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Jimmy Vesey Claimed By Vancouver Canucks

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The Vancouver Canucks have added a forward to the mix, claiming Jimmy Vesey off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 27-year-old winger is earning just $900K on a one-year contract and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Though he will face a quarantine of some sort, it will not be the two-week period that is reserved for players entering Canada from the U.S. Vancouver is actually in Ottawa to play the Senators, meaning he can easily be picked up without having to take a commercial flight.

Vesey wasn’t much of anything for the Maple Leafs, who gave him ample opportunity to establish himself in the top six playing next to talent like John Tavares and William Nylander. He recorded just five goals and seven points in his 30 games and had been recently demoted to the fourth line. Though he had shown a bit of jump in that role, losing a player that had logged fewer than ten minutes in each of his last six games certainly won’t hurt that much.

That is especially true if there is an easy replacement, and it appears there is. Both Wayne Simmonds and Alex Galchenyuk joined Maple Leafs practice today in regular sweaters, perhaps indicating they’ll both be in the lineup when the team is back in action this weekend. Simmonds has been out for weeks after breaking his wrist, while Galchenyuk was brought in as a project and rebuilt his confidence at the minor league level. In six games with the Toronto Marlies, Galchenuk scored eight points; now he’ll have to show he can be a reliable contributor at the NHL level.

For Vancouver, claiming Vesey doesn’t come with much risk given his low salary and expiring contract. Perhaps the Canucks can unlock some hidden offensive potential, or use him as a competent bottom-six option. Even Vesey’s five-goal performance this season would be seen as successful when compared with some of the disappointing numbers in Vancouver, including Adam Gaudette, Jay Beagle, Jake Virtanen, and Antoine Roussel, who have combined for eight goals in 114 appearances.

Several Players Placed On Waivers

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March 17: Vesey and Forsberg were claimed by the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators respectively, but both Byron and Grigorenko have cleared. The latter two can now be placed on the taxi squad or sent to the minor leagues.

March 16: Several players have been placed on waivers today, including Paul Byron of the Montreal Canadiens. Byron is joined by Jimmy Vesey of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anton Forsberg of the Winnipeg Jets, and Mikhail Grigorenko of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Byron has already experienced this once this season, clearing waivers a month ago. Since then he had played more than ten games, meaning if the Canadiens want to place him on the taxi squad he’ll have to clear again. It’s been a disastrous two seasons for the 31-year-old forward, with just 17 points since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That includes just two goals in 27 games this season, a far cry from the player who was one of the most effective even-strength scorers in the league just a few years ago. With the development of other younger players on the Montreal roster, Byron finds himself either buried in the lineup or on the sidelines watching. His $3.4MM cap hit (through 2022-23) certainly makes him a tough target to claim.

Vesey hasn’t seen waivers before, but it doesn’t come as much of a surprise at this point. The 27-year-old forward has seven points in 30 games for the Maple Leafs and has been relegated to the fourth line in recent weeks. He has only cracked the 10-minute mark three times in his last ten games and played just 4:41 a few nights ago. With the Maple Leafs expecting Wayne Simmonds back soon and facing a delicate cap situation, Vesey’s time has come to be moved to the taxi squad.

Forsberg was already claimed off waivers twice this season, first by the Carolina Hurricanes and then by the Jets just a few days later. Now he faces another round that could change his destination as teams are still struggling to find NHL experience in net. Injuries all across the league make goaltenders like Forsberg valuable, if only because he could enter an NHL game in a pinch. It’s not like that’s actually happened this season though, through the first two months Forsberg hasn’t played a single game.

Grigorenko is an interesting name, after signing a one-year $1.2MM deal with the Blue Jackets as a return to the NHL. The 12th overall pick in 2012, Grigorenko left the NHL in 2017 to return to Russia and play in the KHL. After developing his game further there, his return was supposed to be a strong addition for Columbus. Unfortunately, with just seven points in 18 games and limited minutes, it hasn’t really worked out. Perhaps another team believes they can get the best out of him down the stretch, but a return to the KHL seems possible after this season concludes.

Toronto Maple Leafs Willing To Trade Top Prospect

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Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas held his midseason availability today as the team enjoys a few off days in a row and was asked many questions about the upcoming trade deadline. Dubas admitted that most of his talks have been about forwards and that the Canadian quarantine protocols will push him to make a deal sooner rather than later, but one answer was quite clear. When asked if he was willing to trade a top prospect at this year’s deadline, Dubas flatly responded “yes” with no further explanation. For a manager that always seems to have time to expand on an answer, that was telling.

