Jacob De La Rose Returning To Sweden
It certainly hasn’t been the NHL career that many envisioned for Jacob de La Rose when the Montreal Canadiens selected him 34th overall in 2013. A big, physical center that had already played at a high level in Sweden as a teenager, de La Rose’s offensive game was supposed to mature and develop in North America. It never did, with his best offensive year coming in the AHL when he scored 31 points in 62 games for the St. John’s IceCaps. In his 242 NHL games, split between the Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and St. Louis Blues, the 6’3″ forward registered just 38 points. Now, as restricted free agency approaches for the final time, de La Rose is going back home.
The 26-year-old has signed a three-year contract with Farjestad BK in the SHL, meaning that even if the Blues qualify him this summer, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent by the time this deal expires. It’s hard to even envision him returning to the NHL at this point, given how rarely he was given more than fourth-line minutes throughout his career. Through those 242 games he has averaged fewer than 12 minutes a night, and that is skewed heavily by his usage early on. Unless an offensive explosion happens in Sweden, this may be the last you hear of de La Rose on this side of the pond.
If that’s the case, it is just another poor outcome for a player selected high by the Canadiens in the mid-2010s. de La Rose followed first-round pick Michael McCarron in 2013, with Zach Fucale coming two picks later. In 2014 it was Nikita Scherbak and Brett Lernout with the first two picks, and in 2015 Noah Juulsen and Lukas Vejdemo were the team’s top two selections. Amazingly, it’s perhaps 2014 seventh-round pick Jake Evans that will make the biggest impact from those three classes (honorable mention to Artturi Lehkonen), after his strong performance as a two-way player this season.
West Notes: Wild Offseason, Perron, Lehner
The Minnesota Wild seem to be a team on the way up. The team may have lost in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs to the Vegas Golden Knights, but put together an interesting season in which they should continue to get better.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) writes that the team expects to have a busy offseason, which includes dealing with the challenges of the expansion draft as well as re-signing restricted free agents Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala. While all three should get significant raises, trading one of them is always a possibility. In fact, Russo suggests the team could consider packaging Fiala in a deal to upgrade at the center position in a bold move, even suggesting that the Wild could be serious bidders for Buffalo’s Jack Eichel.
- In a Q&A with St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, beat writer Lou Korac writes that the Blues are focused on getting an extension worked out with veteran winger David Perron. The 33-year-old has only gotten better as he’s gotten older. After a 16-goal season with Vegas back in 2017-18, he has been a key contributor for the Blues since signing with them. He scored 23 goals in 2018-19, 25 goals in 2019-20 and posted a 19-goal, 58-point campaign this year in 56 games. “He’s passionate about the game,” said Armstrong. “He works at the game, he’s evolved with the game, his puck-protection skills are top level. His ability to create offense for himself is top level. He goes to the harder areas. He’s here next year and as long as he wants to play, I don’t know why the St. Louis Blues wouldn’t want him.”
- In a somewhat surprising development, The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reports that Robin Lehner, not Marc-Andre Fleury, is expected to be in net tonight for Game 1 against the Colorado Avalanche. Many expected Fleury to get the nod for an eighth-straight game. The veteran was dominant against the Minnesota Wild with a 1.71 GAA and a .931 save percentage in those seven games. Of course, Lehner is also considered a top goaltender for the Golden Knights. The 29-year-old finished the season with a 2.29 GAA and a .913 save percentage in 19 regular season games. Head coach Peter DeBoer did something similar a year ago, allowing Fleury to start Game 1 against the Dallas Stars in the conference finals. Fleury played well, but Vegas lost, which prompted DeBoer to play Lehner for the rest of the season. Could we see a reverse move made this year?
Jacob De La Rose Drawing Interest In Sweden
It’s getting difficult to ignore the noise coming out of Sweden as it pertains to St. Louis Blues forward Jacob De La Rose. When rumor first came out that his former SHL club Leksands IF was hoping to bring their homegrown product back overseas, it was largely dismissed. Now, the latest report indicates that a bidding war could be coming for De La Rose’s services, one that could convince him to leave the NHL behind.
Swedish news source Expressen reports that De La Rose has officially received a three-year contract offer from Farjestad BK, a perennial power house in Sweden. While Leksands finished higher that Farjestad in the regular season standings this year, both clubs exited in the quarterfinals. Farjestad has already gotten off to a hot start this off-season too, inking De La Rose’s fellow NHL forward Joakim Nygard to a long-term deal. If De La Rose believes that he can contend for an SHL title year in and year out, he may not be able to resist joining Farjestad. However, Leksands is not ready to lie down. Expressen adds that the club is prepared to offer a “significantly larger” contract in financial terms.
