Evening Snapshots: Spectacular Sophomores, Hartman
- The Hockey News’ Jared Clinton makes his case for five players who avoided the dreaded sophomore slump this season. At the top of his list is Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who Clinton writes is the reason for the Oilers’ turnaround this season. Had it not been for the clavicle injury last season, McDavid would have had one of the best back-to-back seasons that rivaled Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Next is the Blackhawks’ Artemi Panarin, who Clinton believes the Hawks have to absolutely re-sign at all costs. That would certainly cause some financial posturing, but he believes Panarin to be a devastating personnel loss should he go elsewhere. The Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers, the Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin, and the Blues’ Colton Parayko round out Clinton’s top five.
- The Blackhawks have been on a tear lately and rookie Ryan Hartman has been one of the brightest spots for Chicago. Chris Hine writes that the young forward has learned quite a bit about being more patient on the ice and not corralling penalties as he would have in the past. Hine describes him as an irritant, there’s a reason for Hartman’s change of play:
“You have an opportunity to play in the NHL and be in the lineup every night. If you’re going to take penalties and do that kind of stuff, you’re not going to be in the lineup for long,” Hartman said. “I just try to stay out of the box as much as possible, and it related to me being on the ice more.”
Drawing penalties instead of causing them has been a boon for the Hawks and the young forward. He’s also shown a knack for scoring timely goals. Hartman notched the winner against San Jose on Sunday night and already has six on the season. Playing for a coach known to favor veterans, Hartman is making the most of his chance and certainly justifying his playing time from Joel Quenneville.
Weekend In Review: Key Stories From 12/12/16 – 12/18/16
This week’s key stories revolve around injuries and suspensions as not a single notable trade transpired in the NHL this week. Despite the lack of transactions, however, NHL teams have been busy dealing with unexpected absences. Here are your key stories from this week in the NHL:
Max Domi Out Indefinitely
Arizona Coyotes sophomore forward Max Domi will miss significant time recovering from a hand injury received in a fight with Calgary Flames‘ Garnet Hathaway. Domi fought Hathaway on December 8th and left the game immediately after the fight. Domi is not known as a fighter but he will drop the gloves if necessary—something no doubt gleaned from his father Tie Domi.
Quick Out Until Mid-February
Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi expects goaltender Jonathan Quick to be out until around mid-February. Quick is still rehabilitating a groin injury sustained in the Kings’ season opener in October. The Kings have managed to keep afloat with an above-average set of performances from Peter Budaj, and Lombardi stated that the team will not overpay for goaltending help.
Kris Letang Placed On IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost defenseman Kris Letang for a few weeks as they placed him on Injured Reserve. Letang suffered a lower-body injury Wednesday against the Boston Bruins. The Penguins have struggled without their star defenseman, losing their last two games in overtime and scoring only one goal over both games. The latest loss came at the hands of the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs where the Penguins let the Leafs take 49 shots.
Trevor Daley Out With UBI
The bad news kept on coming for the Pittsburgh Penguins as they lost another defenseman to injury. Trevor Daley is week-to-week with an upper body injury. Daley was injured in the Penguins 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. The Penguins blue line depth will be tested for the next few weeks as Letang and Daley are the Pens number one and two defensemen in terms of playing time.
NHL Fines Vlasic and Suspends Hoffman and Eakin
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety issued three punishments Friday. Ottawa Senators forward Mike Hoffman was suspended two games for crosschecking San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture in the head. Dallas Stars forward Cody Eakin was suspended four games for hitting New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Finally, San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was fined $5K for spearing Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson.
Should The Red Wings Embrace a Full Rebuild?
Hockeytown is hurting.
The Detroit Red Wings have been moribund at home. They are listless offensively. The Arizona Coyotes came into the Joe Louis Arena and pummeled them 4-1. Playoff hopes are precarious. And their power play is more of an advantage to their opponent.
The mainstream media has taken note, as Sportsnet’s Dimtri Filipovic has a lengthy write up on how the Red Wings’ inevitable downfall in a parity based league was coming. 25 straight years of making the playoffs, including 11 of those seasons being in a salary cap era is unbelievably impressive. But over the last five seasons, the Red Wings have only made it out of the first round once, losing by an eyelash to the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks in seven games–after blowing a 3-1 series lead.
