Atlantic Notes: Beleskey, Leafs, St. Louis
Since being injured on December 6th, Matt Beleskey hasn’t skated with the team once – until now. Beleskey returned to practice today to the cheers of his teammates, though he still was in a non-contact sweater. According to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE, the 28-year old winger was skating alongside David Krejci and David Backes when he did get into some rushes; otherwise that spot went to Frank Vatrano.
Beleskey was originally given a six-week timeline, which would be up on Tuesday, which looks like a possibility for the Bruins forward. Late next week might be more realistic, with Friday against Chicago being a likely target.
- The Maple Leafs are back in action tonight after their bye week, and new backup Curtis McElhinney will wear #35 according to Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun. The Maple Leafs claimed McElhinney off waivers and are expected to give him his first start tomorrow against the Ottawa Senators.
- The Maple Leafs are playing tonight at Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers are honoring Steven McDonald, a former police officer who passed away Tuesday. He had been a big fan of the Rangers since he was shot in the line of duty 20 years ago, and the team honored him by wearing throwback sweaters in warm-up that had #104 on the back – the number of McDonald’s precinct. McDonald was paralyzed from the neck down in the shooting, but instead of despair he has spread a message of forgiveness since his injury. Adam Graves and Mark Messier were on hand to escort McDonald’s wife and son to center ice.
- In other pre-game ceremony news, the Tampa Bay Lightning retired Martin St. Louis‘ number tonight with former head coach John Tortorella on hand to speak (Torts’ Columbus Blue Jackets are in town to face the Lightning). “He is a man who has been told ‘no’ so many times in his career… I just have so much respect for him in how he did it.” Steven Stamkos also spoke about St. Louis, saying “He was, he still is, and he forever will be the heart and soul of this organization.”
Snapshots: Olympics, St. Louis, Florida Injuries, Oleksiak
While the International Olympic Committee was originally hoping to have a firm answer regarding the NHL’s participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics by January 15th, there is no specific deadline for the league to make their decision, an IOC rep told ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.
The league continues to work on two different schedules for next season, one that would accommodate the NHL stopping midseason and one that would not. While that might sound like reason for optimism, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly isn’t as bullish on the league heading to South Korea:
“The fact of the matter is that we have never at any time received a direct communication from the IOC on the prospect of NHL Player participation in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, and we still do not have the details of precisely how the expenses related to our possible participation would be funded as they have been in the past in the event we decided to go.
“In addition to that, and as we have said on numerous occasions, while those logistical and funding details are obviously important, absent there being some new and compelling reason for the Board [of Governors] to potentially reconsider the issue, there does not appear currently to be anywhere near the requisite support from our clubs that would be necessary for the league to commit to Olympic participation in 2018.”
While there hasn’t been a firm announcement yet regarding the funding, it is believed that International Ice Hockey Federation President Rene Fasel has a plan in place to cover the costs although it remains to be seen if that alone will be enough to sway NHL owners to participate. At any rate, it’s looking like this may not be as close to being resolved one way or the other as originally anticipated.
Other news and notes from around the league:
- The Tampa Bay Lightning will retire Martin St. Louis’ jersey tonight. He will be the first player in team history to receive the honor. Louis spent parts of 13 seasons with the Lightning while also seeing time with the Flames and Rangers (after requesting a trade there in 2014) and has the most assists and points in franchise history. Among those scheduled to speak at the ceremony tonight is former head coach John Tortorella and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
- Panthers GM and interim head coach Tom Rowe provided an update to George Richards of the Miami Herald regarding several of their injured players. Left winger Jonathan Huberdeau, who has missed the entire season with a torn Achilles tendon, is now expected to be back in the lineup in early March instead of sometime in early-to-mid February. Blueliner Alex Petrovic (ankle) could be back following the All-Star Break while center Nick Bjugstad (groin) is still out at least a couple more weeks. The team didn’t have as much of an update on center Aleksander Barkov, who remains week-to-week with a lower body issue.
- Though the original report suggested he’d miss only a couple of weeks, the Stars will be without defenseman Jamie Oleksiak will miss three to six weeks with a hand injury, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters, including Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. The injury occurred on Tuesday against Anaheim. While Oleksiak spent a lot of time early on as a healthy scratch, he had been playing more frequently as of late. The 24 year old has five goals and an assist in 20 games with Dallas this year.
