What Your Team Is Thankful For: Tampa Bay Lightning
With the holiday season wrapping up, PHR will continue its look at what teams are thankful for as we get closer to the halfway point. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
What are the Lightning most thankful for?
The fact that they are still in it.
After a dominant 2018-19 season in which Tampa Bay ran away with the Atlantic Division and the President’s Trophy with a dominant 62-16-4 for 128 points and no significant changes to its team, most expected another dominant season once again. That has not happened with the team, almost luckily, sitting in third place in a challenging Atlantic Division as a recent six-game winning streak has improved their record to a more respectable 23-13-4 record. The team seems to have found its game in the last few weeks and hopefully will force their way back to the top of the standings.
Who are the Lightning most thankful for?
The 2017-18 Norris Trophy winner has had several great seasons, but the 29-year-old is on pace for career highs across the board. Through 38 games, Hedman has nine goals and 30 assists, which would translate to a point-per-game season, something he’s never accomplished in his remarkable career. Of course, with so many strong defensive candidates this year, he might have a hard time trying to get nominated for the award, but the defenseman has been a rock for Tampa Bay in a tough first half.
What would the Lightning be even more thankful for?
Better goaltending.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner had a dominant season last year, posting a 2.40 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 53 appearances. However, this year has been a totally different story as the 25-year-old has been less impressive with a 2.83 GAA and a .909 save percentage. Those numbers aren’t terrible, but hardly numbers you’d expect to see out of last year’s Vezina Trophy winner.
Unfortunately, the team isn’t getting better help from the backup position. The Lightning brought in veteran Curtis McElhinney to create a dominant tandem with Vasilevskiy, but the 36-year-old has struggled in his first year in Tampa after an impressive season with the Carolina Hurricanes last year. He currently has a 3.19 GAA and a .904 save percentage in 11 appearances. The team needs both netminders to bounce back and have a dominant second half.
What should be on the Lightning’s Holiday Wish List?
The team hasn’t gotten the dominant individual performances that they did a year ago. Nikita Kucherov has been impressive, but is well below his 41-goal, 128-point season that netted him the Hart, Art Ross and Ted Lindsay trophies a year ago. Kucherov so far has just 14 goals and 43 points, which would be solid numbers for almost everyone else on the team, but not so much for Kucherov. The team has seen a number of forwards slip as Brayden Point, Mathieu Joseph and Yanni Gourde, to name a few, have struggled more this year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Injury Notes: Glass, Atkinson, McDonagh
After a horrible spill in which many feared that Vegas Golden Knights rookie Cody Glass might have suffered a significant knee injury Saturday against St. Louis, The Athletic’s Jesse Granger reported that he’s heard from multiple sources that Glass suffered a bone bruise and is not expected to require surgery.
The 20-year-old suffered a similar injury last season with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL, but this injury is the opposite knee. The forward could still miss a significant amount of games, but there is no ACL/MCL tear, which means Glass should be back when they need him, at the very least. Glass has been a fixture on Vegas’ third line as he has five goals and 12 points in 37 games.
- NHL.com’s Jeff Svoboda reports that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson is a 50-50 proposition for playing on Monday against the Los Angeles Kings. The veteran has been out since Dec. 19 with a high ankle sprain. Atkinson did practice today and was on the top power-play unit, suggesting he might be ready. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline adds that high ankle sprains are tricky and there is a big difference between practicing and games. Atkinson said that he still feels a high ankle sprain to his left ankle that he suffered several years ago.
- The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh will miss Sunday’s game against Carolina with an upper-body injury. The veteran defenseman went down Saturday and left the game. There is no report on the severity of the injury, so more could come on Monday. McDonagh has had a tough season after a 46-point campaign last year. He currently has just one goals and 11 points in 40 games.
Tampa’s Cory Conacher Drawing Interest Overseas
Cory Conacher is still very much under contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the NHL season is far from over, but that isn’t stopping SC Bern and their NLA competitors from pursuing him. Formerly a breakout prospect that once upon a time fetched Ben Bishop in a trade, Conacher’s NHL career burned bright early on and burned out just as fast. Conacher record 24 points in his first 35 NHL games in 2012-13, but has recorded just 51 points in 158 NHL games since. He may be looking for a change of scenery and Swiss teams are willing to oblige.
