Calgary Flames Recall Hunter Shinkaruk From AHL
After learning that Kris Versteeg would be out a few weeks, the Calgary Flames have recalled Hunter Shinkaruk from the Stockton Heat. Versteeg was injured was placed on injured reserve with a groin injury that he suffered last night, giving Shinkaruk a chance with the big club.
A former first-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks, Shinkaruk was traded to the Flames this February in exchange for Markus Granlund. The winger is off to a great start in the AHL this season with eight points in seven contests. After making his NHL debut last season he’ll try to show that he belongs full time at this level.
For Versteeg, it’s exactly the reason he was only able to score PTO’s this year. For a talented forward who has always been able to put up points, he’s never been able to stay consistently healthy or in the lineup. While he hasn’t suffered a huge setback in a few years, he’s often out with nagging injuries for at least a few games each year. It’s clear he can contribute offensively – he’s scored at least 35 points in almost every one of his seasons – but disappears on occasion and can’t be relied on as core piece.
The Flames have broken up their dynamic duo of Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, but perhaps injecting a little more youth in the form of Shinkaruk can spark their offense. He scored 51 points in 62 AHL games last year, and is still just 22-years old.
Pacific Division Notes: Flames, Canucks, Oilers
The Calgary Flames have struggled in the early stretches of this season, and some of their fans have found a scapegoat: “The Wideman Effect”.
The belief is that since January 2016, when Dennis Wideman ran linesman Don Henderson from behind, ending the latter’s career, the referees have been biased against the Flames. Despite the catchy name, it appears that the perception just isn’t true. Sportsnet’s Mark Spector broke down the penalties called in the 47 games before the incident and the 46 since. While the Flames did see a nearly 50 per cent increase in penalties last season after the attack, they still spent more time on the power-play. Moving to this season, the Flames are the second-most penalized team in the NHL after the Bruins. But they’ve also had the fifth-most power-play opportunities of any team.
Fans can look no further than the struggles of Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, and Brian Elliott, and some questionable lineup choices on the blue line. Fresh off signing new contracts for $6.375MM and $6,75MM respectively, Monahan and Gaudreau have combined for just 11 points through 12 games. That’s eight less than last season at this time.
Elliott was traded for to stabilize the Flames wretched goaltending from last season, and so far has a sub-900 save percentage and a GAA over 3. Backup Chad Johnson has been better, but is still below league-average.
Finally, the Flames new coach Glen Gulutzan‘s usage of Dougie Hamilton has been weird this season. Hamilton scored 43 points last season while playing just under 20-minutes per game, but has fallen below 19 minutes this season and has been playing third-pairing at even-strength with lesser players.
- It has been an ugly stretch for the Canucks, who have lost seven games in a row after starting 4-0-0. They’ve fallen from first in the NHL to 26th. Even worse, the Canucks have scored just seven goals in that stretch and have been shutout in four of their last five games. The Blue Jackets outscored the Canucks’ entire losing streak in 38-minutes on Friday night, and they weren’t even done yet. Coach Willie Desjardins said he believes in their players and thinks they can turn it around, despite admitting this season’s losing has been tough on him. Desjardins is on the hot seat, considering GM Jim Benning believes the Canucks are a playoff team. However, Benning may not be entirely accurate in that belief: the Canucks are averaging just 1.45 goals-per-game, nearly a goal-and-a-half less than the league-average. Most prognosticators have the Canucks pegged as a real contender, not for the playoffs, but for the best draft lottery odds.
- Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers are sitting in first in the Western Conference after a hot start. They’ve cooled down a little, going 0-2-1 in the last week. Spector echoed a common sentiment about the team: if they can get their hands on a legit point-threat for their floundering power-play, then watch out. The Oilers were linked to Kevin Shattenkirk, P.K. Subban and Tyson Barrie over the summer, and more recently pending-UFA Brent Burns. In his article, Spector suggests Jason Garrison might be available in Tampa Bay as a cap casualty, though he’s another lefty; when healthy, five of the Oilers top-six defenders are left-handed.