Minor Transactions: 1/13/17
Here is where we’ll keep tabs on today’s minor roster moves:
- Following their loss to Minnesota, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they assigned right winger Nikita Scherbak and left winger Bobby Farnham to their AHL affiliate in St. John’s. Scherbak played in three games with Montreal, picking up a goal while Farnham was held off the scoresheet in his three outings though he recorded 17 PIMS. It’s believed the team is likely to have at least one of center Alex Galchenyuk or right winger Andrew Shaw back in the lineup shortly and these moves open up the roster spots for them to be activated off injured reserve.
- The Lightning have recalled right winger Erik Condra from AHL Syracuse per a team release. The 30 year old has been up and down a lot recently but has yet to see much NHL action overall, skating in just eight games with Tampa this season. He has collected 23 points (7-16-23) in 24 minor league contests but isn’t expected to be in the lineup tonight against Columbus.
- Winnipeg announced that they have recalled blueliner Julian Melchiori from Manitoba of the AHL. He will take the roster spot of rookie winger Patrik Laine, who was placed on injured reserve retroactive to January 7th. Melchiori has seen action in four games with the Jets this season but has spent most of the year with the Moose, picking up two goals and four assists in 31 minor league games.
- The Sharks announced (Twitter link) that they have sent defenseman Mirco Mueller back to the San Jose Barracuda, their AHL affiliate. This marks the fourth separate occasion that he has been sent back to the minors this season. He has got into just three NHL games this year, scoring a goal while adding an assist. He also has eight helpers in 25 AHL contests.
- New Jersey announced via Twitter that they have assigned right winger Nick Lappin to Albany of the AHL in order to activate center Jacob Josefson off injured reserve. The 24 year old Lappin made his NHL debut earlier this year and has spent the bulk of this season with the Devils, collecting four goals and three assists in 35 games.
Evening Snapshots: Murray, Avalanche, Callahan
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray makes his first start tonight since suffering a lower body injury on December 28th. Murray actually returned to action last night against the Washington Capitals but rode the pine as Marc-Andre Fleury‘s backup. The Penguins welcome Murray back as he’s earned a .928 SV% and a 2.18 GAA in 19 games this season. That is in contrast that with Fleury’s .908 SV% and 3.12 GAA. Every point matters in the tight Metropolitan division this season, and right now Murray gives the Penguins that best chance to win in the season’s second half.
- Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic wants to reboot the team to get younger and faster, reports TSN’s Pierre LeBrun this evening (video link). The expectation is that a number of players currently in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage are ready to step up. But Sakic also admitted that he has been in talks with other teams about undisclosed players. We mentioned here and here that both Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene are also rumored to be traded.
- Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan will miss his second straight game tonight as he deals with a lower body injury. While the team did not disclose the nature of the injury, many think it’s related to his hip after he underwent surgery on it this season. Callahan is struggling this season, scoring only 2G and 2A in 18 games.
Snapshots: Fisher, Myers, Milestones, Lightning
When it comes to the pending Las Vegas expansion draft, many teams are likely to go with the 7-3-1 protection route (seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie) over protecting eight skaters plus a goaltender. One of the exceptions is the Nashville Predators, who have four blueliners that are pretty much ‘must-protect’ in P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm.
That means that just four forwards could be protected and as ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun writes, it could play a role when it comes to pending unrestricted free agent center Mike Fisher. It seems likely that there is mutual interest in him sticking around beyond this season given his ties to the market but if they opt to extend him now, that will then result in one more quality forward being exposed to the Golden Knights. As things stand, it’s likely that all but one of forwards Viktor Arvidsson, Calle Jarnkrok, Colin Smith, and Colin Wilson will have to be left unprotected as it is.
As a result, LeBrun wonders if the two sides will wait until the draft passes before getting a new contract done. That way, the team can protect an extra forward while Fisher avoids the risk of being extended and then exposed (which would be a legitimate possibility given who they are already slated to leave unprotected). It’s a strategy that is likely to be used by many teams as they look to limit the amount of talent they have to leave available for Vegas to pick from.
Other news and notes from around the league:
- Jets defenseman Tyler Myers has taken a leave of absence from the team to attend to a family matter, notes Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press. There is no timetable for his return. Myers has already been out of the lineup since November 11th due to a lower body injury but has started skating as he works towards a return to game action.
