Roman Polak Suspended Two Games For Illegal Check
The Department of Player Safety has handed out a two-game suspension to Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Roman Polak for his hit from behind on Oliver Bjorkstrand last night. This is the first time in over 600 NHL games that Polak has ever received supplementary discipline—suspensions or fines—from the league, despite playing a physical style for his entire career. He’ll miss games against New Jersey and Buffalo before being eligible to return on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.
Polak has had an up-and-down calendar year to say the least, after being traded from the Leafs to the San Jose Sharks at the 2016 trade deadline. He was celebrated for his tough play in the Western Conference playoffs before being exposed in the Finals by Pittsburgh’s speed and skill. When put up against other physical players he can often hold his own, but trying to shut down speedy forwards like Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel was impossible. He re-signed with the Leafs in the offseason and has heard cries for his head all year from fans hoping to see “Hunlack” (a pairing with Matt Hunwick) jettisoned as soon as possible. His coach, Mike Babcock, has continually come to his defense, praising his penalty killing ability most of all.
It’s ironic then, that the Maple Leafs would kill off an almost seven minute powerplay allowing just one shot after Polak was ejected last night. Even though his teammates stepped up and battled through that kill, Polak will be missed. Even analytically, as James Mirtle of The Athletic points out, Polak has been playing much better of late and is part of the reason the Maple Leafs have tightened defensively in recent weeks. He’ll be replaced by Alexey Marchenko for the time being as Toronto continues its playoff drive.
Eric Fehr Expected To Miss Remainder Of Regular Season
Though he got into his first game with the Maple Leafs last night, Eric Fehr‘s stint on the fourth line is already over. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun is reporting that Fehr spent the night in a hospital after breaking his hand in last night’s game. With the season only lasting another two and a half weeks, it would be hard to see Fehr make it back before the playoffs.
Traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the deadline, Fehr brought a physical component against the Columbus Blue Jackets, throwing big hits—that were sometimes from behind—all throughout the first period. The fourth line for the Maple Leafs has seen wingers suffer an injury in back to back games, as Nikita Soshnikov went down against the Boston Bruins.
Fehr isn’t the only player the Maple Leafs may lose, as Roman Polak will receive a disciplinary hearing today for his hit on Oliver Bjorkstrand that earned him a five minute major—which turned into almost seven minutes of shorthanded time—and a game misconduct. The Maple Leafs will likely have Josh Leivo and Alexey Marchenko back into the lineup for tonight’s game should both veterans be out.
Atlantic Notes: Soshnikov, Melnyk, White
Maple Leafs fans will see Eric Fehr in action for the first time tonight when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets according to Kristen Shilton of TSN. The veteran forward will draw into the lineup for his first game since being acquired at the deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Frank Corrado. He will be taking the place of Nikita Soshnikov, the young winger who was involved in multiple incidents in Monday’s game against the Boston Bruins.
Soshnikov first got under the skin of Bruins’ players and fans alike when he sent Patrice Bergeron into the boards head first with a crosscheck across the back, earning him just a two minute penalty (which Bergeron would match when he got up and went after the Leafs’ winger). Later in the game he took a hard hit from Zdeno Chara that seemed to rattle him, as he was seen rubbing his neck and skating unsteadily for the rest of the game. It was that unsteady nature that caused him to fall when Dominic Moore would collide with him in the dying minutes, giving the Maple Leafs a powerplay that ended up winning the game. There is no word on what the extent of the injury is for Soshnikov, but a concussion would not be out of the question.
- Eugene Melnyk does “not like the Olympics” according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, who passed along several interesting tidbits from the Ottawa Senators owner. As Melnyk said last week, he isn’t willing to allow star players like Erik Karlsson go to the Olympics if the NHL doesn’t attend, due to his history with injury at the tournament. He did admit that he’ll go along with whatever the league decides however.
