Snapshots: Avalanche, Ottawa Prospects, Rubtsov, Laine
With the likes of Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene making it into the rumor mill recently, GM Joe Sakic commented to Terry Frei of the Denver Post on what he’s looking to accomplish when it comes to any possible transactions:
“The only thing I’m going to do is what helps this franchise down the line. We’re not going to be looking to doing anything for just this year. When we talk trades with different teams, I’m looking at the future. That’s where we have to go. We have to get younger. We have some good young guys that hopefully can make the next step in the next year or two and that’s the direction we’re doing. We’re trying to build this up.”
With the idea of getting younger in mind, Sakic went on to note that forwards Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and 2016 first round pick Tyson Jost are all but untouchable in any deal.
As for Landeskog, Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report reports (Twitter link) that the Kings have strong interest in the Colorado captain. Earlier this week, he linked the Bruins as another team that wants to bring him in. While Boston has the cap space to do such a deal, the Kings do not and are currently in LTIR with Jonathan Quick on the shelf. Landeskog has a cap hit that’s slightly over $5.5MM which could potentially be a complicating factor for the Kings to get a deal done.
Elsewhere around the league:
- After a strong showing at the World Juniors where he was named the MVP, TSN’s Darren Dreger told WGR 550 in Buffalo that defenseman Thomas Chabot is now an untouchable player for the Senators. He suggested that Tampa Bay had inquired about his availability last season but that Sens were hesitant to move him then. Dreger also noted that Ottawa had tried to convince their other first round pick from the 2015 draft, Colin White, to turn pro this season but he wanted to stay in college for at least one more year. With that in mind, it’s likely that they will try to sway him to forego the rest of his eligibility once his college season comes to an end in the coming months.
- While there have been rumblings that Flyers 2016 first round pick German Rubtsov has left the KHL to join Chicoutimi of the QMJHL, GM Ron Hextall said that they have not heard conclusively whether he is leaving or not, notes Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly. He adds that Rubtsov, who had two more years left on his deal in Russia when he was drafted, had his agent, Mark Gandler, request that his KHL contract be terminated. Rubtsov is in Philly to have team doctors evaluate a nose injury sustained at the World Juniors; Hextall told reporters that a decision on whether or not it will require surgery will be determined in the next few days.
- Jets star rookie Patrik Laine was injured in the third period this afternoon on a collision with Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe. He was motionless on the ice for a couple of minutes and needed assistance to get off the ice. No further information is available at this time regarding his status – head coach Paul Maurice had no update after the game (via Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun).
Waiver Claims: Burmistrov, Boucher
Elliotte Friedman reports that the Arizona Coyotes have claimed Alexander Burmistrov from the Winnipeg Jets. The former eighth-overall pick hasn’t found his footing in Winnipeg (or Atlanta) since his draft, and will now open a new chapter.
Reid Boucher, the other player currently on waivers, is heading back to New Jersey after a short stint in Nashville. Boucher played just three games with the Predators, scoring one goal.
Burmistrov has long been expected to turn into a top-six forward, but has never turned into it. After two fairly successful seasons in the KHL, he returned to North America last year and only registered 21 points, despite playing in 81 games. Obviously, with his upside, the Coyotes will gladly take a risk on the 25-year old. Their team isn’t destined for anything big this season, and Burmistrov is still an RFA this summer. If he can find success in the desert, he could be a nice addition to that team.
For Boucher, he’ll head back to the only other franchise he’s ever known after a month away. The former fourth-round pick has had much success during his time in the Devils organization, and even scored 19 points in just 39 games last year for the Devils.
Anthony DeAngelo Receives Three Game Suspension
As rumored earlier today, Anthony DeAngelo of the Arizona Coyotes will face a three-game suspension for his abuse of official David Brisebois on Saturday night. He’ll be eligible for return on January 13th against the Winnipeg Jets.
After an altercation with the Flames’ Sam Bennett, DeAngelo argued with Brisbois and tried to forcefully remove himself from the linesman’s grasp. DeAngelo was given a match penalty for it during the game, and will now sit out for almost two weeks because of a schedule quirk for Arizona.
[Gif of the incident via Scouting The Refs]
Remember that DeAngelo was also suspended for eight games back in 2014 for violating the OHL’s abuse/diversity policy. The comments that caused his suspension were directed at a teammate in this case.
Despite his trouble with suspensions, DeAngelo remains a top prospect for the Coyotes, who acquired him from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a second-round pick (37th overall) this summer. His high upside has trumped any personal issues he’s had in the past, though this new offense is a serious one.