- Tonight will mark a milestone for Colorado right winger Jarome Iginla. He will suit up in his 1,514th career game, tying him with Tampa GM and long-time Red Wings center Steve Yzerman for 15th overall in league history. Meanwhile, fellow winger Blake Comeau will also reach a milestone as he’ll suit up in his 600th NHL contest.
- Although Tampa Bay has struggled as of late, the team is not planning on making any changes to their coaching staff, reports Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. On the trade front, Yzerman told Smith that he’d like to add to their current core but acknowledged he may have to deal from it to address certain team needs. While he didn’t specify what needs those might be, they’ve long been searching for an upgrade at defense and the team has several forwards that could be moved in order to secure some help on the back end.
Lightning Rookie Forward Erne Out 4 – 6 Weeks
Adam Erne, who made his NHL debut on January 3rd against Winnipeg, will be out 4 – 6 weeks after x-rays Tuesday revealed the rookie forward suffered a broken foot in Tampa Bay’s 6 – 2 loss to Pittsburgh, tweets Erik Erlendsson. The Lightning had reassigned the 21-year-old to the minors yesterday but because the injury occurred while he was a member of the team, Erne will be returned to the team’s roster. Erlendsson adds that Tampa will likely place Erne on IR to free up a roster spot and they may ultimately put him on LTIR.
In four games with the Lightning, the 6-foot-1, 214-pound forward did not register a point while averaging 11:44 of ice time. In 31 games with the Syracuse Crunch this season, Erne tallied eight goals and 18 points with 21 penalty minutes. In 98 career AHL contests, Erne has potted 23 goals and 28 assists with 97 penalty minutes.
Tampa Bay used their second-round choice in 2013 to select Erne from the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. In his final season of junior, Erne scored 41 times while recording 45 helpers in 60 contests.
Minor Transactions: 1/11/2017
There has been a flurry of roster transactions so far today with several players recalled from or reassigned to the minor leagues. We’ll keep track of those moves in this post:
- According to Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register, the Anaheim Ducks recalled forward Stefan Noesen and blue liner Shea Theodore from the San Diego Gulls of the AHL. In a corresponding move, defenseman Brandon Montour was reassigned to the Gulls. Montour made his NHL debut after initially being recalled on December 28th though he failed to register a point in five appearances. Noesen has one goal on the campaign in seven games while Theodore has a goal and five assists in 21 contests this season for Anaheim.
- Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News tweeted this morning that Jamie Oleksiak is dealing with a hand injury and will likely be “out for a bit.” He goes on to say that fellow defenseman Stephen Johns will take Oleksiak’s spot in the lineup for tomorrow’s game at home against Detroit. With eight defensemen on the roster – Patrik Nemeth is currently playing for the AHL Texas Stars on a conditioning assignment though remains on Dallas’ official roster – no call-up is expected to be made. In a later tweet, Heika adds that with Texas playing at home, Stars head coach Lindy Ruff would easily be able to bring Nemeth back from his assignment if necessary.
- After adding forward Derek Grant via waiver claim from Buffalo today, the Nashville Predators reassigned fellow forward Frederick Gaudreau to Milwaukee of the AHL, according to The Tennessean’s Adam Vingan. The 23-year-old rookie has made nine appearances for Nashville this season, the first NHL action of Gaudreau’s career, and has tallied a single assist. In 24 contests with the Milwaukee Admirals, Gaudreau has netted five goals and 14 points. Vingan speculated that Gaudreau’s reassignment might indicate that either James Neal or Colin Wilson could be ready to return to the lineup. Neal was placed on IR retroactive to 1/3 and is currently eligible to be activated. Wilson last played on 1/6.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled blue liner David Warsofsky from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton while reassigning net minder Tristan Jarry to the Baby Pens. Jason Mackey, who covers the club for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reported on the moves and added that with Jarry back to the minors, Matt Murray should be ready to at least serve as Marc-Andre Fleury‘s back-up for tonight’s game against Washington.
- Defenseman Slater Koekkoek and goalie Kristers Gudlevskis were both returned to the AHL Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay’s top minor league affiliate, tweets Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. Koekkoek’s assignment might seem odd on the surface as the blue liner had appeared in 12 of the last 13 Lightning games. But, as Smith points out, Koekkoek does not need to clear waivers to be sent to the minors while fellow defenders Luke Witkowski and Nikita Nesterov do.
