Oilers’ Zack Kassian Granted Permission To Seek Trade
The Edmonton Oilers are off to a better start this season, out to a 5-3-1 record in the first month of the season. There has been far less controversy surrounding the team so far, as they look to get back to the playoffs following a very disappointing 2017-18 campaign. However, not everyone is feeling the positive effects of the new year. Forward Zack Kassian has been underutilized and unproductive early this season, a continuing trend from last season, and his frustration has boiled over. According to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, Kassian requested and has been granted permission to seek a trade to another team. His time in Edmonton could soon be over.
Kassian, 27, is a big, power forward right winger and was once a top NHL prospect. Selected 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2009, Kassian was valued not only for his size and physicality, but also his offensive upside after solid production in the OHL. That scoring ability never quite developed and Kassian has made a living in the league – with Buffalo, the Vancouver Canucks, and now Edmonton – as a part-time player used to inject grit and energy into the lineup. That is until 2016-17, when Kassian earned a full-time role with the Oilers, playing in a career-high 79 games, finishing among the top forwards in hits, and contributing 24 points as well.
There was no turning back after that, as Kassian was convinced he had proven himself to be an NHL starter. Rumors of his dissatisfaction began last season, when Kassian saw his ice time slip, unsurprisingly along with his performance. However, the situation has come to a head this year, as Kassian has been a healthy scratch for a third of the Oilers’ games, has skated under ten minutes per night on average, and has been held scoreless to boot. This may simply be the new reality for Kassian, who is better suited as a match-up player to be used when toughness is needed or he’s showing flashes of offense, but it will likely take a change of scenery for him to realize that. With plenty of players who could fill a role on the fourth line, Edmonton has little reason not to take what they can for Kassian and rid themselves of two more years of his nearly $2MM cap hit. With mutual interest in a separation, this seems like a situation that will be resolved via trade in short order, although don’t expect much of a return for the Oilers or a breakout for Kassian with his new team.
Metropolitan Notes: Johnson, Ferland, Boyd, Mayfield
Ever since the injury to defenseman Justin Schultz, there have been rumors that the Pittsburgh Penguins may have to upgrade their defense if they wanted to make a serious run for a Stanley Cup. Regardless, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford stated that the team has enough depth to fill the hole in their defense from within.
Yet rumors continued, especially after defenseman Jack Johnson was found to be on the ice for five goals against in their 6-5 overtime victory Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers. Again, fans began clamoring to get help to lessen the role of Johnson, after he signed a questionable five-year, $16.25MM deal in the offseason. However, head coach Mike Sullivan was quick to come to Johnson’s defense, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“The reality is when you break down the involvement of those goals, he had no responsibility for any of those goals-against,” Sullivan said of Johnson’s performance against the Oilers. “He just happened to be on the ice for them. We try to look at the game a whole lot closer than the fact that guy is on the ice when a goal is scored because a lot can happen in a team game.”
Rutherford furthered that notion by reiterating that the team intends to stand pat with regards to adding more defense.
“I certainly don’t see us having to go get another defenseman with the group of guys we have,” Rutherford said. “We have guys in Wilkes-Barre who can come in and play on top of who we have here.”
- While the Carolina Hurricanes made a number of moves this offseason, the team may be most happy with the play of Micheal Ferland, who came over in the trade with the Calgary Flames during the offseason. While the team’s main reason to bringing Ferland in was to add some toughness to a team that lacked it a year ago, the team seems to be getting quite a bit more than that out of him, according to Chip Alexander of the News & Observer. Ferland has found a place on the team’s top line with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, and has a team-high six goals, along with 10 points. If Ferland keeps that up, he could break his career-high of 21 goals this season.
- NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti writes Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said that Travis Boyd will have some tests tomorrow to determine the progress of his injury when he sustained a lower-body injury during training camp and was placed on LTIR. Because he was placed on LTIR, he was forced to miss 10 games, meaning he can be activated now if he’s healthy. “We’ll have him checked out again tomorrow and then see how close he is to being able to play as soon as Thursday,” Reirden said (via NBC Sports J.J. Regan). “But we still need to get some tests done and see exactly where he’s at. He’s been coming along and for the most part seems to be fairly pain-free.” Boyd made eight appearances with the Capitals last year and was battling with Nic Dowd for the fourth-line center position, but lost that job after getting injured.