DeAngelo has nine points in 20 games in his rookie season this year, playing almost 19 minutes a night. He’s been a big part of their powerplay thus far, and has huge offensive upside to his game.
Atlantic Notes: Erne, Farnham, Mantha
The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday, putting them just two points behind the Boston Bruins for the final divisional playoff spot with one game at hand. As they welcome in the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night, they’ll have a new face in the lineup. Adam Erne has been recalled by the team, and likely will make his NHL debut against the Jets. The 2nd round pick (33rd overall) has earned his stripes in the AHL this season and last with 47 points in 90 games. After scoring 86 in his final year of junior, the American-born Erne will look to make an impact at the NHL level.
The callup is likely to replace Bryan Boyle, who left last night’s game with a lower-body injury and did not return.
- The Montreal Canadiens have also made a roster move, bringing up tough-guy Bobby Farnham from the AHL for the second half of their current 7-game road trip. Farnham has played in 64 NHL games and has just ten points and 121 penalty minutes.
- Anthony Mantha is finally showing why he was picked 20th overall in 2013. The big winger has extended his current point streak to six games with a goal in the Centennial Classic in Toronto. That makes it seven points over that stretch, and 14 for the season in 22 games. If he can turn into the dominant power-forward he was projected to be for the Red Wings, perhaps it won’t be too long at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
- After Johan Larsson suffered a dislocated wrist in Thursday’s game against the Boston Bruins, he has remained in a local hospital nursing the injury. Jourdon LaBarber reports that it’s also an elbow injury for Larsson, who will be out “long term” for the Sabres. He’ll travel back to Buffalo with the team on Monday for further evaluation.
Western Notes: Jost, Dano, Coyotes
When the Colorado Avalanche picked Tyson Jost 10th overall this year out of Penticton, they knew he was headed to the NCAA. After all, Jost played in the BCHL, an NCAA breeding ground because they retain eligibility unlike the CHL. But now it sounds like it will be one-and-done for Jost at the University of North Dakota.
Mike Chambers of the Denver Post writes in his latest column that Jost will sign after his freshman season concludes and may even make his NHL debut this season. The 18-year old center has 18 points in 17 games for the Fighting Hawks, and is starring for Canada at the World Juniors. For a team that is starved for something positive this year, the development of Jost is something to look forward to. He will likely slot in full time next season with the club, especially if one of their other young forwards is moved out between now and then.
- After head coach Paul Maurice told us yesterday that Marko Dano would be out at least a few weeks, he clarified the diagnoses today. Dano will miss eight weeks with his lower-body injury, keeping him out until just before the trade deadline. The former first-round pick (by Columbus in 2013) has 10 points in 28 games this year, a solid pace for the 22-year old. He’ll have another setback now though as he misses more time. Jets fans will have to wait jut a little bit longer to see his potential come to fruition.
- The Arizona Coyotes will watch two of their prized prospects battle it out today in the Canada-USA World Junior game. Clayton Keller and Dylan Strome each lead their respective teams in scoring at the tournament, and will be big parts of the Coyotes in the future. While Strome got a taste of the NHL this season before heading back to Erie in the OHL, Keller has been starring as a freshman at Boston University all year. 15 points in his first 10 games in the NCAA it won’t be long until he jumps to the AHL. Both top-10 picks, the Coyotes have a bright future in this tournament.
Jannik Hansen Out For Up To Six Weeks
The Vancouver Canucks announced today via Twitter that right wing Jannik Hansen is expected to miss 4 – 6 weeks with a knee injury suffered Friday night. Hansen was apparently hurt on a knee-to-knee hit from Mathieu Perreault of Winnipeg. Replays show the hit may also have been late but the league later said that no further action will be taken against the Jets forward.
Hansen, obviously feeling the hit was illegal, immediately dropped his gloves and went after Perreault who refused the invitation.
The Danish forward has appeared in only 18 games this season and has five goals and four assists while averaging 16:11 of ice time per contest. Hansen was starting to heat up and had tallied three times in his previous three games.
The Canucks had been searching much of the season for a right wing to skate with the Sedins, Daniel and Henrik, and Hansen had been filling that role of late. Prized free agent acquisition Loui Eriksson previously failed his audition with the twins before the team turned to Hansen. The 10-year veteran has spent his entire career with the Canucks after being selected by the club in the 9th round of the 2004 draft. Hansen will be a UFA after the 2017-18 season and is currently in the third year of a four-year, $10MM deal he inked with the Canucks in September of 2013.