- The Washington Capitals announced they have sent forwards Paul Carey and Liam O’Brien to Hershey of the AHL, according to the team’s official Twitter account. The assignments leave the team with just 12 forwards on the active roster, a fact that suggests T.J. Oshie will be back in the Caps lineup tonight. That was later confirmed by Capitals head coach Barry Trotz.
- Two days after sending the fourth overall selection in the June entry draft, Jesse Puljujarvi, to Bakersfield the Edmonton Oilers have assigned fellow forward Anton Lander to the same club. Called up from the Condors was forward Jujhar Khaira, who has eight goals and 18 points in 24 AHL games this season.
Snapshots: Capitals-Penguins, Myers, Lightning, Oilers
Capitals fans will likely see a major milestone when Washington hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.
Captain Alex Ovechkin needs one point to hit 1,000 for his career. His fellow captain, Sidney Crosby, is sitting at 982, though in 139 less games. Ovechkin will become the 84th player in NHL history to hit the 1,000-point mark, and the second-fastest active player to do so behind only former Penguin and Capital Jaromir Jagr.
Ovechkin has 19 goals and 14 assists for 33 points in 40 games so far this season. Overall, he has 544 goals and 455 assists in 879 games. In a swap of their normal roles, Crosby has been the more prolific scorer this season with 26 goals and 18 assists for 44 points in 33 games. Crosby has 364-618-982 in 740 games. Both superstars, who broke into the NHL together back in 2005-06, will hit the 1,000-mark in the same season.
The two teams have played twice, with the Penguins winning in overtime in the season-opener and the Capitals winning 7-1 in mid-November. Washington has a six-game winning streak while the Penguins are riding a five-game streak.
In other good news for the Capitals, top-six winger T.J. Oshie will make his return after missing one game with an upper-body injury.
- Tyler Myers will be away from the Winnipeg Jets for an unknown amount of time, as the defenseman deals with a personal matter, according to Scott Billeck, who covers the Jets for the Winnipeg News and the NHL. Billeck reports that Myers had been travelling with the team, but left the team sometime last week while the team was in Florida. Myers has been out of the lineup since mid-November with a back injury. He has two goals and five points in 11 games played.
- It’s been a nightmare of a season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Steven Stamkos is likely out until the playoffs, but there’s no guarantee that the Lightning can survive that long. Currently, they have 42 points, four back of a playoff spot. While that’s not a big deficit, the Lightning have lost four games in a row for the second time this season, and are battling several key injuries. Stamkos, Brayden Point, Ryan Callahan, Brian Boyle, J.T. Brown, Braydon Coburn, and Ben Bishop are all out of the lineup. The Lightning are facing the end of their current roster’s window of Cup contention, with Bishop, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Jonathan Drouin all needing new contracts. GM Steve Yzerman won’t be able to sign all of his pending free agents, and the team needs to go for it this year. TSN’s Bob McKenize reports that Yzerman is willing to deal nearly “just about anybody” up front, besides Drouin in order to acquire a top-four defenseman (interview transcribed by Chris Nichols of FanRag). Kevin Shattenkirk, Michael Stone, and Dougie Hamilton have all had their names out there this season, and are potential targets for Yzerman to go for. The former two are pending free agents while the latter has been the subject of rumors all year, despite Brian Burke’s insistence that he’s not available for less than 20 first-round picks.
- The Edmonton Oilers are on pace for 94 points, which would be their first season above 90 points since 2005-06, when they went to the Stanley Cup Finals. Despite their fancy new digs, the Oilers are just 9-8-2 at home. OilersNation’s Robin Brownlee gave a startling statistic: the Oilers have won just 86 of their last 207 home games. Brownlee writes that the Oilers need to improve their home record if they want to solidify a playoff spot, seeing as 13 of their last 18 games of the season are at home. The Oilers are on pace to make the playoffs, in spite of their home record, not because of it.
Minor Transactions: 1/10/17
In the midst of a four-game losing streak, the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to shake up their roster. After sending Erik Condra and Adam Erne back down to the AHL yesterday, the team has recalled forward Gabriel Dumont from the Syracuse Crunch today. The 26-year-old center is in his first season with Tampa Bay, after signing a deal with the team this summer, but has yet to make his Lightning debut. It is expected that he will get the opportunity to do so when the Bolts return to action on Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres. Dumont has not played an NHL games since February 2015, and in total has a goal and two assists in 18 NHL games with his former team, his hometown Montreal Canadiens. Dumont has ten points in 19 games for the Crunch so far in 2016-17.
