Victor Hedman Out Three To Six Weeks
After leaving last night’s game with an apparent lower-body injury, the Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that All-Star defenseman Victor Hedman will be out for three to six weeks. That’s a huge blow for the Lightning, who use Hedman in all situations for nearly 26 minutes of ice time a night. Still, it’s a better diagnosis than some were expecting since the damage appeared to be to his knee.
As we wrote recently, even before Hedman’s injury one of the places the Lightning could get better was the back half of their defense corps. Now with his injury, that group will be tested more than ever to try and keep the club at the very top of the Eastern Conference. In Hedman’s absence last night, Jake Dotchin led the club with almost 23 minutes (which didn’t include even a second of powerplay time), easily his highest mark of the season. It’s not clear how the team will cope with the loss of Hedman, but Dotchin and young Mikhail Sergachev will likely be leaned on even more than they had been.
The team does have the left-handed Slater Koekkoek waiting in the wings, but he’s never shown an ability to take on much of a lead role for the club. Instead, the team could go out and make an addition with the assets we’ve outlined previously. While a three week absence would have Hedman missing just seven games, there’s no telling how long it will take him to get back to full strength. The team already had some question marks on the bottom pair, and could use this as another reason to improve their defense corps through trade.
For another player in the Atlantic it provides a different opportunity. Hedman was ticketed to represent the Lightning at home during the upcoming All-Star weekend, meaning someone like Morgan Rielly, Torey Krug, Charlie McAvoy, or Keith Yandle could be selected to replace him. While it’s unfortunate that Hedman won’t be able to participate in front of his home crowd, but Tampa Bay fans are just pleased it’s not something more long-term.
Victor Hedman Leaves Game With Lower Body Injury
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced via Twitter that star defenseman Victor Hedman will not return after sustaining a lower body injury during the second period.
Bryan Burns, who writes for the team, indicated that Hedman needed assistance to leave the ice after a knee-to-knee hit by Calgary’s Garnet Hathaway. Hedman hasn’t missed a game all season, and as Burns notes, the loss is a major blow for the league leaders. The anchor of the Bolts’ blue line, players, fans, and staff will be holding their breath to see just how bad the injury turns out to be. The Score’s Ian McLaren tweeted a video of the hit.
A prolonged loss of Hedman would certainly put a dent in the Bolts’ hopes for a deep playoff run. Though the team has depth, losing a player of Hedman’s caliber is difficult–if not near impossible–to replace. Should it be a lengthy injury, it will be interesting to see how general manager Steve Yzerman plays his cards to replace such a significant loss.
2018 All-Star Rosters
The NHL released the rosters for this year’s All-Star game in Tampa Bay, leading to an inevitable onslaught of discussion over who missed out and who didn’t deserve to go. The event will take place on January 27-28th. The full rosters can be found below:
Atlantic Division:
F Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning (captain)
F Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
F Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
F Aleksander Barkov – Florida Panthers
F Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins
F Jack Eichel – Buffalo Sabres
D Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
D Erik Karlsson – Ottawa Senators
D Mike Green – Detroit Red Wings
G Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
G Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens
Head Coach: Jon Cooper
Metropolitan Division:
F Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals (captain)
F Taylor Hall – New Jersey Devils
F Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
F Josh Bailey – New York Islanders
F John Tavares – New York Islanders
F Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers
D Seth Jones – Columbus Blue Jackets
D Noah Hanifin – Carolina Hurricanes
D Kris Letang – Pittsburgh Penguins
G Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers
G Braden Holtby – Washington Capitals
Head Coach: Barry Trotz
Central Division:
F Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche
F Blake Wheeler – Winnipeg Jets
F Brayden Schenn – St. Louis Blues
F Eric Staal – Minnesota Wild
F Tyler Seguin – Dallas Stars
D P.K. Subban – Nashville Predators (captain)
D Alex Pietrangelo – St. Louis Blues
D John Klingberg – Dallas Stars
G Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators
G Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets
Head Coach: Peter Laviolette
Pacific Division:
F Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers (captain)
F Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary Flames
F Brock Boeser – Vancouver Canucks
F James Neal – Vegas Golden Knights
F Rickard Rakell – Anaheim Ducks
F Anze Kopitar – Los Angeles Kings
D Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings
D Brent Burns – San Jose Sharks
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Arizona Coyotes
G Jonathan Quick – Los Angeles Kings
G Marc-Andre Fleury – Vegas Golden Knights
Head Coach: Gerard Gallant
The Tampa Bay Lightning Can Get Even Better
There’s not much doubt that the Tampa Bay Lightning are currently the best team in the NHL, and the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. Even with the outstanding performance of the Vegas Golden Knights so far this season, not many would choose to face the Lightning over them in the first round of the playoffs. With two potential Hart Trophy candidates up front in Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, the Vezina front-runner in Andrei Vasilevskiy and a perennial Norris-level defenseman in Victor Hedman, the Lightning have impeccable strength at every position.