- New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said that perhaps the biggest surprise on the roster has been the play of defenseman Scott Mayfield, according to Newsday’s Andrew Gross. The 26-year-old has a goal and five points in seven games this season, but has really impressed the coach with his play even though Trotz admitted that he got off to a slow start at training camp.
Vancouver Canucks Place Anders Nilsson On Injured Reserve
The Vancouver Canucks may have themselves a goaltending issue after the team placed goaltender Anders Nilsson on injured reserve Sunday, according to Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet. While there was no apparent injury during a game, Dhaliwal reports that Nilsson is dealing with a hand injury and had no idea how long he will be out.
It’s a big blow to a young team that has been playing beyond expectations this season as they hold a 6-6-0 record so far this year. Nilsson has been the standout goaltender in net as he has fared better than Jacob Markstrom as the 28-year-old seems to be bouncing back from a rough first year in Vancouver after signing a two-year deal during the summer of 2017. Nilsson has a 2.67 GAA and a .912 save percentage in six games this year, solid numbers for a team that many had picked to be among the bottom teams in the league this year.
While Vancouver has a top-flight prospect goaltender in Thatcher Demko sitting in Utica of the AHL, Demko has been doing just that as he has yet to make his debut this season as he is still suffering from concussion symptoms that he suffered in a Sept. 22 preseason game when he collided with Calgary’s Mikael Backlund. Dhaliwal reported Thursday that Demko has seen a specialist and is doing better, but remains at least a week away before taking the next step in his recovery.
Instead the team recalled Richard Bachman from Utica, who will serve as backup. Unfortunately, the 31-year-old veteran has struggled in Utica so far this year. In five games, he’s posted a 4.23 GAA and a .865 save percentage, suggesting the team may be in trouble if Nilsson is out for any extended time.
Minor Transactions: 10/28/18
The Florida Panthers landed in Helsinki, Finland, this morning as they prepare for the NHL Global Series on Thursday and Friday against the Winnipeg Jets. In the meantime, injuries around the league are beginning to pile up and several teams are expected to make moves today to fill out their roster. Keep an eye here throughout the day to see what moves teams make.
- After initial reports suggested the Philadelphia Flyers intended to recall Taylor Leier from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, the team reversed course and recalled two different players as they announced they have recalled wingers Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Tyrell Goulbourne instead. To make room for the two, the Flyers have placed Corban Knight on injured reserve with a hand injury he sustained Saturday against the Islanders. The team also has loaned center Mikhail Vorobyev to Lehigh Valley. Vorboyev came out of training camp with the third-line center job, but after posting just two points in seven games, the team opted to make some changes. Aube-Kubel has been considered a strong candidate for promotion after posting a solid campaign in the AHL last year, posting 18 goals and 46 points. He already had three goals and seven points in eight games there this season. Golbourne played nine games for the Flyers last season and had four points in seven games this year.
- The Minnesota Wild announced they have recalled forward Jordan Greenway after sending him down to the Iowa Wild of the AHL on Friday. Greenway made two appearances for Iowa this weekend, but made the impact the team was hoping for Saturday when he registered a hat trick against the Colorado Eagles. The 6-foot-6 power forward out of Boston University hasn’t found his game in the NHL yet as he’s had just one assist in nine games. The hope as that his success in Iowa will build his confidence. No word whether there is a corresponding roster move.
- Although the team didn’t report it Saturday, CapFriendly announced that the Vancouver Canucks returned forward Darren Archibald to the Utica Comets of the AHL in order to make room on their roster when they activated center Elias Pettersson so he could play against Pittsburgh Saturday. The 19-year-old didn’t post a point as the Canucks were shutout, but Pettersson registered 19:01 of ice time. The 28-year-old Archibald got only into one game while filling in for Pettersson on the roster, and scored a goal in that game.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they have recalled forward Danick Martel from his conditioning loan with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. The 23-year-old Martel posted great numbers with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL last season and the Lightning claimed him off waivers during training camp. Tampa Bay must keep him on their roster or place him back on waivers, which would give the Philadelphia Flyers an opportunity to claim him back. The team sent Martel to Syracuse on a conditioning stint on Oct. 18, but was forced to bring him back now that the conditioning loan has expired. He had one assist in four games there. The team hopes Martel can fill in for the injured Ondrej Palat, who is day-to-day.
