Petr Mrazek & The Goaltending Conundrum
In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, the venerable hockey insider reports that the Edmonton Oilers at one point had some interest in Detroit Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek. Friedman writes that Edmonton may have backed off after watching the 25-year old goaltender struggle recently, something that seems to be a common thread all around the league.
Several other teams are looking for goaltending help—Friedman himself mentions Florida and Pittsburgh—but there isn’t a shining option on the market at the moment. Mrazek could have been that star, if the aforementioned struggles hadn’t crept up on him again. Though he was once heralded as the goaltender of the future for Detroit, Mrazek has clashed with the front office in contract negotiations, and been generally outplayed by a resurgent Jimmy Howard over the past two seasons.
This year, Howard has taken the lion’s share of the work in the Detroit net, starting 22 of the team’s 29 games. He’s recorded a .905 save percentage in those games which, while not even league-average, is quite a bit better than his counterpart. Mrazek’s .888 mark is tied for fourth-worst in the league among goaltenders who’ve made at least 10 appearances. Only Maxime Lagace, Laurent Brossoit, Chad Johnson have been worse, while James Reimer clocks in at the same number.
Mrazek is young enough to improve, but his contract status as a pending restricted free agent that is already making $4.15MM is likely off-putting to many teams. A qualifying offer is likely too expensive for any team as a backup, and there is no guarantee he’d accept a lower number on a longer-term deal.
So, where else can you look around the league for goaltending help? Michael Hutchinson has been in the rumor mill lately, as the Winnipeg Jets get Steve Mason back healthy tonight. Unfortunately, Hutchinson injured himself in a minor league game this weekend (though the injury seems minor) and has been underwhelming at best during his NHL career.
Jonathan Bernier was signed by the Colorado Avalanche as potential trade deadline bait, but has been nearly as bad as Mrazek so far this year. His .891 save percentage doesn’t inspire much confidence, as consistency continues to be Bernier’s downfall.
Even a goaltender like Philipp Grubauer, who has been a potential trade target for some time due to a combination of outstanding play and clear role as the backup to Braden Holtby, hasn’t played well enough to trust this season. He, like Scott Darling and Antti Raanta this offseason, was seen as a future starting goaltender in the league just waiting for the right opportunity.
There’s not an easy answer here to the goaltending problems around the league. For teams like Edmonton and Florida, who already find themselves struggling to stay relevant in the playoff race, dealing assets for anything but a sure thing isn’t very appealing.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Injury Notes: Baertschi, Byfuglien, Ducks
The Vancouver Canucks were dealt another blow today when it was announced that Sven Baertschi will miss four to six weeks with a broken jaw. The young forward won’t need surgery, but it is still a huge chunk of the season to miss right as the Canucks are trying to prove they’re more than just a hot start.
The team is already without Bo Horvat for some time, and are still trying to get Brandon Sutter back into the lineup. While Brock Boeser does his best to keep the offense moving, other players will need to step up both at even-strength and on the powerplay.
- Another upstart Canadian Western Conference team will be without one of their most important defenders for the next few weeks. Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is out “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury, with a post-Christmas return the hope at the moment. In his absence, Tucker Poolman will get back into the lineup and try to prove why he was so heralded coming out of the University of North Dakota. The Jets have seven games before the Christmas break, and ten left in the month of December.
- The Anaheim Ducks have perhaps faced more injury turmoil than any other team this year, but are starting to get health. As Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register reports, Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg are likely to return up front tonight. With Ryan Kesler also nearing a return, the Ducks should be feared in the wide open Pacific division.