Amazingly, it’s not just at the NHL level that they have talent. Brett Howden, Boris Katchouk, Taylor Raddysh and Cal Foote take home gold at the World Junior Championship, all four Tampa Bay Lightning prospects. Libor Hajek, who was traded earlier today in the WHL, logged huge minutes for his Czech squad en route to a fourth-place finish. That’s to say nothing of Mikhail Sergachev who could have represented Russia if he wasn’t already in the NHL, and the four other prospects who suited up last year. The Lightning have a true pipeline of talent coming through their system, and should be able to replace any outgoing players from within.
But for this season, perhaps that load of prospect capital could be used to improve. Whether through dealing actual players, or the picks that Tampa Bay doesn’t desperately need this season, the Lightning could be big spenders at the deadline to make them even tougher down the stretch.
When looking for cracks on the roster, there aren’t many. If there was one worry it could have been the play of Peter Budaj, who struggled until his recent injury. Louis Domingue may have solved that, acquired from the Arizona Coyotes and looking refreshed in the AHL and his Lightning debut this weekend. While Vasilevskiy is the clear starter, having a capable backup is key for any team looking for a Stanley Cup.
Up front they possess perhaps more depth than any other team in the league. An incredible six forwards already have 30 points for the Lightning, with Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn additionally notching 27 and 24 respectively. Even though Chris Kunitz and Ryan Callahan aren’t scoring, they provide some experience for a Stanley Cup run. One more scoring threat could help, but it certainly isn’t necessary.
So then the last few spots on defense may be the easiest place to find an upgrade. Though Hedman and Anton Stralman are horses, they’re being relied on quite a bit for the Lightning both at even strength and on the penalty kill. Dan Girardi and Braydon Coburn, the other two penalty killing options for the club, aren’t very effective at even-strength. Both players have one more year on their contracts, but don’t seem particularly locked into a role for next season. Not, at least, if the Lightning can go out and find another top-4 option on the open market.
It’s not like they don’t have internal options. Sergachev and Jake Dotchin have their place on the club, and both are getting increased minutes of late. Slater Koekkoek and Andrej Sustr are both still there, but neither have shown that they’re ready to step into a bigger role.
Amazingly, the Lightning even have cap space to burn. Not going forward, as they’ll have to re-sign Kucherov before long and Vladislav Namestnikov is due for a new contract this summer. But for this year, according to CapFriendly they could add approximately $9MM in cap hits at the deadline and still stay cap compliant. That’s a huge number for a team that doesn’t have any glaring needs, and it could result in them stealing one of the top rentals to make them even better. That’s a scary thought for the rest of the Eastern Conference, and perhaps even the whole league.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Dahlin, Hajek
The NHL has released their three stars of last week, with Patrice Bergeron leading the way after his four-goal game against Carolina. Bergeron may not be as flashy as some of his contemporaries, but is undoubtedly still one of the very best players in the NHL. Brad Marchand, who played a big part in his linemate’s impressive performance, wasn’t surprised, telling Tim Rosenthal of Boston.com:
It’s pretty impressive.
I think winning the Olympics, winning the Cup, and him being Patrice Bergeron is above that.
Jonathan Bernier of the Colorado Avalanche and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins took home second and third respectively, after their own impressive weeks. With Semyon Varlamov battling injury, Bernier has stepped in marvelously for the Avalanche, who continue to fight for a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Crosby was up to his old tricks with eight points in four games.
- Craig Button of TSN has released his post-World Junior draft rankings, and he won’t be moving Rasmus Dahlin out of the top spot anytime soon. Button calls the 17-year old defenseman “franchise-defining,” and isn’t the only one. Corey Pronman of The Athletic wrote earlier today that Dahlin is “one of the all-time best defense prospects.” While Arizona remains in last place and has the best shot at the first-overall pick, the Buffalo Sabres aren’t far off from taking that title themselves. Remember though, that even the worst team in the league is actually more likely to lose the lottery and move down at least one spot.
- Speaking of impressive defense prospects, Libor Hajek has been traded in the WHL, heading from the Saskatoon Blades to the Regina Pats in exchange for a package of players and draft picks. Regina is hosting the Memorial Cup this season, and is loading up for the tournament. Hajek, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, was impressive at the World Juniors for the Czech Republic and will now join others like Josh Mahura (an Anaheim prospect who barely missed out on representing Canada) and Cale Fleury (a Montreal prospect who was acquired from Kootenay earlier this season) on an imposing blueline.
NHL Reveals Coaches For Upcoming All-Star Game
The NHL announced the coaches for the 2018 NHL All-Star game in Tampa Bay on Jan. 28, as Tampa Bay Lightning’s Jon Cooper, Vegas Golden Knights’ Gerard Gallant, Washington Capitals’ Barry Trotz and Nashville Predators’ Peter Laviolette will coach their respective divisions.
