Western Notes: Vancouver-Seattle Rivalry, Baertschi, Pietrangelo, Vlasic
With Seattle becoming the NHL’s 32nd team, you might think the Vancouver Canucks wouldn’t be thrilled to have a team right on their doorstep. However, that’s not the case. In fact, Vancouver ownership and fans are thrilled to bring a natural rival for their team and hope that it will continue to spark interest not only in Seattle, but bring in more fans in Vancouver as well, according to the Associated Press.
”Vancouver is already a partner. They were the most enthusiastic team in the league about this. They love the idea of this rivalry,” Seattle team President Tod Leiweke said. ”I think for the two cities to connect like this, the two cities are 130 miles away but now they’re going to connect in a whole different way and I think that’s one of the great things that is going to come out of all this is a deep, deep visceral connection between Vancouver and Seattle and we’re going to play some great games.”
Both franchises hope that the rivalry will increase marketing, interest in the game and the hope that each franchise’s fanbase will travel back and forth between cities when they face off against each other. While there would normally be reason to worry that each franchise might take away from each other in terms of fans, there is no concern of that here as it is believed the U.S.-Canadien border is likely the perfect barrier for fans on which side they want to follow.
- Sticking with Vancouver, Canucks head coach Travis Green said that forward Sven Baertschi is progressing nicely and might be ready to practice with the team when in Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday. Baertschi has been out since Oct. 24 with a concussion. Baertschi has only appeared in 10 games for Vancouver this season and has three goals and three assists.
- While only a rumor, Sportsnet reports that Nick Kypreos reported on Hockey Night in Canada tonight that the St. Louis Blues are considering moving defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and the Toronto Maple Leafs could be the prime target, suggesting that the Maple Leafs are offering Nikita Zaitsev, picks and prospects as part of a package. While that would be a huge win for the Toronto Maple Leafs, expect much of the league to weigh in on Pietrangelo if St. Louis truly intends to trade him. Pietrangelo, who is currently on LTIR, could become a unrestricted free agent after the 2019-20 season.
- The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that one of the biggest problems with the San Jose Sharks is the regression of veteran defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who is starting the first year of an eight-year, $56MM contract, pointing out that the 31-year-old Vlasic is playing like a third-line defenseman this season and his minus-14 plus/minus ratio is quite accurate as he has struggled mightily.
- Fox Sports Jon Rosen reports that Gabriel Vilardi is not in the lineup for the Ontario Reign of the AHL due to an injury and is expected to be evaluated on Monday by Los Angeles Kings doctors. The 19-year-old forward has been on a long-term conditioning assignment in Ontario, having posted one assist in four games there so far. He has missed significant time in each of the last two seasons due to back injury.
Canucks Continue To Look For NHL Fit For Sam Gagner
One of the more surprising decisions this season has come from the Vancouver Canucks, who found themselves with too many forwards to start the year. Because of that, the team waived and assigned veteran Sam Gagner to the minor leagues, loaning him to the Toronto Marlies so that he could be close to family if he were to be playing in the AHL. That looked like the end of his Canucks career, but amazingly just a few weeks later Vancouver found themselves in need and recalled Gagner once again. In fact, after his recall Gagner immediately went to an important spot in the lineup and rejoined a Canucks powerplay.
Now, the team has sent Gagner back to the minor leagues once again, and back to Toronto to play for the Marlies. Again it would seem like his time is over in Vancouver, but at this point no one can be sure. What is known though, is that Canucks GM Jim Benning is open to moving Gagner to another NHL team if he can find a good fit for him. The Vancouver executive told The Province that the team continues to look for opportunities for Gagner around the league and notes that as teams start incurring injuries there could be an opening.
Just this week, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet suggested that the Chicago Blackhawks could have some interest in Gagner, though Benning would not comment on specifics. As with almost any team acquiring the veteran forward, the finances might be tight. Gagner carries a cap hit of $3.15MM this season, but it’s the additional year on his current contract that quite severely limits his appeal. Taking him on at this point would be a risk for any team hoping to recapture some of the magic that made him a 50-point man in Columbus two seasons ago, a mark he had never reached previously in his career. If it goes south, like it has in Vancouver, being on the hook for another $3.15MM next season is a deal breaker for a team like Chicago.
