarious cap situation they find themselves in.

Already using almost all of the long-term injured reserve relief from Klim Kostin and James Neal, the Blues have just over $113K in available cap space according to CapFriendly. That’s not enough to make a recall, and with Robert Thomas missing the game due to injury, they don’t have enough healthy, active players to suit up tonight. Already the team is using an emergency goaltending exemption for Charlie Lindgren–who was called up instead of Joel Hofer because of the difference in salary between the two–after Jordan Binnington joined Tyler Bozak in the COVID protocol.

To secure that cap-free exemption they had to have Kyle Konin, a 23-year-old netminder who last played competitive hockey at Grand Valley State University in 2020, serve as Ville Husso’s backup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now they’ll have to play a man short once again, in order to secure a second recall exemption to bring up an additional forward for Thursday’s game against Detroit.

This new exemption will allow them to recall a player without incurring a cap hit, but there are restrictions on it too. Only players with a cap hit of $850K or less can be brought up, meaning someone like Mackenzie MacEachern is out of the question. The risky part isn’t necessarily playing a man down, it’s that things could get even more complicated for St. Louis if another player suffers a minor injury. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic ponders on Twitter about Thomas’ injury and whether he has been forcing himself to play through it because of his team’s cap situation.

Kostin did skate today, according to Rutherford, but he won’t be eligible to play for another five games because of his LTIR designation. There’s not a quick fix coming for the Blues and things could get worse if anyone else goes down, or is forced to enter the COVID protocol.

Blues Sign Jon Gillies

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The Blues have brought back a familiar face between the pipes, announcing the signing of goaltender Jon Gillies to a one-year, two-way contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 27-year-old spent last season with St. Louis but didn’t see any action with them.  Instead, he was their taxi squad netminder for a good portion of the year while also getting into five games with AHL Utica.  Gillies has remained at the AHL level this season, getting into three games with Boston’s affiliate and one with Philadelphia’s.

Gillies won’t be going back to the minors though, at least not yet.  Instead, his presence is needed with backup goaltender Ville Husso out with a lower-body injury and Jordan Binnington still in COVID protocol.  They’re using an emergency roster exception to have Charlie Lindgren up and that carries a maximum allowable cap hit of $850K; anyone making more can’t be recalled.  That takes their other AHL netminder Joel Hofer off the table which means they needed to sign Gillies to have a second goalie available for tomorrow’s game against Detroit.

Speaking of that roster exception, they were able to bring up Nathan Walker earlier today after playing short a forward.  However, defenseman Jake Walman sustained an upper-body injury on Tuesday night and the team will once again have to play short a player on Thursday before being able to recall a replacement for him.

Justin Faulk Enters COVID Protocol

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The St. Louis Blues announced Thursday, just minutes ahead of their game against Tampa Bay, that defenseman Justin Faulk has been placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

Faulk, who’s in the second year of a seven-year, $45.5MM contract, is having his best season in a Blues uniform. He leads the team in +/- (+9) and is tied for the team lead in points among defensemen (10), all while averaging more than 23 minutes per game.

He joins forward Tyler Bozak and goalie Jordan Binnington as the Blues on the protocol list. James Neal, Klim Kostin, and David Perron are all injured, adding to their list of absences.

Jake Walman will dress against Tampa Bay in place of Faulk. He’s played in 14 games this season, notching two assists.

Jordan Binnington Placed In COVID Protocol

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The St. Louis Blues’ battle with COVID continues, as this time their starting goaltender has entered the protocol. Jordan Binnington is now unavailable to the team and the Blues have recalled Charlie Lindgren to take his place on the roster, but unfortunately, they don’t have the cap space to use him tonight. The team will have to use an emergency goalie for one game–similar to what the Toronto Maple Leafs did earlier this season–and then add Lindgren under the emergency recall rules for Friday. Kyle Konin, a 23-year-old netminder who last played at Grand Valley State University, will be the backup tonight.

Binnington joins Tyler Bozak, who was placed in the protocol a few days ago. This isn’t the first time the Blues have been without key players though, and as things are currently going around the league, appears it likely won’t be the last. St. Louis confirmed that Binnington has tested positive, meaning if he experiences any symptoms, he’ll be held out for a minimum of ten days.

That means tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Blues will likely have Ville Husso in net, who dealt with his own stint in the COVID protocol earlier this season. The team is also scheduled to play the Florida Panthers on Saturday before traveling home, something that Binnington won’t be able to do if he’s stuck in quarantine. He’ll have to stay behind and re-join the team down the line, potentially after he misses the next five or six games.

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