Conacher has remained a dominant AHL force throughout his career, maintaining a near point-per-game pace in over 300 career minor league games. Yet, his best pro season actually came back in 2015-16, when he spent the season overseas in Switzerland with SC Bern. Conacher led Bern in scoring with 52 points and finished in the top five in the NLA in scoring, while leading Bern to an unexpected championship. The team has won two more championships since, but in the midst of a down year they are reminiscing about better times. With Conacher’s NHL hopes all but dashed, Bern hopes that they can entice him to return.
Beat writer Reto Kirchhofer writes that Bern is interested in signing Conacher, perhaps even before the end of the season, and GM Alex Chatelain recently met with the 30-year-old forward while visiting the U.S. Kirchhofer does not believe that Conacher will ask for a release from the Lightning this season, but feels that he will become a real target this off-season. However, he adds that Bern will not be the only Swiss club pursuing the former NLA superstar. Conacher could play on another minimum two-way deal with the Lightning again next year, as he has for the past four seasons, but he will likely at least be interested in the potential bidding war awaiting him in Switzerland this summer.
Lightning Acquire Patrick Sieloff
The first trade after the holiday roster freeze is a small one as Tampa Bay and Anaheim have made a swap of veteran AHL players. The Lightning announced that they’ve acquired defenseman Patrick Sieloff from the Ducks in exchange for forward Chris Mueller.
The 25-year-old Sieloff has bounced around in recent years as this will be his third organization in 2019 alone. He has spent this season with Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego, recording a goal and 16 penalty minutes in 19 games. Sieloff has played in two career NHL games, scoring in both of them but will most likely serve as extra depth in case of injury on Tampa Bay’s back end.
Mueller, 33, has been a productive scorer at the minor league level over the past decade but it has yet to translate into many NHL opportunities as he has just 52 games over his belt between three different franchises. He has switched teams five separate times over the past six seasons, all in free agency where he was signed to help boost scoring on their farm teams. One of those was Anaheim, who had him back in 2015-16. Mueller has 11 goals and 12 assists in 31 games with Syracuse and will immediately be the top scorer in AHL San Diego, the Ducks’ affiliate.
Both players are on two-way contracts for the league minimum at the NHL level this season. Sieloff will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer if he receives a qualifying offer while Mueller will once again hit the open market in July.
Jon Cooper’s Job Not In Danger In Tampa
In a Q&A with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois talked about a variety of topics. However, the most interesting point that the straight-shooting executive made was that his head coach, Jon Cooper, is safe. The Lightning are not meeting expectations this season (although they are ranked tenth in the NHL in points percentage), but Cooper is not on the hot seat. At least not yet.
BriseBois tells LeBrun that Cooper’s job security “shouldn’t come up”. He states that the team has had just one truly bad week so far this season, but feels that they are working hard night in and night out. In fact, BriseBois said that the team’s play has outperformed their record whereas last year the President’s Cup champs’ record outperformed their play. Nevertheless, Cooper did coach the Bolts to a league-best 62-16-4 record last season, so he has been afforded some comfort in his position, even if the team has already lost 13 games so far this year.
However, BriseBois’ feelings toward Cooper could change if Tampa has another tough go of things in the playoffs this year. After the embarrassing first-round sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets last year, Cooper’s seat could definitely get hot if the team finishes with a worse record and again disappoints in the postseason. Cooper is safe for now, but not forever.