If then it would take a retained salary transaction to move him, what is the benefit for the Canucks? The team currently has plenty of cap space to carry his buried contract, and he’s shown the ability to step right back into an NHL role and produce. Gagner did after all have three points in seven games after being recalled from Toronto, and played admirably given the circumstances. The value he brings as a veteran option that can be recalled at any time may be worth more than any return, meaning a trade would be entirely for his sake. That might be exactly what happens in this situation though, as Benning told The Province: “if something is there, we’ll do it.”
Pittsburgh Penguins “Tested The Market” On Phil Kessel
Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, the Pittsburgh Penguins apparently “tested the market” on enigmatic superstar Phil Kessel. That’s according to Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, which notes that Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is still looking to make a move to upgrade his current roster. There was speculation that Kessel could be on the move earlier this year after Pittsburgh were knocked out of the postseason, though nothing came of it.
The 31-year old Kessel is still an incredible offensive talent and sits currently with 29 points through his first 26 games this season. Just last year he posted the best season of his career to-date, recording 92 points, finishing ahead of teammate Sidney Crosby and seventh in the entire league. That point-per-game production didn’t quite continue in the playoffs, and Kessel was only able to record a single goal in 12 postseason appearances.
Still, there’s no doubting that he can help any team reach the Stanley Cup. In his first two seasons with the Penguins, Kessel was a force in the playoffs with 45 points in 49 games and was a huge part of the back-to-back championships. The forward that had been figuratively run out of both Boston and Toronto seemed to find a perfect home in Pittsburgh, where he could play the part of the third musketeer behind Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
The question now is, with the Penguins struggling out of the gate, whether Kessel is still that perfect fit. The team has turned things around of late and are now within striking distance of a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division, but find themselves pushed right up against the cap and using long-term injured reserve to ice a competitive team. Though part of Kessel’s salary is still being paid by the Maple Leafs, he still counts for $6.8MM against the Penguins cap and has three more seasons on his current deal. That room could be used for other things, and there’s bound to be interest in a point-per-game sniper like the Wisconsin native.
There’s no reason to think that a Kessel trade is imminent—especially given that he still holds a substantial no-trade clause—but it’s hard to rule out anything when it comes to Rutherford. He’s already been one of the more active executives in the league this season, sending Carl Hagelin and Daniel Sprong out to try and shake things up in the dressing room. In came Tanner Pearson and Marcus Pettersson, but neither player is a game-changing talent like Kessel, nor as substantial an asset as he would likely return.
A previous version of Friedman’s story used the term “testing the market.” It has since been updated.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Canucks Return Sam Gagner To Toronto Marlies
Veteran forward Sam Gagner was surprised to find that he would not be starting the season at the NHL level after the Vancouver Canucks waived him and subsequently assigned him to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies prior to the start of the 2018-19 season. However, Gagner got the call from the injury-plagued Canucks in mid-November and saw it as an opportunity to win back his job with Vancouver. Gagner’s efforts were clearly not enough, as the team announced today that they have returned Gagner to the Marlies.
In seven games in Vancouver, Gagner played a pivotal role for the Canucks, averaging more than 18 minutes of ice time per game. In fact, in his last game on Saturday, Gagner logged more than 19 minutes, among the Canucks’ top skaters that night. His ice time also included a healthy amount on the power play, where he has always been effective. Altogether, Gagner only recorded three points – a goal and two assists – but was crippled by a 5.9% shooting percentage that would currently go down as the lowest of his career and is far from the norm over his twelve seasons. Nevertheless, three points in seven games is far from overwhelming and Gagner was a non-factor defensively and a liability at the face-off dot during his brief call-up. Gagner could certainly be of benefit to Vancouver this season, but he certainly did not do enough to force their hand in keeping him, especially with trade acquisition Josh Leivo incoming and Jay Beagle getting close to a return.
The question now is whether or not Gagner improved his stock enough during the recall to rejuvenate his trade market. The likely end to Gagner’s time in Vancouver became a trade as soon as they waived and reassigned him earlier this season. A solid player with years of success at the NHL level, few believe Gagner should be relegated to the minors full-time, but no teams were willing to take on his full contract via waivers. After seeing him play big minutes again for the Canucks, as well as point-per-game production in the AHL, it is possible that competitors could begin putting in calls to Vancover GM Jim Benning.
Michael DiPietro Traded In OHL
Michael DiPietro has had a very interesting 24 hours. After being named to the Team Canada World Junior selection camp roster yesterday, the Vancouver Canucks goaltending prospect is on his way to a new OHL team for a potential Memorial Cup run. The Windsor Spitfires have traded DiPietro to the Ottawa 67’s in exchange for a huge package that includes forward Egor Afanasyev and seven draft picks. The Spitfires will get a second round pick in each of 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, along with three conditional picks while Ottawa will also get a 2024 second-round pick and a 2020 fourth-round pick in addition to DiPietro.