Trade Notes: Veleno, Hutchinson, Penguins
Few junior-level trades draw the attention of any NHL teams outside of those teams who have drafted players involved. However, when it comes to “exceptional player” and presumptive 2018 top ten pick Joe Veleno, a new team is a whole new opportunity to evaluate his talent. Veleno, a member of the 2017 QMJHL champion Saint John Sea Dogs, has been traded to the Drummondville Voltigeurs for three first-round picks and two second-round picks, per Sportsnet. The Sea Dogs lost top prospects Thomas Chabot (OTT), Jakub Zboril (BOS), and Julien Gauthier (CAR), as well as 2016-17 leading scorers Matthew Highmore (CHI), Mathieu Joseph (TB), and Spencer Smallman (CAR) to the pros this season, resulting in a massive drop-off in success. Veleno and Edmonton Oilers 2017 selection Ostap Safin have been point-per-game scorers this season, but it hasn’t been enough to keep Saint John out of the basement of the QMJHL’s Maritime Division. Veleno, the first and only player awarded early entry to the QMJHL under “exceptional player status”, will now head to Drummondville and hook up with an overachieving Voltigeurs squad that is tied for the most points in the league, despite having few high-end prospects outside of 2018 eligible defenseman Nicolas Beaudin. How Veleno adjusts to not only joining a new team, but stepping in and immediately becoming the most talented player on the roster could be extremely telling for scouts. Veleno is projected by most to be selected somewhere between #5 and #10 overall in June, so success in Drummondville could be enough to ensure that he is a top five pick, while struggle could knock him out of the top ten altogether.
- Back in the NHL, trade talk surrounding goalies is the hot topic right now. According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos (video), the Edmonton Oilers are focused in on Winnipeg Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson and are hoping to make a deal soon. With Cam Talbot injured, Edmonton has been on the hunt for help in net and Hutchison – who is buried in Winnipeg – appears to be their first choice. As Kypreos states, the only delay on the deal is the health of Jets backup Steve Mason. Mason is on his way back from a concussion and Winnipeg wants to take their time with his evaluation before trading away their goalie depth. Although it is Eric Comrie, not Hutchison, currently backing up Connor Hellebuyck, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff holds all the power in the negotiation and clearly wants to play it safe.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are also thought to be in the hunt for backup goaltending. Although starter Matt Murray appears to be back to full health and ready to return, there are doubts about the play of young Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith behind him. Jarry was pulled from last night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs after allowing three goals on 16 shots and DeSmith allowed the game-winner on one of the only nine shots he faced. Jarry has been okay overall this season, especially as a 22-year-old rookie, but DeSmith has struggled mightily in his two brief appearances and cannot be relied upon at this point in time. With Murray also not playing his best hockey thus far – he has a save percentage just north of .900 and a goals against average just south of 3.00 – the Penguins may want a more seasoned, dependable #2 or #3 behind him, something they tried and failed to find with Antti Niemi.
Steve Mason Clears Concussion Protocol
- Jets goaltender Steve Mason has passed through concussion protocol, reports Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun (Twitter link). Head coach Paul Maurice said that the earliest he will be activated off injured reserve will be on Monday and that depends on how Mason’s workout goes later today.
Panthers Could Make Sense For a Michael Hutchinson Trade
- Postmedia’s Ken Wiebe reports that several teams around the NHL are looking to add some insurance between the pipes. He suggests that as a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Jets deal goaltender Michael Hutchinson soon and lists the Panthers (who are without Roberto Luongo) as a logical landing spot. He’s a nice insurance policy for Winnipeg to have but it’s telling that prospect Eric Comrie is up with the big club while Steve Mason is out. If they’re comfortable with that approach, then Hutchinson certainly becomes expendable.
Red Wings Notes: Rebuild, Holland, Blashill
Despite a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night, the Detroit News’ John Niyo writes that fans or the front office shouldn’t buy into the mirage: the Detroit Red Wings needs to rebuild. Though Detroit impressively bounced back from a 10-1 shellacking against Montreal the previous Saturday, Niyo cautions that this team is not a playoff contender and shouldn’t be viewed as one, despite an impressive victory after six straight losses where two were especially bad. The course, Niyo continues, should be what owner Chris Ilitch’s other team (the Detroit Tigers) did: selling off bigger names to get better and younger. While hockey is a different setup than baseball, the Red Wings have a higher mountain to climb because of the contracts loaded down with term and dollars that few teams–if any–would ever consider taking. But selling off players with value could stockpile picks and help chart a future course that could net players that would get Detroit back into the higher echelon of the league.