NHL All-Star Selections Announced
Although it took some time, with each individual team rolling out their own selections, the final rosters for All-Star Weekend have come into focus. Below are each of the four divisional team, set to face off in the Skills Competition on Friday, January 24th and the All-Star Game on Saturday, January 25th:
Atlantic Division
G Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
G Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
D Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens
F Tyler Bertuzzi, Detroit Red Wings
F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
F Anthony Duclair, Ottawa Senators
F Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers
F Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins (C)
Metropolitan Division
G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
G Joonas Korpisalo, Columbus Blue Jackets
D John Carlson, Washington Capitals
D Dougie Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes
D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets
F Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
F Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh Penguins
F Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers
F Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils
F Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
Central Division
G Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues
G Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche (C)
F Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues
F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
F Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars
F Eric Staal, Minnesota Wild
Pacific Division
G Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
G Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes
D Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
F Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
F Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (C)
F Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
F Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks
F Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary Flames
Additionally, each divisional squad will have one more addition as decided by the Last Men In fan vote. Voting opens on January 1st and closes on the 10th. Here are the candidates:
Atlantic Division – Patrice Bergeron, Rasmus Dahlin, Dylan Larkin Aleksander Barkov, Max Domi, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Steven Stamkos, Mitch Marner
Metropolitan Division – Teuvo Teravainen, Nick Foligno, Nico Hischier, Brock Nelson, Mika Zibanejad, Claude Giroux, Kris Letang, T.J. Oshie
Central Division – Jonathan Toews, Cale Makar, Jamie Benn, Ryan Suter, Matt Duchene, David Perron Patrik Laine
Pacific Division – Ryan Getzlaf, Clayton Keller, Johnny Gaudreau, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Drew Doughty, Tomas Hertl, Quinn Hughes, Max Pacioretty
Snapshots: Three Stars, Bruins, Mikheyev
The NHL has released their Three Stars for the previous week, handing out the top honors to Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman. The big Swedish star had eight points in three games including a four-assist effort against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. Even with the Lightning struggling to find any sort of consistency this season, Hedman is having an outstanding year with 37 points in 35 games.
Second place went to St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, who has continued his outstanding play from last season and now carries a .921 save percentage on the year. The 26-year old is the backbone of a team that looks ready to compete for the Stanley Cup once again. Finishing the group is John Tavares, who takes home the third star after a seven-point week with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The high-flying Maple Leafs are scoring goals at a staggering pace, even as they deal with injuries all over the roster.
- Speaking of injuries all over the roster, the Boston Bruins gave updates on several players today. David Krejci, Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy and Connor Clifton will all not travel with the team to New Jersey. Brad Marchand who was absent was taking a maintenance day and will play. After getting back on track recently with a trio of wins, the Bruins have stretched their lead in the Atlantic Division back to ten points.
- One player that will be traveling, though not to a team’s next destination, is Ilya Mikheyev. The Maple Leafs forward has been released from hospital in New Jersey and will fly back to Toronto today after having surgery to repair his lacerated wrist. GM Kyle Dubas stayed in New Jersey with Mikheyev while he was tended to and will be traveling back with him today. The rookie forward could miss the rest of the season with the injury after severing tendons and arteries in his wrist.
Minor Transactions: 12/30/19
With just one game on the schedule for this evening, teams are licking their wounds waiting for the New Year and the second half of the NHL season. The Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins will be in action, but even those on a rest day will be making minor tweaks. As those come in, we’ll list them here.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Timothy Liljegren and Teemu Kivihalme, two defensemen yet to make their NHL debuts. The Maple Leafs already lost Jake Muzzin to a broken foot and need to replace him on the roster. It seems Kivihalme will get the first shot, as Liljegren has already been returned to the AHL Marlies.
- With Charlie McAvoy going onto injured reserve, the Boston Bruins have recalled Jeremy Lauzon under emergency conditions. McAvoy hasn’t played since before Christmas, though the injury isn’t expected to keep him out long-term. The Bruins got some good news on the injury front as well, activating forward Karson Kuhlman from the injured reserve and assigning him to AHL Providence.
- Calvin Pickard has been recalled by the Detroit Red Wings once again, giving them another healthy goaltender. Pickard has ended up playing two games for Detroit this season, but has a 5.32 GAA and .818 save percentage.
- Mathieu Joseph is heading back to the minor leagues once again, something the Tampa Bay Lightning have done several times this month. The young forward has still spent most of his season with the NHL club, but is bouncing back and forth lately.
- The San Jose Sharks have recalled forward Joachim Blichfield from the AHL Barracuda, giving the youngster another opportunity after he made his NHL debut early last month. Blichfield has been one San Jose’s best minor league forwards this season and the struggling Sharks could use an offensive boost if he can translate his game to the next level.
- Daniel Sprong is back in the NHL after a brief layover with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. The Anaheim Ducks called up the young forward, who has spent considerable time with the team this year, but has only actually played in one game. Sprong recorded 19 points in 47 games with the Ducks last year and already has 19 points in 25 games with the Gulls, so he has the potential to make an impact in Anaheim if given the chance.