Is De La Rose ready to accept a deal from either Leksands or Farjestad though? Doing so could mean the end of his NHL career; at 26, if the bidding war results in both clubs offering increased term, De La Rose would have to be content with leaving North America behind. His usage in 2020-21 – just 13 games for the Blues – is certainly not what the veteran forward is looking for. However, De La Rose had played in at least 50 NHL games in each of the three prior seasons and has established himself as a useful bottom-six forward who occasionally flashes top-six talent. A restricted free agent this summer, De La Rose may be more inclined to leave for Sweden if the Blues retain his rights with a qualifying offer. Otherwise, he may give the NHL’s open market a long look before making a decision. Of course, if the bidding war in Sweden gets to a financial point where it doesn’t make sense to stay in North America, De La Rose could make his commitment sooner rather than later.
NHL Announces Blank COVID Protocol Related Absences List
May 25: The list is empty again today. Moving forward we will only publish it if a player is added to the protocol.
May 24: The long-awaited day has finally arrived. When the NHL released it’s COVID Protocol Related Absences list on Monday evening, it contained no names. It is the first time since the list originally debuted at the start of the regular season that the contents has been empty. Granted, the list now only includes the 14 active playoff teams as opposed to all 31 clubs, but it still marks a major achievement in the league’s battle against the Coronavirus.
Of course, the final step toward a league-wide clean bill of health actually came with the elimination of the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. When the Colorado Avalanche completed their sweep of the Blues, they also ended the seasons of the only two players on the latest CPRA list: David Perron and Nathan Walker. In fact, every player who has appeared on the list since the playoffs began on March 15 has now been eliminated – Perron, Walker, and Blues teammate Jake Walman and Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, whose team was bounced by the Boston Bruins on Sunday as well.
With the NHL already feeling confident enough in its COVID-19 status as to allow relaxed policies to vaccinated teams, the hope is that this empty CPRA list becomes the norm and not the exception. With postseason results obviously carrying much more weight than regular season results, the league does not want to see any of their playoff series tainted by COVID results. The Blues’ absences, particularly Perron’s, were certainly felt, but as major underdogs against Colorado anyhow, the league escaped without much controversy. They hope that can continue throughout the postseason and that the CPRA list becomes a permanent thing of the past moving forward into next season.
Vladimir Tarasenko Changes Agents
Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko has decided to change agents according to Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland (Twitter link). After being represented by Octagon’s Mike Liut, he will now be repped by Paul Theofanous of TMI, LLC, who represents several prominent Russian players including Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Semyon Varlamov. The timing of the switch is a little odd as Tarasenko has two years remaining on his current contract which means the earliest that he could sign an extension with St. Louis is July of 2022.
Russia Adds Three To World Championships Roster
The early playoff exits for the Capitals and Blues is Russia’s gain. The IIHF announced today that Russia has added winger Vladimir Tarasenko from St. Louis plus defenseman Dmitry Orlov and goalie Ilya Samsonov from Washington. Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin declined an invitation due to injury; he missed seven of the last eight games in the regular season due to a lower-body issue which he likely still hasn’t fully recovered from.
It was a tough year for Tarasenko who missed the first half of the season with a shoulder injury and then wasn’t particularly productive upon his return, notching just four goals in 24 games. He managed to pick up a pair of postseason tallies, both coming in yesterday’s 5-2 loss to Colorado. Nevertheless, he should be able to step in and be a go-to scoring threat as the tournament progresses.
As for Washington’s duo, Samsonov’s sophomore season wasn’t as strong as his first year. He had two separate stints on the COVID Protocol Related Absences List including one that made him unavailable for the first two playoff games and managed just a .902 SV% in 19 regular season appearances. Russia kept a goalie spot open presumably in case Washington was eliminated, a decision that looks wise now. Orlov, meanwhile, picked up 22 points in 51 games for the Capitals this season while chipping in with three helpers in the playoffs while seeing his playing time increase to just over 23 minutes a night. He’ll be expected to log similar minutes for Russia.
As TSN’s Gord Miller points out (Twitter link), several countries left spots open for potential late additions. Those are the following:
Canada: Five skaters
Denmark: One goaltender, five skaters
Germany: Five skaters
Russia: One skater
Switzerland: Three skaters
United States: Two skaters
Depending on what other teams get eliminated in the next few days in the playoffs, there could be some reinforcements coming for the above countries. However, they won’t be allowed to play right away and will be required to serve a six-day quarantine upon arriving in Latvia, just like Russia’s new trio of players will soon be doing.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 05/23/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Here is today’s list:
St. Louis – David Perron, Nathan Walker
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: None
The Blues were able to get Jake Walman off the list on Friday and he was making his NHL playoff debut on the third pairing for St. Louis today in their loss to Colorado. With their season coming to an end with a 5-2 loss to the Avs, this may be the end of Perron and Walker appearing on this list as only teams that are still participating in the playoffs are listed on a daily basis.