- The Boston Bruins announced they have returned defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to the Providence Bruins of the AHL. The blueliner was recalled on an emergency loan after the team placed defenseman Kevan Miller on injured reserve on Thursday. However, with the impending return of Torey Krug, who could make his season debut as early as Tuesday after injuring his ankle right before the start of the season, the team was ready to return the 21-year-old. Lauzon played two games for Boston in his short stint, but failed to register a point. He does have four points in six games with Providence. Mark Divver of the Providence Journal reports the move may just be a paper transactions as Lauzon is not slated to play for Providence today.
- The Anaheim Ducks announced several roster moves in advance of tonight’s game against San Jose. They assigned defensemen Andrej Sustr (who cleared waivers on Saturday) and Marcus Pettersson to San Diego of the AHL while recalling blueliners Andy Welinski and Jacob Larsson from the Gulls. Larsson and Welinski combined to serve as Anaheim’s third pairing against the Sharks.
Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser Return To Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks will have not one, but two young starts back in their lineup tonight. Head coach Travis Green announced that both Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser will make their returns from injury for the game this evening. Pettersson has been activated from the injured reserve, which he landed on nearly two weeks ago after suffering a concussion. It is a relatively quick recovery from what looked like a bad head injury on a dirty play. Boeser has missed the past two games for the Canucks with a groin injury, but fortunately is back sooner than expected as well.
Boeser, of course, is Vancouver’s reigning rookie standout, finishing second in Calder Trophy voting last season and being named an All-Star. Boeser notched 29 goals and 55 points in 62 games to lead the Canucks in scoring, despite missing 20 games. The University of North Dakota product has been off that same pace early this year, recording six points through nine games, but the hope is that any lingering injuries are behind him and he can get back to 30-goal form. However, Pettersson, the team’s newest rookie phenom, is around to pick up the slack and more. The fifth overall pick in 2017, Pettersson was off to a hot start prior to his injury, with five goals and eight points in five games. If the skilled Swede is truly past his concussion, he should get right back to tormenting the opposition.
The Canucks could not have asked for better timing to get their dynamic young duo back in action. The team recently suffered additional injuries to Alexander Edler and Sven Baertschi, who both landed on injured reserve, and are still without Jay Beagle. On top of that, Green revealed that top defenseman Chris Tanev will also be sidelined tonight. At 6-5, the Canucks have managed well enough considering their injuries, but have not won a game in regulation in more than two weeks. Vancouver especially needed help as soon as possible as they get set to face the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight and hope that Pettersson and Boeser can bring the offense needed to keep up with the Eastern Conference powerhouse.
Agent Mike Liut Set To Bury The “Bridge Deal” This Off-Season
For some time now, the landscape of NHL contracts has been changing, trending away from short and relatively inexpensive contracts for young restricted free agents. These “bridge deals” had long been used by teams to keep promising young talent on a reasonable price tag after their entry-level contract expired. While teams have been complicit in the movement away from bridge deals, players have simply begun to produce at a much higher level far sooner than in the past and, in turn, agents have demanded more term and salary than they ever had the leverage to command previously. The bridge deal is not yet extinct, but players and their representatives are having a much easier time landing expensive, long-term deals as early as possible in recent years.
While the beginning of the end for affordable youth can be traced back to superstars like Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin – whose cap hits now look like bargains some years later – it is within the last few years that young players of a lesser caliber than the all-world exception have been able to land similar pacts. The architect of multiple recent deals of great length and value has been Mike Liut of Octagon Sports. A former NHLer himself, Liut is the director of Octagon’s hockey division. Forbes reports that Liut manages 22 clients and over $325MM in player salary. His efforts to eliminate the bridge deal have played no small part in that impressive total. Liut negotiated the eight-year, $60MM contract signed by the St. Louis Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko back in 2015, when Tarasenko had less than 200 NHL games to his credit. He then put together the eight-year, $49MM contract of the Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele in 2016, before he became the point-per-game player he is today. However, the crown jewel of Liut’s collection has to be the massive eight-year, $68MM contract belonging to the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl. Signed last year, Draisaitl’s deal carries an $8.5MM cap hit that is among the top fifteen players in the league. Yet, Liut somehow landed Draisaitl that deal after just two and half seasons, only one of which was truly impressive.