Winnipeg’s Pending Roster Decisions
The Winnipeg Jets will be facing a roster crunch when the roster freeze lifts. With center Shawn Matthias and right winger Joel Armia both recently returning to the lineup, their roster now stands at 25 players, meaning two moves will need to be made to get back in compliance on December 28th.
Winnipeg has no fewer than six forwards who have waiver exemption but there’s a case to be made for all of them to stay up. Rookie right winger Patrik Laine is among the league leaders in goals and there’s no way he goes down. Left winger Nikolaj Ehlers has 29 points to sit third in team scoring so he’s another player guaranteed to stay up.
Rookie winger Brandon Tanev has been up with the team all season and while he hasn’t produced much offensively from the fourth line, he brings some grit to the lineup as he’s tied for the team lead in hits. He did, however, miss the last game with an unspecified injury. If he’s going to be out for a few more days, they could place him on injured reserve retroactive to the 22nd to buy them some time but that’s only a temporary solution.
As for the other three, center Nic Petan has spent the bulk of the season in the minors but has put up an impressive eight points in only 15 games and was flirting with top six ice time before he went down in late November. Left winger Marko Dano also didn’t start with the Jets but has been a regular since early November and sits tied for seventh in team scoring. That leaves center Andrew Copp who, like Dano, wasn’t up until early November and has played the bulk of the season; he also was a regular last year, playing in 77 games.
If they don’t want to send anyone down, there is also the trade route although as we’ve seen all season, finding the right fit in terms of players and salary cap hit is easier said than done.
One player who is believed to be on the block that could stand to benefit from a change of scenery is center Alexander Burmistrov. Last week, he voiced his frustration over his lack of playing time to Jason Bell of the Winnipeg Free Press:
“It’s tough, tough for me because I do not know why I’m not playing, you know. I never have a conversation with the coach, so he never tell[s] me why I’m not playing.”
While head coach Paul Maurice disagreed with the assertion that he doesn’t speak with Burmistrov, it’s hard to see the 25 year old staying with the team much longer. Last month, it was reported that the Jets were gauging interest for his services around the league and considering he has been scratched for the last three weeks despite the injuries, it doesn’t appear that there’s a spot for him to play anytime soon. He carries a cap hit of $1.55MM, high enough that the Jets would likely have to take a similar contract back or retain money to get a deal done. Given their current roster situation, perhaps it may help to facilitate a move sooner rather than later.
Whether it’s via a trade or a minor league demotion, the Jets are going to have to make a tough decision shortly on who to remove from their active roster. It’s a ‘problem’ that a lot of teams would probably like to have right now but it will be something to watch for when the roster freeze lifts on Wednesday.
Friedman’s Latest: Fleury, Trouba, Trade Market
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 590 in Toronto recently to provide some updates on a few players and the trade market in general. Here are some of the highlights; transcription courtesy of FanRag’s Chris Nichols.
Marc-Andre Fleury (Penguins)
Friedman, like many others, expects that Fleury’s days with Pittsburgh are close to being over. The question at this point is whether they’ll make an in-season move or keep him around for what they expect to be another lengthy postseason run. If they were to keep Fleury, they’d have the luxury of having two starting goaltenders which could come in handy in case of injury, which is how Murray wound up with the number one job in the playoffs.
He also points out Fleury’s 12-team no trade clause as a potential obstacle. However, Friedman believes that when the time comes to make a trade that they’ll check in with the goaltender to make sure he’s happy with his eventual new destination. This is his 13th career season, all with the Penguins after being the first overall pick in 2003 so they’ll want to try to do right by their longest-tenured player.
One other potential obstacle that Friedman didn’t mention is Fleury’s struggles so far this season. He has not adapted particularly well to not being the full-fledged starter and has a GAA of 3.25 and a SV% of .905, both well below league average. For teams that might be looking at him as an in-season option, those numbers certainly won’t help his value and there are other goaltenders already currently available.
Jacob Trouba (Jets)
Friedman noted that Toronto is among the teams that have kept tabs on Winnipeg blueliner Jacob Trouba. However, the Leafs, like several other Canadian teams, have some doubts regarding Trouba’s willingness to play in a Canadian market long-term.
Trouba rescinded his trade request when he signed a two year, $6MM bridge deal back in early November. However, many still think he will be dealt by the time that the contract expires. The Jets have a pair of big money, higher end blueliners on the right side in Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers and Trouba has stated his preference is to play on his natural side.
Interestingly enough, Friedman floated out a suggestion that a deal involving Trouba and Fleury could make sense for both sides with the Penguins needing some help on the back end while the Jets’ goaltending duo of youngsters Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson have struggled with consistency throughout the season.