DiPietro, 19, was selected 64th overall in the 2017 draft and is considered one of the top goaltending prospects in the league. He’s had quite the interesting junior career so far, including an invitation to the World Championships as the third goaltender alongside a group of NHL players. In Windsor this season he has a .920 save percentage through 21 games, and will battle Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Ian Scott for the chance to be the starter for Canada at the junior tournament later this month.
For Ottawa, this is a chance to compete for an OHL Championship and potentially a Memorial Cup. The team is a powerhouse that has lost just three games in regulation all season, and leads the league with 123 goals for through 29 games. Though there will be some tough competition from teams like the London Knights and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Ottawa has a great chance to be the OHL representative in the prestigious CHL tournament, especially with DiPietro in the fold. For the young goaltender, this will be just another chance for development, before he enters the professional ranks next season.
Josh Leivo Traded To Vancouver Canucks
After the Toronto Maple Leafs finally were able to sign William Nylander, it created a roster crunch for their NHL group. One forward needed to be sent out, and with no obvious waiver-exempt options the front office turned to the trade market to see if they could get a deal. A deal they did get, by sending Josh Leivo to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Michael Carcone.
For Leivo, even though a trade takes him away from the powerful Maple Leafs and to a new, unfamiliar organization, it is probably a welcome result. The 25-year old forward has been battling for years to try and make an impact on Mike Babcock and the Maple Leafs coaching staffs, only to find himself in the press box more than on the ice. Originally selected 86th overall in 2011, Leivo has played just 84 NHL games to this point in his career, spending more than that as a healthy scratch throughout the years. The last time he even had any substantial time in the minor leagues was 2015-16, when he was nearly a point-per-game player for the Toronto Marlies.
In the NHL, Leivo has produced 28 points in those 84 games and too rarely shown that he has the versatility to contribute in a bottom-six role. That’s all he was going to get in Toronto given their other young forward talent, but he never really grew into the type of player that Babcock wanted on his fourth line. Instead, his ice time was extremely limited even when he did get into the lineup, although he was given time on the second powerplay this season.
Vancouver will likely attempt to coax every bit of offensive potential out of Leivo, using his big body and hard, powerful shot to create a mismatch alongside some of their smaller forwards. If they can get any production out of him the deal will be a win for them, given that they only sacrificed an undrafted minor league forward.
Toronto was in a tough spot and was likely heading for a situation where they would lose Leivo or someone else to waivers anyway, so they accepted Carcone to at least get something in return. The 22-year old had a great season in his final year of junior with the Drummondville Voltigeurs, but has had middling results in the AHL so far. That changed early this season with 17 points in his first 20 games, but there is still a long road ahead of the undersized forward if he’s ever to make the NHL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Los Angeles Kings Claim Brendan Leipsic
There are some benefits of being at the bottom of the NHL standings, and one is waiver priority. The Los Angeles Kings have added another young forward, claiming Brendan Leipsic from the Vancouver Canucks according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The team had recently added Nikita Scherbak as well through the waiver process.
Leipsic, 24, is now on his fifth NHL organization since being selected 89th overall in 2012. The Nashville Predators were the ones to select the undersized WHL scoring phenom, but ended up trading him to the Toronto Maple Leafs before he ever played a game for them. The Maple Leafs proceeded to lose Leipsic to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft, who followed by trading him to the Canucks last season. He’ll now head south to Los Angeles to get another chance at the NHL level.
The Kings have been searching for speed and skill to try and infuse some offensive into their lineup, and with Scherbak and Leipsic they’ve certainly taken a chance. Both players have failed to really establish themselves in the NHL, but have big upside if they can ever bring their previous production to that level. Leipsic in particular has been an outstanding player in the minor leagues, including a 51-point season in 2016-17 for the Toronto Marlies.
Pacific Notes: Ritchie, Burns, Stastny, Gaudette
While most of the hockey world had been focused on the contract holdout of William Nylander all season, there were much fewer eyes on the holdout of restricted free agent Nick Ritchie. The 22-year-old wasn’t a big name. After all, the most points he had ever posted was 14 goals and 28 points in 2016-17. Yet hold out he did before eventually signing a three-year bridge deal worth a total of $4.6MM. A small footnote in the restricted free-agent process.
