Minor Transactions: 3/18/17
Here is where we’ll keep tabs on today’s minor roster moves:
- Tomas Nosek’s stint in Detroit only lasted a few hours as the Red Wings announced that he had been returned to Grand Rapids of the AHL after being recalled on an emergency basis this morning. The forward has yet to get into any games with the Wings this year but sits fifth in scoring with the AHL’s Griffins with 15 goals and 24 assists in 48 games. Considering Darren Helm went down with an injury against the Avalanche this afternoon, there’s a chance Nosek could be back up with the big club before long.
- With defenseman Paul Postma set to miss tomorrow’s game and Jacob Trouba out on more than a day-to-day basis, the Jets announced that they have recalled blueliner Brian Strait from AHL Manitoba. After spending the past three seasons exclusively in the NHL with the Islanders, the 29 year old has yet to suit up with Winnipeg this season. In 50 minor league contests, Strait has two goals and 10 assists.
- Flames goalie Brian Elliott returned to the lineup last night and as a result, they terminated the emergency recall conditions on Jon Gillies and assigned him back to Stockton of the AHL. Gillies is in his second professional season and has played in 34 games this season for the Heat, posting a 14-14-1 record with a 2.97 GAA and a .909 SV%.
Snapshots: Matthias, Western Playoff Race, Jagr
The Winnipeg Jets will be without forward Shawn Matthias for the remainder of the season, the team announced Saturday.
The first sign of trouble was on Wednesday, when Matthias missed practice. He was held out of the Jets’ last game with an upper-body injury. Matthias has eight goals and 12 points in 45 games this season, his first in Winnipeg after signing a two-year, $4.25MM contract in free agency. He split last season between Toronto and Colorado.
Detroit’s second round pick in 2006 has played 524 NHL games, scoring 171 points with Florida, Vancouver, Toronto, Colorado, and Winnipeg.
- With just 11 or 12 games remaining, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector broke down the schedules for the Western Conference teams involved in a tight playoff race. Anaheim, Calgary, and Edmonton are within two points of each other, and will likely finish two-through-four in the Pacific Division. The Oilers have a game in hand on both teams, and play the Canucks tonight. Spector gives Edmonton the advantage in home games, strength of opponent, and ease of the final week of the season. Calgary gets the nod for having back-to-backs and getting tired opponents. Anaheim’s biggest advantage comes during a home-and-home series with the Flames in early April; Calgary hasn’t won in Anaheim since January 2004. The next team in the Pacific, Los Angeles, is four points behind St. Louis for the second wildcard spot. At eight points back, they have a slim chance at catching the next three teams, but do get Edmonton and Calgary three times each.
- With two assists last night, NHL legend and Panthers winger Jaromir Jagr passed Gordie Howe for most points scored by a player in his 40s, with 269. The 45-year-old told Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel that he’s “going to pass [Howe] for most points after 50.” For the record, Howe had 41 points in 1979-80 a 51-year-old in his return to the NHL after six years in the WHA.
West Notes: Jets, Shore, Gibson
The Jets are likely to be without defenseman Jacob Trouba on Thursday night despite the fact he was able to practice with the team today, suggests Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun. Trouba missed Monday’s game with an upper body injury (and would have sat out Tuesday had that game not been postponed due to weather); it’s believed the injury was sustained during a fight over the weekend against Calgary in which five stitches were required just above his eye.
Winnipeg may also be without left winger Shawn Matthias who missed practice with an undisclosed injury and is listed as questionable for Thursday. Left winger Nic Petan would likely take his place although he may be in the lineup regardless of whether or not Matthias is available. Leading scorer Mark Scheifele (illness) didn’t practice but is expected to suit up against the Islanders.
Elsewhere in the West:
- Winger Drew Shore had offers from other NHL teams before deciding to join Vancouver for the rest of the season, reports Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Province. GM Jim Benning admitted that with the team as far as they are out of the playoff race, they’re likely to start giving their younger players more playing time which should bode well for Shore among others. Benning also noted that part of the rationale for signing Shore was that he’d like to avoid calling anyone else up from their minor league affiliate in Utica, who are in a tight race for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division.
- The Ducks are monitoring goalie John Gibson daily after some of the lingering soreness from his lower body injury resurfaced on Friday, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register. There’s no timetable for when he’ll make his next start but head coach Randy Carlyle doesn’t think he’ll need that much time to be ready as soon as he’s cleared to return to practice. In the meantime, Jonathan Bernier will remain as the starter, a role he has handled fairly well as of late, going 5-2 with a 2.17 GAA and a .933 SV% in his last seven outings.
New Jersey Devils Recall John Quenneville From Albany
The New Jersey Devils have decided it’s time for John Quenneville to make his mark. The former first-round pick and top prospect has been recalled from the AHL and will join the team at practice this morning. With the Devils losing their 10th straight game and dropping to last place in the Eastern Conference, they received a bit of respite yesterday when their game against the Winnipeg Jets was postponed due to weather.