Lineup Updates: Backes, Carrier, Stone, Russell, Edler
News and notes from around the NHL this morning:
- The Boston Bruins announced that they expect David Backes back tonight in their tilt against the New York Rangers. Backes—the Bruins’ prized free agent signing this summer—has been out since October 24th with an elbow injury. The forward underwent surgery last week and sat out the past few games as he recovered. The Bruins did not want to rush Backes back, citing a need for complete recovery and to prevent infection. Surprisingly, the surgery was Backes’s first in his eleven-year career, reports CSN NE’s Joe Haggerty.
- The Buffalo Sabres called up prospect William Carrier from the Rochester Americans early Friday morning, reports the Buffalo News’ John Vogl, in anticipation of tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators. Carrier is having an excellent season in Rochester, scoring 3G and 1A in seven games.
- Mark Stone returns to the lineup for the Ottawa Senators in the same game, says the team. Stone missed the Sens last game with a neck injury, but it was not severe enough to sideline him for more than a game. Stone has 1G and 4A in 9 games for the Senators after returning from a pre-season concussion.
- The Edmonton Oilers will be without Kris Russell tonight as he sits with an undisclosed injury, reports Bob Stauffer of AM 630 CHED. Russell is still looking for his first goal of the season, but his defensive play has anchored the Oilers as they lead the Pacific Division. The new-look Edmonton defense featuring Adam Larsson and Russell allows the team to move the puck quickly to its highly-skilled forwards, something the team has lacked in years past.
- The Vancouver Canucks announced that Alex Edler is day-to-day with an injury and will not suit up tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friendman. Edler only has one goal on the season but is logging over 24 minutes a night. The Canucks have lost seven straight after winning their first four games to start the season.
Canada: The New Championship Drought To Watch For
The Chicago Cubs won the World Series on Wednesday night, their first since 1908, snapping a 108-year championship drought, the longest by any team in North American professional sports history. Back in June, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship, snapping a 52-year drought for a city with three major pro sports teams. So what’s next on the drought-busting checklist?
Sure, there are a few teams and few cities still struggling. The NBA’s Sacramento Kings organization has not won a title in 65 years and never since their move to California. Wednesday night’s losers, the Cleveland Indians, haven’t taken home the hardware in 68 years. Ten NFL teams still have yet to win it all in the Super Bowl era. Yet, with the Cubs and Cleveland off the books, it seems like there’s a void in the championship drought department right now.
It’s time that attention turns not to any one team or city, but to the country of Canada. Canadian teams have combined to go 199 straight seasons without winning a major North American title. In 1993, the country was championship central, with both the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Blue Jays winning their respective leagues. Since? Nothing.
It’s been 23 years now for the Blue Jays since they were MLB champs. They have come close over the years, but have failed to even take home an American League pennant. Playing in a division that has been one of the strongest in baseball over the past decade plus, which has housed four New York Yankees championship teams and three Boston Red Sox championship teams since 1993, it’s been an uphill battle for the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the Montreal Expos, title-less since their inception in 1969, were forced to relocate to Washington, D.C. in 2004 (where the drought continues to this day).
The Toronto Raptors are still seeking that elusive NBA championship. It’s been 21 years since the Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies brought pro basketball to Canada in 1995, and neither team has been able to get it done. The Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2000, where they too have yet to find glory. In a league that is unquestionably the most competitively unbalanced, a Raptors team with a lot of talent are still annual underdogs against the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers and other Western Conference powerhouses.
Of course, the biggest drought-magnifier is the NHL. With seven teams competing in a 30-team league, Canada should have close to a 25% chance to win the Stanley Cup every season. Alas, no such feat has been accomplished in 23 seasons. The odds of that happening: less than 1%. The Toronto Maple Leafs are tied with the St. Louis Blues for the longest championship drought in the league at 48 years. The Vancouver Canucks, established in 1970, have never won the Cup. After Alberta went back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers have not won since. The Ottawa Senators, the 1992 NHL expansion team, has also never gotten it done, and their first season, 1992-93, was the first and last time that they even saw a Canadian champ, with Montreal taking the crown. Both iterations of the Winnipeg Jets are also without a Stanley Cup and Quebec Nordiques fans sat and watched their team move to Denver and establish the Colorado Avalanche dynasty at the turn of the century.