Trade Market
Friedman doubled down on his comments earlier this week about the trade market being paralyzed. He noted that teams are still talking regularly but one GM told him that no one seems ready to do anything yet. With so many teams having limited cap space, it’s likely that the bulk of the notable trades this season will come closer to the trade deadline.
Western Conference Notes: Maurice, Blues, Jankowski
Despite a talented roster led by #1 center Mark Scheifele (31 points in 33 games), team captain Blake Wheeler (26 points), rookie phenom Patrik Laine (19 goals) and big blue liner Dustin Byfuglien (22 points), the Winnipeg Jets have a disappointing 16 – 17 – 3 record and are three points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. It’s perhaps not surprising that reports began circulating suggesting the job of veteran bench boss Paul Maurice could be in jeopardy, but as Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press writes, there is simply nothing to those rumors.
Wiecek points out that the Jets ownership is “loyal to a fault,” and references former head coach Claude Noel as an example of that loyalty. Noel served as the team’s head coach for their first two-and-a-half seasons in Manitoba but mustered just a record of 80 – 79 – 18 and failed to lead the Jets to the postseason before being dismissed during the 2013-14 season. Wiecek believes the team kept Noel around “long after it had become readily apparent to everyone else that an AHL coach was all Noel was ever going to be.”
The scribe also suggests the team still believes Maurice is the right coach to turn “a room full of young talent and inexperience into the kind of club that can compete night in and night out with the best in the league.”
Finally, in response to the belief the Jets have under-performed, Wiecek takes the position that the team has performed exactly as should be expected; like a young team with plenty of peaks and valleys.
It should also be noted that the Jets play in a tough division, one that sent five teams to the postseason a year ago. While the Central may not be as strong this season as the Metro Division, an argument can certainly be made that they could easily boast five playoff squads again this spring
Elsewhere in the West:
- Jeremy Rutherford hosted his weekly chat with readers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently and tackled several issues related to the Blues. Naturally much of the talk was about how the Blues can improve their roster and while there may not have been much in the way of concrete trade rumors, Rutherford acknowledged the team desperately wants to add both speed and a proven top-six center ahead of the deadline. Of course the one asset St. Louis might be able to move to address their needs is defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency next summer. Though as appealing as Shattenkirk might be to other teams, his value is limited unless any team looking to acquire the puck-moving blue liner has an indication they might be able to extend the pending free agent. It’s also not certain the Blues will be too interested in dealing Shattenkirk if they are in possession of a playoff berth at the deadline. Last season, GM Doug Armstrong held onto David Backes and Troy Brouwer, both of whom would leave the team after the season and demonstrating the veteran GM will only sell off an expiring asset if it improves his chances to win today.
- The Calgary Flames surprised some when they went off the board to select center Mark Jankowski in the first round of the 2012 draft. While most teams weren’t sold on Jankowski, then-Flames GM Jay Feaster called him the best player in the draft and compared the pivot to former Calgary star Joe Nieuwendyk. It took four years but Jankowski finally made his NHL debut earlier this season, and as Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald reports, he is looking forward to working his way back into the league and earning a permanent position. But first, Jankowski, in his first full season as a pro, knows he has to dominate at the AHL level: “Obviously it was a good experience to get up there to see what it’s all about and play my first game, to see what type of game it is,” he said. “It’s a lot faster and guys are bigger and stronger. They’re all just a bit more skilled. Coming back to Stockton, it’s huge motivation for me to see what it’s like if I want to be there full-time.I have to come down here and dominate and play my game.”
Jets Activate Two From Injured Reserve
The Winnipeg Jets have activated right winger Joel Armia and left winger/center Shawn Matthias from injured reserve, the team announced via Twitter. No corresponding demotions have been made due to the roster freeze but will be required when that lifts on December 28th.
Armia, acquired in the Evander Kane trade back in February of 2015, has been out since the beginning of November with an MCL sprain. He has played in ten games for the Jets this season, scoring once while adding three assists. Armia had been a regular on both special teams units prior to going down, averaging over a minute and a half on both the power play and penalty kill.
Matthias, who joined the Jets this summer as an unrestricted free agent, also has been out since early November due to a lower body issue. He has suited up in ten games this year, picking up three points (2-1-3). Prior to going down, he had played a big role on their penalty kill, averaging over two minutes a game there, which ranks second among Winnipeg forwards to Adam Lowry.
To make room for them in the lineup, center Andrew Copp and left winger Brandon Tanev will be out of the lineup, TSN 1290’s Brian Munz notes (Twitter link). Tanev is day-to-day with a lower body injury while Copp will be a healthy scratch.