- With the Minnesota Wild activating captain Mikko Koivu, the team has reassigned rookie forward Nico Sturm to AHL Iowa. Sturm, a highly sought-after college free agent last spring, has 12 points in 25 games wIowa this year and a pair of points in six games with Minnesota as well.
Minor Transactions: 12/28/19
The NHL returned to work last night, with several strange results to kick off the unofficial second half of the season. The Maple Leafs beat the Devils in overtime on a goal in which they never touched the puck, the Sabres were shutout 3-0 in a game in which they outshot the Bruins, and the Wild, Blackhawks, and Ducks all pulled off convincing upsets. As more teams return to action today, it promises to be a busy stretch for roster changes, as evidenced by a multitude of moves early on. Follow along with all of the day’s transactions here:
- The Ottawa Senators have recalled two and reassigned one, adding forward J.C. Beaudin and defenseman Christian Jaros and sending forward Logan Brown to AHL Belleville. Brown will surely be disappointed after expressing his frustration with his role in Ottawa earlier this season. At the same time, the young forward has not exactly dominated in his 23 games with the team this season, recording one goal and eight points.
- After being sent down (in a paper transaction) yesterday, Mathieu Joseph is back with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team announced. With Carter Verhaeghe still sidelined, Joseph is needed in the Bolts lineup. He’ll need to make the most of the opportunity though, as his seven points so far this season have him off the pace of his 26-point rookie campaign.
- Steven Fogarty has been called up by the New York Rangers, marking his first recall to the NHL this season. Fogarty played in ten games with the Rangers last year, but failed to record a point. However, his AHL numbers suggest that it’s only a matter of time before he gets that first point.
- The New Jersey Devils have activated goaltender Louis Domingue from the injured reserve and assigned him to AHL Binghamton. With Gilles Senn currently backing up MacKenzie Blackwood, the Devils don’t need Domingue at the present time. His six appearances with New Jersey prior to his injury did little to convince the team that he is worthy of a permanent roster spot.
- The Vegas Golden Knights announced that they have recalled winger Keegan Kolesar from Chicago of the AHL. The 22-year-old had 20 goals in the minors last season but has been held without a tally through 18 games with the Wolves this season.
- With the recent injuries to Ilya Mikheyev and Trevor Moore, the Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled winger Kenny Agostino and defenseman Timothy Liljegren from the AHL’s Marlies. Agostino spent most of last season in the NHL and could find himself in a regular role with Toronto relatively quickly. Mikheyev and Moore were placed on injured reserve to make room on the roster.
- CapFriendly reports that the Anaheim Ducks have assigned forward Daniel Sprong to the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. The 22-year-old forward was recalled a week ago and made his season debut for the Ducks, but finished with a minus-three in the game he played. He will return to the Gulls where he has seven goals and 18 points in 24 games.
- CapFriendly reports the Boston Bruins have assigned defenseman Steven Kampfer to the Providence Bruins in the AHL. The blueliner was an emergency recall after an injury to defenseman Torey Krug. This could be a paper transaction with the team potentially recalling him officially before Sunday’s game against Buffalo.