- The owner also touched on the negotiations on a new arena for the Senators closer to downtown, in LeBreton flats. Unfortunately using the phrasing “if it’s Ottawa”, Melnyk says any new arena simply has to be downtown. Currently the team plays at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, almost 30 minutes outside the city center.
- As Bob McKenzie relayed last night, things are at a stalemate between Colin White and the Senators, and Garrioch writes that it is unlikely that head coach Guy Boucher would have time to build the trust needed to insert White into the lineup on a regular basis, meaning that burning a year of his ELC would essentially be useless for the team.
- The Canadiens have moved Alex Galchenyuk off the first line for the time being, as expected after breaking them up last night. The forward will play wing next to Andrew Shaw in their next game, and has a fairly positive outlook on it. “At the end of the day you’re a hockey player. You’re not born to play center or born to play wing,” he told John Lu of TSN. The line will feature Artturi Lehkonen on the right side.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Jeremy Bracco To ELC
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed a former draft pick of their own, inking Jeremy Bracco to an entry-level contract. Because the Maple Leafs are currently at the 50 contract maximum, we can assume it doesn’t kick in until the 2017-18 season. The former 67th-overall pick is playing for the Windsor Spitfires, who are hosting the Memorial Cup this spring.
2016-17 has been an outstanding year for Bracco, registering 83 points in 57 games split between Kitchener and Windsor. Though the Rangers are headed to the OHL playoffs as well, the Spitfires have a guaranteed entry into the Memorial Cup, something that won’t intimidate Bracco in the least. He was a big part of the Team USA team at the World Juniors that captured gold, scoring five points in seven games in the tournament.
Bracco has had an interesting path so far in his hockey career, leaving Boston College after just five games in his freshman season to head to Kitchener and compete in the OHL. He told Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News at the time, that he just “wanted to really zero in on hockey” and thought the OHL schedule was more conducive to that. It has worked so far, as he scored 64 points in his rookie season last year, only to easily eclipse that this year. While he’s always been slightly undersized, he possesses excellent skill with the puck and playmaking ability.
The Maple Leafs will continue to stockpile their offensively gifted wingers, with Bracco joining Kasperi Kapanen, Dmytro Timashov and Andreas Johnson as the next wave of prospects coming through the system. While Bracco doesn’t represent a lock for the NHL, he does have huge upside and an accelerated timeline after his big step this year. He’ll likely join the Toronto Marlies next season to test those offensive skills against professionals.
CapFriendly.com tweeted out details of the contract, confirming that it won’t start until the 2017-18 season. Bracco is set to make a bit more than $842K annually during the three-year contract, and there’s another $82.5K worth of incentives each season.
Snapshots: Kurker, Hunlak, Stone
The Albany Devils have signed one of the most interesting college names in the country to an amateur tryout according to Mark Divver of the Providence Journal. Sam Kurker of Northeastern was originally drafted in 2012 by the St. Louis Blues and headed to Boston University to begin his college career. After a frustrating season and a half at BU, Kurker decided to take his talents elsewhere and headed back to the USHL to play for the Indiana Ice. Upon finishing the 2013-14 season with Indiana—and winning a championship—the team closed its doors and Kurker headed to the Sioux City Musketeers.
After an outstanding season for Sioux City Kurker went back to the NCAA ranks, this time at Northeastern. In two years at the school Kurker had similar frustrations as during his time for BU, and finished this season with just six points in 28 games. The former top prospect was overshadowed by other names like Zach Aston-Reese and Adam Gaudette, and will now try to continue his hockey career in Albany.
- Any Toronto Maple Leafs fans that are hoping the pairing of Roman Polak and Matt Hunwick—affectionately nicknamed “Hunlack”—will be broken up should quit holding their breath, as a new article from Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston relays that Mike Babcock is very happy with the way they’re playing. Despite being horrendous weights on the team’s possession numbers, Babcock goes by other evaluation tools like “knowing where to stand”. While younger players often get caught chasing the puck in their own zone, the Leafs coach is happy to deploy a more veteran pair on defense.
- Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen writes that Mark Stone is getting closer to returning to the Ottawa Senators lineup and has taken a “major” step towards that goal by getting back on the ice today. With the Senators losing their last four games, they’ve slipped down far enough to allow Boston and Toronto just a sliver of hope in the Atlantic race, and could use Stone’s help to slam that door shut for the final time. If they’re to do any damage in the playoffs, they’ll need their top forward healthy enough to contribute; they’ve scored just six goals in those four recent losses.
Morning Notes: Ekblad, Street, McCarron
Aaron Ekblad will return to the lineup for the Florida Panthers tonight, according to Craig Davis of the Sun Sentinel. The Panthers superstar suffered his third concussion—not including the bout of “whiplash” he suffered at the World Cup—ten days ago, and apparently has cleared all the procedures to return to the lineup. With the Panthers now eight points back of the Maple Leafs for the final playoff spot, they hopefully wouldn’t have rushed Ekblad back at all.
As Matt Larkin of The Hockey News wrote a week ago, the Panthers have to play this carefully or risk Ekblad’s career before it has even truly begun. The 21-year old looks like he will be a force in the game for a very long time, but has now already suffered multiple concussions early on. In comparing him to Eric Lindros, who suffered several head blows within a short time frame, Larkin pleaded with the Panthers to shut him down for the rest of the season to make sure he wasn’t at risk. None of this is to say that the Panthers medical staff is mistreating the situation, but with just 11 games left and four teams between them and a playoff spot, it does seem a bit unnecessary to bring him back at all. Here’s hoping for some continued health for one of the game’s brightest young stars.
- With Ekblad returning, the Panthers have sent MacKenzie Weegar back down to the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL. Weegar never did actually get into a game, with Florida playing Jakub Kindl in the vacant defense position. Weegar will return to the Thunderbirds where he was having an excellent season, scoring 12 goals and 29 points in 51 games.
- The Detroit Red Wings have called up Ben Street on emergency basis after last night’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Detroit lost Darren Helm to an injury on Saturday, though perhaps someone else suffered a minor wound last night. The 30-year old Street is having another excellent season at the AHL level, with 51 points in 57 games this year. The undrafted forward has found much success at the lower level since starting his pro career in 2010, though has only seen an NHL contest 29 times. Held to just two points in those games, he’ll look to make an impact with this chance.
- Steve Ott will draw back into the lineup for the Montreal Canadiens tonight, meaning oft-scratched Michael McCarron will be back in the press box according to Renaud Levoie of TVA Sports. The former first-round pick has played just 26 games for the Canadiens this season, registering five points in less than 10 minutes per night. The 22-year old can’t seem to impress either coaching staff enough to stay in the lineup, despite bringing a physical presence. In 32 games in the AHL this year, McCarron has 19 points.
Jonathan Bernier’s Success Could End Up Costing The Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks made a decision in the off-season to trade Frederik Andersen to the Maple Leafs and install John Gibson as the full-time starter. The young netminder had shown an extremely high ceiling in 2015-16, when he finished the year with a .920 save percentage and split the William Jennings trophy with Andersen. The Ducks were hitching their wagons to Gibson, but wanted someone a little more established behind him just in case. They decided to take back Jonathan Bernier from the Leafs, even at a substantial cap-hit so that they would have a backup capable of playing 25-30 games and helping them into the playoffs. 
Bernier was never expected to wrestle the starting job away, but when the young Gibson went down with an injury in late February he was forced into the number 1 role and has flourished ever since. With Gibson returning for one game this month only to re-aggravate his injury, the Ducks will use Bernier down the stretch to get them into the playoffs. Since Gibson went down on February 20th, Bernier has posted a .943 save percentage and is looking like a realistic choice to start the playoffs if his partner isn’t fully healed. Gibson for his part hasn’t returned to practice, though Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports that he has skated on his own.