However, Ritchie is starting to get hot as he has scored all four of his goals in the last four games, including a two-goal performance Wednesday against Florida as well as eight points in the last seven games. The Athletic’s Eric Stephens (subscription required) writes that Ritchie is starting to develop into the player they drafted in the first round (10th overall) in 2014.
Ritchie admits that he has made minor adjustments such as adjusting his footwork and how he handles the puck, but after initially playing in the top six and then getting demoted to the fourth line was a game-changer. The winger says that he worked harder than ever to work his way back to the top-six. It’s working as Anaheim has won four in a row and six of their last seven.
- Kevin Kurz of The Athletic (subscription required) writes one of the many issues that the San Jose Sharks are struggling with is the play of veteran defenseman Brent Burns. The 33-year-old blueliner is having a good season statistically with 27 points in 27 games, but hasn’t scored a goal in more than a month and holds a minus-3 plus-minus rating. His general play has been disappointing and that really stood out in the team’s 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators Saturday.
- The Vegas Golden Knights got good news as injured center Paul Stastny was seen skating during the team’s morning skate, according to SinBin Vegas. Stastny has been skating for several days for about 20-30 minutes, which is the next step in his recovery from a lower-body injury that has held him for most of the season. The 32-year-old has appeared in just three games for the Golden Knights.
- When the Vancouver Canucks placed Brendan Leipsic on waivers earlier today, many were surprised they didn’t just assign Adam Gaudette to Utica of the AHL instead of potentially losing Leipsic. However, general manager Jim Benning explained that the team prefers to see Gaudette continue his development with the Canucks. “We want to keep him around because he plays centre and because every game he’s showing some good things and gaining more confidence,” Benning said via Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma. “We feel he’s helping us.”
Edmonton Has No Interest In Moving Out of Pacific Division
With the expected approval on Tuesday for the Seattle expansion franchise at the board of governor’s meeting, the next question that will have to be determined is how to re-align the Western Conference as Seattle will obviously move into the Pacific Division, giving them nine teams, while the Central Division would have just seven. While there has been talk about moving the Arizona Coyotes over to the Central Division, many feel the team should stay where it is as they have short rivalry trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles/Anaheim.
Another popular suggestion is to move both the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames together to the Central Division and sending the Colorado Avalanche back to the Pacific Division. However, Terry Jones of The Edmonton Sun writes that option isn’t very popular in Edmonton.
“We want to stay in the Pacific. And we’re pretty strong about it,” insists Bob Nicholson, vice chairman and CEO of the Oilers Entertainment Group. “Seattle is going to come into the league and when they do come in, we definitely do not want to move. We feel the rivalries are too strong for the NHL to do that to our franchise.”
The two teams have built rivalries in the Pacific, including one between the Flames and the Vancouver Canucks, while Edmonton has built some significant rivalries with some of the California teams, most specifically with recent playoff matchups with the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. Nicholson said the team intends to appeal to the NHL to allow the Oilers as well as the rival Flames to stay in the Pacific Division.
“I just believe we’ve been in the league a long time now and hopefully the league will respect our rivalries, especially the Calgary and Vancouver rivalries,” said Nicholson.
Of course, there are new potential rivalries between both Calgary and Edmonton with a team such as the Winnipeg Jets and even the Minnesota Wild. Regardless, Nicholson has a strong feeling the league will accept the wishes of Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
“I’m relatively confident from the unofficial conversations that have gone on, so far,” Nicholson said. “I’m expecting it to be simple and that it will be Arizona that would move into the Central. If it gets more complicated than that, I think there would be big debates. We expect to stay where we are. I would think it would be Arizona that would move.”
Brendan Leipsic Placed On Waivers
According to CapFriendly, the Vancouver Canucks have placed forward Brendan Leipsic on waivers. Leipsic didn’t play in the Canucks most recent game and likely will be sent to the minor leagues if he clears.
Leipsic hasn’t been able to make much of an impact on Travis Green and the Vancouver coaching staff since coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights last year, and will now be at risk of claim. The 24-year old forward has a nice offensive ceiling, but has recorded just five points this season in limited minutes. With Jay Beagle‘s return coming closer, the Canucks needed to make a decision on who would go, and felt that Adam Gaudette‘s NHL development was more important.
With two other young offensive talents swapping teams through waivers the last few days, there may not be as many interested teams left for Leipsic. If he does clear, the Utica Comets will be getting a huge boost. The third-round pick has 159 points in 188 career regular season AHL games, including a better than point-per-game pace in his last stint during the 2016-17 season.