Already through the midway point of December, the Red Wings hardly appear to be a playoff bound team. Should their current streak of poor play continue, it has to be a message to general Ken Holland and company that a true rebuild must be embraced. The “rebuild on the fly” strategy Holland has embraced no longer looks feasible.
Reading the tea leaves, however, the Wings don’t act like a team looking to change strategies. The fear in Detroit by many is that the Wings could hang around and make another puzzling trade for a washed up veteran to try and get them over the hump. Deals for David Legwand and Erik Cole were damaging since they lost prospects and neither had any impact on the playoff push. Damien Cox wrote at length about this as well, wondering why the brass is so hesitant to build a stronger future when right now, the team is a few matches short of a tire fire.
Atlantic Notes: Tallon’s Status In Florida, Ken Holland
8:36 pm: Harvey Fialkov reports that Panthers CEO Matt Caldwell reached out to him to say that nothing has changed in the managerial hierarchy involving Tallon. In a series of tweets, Caldwell indicates that Viola never met with Tallon to hand over personnel reins while also indicating that group discussions among the ownership group determines decision making. Further, Fialkov tweets that the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of Panthers hockey is too much “he said, she said” talk that is too tough to prove.
7:54 pm: Out with the old, in with the–old? Darren Dreger tweets that Dale Tallon will assume control during a time for the Panthers that has been turbulent. Dreger adds a series of tweets on Tallon’s updated status with the Panthers. Tallon will take over day to day operations and bring stability to an organization that has had a tough few weeks–and season. Elliotte Friedman adds that Florida owner Vinny Viola said that “nothing has changed” regarding Tallon’s status as having the “final say” in personnel decisions. Friedman is baffled by this, wondering why a report would even be made if nothing changed. In the official release of Tallon’s promotion back in May, the Panthers indicated that “Tallon will continue to oversee all aspects of hockey operations in this role including scouting, player acquisition and development.” Technically speaking, Tallon was still in charge of overseeing all aspects of hockey.
Dreger tweets that Tallon will not oversee an overhaul but will want to reevaluate things. He adds that the firing of Gerard Gallant was a poor choice, and that decisions needs to be made with one voice in charge. Further, Dreger tweets that the players trust Tallon and that the move will add some much needed stability to the team. Finally, he tweets that Tallon will not ignore analytics. Instead, he’s looking to improve team defense and make them tougher to play against.
The Panthers have been in flux this season and after firing Gallant in a move widely panned throughout the league, there’s been little improvement with general manager and now head coach Tom Rowe guiding the ship. The move to place Tallon in a position to have more say is one that certainly helps the Panthers’ chances.
Regardless of how it’s explained, it’s been a strange chapter of hockey in Miami.
Red Wings Notes: Nyquist, Zetterberg, Sheahan
Gustav Nyquist is once again being unfairly criticized writes Red Wings blogger Prashanth Iyer via Winging It In Motown. Nyquist was expected to see an uptick in goals this season after Jeff Blashill promised more ice time, but the Swede hasn’t responded in turn, scoring just one goal in his last 24 games. However, Iyer argues that his production is what should be expected out of an average first line player while pointing out the disconnect in expectations between the fanbase and Nyquist. Iyer reports that Nyquist’s insane goal scoring binge of 2013-14 was an anomaly based on the results versus his time on the ice. Those expectations, coupled with a strong season in 2014-15, made Nyquist a bonafide goal scorer in the minds of Detroit fans.
Iyer shows through stats and graphs that the culprit for Nyquist’s drop off is a shift in power play philosophy, where Nyquist is quarterbacking a powerplay instead of cashing in on chances in the slot. Putting Nyquist back into the slot–where he buried goals at an impressive rate–is one suggestion Iyer has for the coaching staff. Though he’s not the caliber of a Henrik Zetterberg or a Pavel Datsyuk, Nyquist is certainly valuable. It’s a matter of being utilized correctly.
- Speaking of Zetterberg, he was a game time decision in tonight’s game against Arizona. According to MLive’s Ansar Khan, there isn’t a major cause for concern since Zetterberg also sat out practices in the past. Khan speculates that it could be either back or knee issues, since they have flared up in the before. Through a period of play, Zetterberg was playing his usual high number of minutes.