Now, Liut has a chance at a repeat performance of the Draisaitl deal not once, not twice, not even thrice, but with four different prominent players this off-season. Liut counts Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen, Brock Boeser, and Jake Guentzel among his clients and each of those four is set to have their entry-level contract expire this off-season. Winnipeg’s Laine has finished in the top ten in goal scoring in each of his first two seasons and was second only to Ovechkin for the league lead last year. Colorado’s Rantanen recorded 84 points in 81 games last year and currently shares the NHL lead in points and assists. Vancouver’s Boeser finished second in Calder Trophy voting last year and led the Canucks in scoring. Pittsburgh’s Guentzel is a Stanley Cup champion and a proven clutch scorer. Liut has shown an ability to bypass the bridge deal before and has an excellent chance at landing each of these players an expensive long-term deal. Other restricted free agents like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Sebastian Aho are also certain to land similar deals. As such, in an off-season with an abnormal amount of high-profile RFA’s, each one could end up with an expensive, long-term extension. The effect, as Liut hopes, that the bridge deal dies as a result.
Injury Notes: MacKenzie, Edler, Krug
The Florida Panthers moved to a different leadership group this season when they named Aleksander Barkov captain and pulled the “C” off the sweater of Derek MacKenzie. That didn’t mean the former captain had any less importance to the roster though, and he was set to remain a consistent presence in the bottom six and veteran one in the locker room. His support of Barkov’s new role was key for the team, and after acknowledging it would be his final season, MacKenzie was set to go out on his own terms.
That all changed when he suffered a shoulder injury on opening night, and quickly decided that surgery would be the best option for his long-term health. MacKenzie was officially placed on injured reserve today, and will have the corrective surgery when the team returns from their two games in Finland next week. According to George Richards of The Athletic, the team has not made a corresponding roster move yet.
- Alexander Edler suffered an injury early in Wednesday night’s game against the Arizona Coyotes, and will undergo an MRI to see if there is any major damage. Edler is just another walking wounded for the Canucks, who have seen Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Chris Tanev all exit the lineup recently with injuries. The team is expected to get the two young forwards back before long, but may have to be without Edler for a while longer if the tests show any structural damage.
- Speaking of losing a defenseman for a while, the Boston Bruins have been without Torey Krug all season as he works his way back from an ankle injury suffered at the end of the preseason. That absence may be coming to an end though, as head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters that Krug was “very close” to a return and could be in the lineup as early as Saturday evening when the Bruins take on the Montreal Canadiens. Boston has been struggling to find any consistency on their blue line as they deal with injuries to several key players, but are still 6-2-2 through their first ten games.
Teams Scouting Alex Edler Quite Frequently This Season
Canucks defenseman Alex Edler has been part of trade speculation for several years now but nothing has come of it. Now, the Swedish blueliner is in the final year of his contract and accordingly, he has been scouted quite frequently in the early going this season, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in an appearance on Sportsnet 650 (audio link). While Vancouver is off to a good start this season, the expectation is that they’ll eventually become sellers and Edler would likely be at the forefront of those efforts. He’s off to a solid start with five points through nine games while leading the team in playing time at 24:28 per contest and would be a top-four upgrade for many contending teams. However, the 32-year-old has a full no-trade clause so he would have the ability to control where he ultimately winds up.
Pacific Notes: Gibson, Tuch, Eriksson, Thornton
The Anaheim Ducks know they can’t keep relying on the play of goaltender John Gibson, who has saved the team with his impressive play. Most recently Gibson sustained a 44-shot performance on Saturday (many of which were high-danger shots) against the Golden Knights, who walked away with a 3-1 win. Gibson wasn’t thrilled with the team’s inability to keep those shots down, according to The Athletic’s Josh Cooper (subscription required).
“I think we just need to be better. It’s getting old,” Gibson said with a little smirk after the 3-1 loss where he made 42 saves and his team managed just 18 shots on goal. “You see the game. You can see what we’re doing. It’s pretty self explanatory. We’re not playing to the level that I think we’re capable of playing and I think we’re just being too satisfied with just being average.”