A former first-round pick (30th overall) in 2014, Quenneville was a former teammate of expected first-overall pick Nolan Patrick during his junior career for the Brandon Wheat Kings. A solid prospect, the young Devils center has found success at the AHL level this season with 41 points in 52 games. That’s good enough to lead the baby-Devils, and has been a big part of their success this season.
Part of the successful Quenneville clan of hockey players and coaches, John is actually the second-cousin of Chicago Blackhawks’ coach Joel Quenneville. He’s also the nephew of Johnny Boychuk, a player he may have to face off against sooner than later in the Metropolitan Division. Boychuk is currently dealing with an injury, but the two teams face off twice more (March 31st and April 8th) before the end of the season.
Quennville is a playmaking center that seems to find his teammates whenever they separate themselves from a defender. His work in the corners and his own end will allow him to compete at the next level even if his skating is still a work in progress. Though not as tall as you might like a power center to be, he is solidly built and can use his frame well to muscle players off the puck. His creativity is there, as some fans may remember his between-the-legs breakaway goal from the Memorial Cup.
If the Devils give him the rest of the season, they would get a good look at a player who will be challenging for a full-time role on the squad as soon as next season. With New Jersey struggling so much to score goals, an infusion of talent from a young prospect might be exactly what they need. He did get into two NHL games in December, but was given less than 10 minutes of ice time in each.
Emergency Recalls: Melchiori, Andersson
As of March 1st, the day of the NHL trade deadline, teams are restricted to calling up no more than four players from the minor leagues and must be judicious in how they use them. There is, of course, an exception to that limitation: emergency recalls. Teams are allowed to call up a player on an emergency basis but they can only use a player with that designation in the event they don’t have enough healthy bodies to ice a full lineup. That very situation may possibly play out tonight for both Winnipeg and Calgary.
- The Winnipeg Jets announced this morning that they have recalled defenseman Julian Melchiori from Manitoba of the AHL on an emergency basis. Fellow blue liner Ben Chiarot is “under the weather,” according to Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun, and is a game time decision. In the event Chiarot is unable to go, Melchiori will take his spot. Melchiori has appeared in five games this season for the Jets, going scoreless while averaging roughly 15 1/2 minutes per contest. He has registered eight points and 18 penalty minutes in 40 games for the Moose. The 6-foot-5 blue liner was chosen by Winnipeg in the third round of the 2010 entry draft.
- With Michael Stone sidelined with an upper-body injury and Dougie Hamilton questionable for tonight’s contest due to a lower-body issue, the Calgary Flames have brought up defenseman Rasmus Andersson from Stoctkton with an emergency designation, the club announced yesterday. Andersson, 20, would make his NHL debut should Hamilton be ruled out tonight. Sportsnet 960’s Derek Willis tweeted that Hamilton was on the ice for the team’s morning skate but Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan called the blue liner a “game-time decision.” In his first season as a pro, Andersson has tallied three goals and 22 points in 50 games for the Heat. The 6-foot defenseman was Calgary’s second-round choice in the 2015 draft. Veteran blue liner Dennis Wideman will draw back into the lineup for the Flames, taking the place of Stone. It marks the first appearance for Wideman in more than three weeks.
Snapshots: Jackals, Lightning, Oilers
The ECHL continues to shrink, as the Elmira Jacksls announced today that they will cease operations at the end of the season. That’s the second team in less than a month to announce they are shutting down, after the Alaska Aces broke the news to their fans a few weeks ago. The Jackals have been around for 17 years, and are currently the affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. They will play out their remaining 14 games but, as they are at the very bottom of the league standings, will be shutting their doors immediately afterwards.
- Tampa Bay looks like it might have avoided certain doom last night when they lost three centermen to injury. The team reports that Tyler Johnson, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette all are day-to-day with lower-body injuries. All three looked much worse during the game, but each player has been spotted walking around the arena today.
- The Edmonton Oilers will welcome Benoit Pouliot, Kris Russell and Iiro Pakarinen back into the lineup tonight, as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. None of the three have played yet in March, with Pouliot’s injury taking him back even further than that. As the team fights with the surging Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division, they’ll welcome all the help they can get.
- Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg is reporting that the Flames will recall Rasmus Andersson before they take on the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night. The Flames’ second-round pick in 2015, Andersson has impressed during his first taste of professional hockey and has 22 points in 50 AHL games. The Swedish defenseman could step into a spot vacated by Dougie Hamilton or Michael Stone, should either one miss time with their nagging injuries.
Toby Enstrom Out Indefinitely With Concussion
It took so long because of the swelling in his face, but Paul Maurice has finally given an update on injured defenseman Toby Enstrom. The Winnipeg Jets head coach reports that he’s out indefinitely with a concussion after sustaining a blow from behind by the Penguins’ Tom Sestito. Sestito was suspended four games for the hit, which caused Enstrom to go straight to the hospital with expected facial fractures. Sara Orlesky of TSN reports that there are no fractures, actually good news for the Winnipeg defenseman.