- Niyo continues on about general manager Ken Holland, who after 20 years at the helm, may be seeing it come to an end. Working without a contract after this season, extension talks haven’t begun, and Holland has stated that his decision on whether to sell or buy will be determined after the next 10-15 games. This seems curious, since the Red Wings are clearly not in contender status and have posted two six-game losing streaks this season–and it’s only December. Niyo adds that ownership ultimately has the final say–but that neither the proud past or the present, namely a few wins here and there, should get in the way of building for the future.
- MLive’s Ansar Khan takes a different route, writing that the Wings posted their best performance of the season on Tuesday and now have a crucial five-game stretch where they can turn their fortunes around. Head coach Jeff Blashill noted that the team played more on their toes than their heels, and it was echoed by a number of players who felt Detroit limited its mistakes, and played at a high level for a full sixty minutes.
Options In Net For The Edmonton Oilers
Things went from bad to worse for the Edmonton Oilers’ 2017-18 season when dependable starting goaltender Cam Talbot went down with and upper body injury and landed on IR and could remain out through December. His replacement, Laurent Brossoit, is struggling and that’s putting it gently. In 8 appearances, Brossoit has one win, an .872 save percentage, and a 3.80 GAA. Neither of the backup options, Nick Ellis or Eddie Pasquale, has any NHL experience, nor has either been given a chance to gain any just yet, nor has either played remarkably well in the AHL as well. It’s a dire situation for a team that is desperate for wins, or else the face a familiar possibility of finishing as one of the league’s worst teams this season.
So what are the options? TSN’s Frank Servalli believes that Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli is scouring the trade market for help in net. Servalli lists Buffalo’s Chad Johnson, Winnipeg’s Michael Hutchinson, Philadelphia’s Michal Neuvirth, Toronto’s Calvin Pickard, and Detroit’s Petr Mrazek as the top targets for Edmonton.
Johnson, of course, is known to be on the trade block courtesy of the Sabres’ own struggles and seems to be the best fit of these options as a reliable veteran on a one-year deal. Servalli even states that Johnson, along with Neuvirth, were among the Chiarelli’s free agency targets to be Talbot’s backup. However, as Servalli points out, there could be other suitors for Johnson, which could drive the price up.
More affordable assets to acquire could be Hutchinson or Pickard, due to their teams’ depth in goal. The Maple Leafs acquired Pickard from the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this year, but with Frederik Andersen playing well, a veteran backup in Curtis McElhinney, and other promising young goalies in Garret Sparks and Kasimir Kaskisuo in line, Pickard is expendable. So too could be McElhinney or Sparks as well, if Chiarelli favors those Toronto alternatives. In Winnipeg, the thriving Jets are doing just fine with Connor Hellebuyck, rookie Eric Comrie, and expensive free agent acquistion Steve Mason as their net rotation. A solid goaltender with ties to Chiarelli from the Boston Bruins, fourth-string Hutchinson seems like a likely target.
Mrazek and Neuvirth less so. Mrazek is still young, is making $4MM, and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. It is likely that he would be costly to acquire and costly to re-sign, when the Oilers really just need a stopgap. Neuvirth, who has a year remaining at $2.5MM, could replace Brossoit as the long-term backup to Talbot if Chiarelli so chooses, but also seems like an unlikely acquisition. AHL goaltenders from both the Red Wings and Flyers – Jared Coreau and Alex Lyon – might actually make more sense.
Other options: Eddie Lack or David Rittich from the rival Calgary Flames, Colorado’s Andrew Hammond, Anaheim’s Reto Berra, L.A.’s Jack Campbell or Jeff Zatkoff, and several more. The options are there, so the pressure is on Chiarelli to find a fair deal and to do it soon. Edmonton may simply lose upcoming games regardless of who is in net, but if the team continues forward with only Brossoit, the blame will fall on the front office for not doing something to at least increase their chances.