For the third straight season, the all-star game will feature a 3-on-3, three-game tournament, showcasing each division. Each divisional team will have six forwards, three defensemen and two goaltenders. The coaching selections were based on the team that had the highest point percentage as of Jan. 6, the halfway point of the season.
Cooper earned his first trip to the all-star game in six years as an NHL coach. Tampa Bay has the best record in hockey at 29-9-3. Gallant has earned the invite by taking a first-year expansion team and given them the second-best record in hockey at 28-10-2. It is his second all-star selection in seven years of NHL coaching. Trotz will make his third NHL all-star appearance in 19 years of coaching. The Capitals boast a 25-13-3 record. Laviolette will make his second appearance in 16 seasons as a coach. The Predators have a 25-11-6 record, tied for second in the Central Division, but have a slightly higher points percentage than Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice, who has one more overtime loss.
Full all-star rosters will be released Wednesday. The all-star captains were already named by fan votes as Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (Pacific), Washington’s Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan), Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos (Atlantic) and Nashville’s P.K. Subban (Central) were voted in.
Raddysh Part Of Major OHL Trade
- Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard will miss tomorrow night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a lower-body injury, according to MLive’s Ansar Khan. He was injured during the second period in Friday’s game against the Florida Panthers. The timing of the injury is both good and bad, writes the scribe, as Howard has been playing great hockey over the past couple of weeks as he has allowed just 10 goals over his past six starts. However, the team will go on their bye week after tomorrow, which should give him time to heal.
- Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Taylor Raddysh was the subject of a major OHL trade today in which the Erie Otters traded Raddysh and Detroit Red Wings defensive prospect Jordan Sambrook to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for 16-year-old prospect Hayden Fowler and nine draft picks, according to the Erie Otters. The Otters, who won the 2017 OHL champsionships with Raddysh and Sambrook, are struggling this year with a 12-20-6-1 record. The Greyhounds, however, have the best record in the league at 33-3-2-1 and should only get better now with those top additions. Raddysh, Tampa Bay’s second-round pick in 2016 had 15 goals and 29 assists in 30 games for Erie, but had 42 goals and 109 points a year ago in 58 games.
Lightning Likely To Pursue Top-Four Right-Handed Defenseman
- Tampa Bay is likely to pursue a top-four defenseman who can play the right side between now and the trade deadline, reports Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required). While Jake Dotchin has fared relatively well alongside Victor Hedman, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman will probably want someone that is a bit more proven in that role once the playoffs are underway. However, that is a common need for a lot of teams (LeBrun adds division-rival Toronto is another team looking for help there) so it will be interesting to see if they can find the right fit. Given their group of quality prospects that they could deal from, they could have a leg up on some of those other teams.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Greenway, Parsons
The NHL named it’s Three Stars of the Month for December today, honoring Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask as the First Star, Islanders surprise scorer Josh Bailey as the Second Star, and Tampa Bay dynamo Nikita Kucherov as the Third Star. All three were immensely successful this month and bear watching as the season continues.
The Bruins were on fire in December, posting a 10-2-2 record and are currently on an eight-game streak without a loss. After early season struggles, Rask was a major part of that success, recording an impeccable .955 save percentage and 1.22 goals against average. Rask allowed more than two goals only once in his eleven appearances and posted two shutouts one either end of December. After that performance, Rask has joined some of the league’s best goalies this season with a top-five GAA and top-ten SV%. The 2014 Vezina winner and the holder of the best career save percentage in NHL history (.923), Rask looked more like his elite self this past month than he has in two years.
Meanwhile, there’s no similar history that could have predicted this surge from Bailey. The long-time Islander had a career-high 56 points last season, but is already only six points away from matching it in 2017-18 and on pace for over 100 points. Bailey’s 50 points trails only Kucherov in the NHL and his 38 assists are tops in the league, feeding his talented linemates John Tavares and Anders Lee. In December alone, Bailey led the league with 22 points, including seven multi-point games and an 11-game point streak. Bailey’s breakout has been great for the Isles, but will be even better for the 28-year-old who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Kucherov’s nod is less of a surprise; the Lightning sniper is well-known as one of the league’s best players. Kucherov has an NHL-best 25 goals and 56 points already this season. After posting a career high 85 points in 2016-17, he’ll easily leave that mark in the dust and could flirt with 120 points this year. The early Hart favorite found the score sheet in all but one contest in December as the Bolts went 11-2-0 and continued to dominate the league. The ceiling is the roof for the uber-talented Russian forward and his Tampa Bay teammates this season.