Meanwhile, Tampa also made a move in net, sending down backup Adam Wilcox and replacing him with highly-touted prospect Kristers Gudlevskis. This could signal the end of Andrei Vasilevskiy ‘s long run without a rest. Since Ben Bishop went down with injury, Vasilevskiy has started ten games in a row and the Lightning have allowed six goals in three of those last four starts. Wilcox did not make an appearance in his stint with the team, but considering the diminishing returns of Vasilevskiy, it would seem likely that Gudlevskis gets the chance. The young Latvian keeper has made just one NHL appearance per year in three of the past four seasons, missing out on his annual try in 2014-15 and coming in as a late-game replacement earlier this year. Though a small sample size, Gudlevskis has a stunning .959 save percentage and 1.37 goals against average in those few appearances. Though Vasilevskiy is on a three-day break and Bishop appears close to returning (back at practice today), expect Gudlevskis to get a shot while in Tampa and have his first multi-game NHL season.
Update (4pm CT): Forget all of that about Gudlevskis getting to make an appearance on this trip to Tampa. Less than 12 hours after recalling the minor league goalie, the Lightning have returned him to the Syracuse Crunch. This means that the Bolts coaches liked what they saw out of Bishop today and expect the star keeper to be back in action sooner than predicted. Heading back to the AHL with Gudlevskis is defenseman Slater Koekkoek, the 2012 first-rounder who is still trying to carve out a role for himself with the Lightning. Koekkoek has already far surpassed his career high in games with 29 on the season, but has little to show for it with four assists and a -4 rating. He’s continually been shifted in an out of the lineup and has now been demoted to Syracuse for the eighth time this season.
In other moves:
- The Nashville Predators have promoted forward Pontus Aberg to the NHL squad, as the rookie winger has been nearly a point-per-game player for the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals this season. He has already earned nine games with Nashville so far, but has just one goal and one assist to show for it. The Predators hope he can bring his minor league scoring touch to the big leagues and stick around for a longer stint this time around. The 2012 second-round pick has had a strong AHL career, but had not developed a complete enough game for the NHL level until this season, as least in the eyes of GM David Poile.
- As speculated yesterday, the Calgary Flames have recalled defenseman Brett Kulak from the Stockton Heat. In a corresponding move, Tyler Wotherspoon is headed back to the AHL. The 23-year-old Kulak has bounced back and forth this season, but has already played in a career-high 15 NHL contests. He has three assists in that span, and a goal and four assists in 11 games with Stockton. Wotherspoon has been held scoreless in four NHL games this season, and has six points in 20 AHL games so far. The 2011 second-round pick has not developed as the Flames would like and has seen his small role somehow decrease over the past few seasons.
- A day after placing veteran goalie Curtis McElhinney on waivers (and subsequently losing him) and re-calling young Anton Forsberg, the Blue Jackets were forced to promote Joonas Korpisalo today as starter Sergei Bobrovsky is sick and unable to go tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Forsberg will start tonight’s game, with Korpisalo as the backup.
- The Buffalo Sabres have placed forward Derek Grant on waivers. The journeyman center has played in 35 games already with the Sabres, but has only three assists to show for it. A team still looking for their identity, Buffalo is better served playing their own home-grown young talent rather than mediocre veterans, likely promting Grant’s movement.
- Andrej Nestrasil has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, reports Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis. The Hurricanes have been busy on the waiver wire this season, including both claiming and losing Detroit’s Martin Frk and recently adding former St. Louis Blue Ty Rattie. Given Nestrasil’s age and his decent output in each of the last two seasons, as well as the fact that the only other player on waivers, McElhinney, was claimed, Carolina is lucky that this waiver transaction wasn’t yet another newsworthy one.
- As expected, the Vancouver Canucks have recalled defenseman Andrey Pedan from the Utica Comets of the AHL. With Ben Hutton joing the laundry list of out or injured Canucks blue liners, Pedan can expect an extended stay in Vancouver, which needs all the defensive depth it can get right now.