With ten games left in the Ducks’ season before another playoff appearance, some doubt may now be entering the mind of head coach Randy Carlyle on who will be his starting goaltender in the postseason. Should Gibson miss most of the remaining few weeks, it would be hard to reinsert him into the net for the first round. That is where we (finally) get to the headline and the potential for a lost asset for the Ducks.
When they took Bernier from the Maple Leafs, it was for a draft pick with conditions that seemed so unlikely to trigger that they didn’t look like they would have to send anything to Toronto at all. Those conditions are based on Bernier playing in at least 50% of the Ducks playoff games, and the team getting to the Stanley Cup Final; they’ll give up a second-round pick should they win it all, while surrendering a third-rounder if they fall in the final series. With Gibson ready to take over that seemed like a far fetched condition and one that Bernier showed little capability of fulfilling during his final season in Toronto. But now, as he looks like the goaltender everyone thought he would become in Los Angeles, it doesn’t seem as insane as it once did.
After all, he doesn’t necessarily need to get them the entire way. He could play just the first two rounds before Gibson returns, and still qualify for the condition. Sure, some may say it’s worth it if the Ducks are going to go to the Finals anyway, but that shouldn’t reduce the value of the pick being lost. Ducks fans should be hoping even more that Gibson is ready to go next month, while Maple Leafs fans are praying that their old teammate can give them one last gift before hitting free agency this summer.
Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Playoff Picture, Trades, Marlies
Jonathan Toews was very complimentary of Auston Matthews before their two teams face off this evening.
While Matthews grew up idolizing Toews and models his game after him, the Blackhawks captain drew comparisons between the Maple Leafs rookie and players like Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane.
“He’s wasted no time,” Toews said of Matthews. “You kind of wonder, if that’s how he comes out of the gate then what’s he going to be like in a couple of years?”
Matthews has 31 goals and 55 points in 69 games as a rookie, while Toews has 18 goals and 50 points in 61 games. Matthews has now passed Toews’ rookie totals by one point; Toews had 54 points in 64 games back in 2007-08.
- With the Islanders picking up a point in an overtime loss on Saturday afternoon, they tied the Maple Leafs with 78 points. Toronto remains in the final wildcard spot due to fewer games played. The Maple Leafs are four points behind the Bruins for third in the Atlantic, and one point up on the Lightning in the wildcard race. With the New York Rangers pretty much guaranteed the first wildcard spot, only one of the Leafs, Islanders, and Lightning will be able to snag the other spot. Toronto can do themselves a big favor by beating the Blackhawks tonight.
- Speaking of Chicago and Toronto, Sportsnet’s Steve Dangle broke down the last six trades made between the two teams. The final list of players acquired isn’t pretty from the Maple Leafs angle. Of the nine pieces acquired by Toronto, only Josh Leivo is still with the team, and he’s a regular in the press box despite having nine points in 12 games. On the other side, the Blackhawks have Artem Anisimov and Richard Panik on their roster, several prospects/ minor-leaguers, and three late draft picks still to come. Dangle points out that Chicago has consistently traded NHLers for cheap depth players over the course of their semi-dynasty, and Toronto has had an excess of those players.
- It was not a great afternoon for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ farm team. The Marlies were up 4-1 on the Binghamton Senators heading into the third period. The Senators scored seven straight goals to win 8-4. Marlies goaltender Antoine Bibeau allowed seven goals on 33 shots for a 0.787 SV%.
Lightning Recall Joel Vermin From Syracuse
Update (11:00am CST): Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times relays word from Lightning bench boss Jon Cooper that Palat is indeed ready to go and will be in the lineup tonight. Subsequently, Vermin has been returned to Syracuse, according to this tweet from the Elite Prospects Twitter account. It would seem then that Vermin was up as a potential emergency recall as it’s unlikely he would have been reassigned to the AHL immediately upon word Palat was healthy enough to play had the team exercised one of its four recalls.