While there may be some debate as to which are considered “top prospects” in the Maple Leafs system, names like Nicholas Robertson, Rasmus Sandin, and Rodion Amirov are likely among them. It could also perhaps include Timothy Liljegren, the 17th overall pick from 2017, but his status in the Maple Leafs organization isn’t exactly clear as he continues to be denied many opportunities at the NHL level. Darren Dreger of TSN lists those four together and suggests they are in the same category as the team’s first-round pick this year, available for a “near perfect fit.”

Dubas, who has usually spoken out against the idea of acquiring rentals at the deadline, also mentioned that this season may be one that it is considered, thanks to a squeezed cap moving forward. The Maple Leafs are also obviously viewing themselves as contenders in the North Division and perhaps see this as a real opportunity to advance deep in the playoffs—something they haven’t been able to do for so long.

The team doesn’t have much cap flexibility to work with at this year’s deadline, though sending out some money could solve that problem. If they are willing to move a top prospect or high draft pick as well, Toronto will have to be considered on basically any of the high-end rentals this year. Just a few days ago our PHR community voted Taylor Hall as the top rental available, with names like Bobby Ryan, Eric Staal, and Kyle Palmieri all coming in on the next tier. Any of those forwards might have an impact for Toronto, though each come with their own complications.

North Division Notes: 2021-22, Quarantine Protocol, Sabourin

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Although the North Division was only intended to be a temporary alignment in 2020-21, the all-Canadian grouping has been popular north of the border. As a result, there are a number of teams hoping that the division might stay together for a while longer. Commissioner Gary Bettman was adamant earlier this week that the league will return to its normal divisional alignment next season, albeit with a small shift due to expansion. Yet, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that several Canadian teams are hoping to get at least another year of national competition. Ironically, this only seems likely if there continue to be restrictions at the Canada-U.S. border through the summer and into next season; the same restrictions that are making trade acquisitions difficult for Canadian teams and could prevent the North Division winner from playing at home in the semifinal and potentially the Stanley Cup Final series. However, the teams in favor of the North Division remaining intact feel that the impact could be more important than any ill effects this season. Johnston notes that these teams can feel the excitement within the country of the reignited Canadian rivalries and want to see that expand with fans being allowed back into games, further boosting the focus on the league. However, there is a way for this to be accomplished without the North Division continuing. Discussions earlier this season centered around the value of continuing to push the regional, non-divisional rivalries that have sprouted this season simply by changing the way scheduling is handled, rather than through realignment. Furthering the emphasis on regional play through extra contents between geographically linked teams would not only continue to fuel the rivalries created or rediscovered this season, but is also a way to save money on travel as teams continue to deal with losses this season. Perhaps this is the way to go that will make both the NHL and their Canadian contingent happy.

  • As noted, there is more downside than upside for the NHL and Canadian clubs to continued border issues. The most pressing of these problems with the trade deadline approaching is the required 14-day quarantine for anyone crossing into Canada, a major holdup in player acquisitions. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reached out to Health Canada and found that, despite a report earlier this year, there has been no formal request made by the NHL to amend the quarantine rules for trade acquisitions. However, Friedman did not sound optimistic that any such proposal would be accepted anyway. Specifically, players have wondered whether they could avoid the quarantine period if an acquired player has been vaccinated, but Health Canada stated that they do not know enough about the impact of vaccination on transmission to allow such a change. Friedman notes that lobbying efforts continue from the league to strike some sort of agreement with the Canadian government to ease quarantine restrictions, but the likelihood seems low. With the deadline now a month away and nothing formal yet in the works, Canadian contenders will likely have to account for a two-week absence of any new players acquired from their American counterparts.
  • It didn’t take long for Toronto Maple Leafs forward Scott Sabourin to make his mark on this season, and not in a good way. After signing with the Leafs in Feburary, Sabourin was assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies to get back into game shape and made his season debut against the Laval Rocket on Friday. On Saturday, the Leafs recalled him to their taxi squad, adding a physical, gritty veteran to their group of potential substitutes. Later in the day, the AHL announced that when Sabourin returns to the AHL, he will be suspended for one game; Toronto opted to send him down on Sunday to serve that ban. Sabourin crashed the Laval net late in Friday’s game and started an altercation with multiple opponents and the league deemed this was worthy of a suspension. With a one-game suspension, not to mention 17 penalty minutes, after just one game this year, Sabourin seems to be returning to the aggressive reputation that he has built in his AHL career rather than building on the progress he made as a more composed player with the Ottawa Senators last year.

Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Mikko Lehtonen

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The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t have much playing time for top KHL free agent signing Mikko Lehtonen, so he’ll get a chance elsewhere. The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired Lehtonen in exchange for goaltender Veini Vehvilainen.

The Maple Leafs had been looking for more goaltending depth all season after losing Aaron Dell on waivers and experiencing injuries to both Frederik Andersen and Jack Campbell. Vehvilainen will represent that depth, but certainly is no lock to provide quality NHL production. The 24-year-old was a sixth-round pick by the Blue Jackets in 2018 and posted a .901 save percentage in 33 appearances with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL last season. This year, he has just two games on North American ice and has allowed four goals on 24 shots.

Still, for Toronto, getting a goaltender that is waiver-exempt was key, given how they potentially could lose Michael Hutchinson if they try to sneak him through again. If Vehvilainen can find the level of play that earned him Goaltender of the Year honors in Finland, it would be quite the addition to Toronto’s crease.

Lehtonen is the more high-profile name in the deal though, despite only having nine games of NHL experience. The 27-year-old was the best defenseman in the KHL during the 2019-20 season, scoring 17 goals and 49 points in 60 games. That led to a race between many teams for his services as a free agent, a race that Toronto won when he signed a one-year entry-level deal in May.

Unfortunately, thanks to some other free agent additions in Toronto, including T.J. Brodie and Zach Bogosian, Lehtonen’s playing time has been sporadic. In nine games with the Maple Leafs, he does have three points, but he has averaged fewer than 12 minutes in those appearances. He’ll likely get a much bigger role in Columbus where he can help their powerplay and hopefully drive some offense.

Importantly, Lehtonen’s entry-level deal did include a European Assignment Clause, one that could have been activated when the Maple Leafs sent him to the minor leagues yesterday. If it covered this far into the season, the Finnish defenseman could have potentially forced an assignment back overseas instead of playing with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. If that’s the case, the Maple Leafs at least turned him into a goaltending asset, even though Vehvilainen is something of a question mark himself.

Lehtonen will now need to obtain a work visa and clear COVID protocols before he can join the Blue Jackets, but they are already familiar with him. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Columbus was one of the teams that pursued the free agent defenseman last year. A strong skater who can walk the offensive blue line and routinely get pucks on net through traffic, he could become an option to run the second powerplay. There’s no guarantee of that, but even in his short stint with the Maple Leafs, it looked like Lehtonen had enough to play at the NHL level if deployed in the right manner.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Vegas, Simmonds, Pettersson

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The NHL has released the Three Stars for last week, with Mark Stone leading the way after a few incredible performances. The Vegas Golden Knights captain scored ten points in four games including a five-assist outing against the Minnesota Wild. The two-way forward is off to the best start of his career with 27 points in his first 21 games and has the Golden Knights in first place with a 16-4-1 record.

Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks and Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes take home the second and third stars after outstanding weeks of their own. Demko has really started to lay claim to the Vancouver crease with four strong performances in a row, including a .969 save percentage in his three appearances last week. The Canucks won all three games, not something the team has been able to say often this year. Necas meanwhile has broken out this season for the Hurricanes, recording 18 points in 21 games and looking like a potential top-line player for the team in the coming years. The 22-year-old has been strong at both ends of the rink and is working on a four-game point streak (2 G, 5 A).

  • Though Stone won the top honors, he may not play tonight for the Golden Knights. Justin Emerson of the Las Vegas Sun reports that Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, and Brayden McNabb are all game-time decisions for the matchup against the Wild tonight. The Golden Knights have four games between now and Saturday as they squeeze in matchups, including an important back-to-back against the St. Louis Blues.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs presented a nice surprise this morning when Wayne Simmonds took the ice for the first time before practice. The 32-year-old broke his wrist on February 6 and was given a six-week recovery timeline. Toronto’s bottom-six has been playing well of late but there is no doubt they’d love to have Simmonds back in the fold, given how well he had been playing in the early going. The veteran forward had five goals in his first 12 games.
  • The Vancouver Canucks will be without Elias Pettersson again tonight as they look for their third consecutive win. After beating the Maple Leafs twice, Vancouver will try to slow down the Montreal Canadiens without their top forward. Pettersson was just starting to find his rhythm when he suffered this latest injury and has 21 points in 26 games this season.