NHL Draft Picks Participating In The World Junior Championship
The 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship is underway from Ostrava and Trinec in the Czech Republic. The tournament began today and will run through the championship game on January 5th. Each of the NHL’s 31 teams has at least one representative at the WJC. Five teams have only one draft pick participating, while the Los Angeles Kings (9) and Arizona Coyotes (7) each have more than those teams combined. However, it only takes one player and one moment to make history at the WJC. Check out which future NHLers will have that chance this year:
Anaheim Ducks (2):
G Lukas Dostal, Czech Republic
F Trevor Zegras, USA
Arizona Coyotes (7):
F Barrett Hayton, Canada
F Jan Jenik, Czech Republic
F Matias Maccelli, Finland
D Aku Raty, Finland
D Victor Soderstrom, Sweden
F Valentin Nussbaumer, Switzerland
D Ty Emberson, USA
Boston Bruins (3):
F Jakub Lauko, Czech Republic
F John Beecher, USA
F Curtis Hall, USA
Buffalo Sabres (4):
F Dylan Cozens, Canada
F Matej Pekar, Czech Republic
G Erik Portillo, Sweden
D Mattias Samuelsson, USA
Calgary Flames (1):
G Dustin Wolf, USA
Carolina Hurricanes (5):
D Anttoni Honka, Finland
F Lenni Killinen, Finland
F Patrik Puistola, Finland
F Dominik Bokk, Germany
F Jack Drury, USA
Chicago Blackhawks (2):
F Antti Saarela, Finland
F Michal Teply, Czech Republic
Colorado Avalanche (4):
D Bowen Byram, Canada
G Justus Annunen, Finland
F Sampo Ranta, Finland
D Daniil Zhuravlyov, Russia
Columbus Blue Jackets (4):
F Liam Foudy, Canada
F Kirill Marchenko, Russia
F Dmitri Voronkov, Russia
D Tim Berni, Switzerland
Dallas Stars (3):
F Ty Dellandrea, Canada
F Oskar Back, Sweden
F Albin Eriksson, Sweden
Detroit Red Wings (5):
D Jared McIsaac, Canada
F Joseph Veleno, Canada
D Moritz Seider, Germany
F Jonatan Berggren, Sweden
F Jesper Eliasson, Sweden
Edmonton Oilers (4):
F Raphael Lavoie, Canada
G Olivier Rodrigue, Canada
F Matej Blumel, Czech Republic
D Philip Broberg, Sweden
Florida Panthers (3):
Justin Schutz, Germany
F Grigori Denisenko, Russia
G Spencer Knight, USA
Los Angeles Kings (9):
F Aidan Dudas, Canada
F Akil Thomas, Canada
F Lukas Parik, Czech Republic
F Rasmus Kupari, Finland
D Kim Nousiainen, Finland
D Tobias Bjornfot, Sweden
F Samuel Fagemo, Sweden
F Arthur Kaliyev, USA
F Alex Turcotte, USA
Minnesota Wild (1):
F Alexander Khovanov, Russia
Montreal Canadiens (4):
D Alexander Romanov, Russia
D Mattias Norlinder, Sweden
F Cole Caufield, USA
D Jordan Harris, USA
Nashville Predators (1):
D Spencer Stastney, USA
New Jersey Devils (5):
D Kevin Bahl, Canada
D Ty Smith, Canada
D Daniil Misyul, Russia
F Nikola Pasic, Sweden
G Akira Schmid, Switzerland
New York Islanders (2):
F Jacob Pivonka, USA
F Oliver Wahlstrom, USA
New York Rangers (5):
D Nico Gross, Switzerland
F Karl Henriksson, Sweden
D Nils Lundkvist, Sweden
D Zachary Jones, USA
D K’Andre Miller, USA
Ottawa Senators (3):
D Jacob Bernard-Docker, Canada
D Lassi Thomson, Finland
F Shane Pinto, USA
Philadelphia Flyers (4):
F Egor Zamula, Russia
D Adam Ginning, Sweden
F Bobby Brink, USA
D Cameron York, USA
Pittsburgh Penguins (1):
D Calen Addison, Canada
San Jose Sharks (1):
Santeri Hatakka, Finland
St. Louis Blues (2):
G Joel Hofer, Canada
F Nikita Alexandrov, Russia
Tampa Bay Lightning (3):
F Nolan Foote, Canada
F Maxim Cajkovic, Czech Republic
G Hugo Alnefelt, Sweden
Toronto Maple Leafs (3):
D Mikko Kokkonen, Finland
D Rasmus Sandin, Sweden
F Nicholas Robertson, USA
Vancouver Canucks (4):
F Karel Plasek, Czech Republic
D Toni Utunen, Finland
F Vasily Podkolzin, Russia
F Nils Hoglander, Sweden
Vegas Golden Knights (3):
F Pavel Dorofeyev, Russia
F Ivan Morozov, Russia
G Isaiah Saville, USA
Washington Capitals (2):
F Connor McMichael, Canada
D Martin Has, Czech Republic
Winnipeg Jets (2):
F David Gustafsson, Sweden
D Ville Heinola, Finland