- Riley Sheahan has struggled immensely this season and it’s been a source of frustration for the team, fans, and himself. Helene St. James reports that Sheahan’s lack of production, along with Nyquist and Tomas Tatar, has “choked” the Wings. Blashill had his own thoughts as well:
“I talked to him on Saturday,” Blashill said. “You’re telling me Vanek said a few words — I don’t think it hurts. If Riley keeps playing the way he is playing, he’s going to get points. No question. So, you just have to keep playing the way you’re playing and not panic. The only thing I’d say is to make sure he hits the net, because he’s got a really good shot.”
This Week In Hockey Blogging: A Dozen Articles To Read
Here are a handful of articles from various hockey bloggers this week:
Winging It In Motown looks at the ongoing discussion of toughness in the NHL and how it’s unfairly used to criticize players.
Pension Plan Puppets closely scout Auston Matthews.
Lighthouse Hockey likens their Islanders to the Walking Dead and take a deep dive into how the Islanders got to where they are.
The Committed Indian examines how the salary cap has created the parity intended, but in a ho-hum way.
Raw Charge analyzes Tampa Bay’s problem with developing first round draft picks.
Down Goes Brown lists the ten lies that every hockey fan is guilty of reciting.
Blueshirt Banter talked to Ryan McDonagh about the team and the season so far.
Bleedin Blue suggests that the Blues look into why they’re struggling so much on the road.
Copper and Blue discusses everything from Connor McDavid‘s wingers to players in Bakersfield who should see time with the big club down the road.
Pensburgh compares Bryan Rust‘s three-goal performance to a legendary Penguin’s five goal performance.
Hockey Wilderness suggests two players for Chuck Fletcher to acquire.
Finally, Canucks Army offers advice to ownership: new management.
We’re always looking to add to the list. Tweet us some articles you like @prohockeyrumors or let us know through our comments section.
Western Notes: Mueller, Toews, Scheifele
So much for that callup. The San Jose Sharks have sent Mirco Mueller back down just one day after bringing him up to the NHL. The former 18th overall pick was recalled yesterday to likely serve as insurance for a late scratch in last night’s game against the Ottawa Senators. The young defender will return to the Barracuda to continue his development and try to force himself into the Sharks’ plan.
- Good news Chicago fans, the captain is returning soon. According to Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago, Jonathan Toews will be back on the ice with the team tomorrow and could play Sunday against the Dallas Stars. Toews has missed the last seven games with a back injury and was placed on injured reserve on December 2nd. A model of consistency over the past decade, Toews has scored between 23 and 34 goals in every single season of his career, but is in jeopardy of missing that mark this year with just four tallies through the team’s first 28 games. It’ll be interesting to see whether he comes back at %100 and starts putting up the numbers everyone has come to expect since making his debut in 2007-08.
- Not to be outdone, the Winnipeg Jets will welcome back their top center tonight as Mark Scheifele will be back in the lineup versus the New York Rangers. Scheifele has missed three games due to a lower-body injury. Head coach Paul Maurice spoke to the media at the morning skate and told reporters “as soon as he felt strong enough to play, we’re not going to worry about [re-injury]”. Scheifele has formed one of the most dynamic lines in hockey with Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers this season, recording a combined 74 points through the Jets’ 29 games.
- The Colorado Avalanche are on a brutal six-game losing streak at the moment, and they’ll turn to the young Calvin Pickard to try and right the ship. After last playing on November 29th, Pickard will try to continue his excellent play and right the ship for Colorado against the Boston Bruins tonight. The 24-year old netminder has a .920 save percentage and 2.44 goals against average, both marks considerably better than teammate (and supposed #1) Semyon Varlamov. If the play of the two goaltenders continue this way, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Pickard start more and more games through the season. It’s also looking more and more like the Avalanche will need to protect Pickard in the upcoming expansion draft, as he’ll be mighty enticing to a new franchise.
Custance’s Latest: Teams Hurt By Cap Recapture Rules
In the salary cap era, there is nothing worse than a bloated contract, especially one susceptible to the cap recapture rules. ESPN’s Craig Custance listed a number of teams who suffer from such a fate, and explains as such:
For some teams, that pain has arrived. And it could be worse than originally projected because of cap recapture rules since put in place in the new CBA to punish teams if the player retires early or the contract is traded.