Vancouver Canucks “Have To Figure This Out From Within”

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The Vancouver Canucks beat the top team in the North Division last night, but they still sit second last ahead of only the Ottawa Senators. That’s a long way from the team that came within a game from the Western Conference Finals last summer and has many wondering what’s next for the organization. GM Jim Benning, himself the target of much speculation, spoke to the media today about many subjects, including the upcoming trade deadline.

In just over a month, teams will no longer be able to make trades to help them for this year’s playoffs, meaning decisions will have to come relatively soon on whether a club is buying or selling. Though Benning hasn’t made his final decision, noting there are still quite a few games before the deadline, he did say the club would “have to figure this out from within,” pointing to the long quarantine period that Canadian teams face on anyone coming up from the U.S.

The front office executive also put his confidence behind head coach Travis Green and the rest of the staff, saying they have “done a good job” with the group. Green, notably, does not have a contract past this season, though both sides have signaled their intent to get something done.

The biggest question that many have about the Canucks is how they will sign Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes this offseason, given the money that is already committed to depth players all over their roster. Benning grouped a third player with those two, saying they have “three really good young players” to sign. Thatcher Demko, the man who held the Maple Leafs to just one goal on 32 shots last night, is the other pending RFA that will need a substantial raise.

With money still owed to Loui Eriksson and bottom-six names like Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle—not to mention a recapture penalty for Roberto Luongo’s retirement—it’s not going to be an easy task to fit those three in and still put together a competitive team.

North Division Champion May Need To Adopt U.S. Home For Semis, Cup Final

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While progress is being made against the spread of the Coronavirus daily, there are still concerns about the restrictions that may still be in place even months from now. Speaking on TSN’s “Insider Trading” on Thursday night, Pierre LeBrun expressed that there remain worries that the Canadian borders will still be closed in June. By that time, the NHL regular season will be over and the four North Division playoff teams will have battled each other and produced a winner. At that point, the Canadian team can no longer be separated from their American counterparts as they have been during the regular season. The team will need to play on the road in the U.S. as well as host an American team in the semifinal round as well as possibly in the Stanley Cup Final. If crossing the Canadian border still requires a 14-day quarantine, or really any multi-day quarantine, by that time then a playoff series cannot occur in Canada.

Of course, given the progress being made LeBrun hopes that Canada will have loosened its border policies over the next three months. Even if the COVID climate in Canada has improved to the point that the national and provincial governments are willing to make an exception and put together specific protocol for NHL travel, that would work. Otherwise, the only alternative solution that LeBrun has heard to this point would see the Canadian winner relocate to the nearest American city that would be a suitable home. While not an ideal option for the team or its fans, this would allow the series to occur normally. Selecting a close city would also require the least amount of travel for the Canadians and would make the logistics of setting up a temporary home easier. LeBrun notes that the league would likely have the cities for selected for each of the four North Division finalists when the postseason begins so to allow time to set up their new home.

While LeBrun offered Buffalo as the new location for the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs, Minneapolis for the current second-place Winnipeg Jets, and an early introduction to the NHL for the city of Seattle in the event of an epic comeback for the Vancouver Canucks this season, that is where the easy relocations end. The closest American city to the Montreal Canadiens is Boston, an unlikely destination not only due to the age-old rivalry but also because the Bruins are a potential finalist and even opponent. Would Montreal also call Buffalo home? They could also move to a current or former AHL city like Portland, Manchester, Albany, Utica, or Syracuse. The closest potential home may even be Burlington, Vermont, home of of the University of Vermont. Montreal has options, albeit not without work to do. However, the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are more difficult. The Alberta cities are not “close” to any American NHL or AHL cities. Seattle could be the best bet for these teams as well, if the arena is ready to go. However, Grand Forks, North Dakota, home to the University of North Dakota, made a strong pitch to the NHL to be a hub city for last season’s re-start and could make a similar offer to house the Oilers or Flames (or the neighboring Jets). Either way, the Alberta teams would be traveling quite far from home to close out the postseason. The plan would work, but surely the league and its Canadian contingent are hoping it won’t come to that when the time arrives in June.