- Another player to keep an eye on in the coming months is Minnesota Wild prospect and recently-named member of the U.S. Olympic team Jordan Greenway. As ESPN’s Emily Kaplan writes today, when Greenway suits up in Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, he will do so as the first ever African-American on the U.S. men’s hockey team. In the 98-year history of the men’s hockey tournament, Greenway is the first to don the red, white, and blue – a major step for the inclusiveness of the game. Of course, Jarome Iginla played for Canada in multiple Olympic Games and P.K. Subban made an appearance as well, but no African-American has had the same opportunity for the U.S.A. The big Boston University forward has represented the U.S. on the international stage before at several junior tournaments, but the Olympics are a whole other level. This could just be the beginning for the talented winger as well. By all accounts, Dustin Byfuglien is the best American-born African American in NHL history, with former grinder Mike Grier likely next in line and a ways behind. By the end of his promising pro career, Greenway could be known as the best American-born African-American in NHL history. He gets his start on the big stage in a matter of weeks.
- One last guy to keep an eye out for is young Calgary Flames keeper Tyler Parsons. The Flames’ recent acquisition of New Jersey Devils defenseman Dalton Prout was not-so-secretly more about ridding themselves of goalie Eddie Lack as it was bringing in an asset. Having solved their logjam in net, Calgary was finally able to promote their 2016 second-round pick from the AHL today, per the ECHL transactions page. The 20-year-old Parsons has been buried since turning pro late last season after leading the United States to a World Junior Championship title. Parsons’ path to the NHL is not without roadblocks remaining though; he still has to prove that he is the heir apparent to veteran Mike Smith by outperforming current big-league backup David Rittich and AHL competition Jon Gillies and Mason McDonald, all of whom are 25 or younger and very well regarded.
The Season Is Already Over For The Arizona Coyotes
Have the Arizona Coyotes already been eliminated from playoff contention in 2017-18? Mathematically, no. There are an almost infinite number of possibilities for the remainder of the NHL season, some which include the Coyotes winning many games and enough Western Conference contenders losing in turn, with Arizona miraculously qualifying for the playoffs. However, a quick look at their record and the standings out west would imply that yes, the ‘Yotes are done for already. But just how true is that assumption?
It’s shockingly accurate, it turns out. In their 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, the Coyotes became one of only two teams this season to already hit the midway mark with their 41st game. Halfway through the 2017-18 season, Arizona is 9-27-5 for 23 points. The Coyotes are on pace for only 46 points this season. In 2016-17, the Colorado Avalanche were historically bad, unlike any season this century. It was the sixth worst 82-game record of all time and, taking teams who were recent expansion franchises out of the equation, the ’16-’17 Avs were the worst established team of the modern era. Yet, Colorado finished with 48 points on the year and had 13 wins and 27 points at the midway mark. This year’s Coyotes, it seems, could be the new worst team ever.
So just how close is Arizona to being statistically eliminated on the first of the year? Even if the Coyotes were to win out – going 41-0-0 the rest of the way – they would finish with 105 points on the year. If everyone else in the Western Conference continues at their current pace, Arizona would only finish fifth in the West behind the Vegas Golden Knights, Nashville Predators, Los Angeles Kings, and Winnipeg Jets. The San Jose Sharks, in this scenario projected to finish sixth with 100 points, have played the fewest games in the NHL and have the most time to turn things around and improve on their record. If the Sharks finished with more than 105 points, then Arizona, having gone undefeated in the entire second half of the season, would still just be a wild card team out of the Pacific Division.
It’s far beyond the realm of possibility for a team to win that many games in a row in the NHL though. So, imagine instead (or at least try) that the Coyotes reverse their fortunes and play to the level of the league’s best team – the Tampa Bay Lightning – who have a .763 points percentage thus far. Arizona would take home 63 of their final 82 possible points; an amazing turnaround for the team. Where would that put them in the Western playoff picture? Way out of it. The Coyotes would finish with 86 points and, based on current projections, that would be good enough for only 13th in the conference. They would pass up Pacific foes Vancouver and Edmonton, both on pace for 78 points, and that is it. The Coyotes could be the best team in the league the rest of the way and it wouldn’t even make a difference.
The most realistic best case scenario for Arizona is that they play twice as well in the second half as they did in the first half, doubling their atrocious .280 points percentage to .560. The Coyotes would net 46 points between now and the end of the season for a total of 69 points in 2017-18. That total, despite their impressive progress in the second half, would currently project them to be the second-worst team in the NHL. Arizona could play twice as well through 41 more games and only pass the Buffalo Sabres in the league standings.
While “mathematically” the Coyotes are a ways off from being eliminated from contention this season, there is simply no way they even sniff the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. Based on current projections, Arizona would need a points percentage north of .800 to make the playoffs and that isn’t happening. So, for anyone still holding out hope that the Coyotes have any semblance of a chance this season, please stop. The only notable thing that Arizona can do in 2018 is be the worst team in NHL history.