To make matters worse, no Canadian team even qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs last year, and the Oilers have a league-high ten-year drought of even making the postseason. Canada’s NHL teams are in need of some puck luck, and the Blue Jays and Raptors will take some as well. With the two biggest drought story lines in sports now over, it’s time that North American sports fans turn to the northernmost of the two participating countries. Canada needs a championship, and they need one soon.
If there’s any consolation, the only more tortured fan base than the country of Canada is their closest neighbor to the south, Buffalo, New York. Misery loves company.
Ducks Notes: Raymond, Larsson, Fowler
The Ducks made official what has been rumored for the last couple of days, that Mason Raymond has been released from his contract and is now a free agent. After Raymond cleared waivers, he didn’t report to the AHL San Diego Gulls citing personal reasons, and has now worked out a mutual termination with the Ducks.
Raymond signed a two-way deal in the summer, meaning at one point he had thought a move to the AHL was possible, though obviously something must have happened in the interim. A one time 20-goal man with the Vancouver Canucks, Raymond has never been able to make it back to that mark, coming closest in 2013-14 with the Maple Leafs. We wish him all the best with whatever is affecting his personal life, and will watch for where he signs on next.
- The Ducks have also returned Jacob Larsson to Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League, an expected move. Larsson was one of the players we wrote about when discussing the NHL’s slide-rule regarding young professionals. Playing in four games for each the Ducks and Gulls, Larsson recorded two points but was a dreadful -7. The first-round pick will go back to compete in the highest league in Sweden and develop his all around game.
- Despite a lot of chatter over the past few months on Cam Fowler and his status as trade bait by the Anaheim Ducks, perhaps fans should think again about him moving. After another excellent start to the season, the former 12th overall pick has eight points in eleven games, including four goals already. His career high of ten, coming back in his rookie season, seems easily obtainable for the 24-year old. His stellar start will only elevate his trade value, making it even tougher for teams to provide a reasonable offer. With Simon Despres out indefinitely (and with his career seemingly at risk), perhaps the Ducks will hold onto their young defenseman a bit longer.
- One last note from Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register, is that Shea Theodore has been sent back down to the AHL. This isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last time Theodore gets on a bus to San Diego this season, as he’s already been ping-ponged back and forth between the two levels.
Senators Recall Fredrik Claesson, Max McCormick From AHL
The Senators have made another couple of tweaks to their NHL roster, bringing up Fredrik Claesson and Max McCormick from Binghamton of the AHL. No word on the corresponding moves yet.
Heading into their matchup with the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, the team has brought up some youth to inject into the lineup. Claesson, a 23-year old defenceman played 16 games with the club last season, and is a solid stay-at-home defender often called Binghamton’s best blueliner. While he doesn’t provide a ton of upside, he excels at winning puck battles and providing a first pass out of the zone.
McCormick, on the other hand is a bottom-six forward with a ton of grit and energy. He’s always in hard on a forecheck, and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves if he has to. While he’s not big by any means, he does provide a physical nature to his line, and can catch unsuspecting defenders napping with a hard shot. McCormick got into 20 games with the Senators last season, scoring two goals and notching two assists.
Snapshots: Desjardins, Fisher, Gilbert, Chychrun
Darren Dreger’s been making the radio rounds of late and today, while appearing on Ottawa’s TSN 1200, among many notes the NHL insider discussed was the suggestion that Vancouver bench boss Willie Desjardins could soon find himself on the hot seat if the Canucks can’t right the ship in short order. Dreger was clear that he didn’t believe that was the case as of this moment but the organization believes it has a roster capable of making the playoffs and if the team falls further out of the race, they could decide to make a change behind the bench.