West Notes: Thomas, Blues, Kadri, Pacioretty
The St. Louis Blues have struggled mightily in its first-round playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche with little offense to show for itself. The team has scored just five goals over three games and needs some players to step up.
Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that one player the team needs more from is Robert Thomas. The 21-year-old looked like a promising youngster in his second season last year when he posted 10 goals and 42 points, but has struggled this year after missing 19 games with a broken hand, hasn’t produced on the ice. The center scored just three goals and 12 points in 33 games and has just two secondary assists so far in the playoffs.
“I think he’s gotta play with more energy and confidence in my opinion,” said Blues coach Craig Berube. “That’s a big thing I think I see with him, is the energy level’s a little low for him. He’s gotta find a little more emotion in his game and go out and play with some energy and emotion in the game. It’s hard to play the game in the playoffs without energy and emotion. And if he gets his energy levels up and gets more emotionally involved in the game, he’s gonna play better.”
- Sticking with the Blues, injuries continue to be a problem for St. Louis. Berube said that the team will be without Vince Dunn, Robert Bortuzzo and Justin Faulk for a pivotal Game 4, the team announced. There is a chance that Jake Walman could be available for the game, and Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports he will play in Game 4 after coming off the COVID-19 protocol list. Dunn is expected to miss his 15th straight game with an upper-body injury. Bortuzzo and Faulk will each miss their second straight with upper-body injuries.
- John Shannon of NHL.com reports that there still is no decision from forward Nazem Kadri about whether he intends to appeal his suspension. Kadri received an eight-game suspension Friday after his hit on Faulk in Game 2. If Kadri wants to appeal, it would go into the hands of commissioner Gary Bettman. If he doesn’t like Bettman’s response, it could go to a third-party arbitrator, but that could take quite a bit of time, according to the scribe. A decision likely will be made later today.
- Still no word on the status of Vegas Golden Knights’ Max Pacioretty as Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen reports that the top-scoring winger remains day-to-day. In fact, the forward has been day-to-day with an undisclosed injury since being injured on May 1. “We don’t know game to game whether he’ll be in, but it’s turned into obviously longer than we hoped,” said head coach Peter DeBoer.
St. Louis Blues Recall Tyler Tucker
After losing both Justin Faulk and Robert Bortuzzo to injury last night, the St. Louis Blues are in a tricky situation. Jake Walman, who would normally be one of the injury replacements, is still in the COVID protocol after testing positive earlier this month. Without a ton of reinforcements, the team has recalled Tyler Tucker from the AHL’s Utica Comets.
Utica’s season ended a few days ago, but it’s not like Tucker was really knocking on the NHL door before the injuries. The 21-year-old seventh-round pick recorded seven points in 27 AHL games this season, his first professional campaign. In 2019-20, the young defenseman split his season between the Barrie Colts and Flint Firebirds of the OHL and actually did attend training camp with the Blues this year.
Still, if he was ever forced into action, it would be a tough test for a player with such little professional experience. More likely he is just there as insurance and to help at practice like a normal “Black Ace,” with other more veteran names stepping into the lineup. Head coach Craig Berube told reporters that Vince Dunn was a possibility for game three, while Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweeted that Steven Santini is the other likely replacement, should they need both.
The problem will emerge if anyone else gets injured, as Tucker is literally the last defenseman in the organization that could be called up. The Blues do not have anyone else, save for Scott Perunovich who has been dealing with injury all season, signed to an NHL contract.
Blues Issue Statement On COVID Discrepencies
Earlier today, several reports emerged about an issue with the COVID testing last night, with teams across multiple sports believing that false positives had been reported. It wasn’t clear which teams would be affected, but the St. Louis Blues have now issued a statement from president of hockey operations Doug Armstrong:
We have discovered discrepancies in Covid test results relating to multiple players. We have been in touch with and are working with the League to address these discrepancies with additional testing and expect to have further information later this afternoon.
The League will provide a further update when we have more information. Head Coach Craig Berube and our players will not be available to the media until after tonight’s game.
The Blues are the team that currently has three players in the COVID protocol, including top scorer David Perron. As Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press points out, the team recently did additional testing after Jake Walman, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive with a rare breakthrough infection. Walman and Nathan Walker are the other two players in the protocol with Perron.
St. Louis is set to take on the Colorado Avalanche in game two of their first-round series later tonight, but obviously, that is now up in the air depending on what happens with this testing situation. Colorado is up 1-0 after a 4-1 win on Monday.