Anaheim remains in first place in the Pacific Division at 5-2-1, but are dead last in the NHL in shots allowed as they have yielded an average of 37.0 shots per game. Gibson has been able to protect the team with his play as he boasts a .949 save percentage in his seven appearances and has a 1.91 GAA so far, but it’s unlikely he can keep that up.
“We’re not playing the right way,” coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’re loose in coverage and we’re not competitive enough and when you’re not competitive enough it means they’re starting with the puck and winning more of those battles and they have the puck more than you do.”
- The Vegas Golden Knights finally got winger Alex Tuch back on the ice Sunday as the practiced with the team in a non-contact sweater, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Tuch, who just signed a seven-year, $33.25MM contract, hasn’t appeared in a game for Vegas this season. The 22-year-old has been out since Sept. 30 with an injury. With that new deal in hand, The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) wonders how good Tuch can actually be, considering the team only has his rookie season’s numbers of 15 goals and 37 points, which mostly had him on the team’s third line. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder is great at getting into the corners and doing the dirty work and the scribe compares him to a young Milan Lucic, who also put up similar numbers as a rookie and eventually become a consistent 20-goal scorer for years. “We’re expecting him to get better every year, and we’re expecting big things from him this year and he should be back soon,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s a good young player but he has to keep getting better. He’s not elite yet. He’s far from elite, and we want him to get to be elite someday.”
- With no goals in eight games, there has been quite a bit of criticism that has been thrown at Vancouver Canucks winger Loui Eriksson, the team’s highest paid player at $6MM per year. Regardless head coach Travis Green vigorously defended his veteran forward on Saturday, according to TSN’s Jeff Patterson. “He’s second on our team in 5-on-5 points and second in plus-minus and it’s seven games, not 50,” said Green. “He’s on the second power-play unit and not the first. He has done some good things and it’s not just about goals with Loui. There a lots of guys I want more out of and if I say I want more out of Loui, everyone is up in arms about it. I thought he was playing good with Elias Pettersson. He was good defensively and does some subtle things that people don’t notice — nor does he get recognition for – and I’m not worried about Eriksson, I can tell you that.”
- The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that center Joe Thornton remains day-to-day after he was placed on injured reserve due to swelling in his surgically repaired knee. However, the 39-year-old is expected to travel with the team for their upcoming three-game road trip. “I don’t know if he’ll play or not,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. Thornton, however, said he hopes to play this week.
Update On Health Status Of Canucks’ Elias Pettersson
It has been a week since Vancouver Canucks rookie forward Elias Pettersson was thrown to the ice by Florida Panthers defenseman Michael Matheson. Pettersson was injured on the play while Matheson did not even receive a minor penalty for his actions. Matheson was later suspended for two games by the Department of Player Safety, but the story was already written in the minds of many: the NHL yet again failed to protect one of its young stars. It may seem like a harsh take, but – as The Hockey News’ Ken Campbell writes – it is a difficult one to ignore. The talented rookie undresses the veteran defenseman, only to then become the victim of a dirty play in retaliation, one that the referees did not see as an issue. It is a bad look for the league and one Campbell opines is far too common.
Yet, things could have been worse. Pettersson was placed in the league’s concussion protocol after landing hard on his head, but The Province’s Ben Kuzma wrote earlier this week that there was come concern that he had sustained more than just a concussion. Canucks doctors viewing the hit thought that Pettersson could have suffered from neck and shoulder injuries in addition to what was clearly a concussion. A neck strain in particular, Kuzma relays, can leave a player susceptible to reoccurring injuries and can flare up and cause headaches at any time.
Fortunately, it seems Pettersson has avoided any ancillary injuries. Fears were calmed substantially today when, as Kuzma notes, the promising rookie took the ice with a Vancouver skills coach and seemed to be skating naturally. This would seem to indicate that he is both progressing through the concussion protocol and has avoided injuries that would make skating uncomfortable. Kuzma states that quite a few steps remain – increased training, hard skating, and full contact drills – but this is an encouraging first step. The Canucks will likely have their first-year star back sooner than anyone expected.