With Tyler Myers still out, and Josh Morrisey banged up and missing practice—though the latter is still expected to play—the Jets’ usually deep defense corps is dwindling by the day. Enstrom has logged close to 22 minutes a night for Winnipeg this season, which will now have to be spread out mostly to Morrisey and Ben Chiarot. Enstrom’s regular partner Dustin Byfuglien already logs the most minutes in the NHL at 27:23 per game, and will now be relied on even more if the Jets still have playoff aspirations.
In a year where the Western Conference is actually wide open, the Jets remain just five points out of the final playoff spot. They have, however, played three more games than the St. Louis Blues, the team currently occupying that final wildcard position. The Jets will need some sort of streak over their last 14 games to both catch St. Louis and fend off the Los Angeles Kings, something that they haven’t proved capable of this year. At 30-32-6, it looks like not even Patrik Laine‘s emergence and Mark Scheifele‘s climb to the top of the center ranks can help them in 2017.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recall Oskar Sundqvist From AHL
After Tom Sestito was handed a four-game suspension for his actions in Wednesday night’s Penguins-Jets game, Pittsburgh has decided to call up Oskar Sundqvist from the AHL to replace him. He’ll likely get into the lineup when they take on the Edmonton Oilers tonight.
Sundqvist was a third-round pick of the Penguins in 2012, and made his NHL debut for the club last season. In his 18 game stint, he scored just four points. A different story at the AHL level though, Sundqvist uses his size and strength to create scoring chances and has recorded 39 points in 53 games this season. He ranks third on the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in goals, behind Jake Guentzel—who scored 21 in 33 games before getting the call to play with Sidney Crosby—and Tom Kostopoulos.
It’s the first call up of the season for the 22-year old forward, but he’ll get a good chance to stick for a while. Patrick Hornqvist remains out with a concussion for the time being, and Sundqvist could fit his role admirably. Carl Hagelin and Scott Wilson are also banged up, meaning this call up is probably a signal that the young forward is about to get another shot at the NHL. Remember he even suited up for two playoff games last spring, though was held scoreless in both.
Tom Sestito Suspended Four Games
Last night, Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Tom Sestito was given a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct after a hard hit from behind on Winnipeg Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom. The league announced this morning that Sestito would have a phone hearing today on supplemental punishment for the incident. Well, that hearing has come and gone and NHL Player Safety has decided to hand down a four-game suspension for the veteran winger.
As Player Safety acknowledges, Enstrom did see Sestito coming and turned away from the check. However, they continue that Enstrom slowed and made his move earlier enough that Sestito had “sufficient time to minimize the force of the hit”. Instead, Sestito continued at full-force and caused injury to Enstrom because of it. The suspension will hopefully work toward teaching Sestito that hitting someone right on the numbers from behind is the exact kind of dangerous play that the NHL is looking to eliminate.
Sestito has only played in nine games this season -while racking up 44 penalty minutes in that time – with the Penguins and his presence will hardly be missed. However, the hope is that the missed games and subsequent loss of pay will impart some knowledge and sense of responsibility on Sestito in the future, if and when he gets back on the ice. Sestito is one of the few pure enforcers remaining in the NHL as the league moves away from violence for violence’s sake.
Snapshots: Cunningham, Halverson, Sestito
Earlier this season Tucson Roadrunners captain Craig Cunningham collapsed on the ice and was rushed to hospital. The 26-year old forward’s heart had stopped for an unknown reason, and needed ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) treatment to save his life. The procedure affected the circulation in his leg, and he had to make a decision. Tucson’s general manager Doug Soetaert put it this way to AZCentral’s Jeremy Cluff:
It’s life or limb, and obviously you pick life over limb, right? That was the way he’s moving forward. He’s been battling through the whole thing. We continue to battle with him. He’s going to make it.
Cunningham had part of his left leg amputated, but is now walking again with the help of a prosthetic. Ray Ferraro sent out a video of Cunningham walking down a hallway, dubbing it “the most awesome thing [he’s] seen in while.” It truly is awesome to see Cunningham up and walking again, and most importantly smiling as he approaches the camera. Everyone is wishing him luck as he gets his life back on track.
- The New York Rangers will be without Rick Nash and Henrik Lundqvist tonight when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Both are day-to-day with minor injuries. The team has recalled Brandon Halverson from the ECHL on an emergency basis to replace Lundqvist, meaning Antti Raanta will be in net. Halverson was the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2014 and made his professional debut this season for the Hartford Wolfpack before heading to the ECHL. The 20-year old will get a taste of an NHL arena at least as he backs up Raanta tonight.
- Tom Sestito will have a phone hearing with the NHL today after his hit on Toby Enstrom last night. The check from behind sent Enstrom to the hospital with possible facial fractures, and led to more aggressive play between the two teams last night. Amazingly, Sestito was only on the ice for 62 seconds last night, and was involved in a fight and this illegal check before being thrown out of the game. The 29-year old enforcer had been called up earlier that day to lend some physicality to the Penguins line up not, as Jets’ head coach Paul Maurice put it, “to dangle”.