Evening Notes: Division Realignment, Roussel, Engelland, Chychrun
With the Toronto Maple Leafs making stops in Calgary on Tuesday and Edmonton on Thursday, the rivalry between those Canadian Eastern and Western Conference matchups are off the charts. The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) wonders if it wouldn’t be a smart idea to change the conferences, especially down the road when the Quebec Nordiques return to the NHL.
The scribe’s suggestion is create an all-Canadian conference to replace the Central Division, moving all eight Canadian teams including the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Quebec City in the same division. Non-Canadian Central Division teams would be moved to either the Atlantic Division or the Pacific Division where the Canadian teams left holes.
There would be two key outcomes to this move, including increased revenue as rivalry matchups in 34 out of each team’s 82-game schedule will increase ratings and increase ticket sales. Currently, Canadian teams only play 16 games against in-country rivals. Playoffs would also promote multiple Canada-vs.-Canada rivalries and also would increase TV ratings.
Mirtle mentions some downsides to realigning the divison, which would include increased travel times for other teams such as the Minnesota Wild if they were moved to the Pacific Divison, but still feels the NHL should seriously look into that over the next few years.
- The Dallas Stars will be without wing Antoine Roussel, who is expected to miss tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks with the flu, according to coach Ken Hitchock. The coach added that Roussel is day-to-day regarding Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche. Roussel has three goals and eight points in 25 games for Dallas.
- Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen writes that Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland remains day-to-day after suffering an injury to his hand in Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. The 35-year-old blueliner missed last night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. He has two goals and nine points in 24 games this season and has been a key piece to the expansion team’s successful run so far this year.
- Craig Morgan of NHL.com tweets that Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said that defenseman Jakob Chychrun might play Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The 2016 first-round pick hasn’t played this year and is currently on a conditioning stint with the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL. He had knee surgery in August and would make a big addition the Coyotes defensive core. He played 68 games for Arizona last year as an 18-year-old.
In-Season Extension For Jacob Trouba Unlikely
It was only a little more than a year ago that there was plenty of speculation surrounding Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba. He was without a contract into November and had asked for a trade. No move materialized as instead, he signed a two-year bridge deal and rescinded his trade request. That contract is up on July 1st, 2018 which makes him eligible to sign an extension at any time.
In an appearance on Sportsnet 960 (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that Winnipeg will let the season play out and then try to sign him to a new long-term deal at that time. Unlike his first time as a restricted free agent, he will have arbitration eligibility this time around. His qualifying offer will be set at his 2017-18 salary of $3.5MM.
Trouba has made it clear that he does not like shifting to play the left side and Tyler Myers is signed through 2018-19 and Dustin Byfuglien through 2020-21 so that logjam on the right will still be in play for at least another year when the team sits down with him to try to hammer out a new pact.
From a statistical standpoint, the 23-year-old isn’t helping his cause too much. He has just eight points through 26 games which is his second-lowest point-per-game average of his career. With Winnipeg having a healthy back end on the right side, he’s also averaging a career-low 21:09 per night in ice time. With that in mind, it would make sense to wait on extension talks from his perspective even if he were to be approached by management.
While the Jets have a very pricey back end this season (one that costs over $30MM once Mark Stuart’s buyout is factored in), they will have a big chunk of that freed up when Toby Enstrom’s $5.75MM contract expires at the end of the season. As a result, they should have the money available to sign Trouba long-term if they so desire at a cost that will likely come relatively close to Enstrom’s expiring deal.
Mason Recovering Well From Concussion
- Jets goaltender Steve Mason is feeling better as he recovers from his concussion, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters, including Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun (Twitter link). He has had multiple days with no setbacks which is certainly an encouraging sign although there is no timetable for his return.