8:45am CST: The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced the call-up of winger Joel Vermin from their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. Bryan Burns, who covers the club for the team’s official website, added via Twitter the recall was necessary due to Ondrej Palat being banged up and questionable for tonight’s tilt against the Washington Capitals. Again according to Burns, Palat’s status should be made more clear following the team’s morning skate.
Vermin is one of several players the Lightning have had to shuttle back-and-forth between the big club and the Crunch in a season mired by injuries. In 11 appearances on the year, the 25-year-old winger has registered three points, all assists, to go with two penalty minutes while averaging 11;20 of ice time per game. The Swiss-born Vermin was originally a seventh-round draft selection by Tampa Bay in 2013 and has turned in a solid campaign for Syracuse with 12 goals and 28 points in 43 games for the Crunch.
The Lightning, despite selling assets at the trade deadline, have managed to sneak back into the playoff race and are currently just one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final Eastern Conference wild card slot. Already without centers Cedric Paquette and Tyler Johnson, both out of action since March 9th, the Tampa may also have to make do without the versatile Palat, who has 14 goals and 36 points on the season.
All told, 2016-17 has been a disappointing year for the Lightning, who were expected to be among the league’s elite teams and a Stanley Cup contender. Injuries to key players, including a significant knee injury which sidelined team captain Steven Stamkos back in November, have been a major factor in the club’s struggles but a surprising run which has seen the team accumulate 27 standings points over the last 18 contests has provided hope the Lightning will overcome and make the postseason. Should they do so, the Lightning would be a team no one wants to face, particularly with Stamkos eyeing a return to the lineup.
Snapshots: Pronger, Goldobin, Aaltonen
When Chris Pronger was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, it marked the end of an outstanding career. Stanley Cup winner, Hart trophy winner, Norris trophy winner, All-Star. Everything was accomplished, and yet something remained—a contract. Pronger was then, and still is now under a player contract with an NHL team, and though he’ll never play a game for the Arizona Coyotes—who traded for his empty contract just days before the Hall of Fame induction ceremony—he was technically a part of their organization. His deal will expire at the end of this season, and there is now something else on his mind for the future.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN writes in his latest column that though Pronger is happy with his current position at the Department of Player Safety, he’d like a chance to apprentice under an established GM in hopes of one day running a team of his own. Pronger reached out to former rival Steve Yzerman to learn what he could about the Tampa Bay Lightning GM’s path to the front office, which included time under Ken Holland in Detroit. Though he had all the physical tools to make him great in the game, it was his hockey mind that made him a legend. As former teammate Jamie McLennan put it in LeBrun’s piece: “His ability to adapt and learn in any situation is what makes [him] special.” Don’t be surprised to see Pronger’s name pop up in a front office as soon as next season.
- It wasn’t just a regular flu for Vancouver Canucks forward Nikolay Goldobin. The young player says that he didn’t eat for five days and has lost fifteen pounds while he’s been out. While he is feeling better, he won’t travel to Edmonton with the team when they take on the Oilers tomorrow night. Instead, he’ll hit the practice rink and try to get back to where he was before falling ill. The 21-year old was acquired in exchange for Jannik Hansen at the trade deadline, and scored a single goal in the three games he played for Vancouver before being kept out of the lineup.
- James Mirtle of the Athletic provides some context for the Maple Leafs newest signing Miro Aaltonen. One source told him that the Finnish forward has a 50-50 shot to play in the NHL, but represents no downside for the team. He’ll be on just a one-year deal, and will play for the Marlies next season if he doesn’t crack the NHL team out of camp. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet adds that Aaltonen is most comfortable on the left wing, an area of need for the Maple Leafs. The team currently only has James van Riemsdyk as a true goal-scoring left winger, with the other three, Zach Hyman, Leo Komarov and Matt Martin, all being better suited to play in the bottom-half of a lineup (despite the fact that Hyman has played on Auston Matthews‘ wing all season). Even in the minor leagues Kasperi Kapanen and Brendan Leipsic, the prospects closest to making an NHL impact both play the right side most often.