Snapshots: Bennett, Niemela, Ovechkin

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Sam Bennett is expected to be a healthy scratch again tonight for the Calgary Flames, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Bennett, whose agent made it clear that a change of scenery would be welcome earlier this season, has been on quite the roller coaster. Suiting up on the fourth line one game, the first line beside Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau another, to finding himself in the press box watching, there has been very little consistency to his 22 games.

Still, there’s just not enough offensive production from Bennett no matter where he is plugged in. With just three goals and four points on the year, he is once again disappointing the Flames, who have now waited nearly seven years for Bennett to fulfill his fourth-overall status. His best offensive season was his rookie year when he scored 18 goals and 36 points.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t have Topi Niemela in the system next season, as the young defenseman has signed a one-year extension with his Finnish club for the 2021-22 season. Niemela, 18, was the 64th pick in the 2020 draft but has already seen his stock rise after being named the best defenseman at the recent World Junior tournament. He has recorded four points in 15 games for Karpat this season and will stay overseas for at least another year.
  • Trent Frederic might not be so quick to get in Alex Ovechkin’s face the next time they meet, after a spearing incident last night. Ovechkin has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for “cup-checking” Frederic after the two had several meetings throughout the game. Frederic, who fought Tom Wilson earlier this season, had challenged Ovechkin earlier in the game, but the veteran spurned the offer. The young Bruins forward has shown a willingness to engage anyone in the league but still hasn’t added much offense—just two goals and three NHL points—since being selected with the 29th pick in 2016.

Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Granlund, DeAngelo, Draft

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are the current kings of the NHL, leading the league standings and by a decent margin. In a rare season in which the Leafs don’t have to go through the Tampa Bay Lightning and more importantly the dreaded Boston Bruins early in the playoffs, Toronto is understandably excited about their prospects and willing to load up before the deadline to give themselves their best shot at a title. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the team’s current focus is on bolstering their forward corps. He states that the goal is to add a middle-six forward prior to the trade deadline and, if possible, one that could line up at center on the third line or shift to wing and play higher in the lineup. One potential fit that continues to be linked to Toronto is Nashville Predators forward Mikael Granlund, if you can call him “middle-six”. On a struggling Predators team, Granlund has been one of the few highlights, leading all Nashville forwards in ice time, blocked shots, and Corsi For and second only to Filip Forsberg in scoring. Dreger believes that Granlund, an impending free agent, will absolutely be available as the Predators seem poised to begin a fire sale of sorts and he could be the ideal pick-up for Toronto as a luxury depth addition – a current top-line forward moving into a middle-six role. Of course, given Granlund’s strong play there will be other suitors and Toronto will certainly take a look at additional options should a Granlund deal not prove to be viable.

  • Trade talks have quieted down on New York Rangers defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, as it seems that teams do not want to make the financial commitment this year and next to the polarizing defenseman despite his obvious ability. Yet, DeAngelo wants to get back on the ice. He was told that his time with the Rangers was over and, per TSN’s Frank Seravalli, that extends to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack as well. New York has informed DeAngelo that he will not be assigned to their affiliate; however, they are willing to loan him out to another AHL team. Seravalli reports that DeAngelo and his representation are currently in the process of trying to find a spot for him to play out the rest of this season in the minors. In the big picture, the fact that it has come to this means that a trade elsewhere seems highly unlikely. Expect DeAngelo to be bought out this summer and take a short-term “show me” deal elsewhere.
  • Even as the Canadian junior leagues continue to work towards a full return to play, there are concerns about the 2021 NHL Draft and the pressure on teams due to the lack of complete information on eligible prospects. While European leagues, American junior leagues, and the NCAA have all had some semblance of a full season, the same cannot be said for Canada, the largest producer of NHL talent. A number of teams have expressed support for postponing the draft until later this year or even next year and a number of option have been proposed. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman stated on a recent radio appearance that this change is easier said than done. Due to all of the language pertaining to draft eligibility and rights, all collectively bargained, it will be difficult to postpone the draft, even if it is in the best interests of the teams and many prospects. Friedman notes that the NHLPA presented the league with a number of issues that would need to be addressed before the draft could be delayed and Friedman hears that that there simply may not be enough fight on the league side to figure out the many solutions. Dreger reports that, one way or another, answers are needed soon and there could be a meeting as early as Thursday to discuss all issues and options.

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