- With T.J. Oshie ready to return to the Capitals lineup, Washington has returned forwards Paul Carey and Liam O’Brien to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. While both forwards are having good seasons in the AHL with 25 and 18 points respectively in 28 games apiece, neither has managed to turn minor league success into any NHL production. The duo have combined for four points total in 42 combined games over the past four seasons.
More to come
Sunday Evening Snapshots: Panarin, Mason, Simmonds, Kane
Super sophomore Artemi Panarin recently inked a two-year extension that will tie him to the Blackhawks through his restricted free agent years. Upon the expiration of the pact, one that carries an AAV of $6MM, Panarin will be a UFA and at 28 should be positioned to land a lucrative long-term deal in free agency. The structure is ideal for Panarin, as it allows him to max out his earnings over the next two years while still allowing him to reach free agency while still young enough to command a max-term deal. As Chris Kuc and Chris Hine of the Chicago Tribune write, the deal overcame a late and unexpected obstacle in order to reach the finish line.
Panarin decided to change representation from Tom Lynn to Dan Milstein just before the agreement was finalized but the former stayed on to help the new agent complete the negotiations. Lynn, a former assistant GM with the Wild, has a strong relationship with Chicago assistant GM Norm MacIver and that helped grease the wheels on the arrangement. Milstein credits Lynn for his professionalism in difficult circumstances.
“After Artemi told him about the change, (Lynn) offered to stay on to help in any way he could,” Milstein told the Tribune. “He had called me and offered to pass on any and all things he had worked on previously. He and I consulted closely … (and) the whole thing came together in 48 hours.
“(Lynn) was very instrumental and he’s a class act. Ninety-nine percent of people would have hung up the phone and never spoke to you again. I can’t say anything bad about Tom and I know Artemi can’t say anything (bad) either.”
Panarin, who doesn’t speak English well, made the move because of the language barrier.
“As somebody who doesn’t really speak English fluently, it was a little bit of a hassle to bring everything to a translator first, have meetings and have to go through a translation at some point,” Panarin said via an interpreter. “I felt more comfortable getting somebody who speaks Russian.”
Kuc and Hine report that a source conveyed that despite what Milstein said, the relationship he shared with Lynn “was not as amicable as Milstein portrayed.” Regardless, Chicago and Panarin were ultimately able to find common ground and work out a deal both sides were happy with.
Elsewhere around the NHL tonight:
- Sam Carchidi of Philly.com wonders whether the Flyers should re-sign goaltender Steve Mason to serve as a bridge to the team’s prospects at the position. According to Carchidi, the plan at the beginning of the campaign was to allow Mason and Michal Neuvirth, both pending free agents, to compete to see which one would earn an extension but injuries to Neuvirth have allowed Mason to take the lead in that competition by default. Ultimately the scribe feels Neuvirth is simply too injury-prone to be counted on as an undisputed #1 goalie. Carchidi believes a strong second half would nearly guarantee that the Flyers would look to re-up Mason. As it stands, should the team extend Mason, the team would have to expose young net minder Anthony Stolarz, who Carchidi feels has potential. The best bet, in the opinion of Carchidi, might be to deal Neuvirth and add another goaltender under contract for 2017-18 and whom they can leave exposed for the expansion draft.
- Sticking with the Flyers, the Department of Player Safety will not have a hearing with Wayne Simmonds for his hit that knocked Lightning forward J.T. Brown out of yesterday’s game, tweets Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. Smith adds that Brown has been placed on IR requiring him to sit out at least seven days as a result.
- With Buffalo hosting Winnipeg last night, John Vogl of The Buffalo News revisits the blockbuster trade the two clubs made nearly two years ago. On February 11, 2015, Buffalo acquired winger Evender Kane, defenseman Zach Bogosian, and young goaltender Jason Kasdorf in exchange for defenseman Tyler Myers, winger Drew Stafford, forward prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux and a 1st round draft pick. While Kane has struggled to produce up to his talent level, he did hit the 20-goal plateau last season and is on an 82-game pace for 26 goals this season. Myers, meanwhile, has missed all but 11 games this season but did contribute 27 points in 73 contests last season. Stafford had a 21-goal campaign a year ago but has slumped to just three this season. Vogl considers it too early to declare a winner, though with the 20-year-old Lemieux and Jack Roslovic – the player chosen with that first round pick – still developing, the Jets have a good chance of ultimately coming out ahead in the swap.