“Teams that did those contracts essentially embarrassed Gary [Bettman]. We found a way to circumvent the CBA legally,” said one executive. “He was incensed, and said ‘I’m going to get you back.’ Which he did.”
Now because of decisions made years ago, in the name of winning it all or rewarding players who helped make it happen, there are a group of teams that have legacy costs built into their current salary cap structure.
Two teams who managed to stay in good shape contract wise–while contending– are the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Pens not having any legacy costs. But the teams below, according to Custance, are the ones who suffered from the wrath of Bettman.
- Los Angeles Kings
Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, and Matt Greene are the contracts that have the Kings on the hook for awhile. Along with Mike Richards‘ cap recapture hit of $1.32MM, the Kings have a legacy cost of $8.545MM. Though they won two Stanley Cups since 2012, the cost may have hurt them in terms of losing Milan Lucic and Justin Williams due to a lack of cap room.
- Chicago Blackhawks
Sure, they’ve won three Cups since 2010, but the Marian Hossa deal will eventually be a “real headache” since it still has four years left. Further, Custance writes that the Hawks could be in for real trouble by the 2019-20 season when the core of the Hawks, namely Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford are all into their 30’s and saddling the payroll with a combined $40MM.
- Detroit Red Wings
General manager Ken Holland anchored the team with a number of long term, and expensive contracts. Custance’s list doesn’t include the new deals that include a 32-year-old Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm. Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard, and Johan Franzen combine for a legacy cost of $9.34MM. Custance believes the Wings could get out of the Howard contract by trade, but Kronwall and Zetterberg’s deals will cripple the Wings for years to come, especially as their play declines. The legacy cost for Detroit: $9.34MM.
- Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have a few big contracts, namely the Sedin twins, Alex Burrows, Alexander Edler and Roberto Luongo ($800K retained). Custance notes that while he would take the Sedins on his team any day, their decline is certainly happening.
The 2016 All UFA Bust Team
Last week we presented our 2016 All UFA Bargain team, highlighted by Jonathan Marchessault and Chad Johnson, each of whom has provided results well in excess of any expectations based on the contracts they signed this summer. Of course for every free agent bargain in the NHL there is likely at least one free agent signing that will rate as a bust. Strangely enough, only a handful of UFA blue liners inked multiyear pacts this summer with two of the biggest names, Keith Yandle and Alex Goligoski, traded by their previous employers before agreeing to lucrative deals prior to reaching unrestricted free agency. Subsequently, finding two defensemen who have severely under-performed their new contracts was not as easy as expected.
Without further ado, here is Pro Hockey Rumors 2016 All UFA Bust Team.
Forwards
Andrew Ladd (New York Islanders) – Seven years, $38.5MM: The Islanders, needing to replace the scoring tough of Kyle Okposo, reached a lucrative agreement July 1st with veteran left wing Andrew Ladd. It was expected that in addition to 25-goal, 50-point production, Ladd would also add leadership to a relatively young squad. But Ladd has just five points in 23 contests with his new club and has struggled despite seeing a lot of early-season ice time with John Tavares.
Many were critical of the Ladd contract, primarily due to the seven-year term. Ladd, soon to turn 31, already has nearly 800 regular season games under his belt and likely won’t remain productive into his mid-to-late-30’s. However it was at least expected that Ladd would maintain his 20-goal plus production through the first half of his deal.
Mikkel Boedker (San Jose Sharks) – Four years, $16MM: After falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final last June, the San Jose Sharks decided they needed to add some speed to help keep up against the league’s quicker clubs. Enter Boedker, who had tied his career-high in points, tallying 51 while splitting the 2015-16 campaign between Arizona and Colorado. Boedker was supposed to help allow the Sharks to ice four quality lines with skill and add some more speed to the lineup. Unfortunately the production – two goals and four points – simply doesn’t measure up to the lofty contract he received.
Dale Weise (Philadelphia Flyers) – Four years, $9.4MM: Weise parlayed an excellent platform season – 14 goals, 27 points – into a nice, multiyear deal with the Flyers this summer despite his late-season struggles following a trade from Montreal to Chicago. The physical winger tallied just one assist in 15 games with the Blackhawks down the stretch. Yet the AAV of $2.35MM is in line with Weise’s full-season production in both 2014-15 and 2015-16. The problem is, Weise has just two goals and four points in 22 game so far on the campaign and that’s not nearly enough to justify his contract.