“I’m not suggesting he’s on the hot seat today as we have this conversation. But Jim Benning, the general manager, had a much higher view of where he thought this team was coming out of training camp. He told many that he believed that the Vancouver Canucks are a playoff team and would definitely contend for a playoff spot. And they’re not playing that way right now.”
The Canucks got off to a surprisingly strong start winning their first four games but have since lost five straight to even their record at 4 – 4 – 1. Offense. or rather a lack of, is the biggest issue in Vancouver as the team is last in the league in goal scoring, averaging just 1.78 per contest. Their power play is also among the worst in the NHL converting just 10.7% of their opportunities, which ranks 26th overall.
The team invested heavily in skilled Swedish winger Loui Eriksson, to the tune of a six-year, $36MM contract this offseason but the former Bruin has failed to find the back of the net in nine games with Vancouver. Bo Horvat leads the club in goals with four but only five players have tallied more than once this season. At the other end of the scoring spectrum, the New York Rangers lead the league averaging four goals per contest with 10 players who have at least two markers on the campaign.
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot relays a quote from Pierre LeBrun indicating the Canucks would like to pull the trigger on a deal for a proven 20-goal scorer, assuming they can find a trade partner. They’ve been rumored to be in that market since the summer but aside from inking Eriksson the Canucks have done little in the way of adding impact offensive talent.
Desjardins is in his third season as coach of the Canucks and owns a career mark of 83 – 71 -19. He guided the team to a 101-point season and a second place finish in the Pacific Division in 2014-15, his first as bench boss. Last season, Vancouver dropped 26 points in the standings and placed sixth in their division. Prior to being hired in Vancouver, Desjardins served as head coach of the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate and guided them to the Calder Cup championship in 2014.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Mike Fisher, who was injured in Tuesday’s 5 – 1 win over Colorado, is being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body-injury, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Fisher, who replaced Shea Weber as Nashville’s captain, is tied for second on the club in scoring with five points in eight games. Now in his 17th season in the NHL, Fisher has scored 261 goals with 287 assists in 1,024 contests.
- According to the NHL Department of Player Safety (Twitter link) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Gilbert will face a hearing for his hit on Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night. No penalty was assessed on the play but the league indicated the hearing is for boarding/charging. Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register provides an update on Ritchie and says the big winger won’t be in Anaheim’s lineup tonight as the Ducks host Pittsburgh. Gilbert has appeared in eight of L.A.’s 10 games this season and has recorded three points. Ritchie, meanwhile, has scored two goals and three points in 10 contests with Anaheim.
- The Arizona Coyotes have elected to keep rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun on the roster instead of returning the 18-year-old blue liner to his junior team, according to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. As a result, Chychrun will burn the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. The Coyotes made a trade with Detroit during the 2016 entry draft to move up four spots to select Chychrun and so far has rewarded management’s faith. Chychurn has averaged 17:15 of ice time and has three points in eight games so far.
Injury Notes: Hammond, Letang, Pietrangelo
After dealing for Mike Condon today to give himself some insurance, Ottawa Senators’ GM Peter Dorion says that Andrew Hammond is out for at least another week dealing with a groin injury. Hammond was placed on injured reserve last week.
While Hammond is out with a known injury, Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen reports that the Craig Anderson situation is “very fluid”, meaning the goaltender may miss additional time during the year. Condon will fly to meet the Senators in Ottawa for tomorrow’s game against the Canucks.
- Kris Letang is back in uniform for Pittsburgh and will play tonight against Anaheim, says Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. Along with the top blueliner, the Penguins will be welcoming back Matt Murray to the ice as he gets his first start this season. Murray was nursing a broken hand suffered at the World Cup.
- The Blues have announced that Alex Pietrangelo will likely play tomorrow even though he didn’t practice today with the club. While he’s due for another evaluation in the morning, head coach Ken Hitchcock said he looks to be “OK” for tomorrow night.