Defense
Dan Hamhuis (Dallas Stars) – Two years, $7.5MM: The Stars pursued Hamhuis at last season’s trade deadline but the veteran defender elected to exercise his NTC to block a proposed deal to Dallas as he didn’t want to uproot his family at that time. After losing Kris Russell, Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski from last year’s blue line, it seemed only natural that the Stars would turn again to Hamhuis for help. The 13-year-vet has long been a steady performer and the two-year term is reasonable, but he has just five points in 24 games and has been a healthy scratch at times this season. Surely the Stars expected a little more from their investment.
Jason Demers (Florida Panthers) – Five years, $22.5MM: It’s not that Demers is having a terrible year as he is on pace for around 10 goals and 29 points. But Florida remade their blue line in the offseason, moving on from tough, physical defenders Erik Gudbranson and Dmitry Kulikov in favor of better puck movers like Demers. To say that plan hasn’t worked out would be an understatement. Defensively the team is allowing 2.44 goals-per-game, exactly the same as last year. However on offense, the team is averaging 0.51 fewer goals per game. Yes, some of that likely has to do with the injuries to Jonathan Huberdeau and Nick Bjugstad, but the bottom line is the season has been a bitter disappointment for the Panthers and Demers shares in some of the responsibility.
Goalie
James Reimer (Florida Panthers) – Five years, $17MM: With Roberto Luongo now 37, and the upcoming expansion draft at least providing the Panthers with the possibility of getting out from under the final five years of his onerous contract, the Panthers elected to buy the best goalie on the free agent market this summer to provide a competent fallback option. After eight starts this season, Reimer has a Save % under 0.900 and a GAA above 3.0. While a $3.4MM AAV may not be on par with most of the league’s starters, it is excellent money for a backup and Reimer is currently not even playing to that modest level.
Metro Division Snapshots: Williams, Calvert, Di Pauli
Now in the midst of his 16th NHL campaign, Washington Capitals winger Justin Williams has carved out a solid career as an excellent two-way player that excels at driving possession and one who is a proven playoff performer. In more than 1,000 regular season contests, Williams has tallied 251 goals with 387 assists while compiling a Corsi For % of better than 57%. Despite his past success, Williams finds himself mired in a deep slump this season, though as Isabelle Khurshudyan writes, the three-time Stanley Cup winner is trying to stay positive.
On the season, Williams has potted just two goals and four points in 22 games for the Capitals; a scoring pace which if maintained would result in the lowest full-season output of his career. But even at 35, it’s likely Williams still has enough gas in the tank to turn his season around. Last year, Williams tallied 22 goals and 52 points, totals which suggest there should be plenty of quality hockey left.
Khurdshudyan notes that Williams’ season to date can be summarized by a sequence during the Capitals recent tilt against the Islanders. Late in the first frame, Williams appeared to cash in on a cross-ice feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov but replays showed the puck crossed the line just after time expired in the period.
Williams’ struggles can be attributed at least in part to a shooting percentage well off his career rate. For his career, Williams has found the back of the net on 9.3% of his shots on goal. To this point in the campaign his success rate is just 4.1%. Williams is still generating shots near his career average – 2.64 per to 2.22 – which reinforces the belief that it’s likely just a matter of time before the veteran winger starts putting the biscuit in the basket again with regular frequency.
Elsewhere in the Metro Division:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that they have activated veteran checking winger Matt Calvert from IR. Calvert, who had missed the past five contests with an upper-body injury, has two goals and three points in 17 appearances for the Blue Jackets this season. Rob Mixer, who covers the Jackets for the team’s official website, adds that Calvert is likely going to be in the lineup tomorrow night when Columbus travels to Arizona to take on the Coyotes.
- Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Thomas Di Pauli underwent back surgery today and is expected to miss up to 12 weeks, according to a tweet from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins official Twitter account. Di Pauli signed with the club as a college free agent this summer, spurning overtures by the Washington Capitals, the team that originally drafted the young center in the fourth-round of the 2012 draft. In his first pro campaign, Di Pauli has just one point, a goal, in eight games.