- David Backes is back skating for the Boston Bruins, after receiving medical clearance yesterday. According to Claude Julien “everybody’s on track right now and heading in the right direction.” Practice was a little thin today as Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, Zdeno Chara and John-Michael Liles were all given the day off.
Vancouver Canucks Assign Stetcher, Nilsson To AHL
The Vancouver Canucks continue to shuffle the deck looking for a winning formula. Today, the team has sent Troy Stecher and Tom Nilsson to the AHL Utica Comets. Chris Tanev will figure back into the lineup in their absence.
Stecher had played admirably for the Canucks since his call up, averaging over twenty minutes a night and providing a calm presence on the back end. The 22-year old was only just signed out of the University of North Dakota this summer, but has already established himself as a potential NHL blueliner. He’ll have to wait his turn though, as being waivers-exempt often means you’re on the bubble of the NHL roster.
Nilsson on the other hand didn’t get into a game with the Canucks after suffering an injury in the preseason. The former Maple Leafs’ prospect will look to make an impression at Utica this season and reestablish himself in the North American game. After playing well for the Toronto Marlies two seasons ago, Nilsson returned to Sweden to play for Frolunda last year.
Western Conference Snapshots: Eriksson, Baertschi, Stars
After a solid 4 – 0 start to the campaign, the Canucks fortunes have fallen off as they’ve dropped four straight, including back-to-back shutout losses in their last two starts. While not expected to be an offensive juggernaut, Vancouver’s offense has been worse than advertised averaging a measly 1.75 goals per game. In fact, they are the only team in the NHL that tallies fewer than two per contest. The struggles of prized free agent addition Loui Eriksson and skilled youngster Sven Baertschi have played a big role in Vancouver’s offensive ineptitude. But as Steve Ewen of The Province writes, despite not tallying a single goal between them this season, head coach Willie Desjardins still believes in Eriksson and Baertschi.
Eriksson, who inked a six-year pact with Vancouver worth $36MM this summer, adds much more than simply offense to the team, says Desjardins.
“Loui’s been good. He hasn’t scored, but he’s been good. He gives so many things in so many areas. We’d like to see scoring. But I’m not worried. It will come. He gives us a lot.”
Still, $6MM annually is a lot of money for a player who isn’t contributing much offense. Vancouver will need to him to start putting the puck in the net soon to realize a positive return on their investment.
Baertchi, a former first-round pick, seemed to finally put it together in 2015-16, recording 15 goals and 28 points in 69 contests. The Swiss winger has always had talent but prior to last season had tallied just 8 times prior to joining the Canucks as a result of a 2015 trade with Calgary. But through eight games this season he has just a single point and carries a plus-minus rating of -2.
Desjardins has noted the hard work from Baertschi and envisions good things happening for the 24-year-old winger if he maintains this effort.
“Early, he was methodical. Now, he’s crossed a spot where he’s had enough and he’s pushing harder and things are happening for him.”
Vancouver likely isn’t a playoff-caliber team unless a few things bounce their way. However, they’ll have virtually no chance of staying in the race unless they can start putting the puck in the net. Simply put, Eriksson and Baertschi will need to be much better for Vancouver.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference:
- From the same piece, Ewen also notes that the Canucks have lost forward Jayson Megna to an upper-body-injury and the forward is expected to miss at least 10 days. Megna was injured during the second period of Friday night’s loss to Edmonton. In his place, the Canucks could insert Michael Zalewski, himself recently recalled from Utica, or use defenseman Alex Biega up front, writes Ewen. Injured forwards Derek Dorsett and Alexandre Burrows have both started skating again and could return to the lineup soon.
- Earlier today the Dallas Stars activated forward Jiri Hudler from IR. In a related move, the team has reassigned Justin Dowling to the Texas Stars of the AHL. Dowling, 26, made his NHL debut this season and appeared in two games for Dallas, recording an assist and a -1 plus-minus rating. In 264 AHL games across parts of seven seasons, Dowling has netted 67 goals and 187 points.