Stars Notes: Sharp, Lineup Changes, Goaltending
The Dallas Stars have been without Patrick Sharp for almost three weeks now after the veteran forward experienced concussion-like symptoms. The problems arose after Sharp took a devastating hit from Brayden McNabb of the Los Angeles Kings on October 20th, and initially there was no timetable for his return. Sharp skated with the team today, and according to head coach Lindy Ruff (via Mark Stepneski) doesn’t sound too far away:
It’s a step in the right direction and some light at the end of the tunnel for him. He’s feeling better. Hopefully we can get him two or three practices and he can be ready possibly for Sunday.
Sharp, one of the most consistent goal scoring wingers in the league over the past decade had a successful first season with the Stars last year after being traded there last summer. He provided another 20-goal season and recorded 55 points mostly skating alongside Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. His return to the lineup would help deepen a Stars forward group that is really struggling to score goals. With Jason Spezza, Cody Eakin, Jiri Hudler and Ales Hemsky all missing time for various injuries this season, Sharp would be a sight for sore eyes for Ruff and the Dallas coaching staff.
- Following three straight losses, the Stars will make some lineup changes for tonight. Justin Dowling and Jamie Oleksiak will both get back into the lineup, while Patrik Nemeth and Esa Lindell will visit the press box. Oleksiak is set to skate on the third pairing with Jordie Benn, while Dowling will center the fourth line between Gemel Smith and Adam Cracknell. Both newcomers have played just two games for the Stars this season.
- Kari Lehtonen will be in net tonight against the Calgary Flames for his third start in a row despite being pulled in his last game. The 32-year old netminder was relieved after giving up four goals on eleven shots against the Jets on Tuesday. Antti Niemi didn’t fare much better though, as he gave up four goals as well on twenty shots. The Stars are now 4-6-3 and off to a terrible start in many facets of the game.
U20 Notes: McDavid, Laine, Matthews
“I think he’s the best 19-year-old hockey player I’ve ever seen.”
Wayne Gretzky had some high praise for Connor McDavid on Tuesday night. In an appearance on the NHL Network (transcribed by Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot), Gretzky called McDavid the “catalyst” of the Oilers. Edmonton is off to a 9-4-1 start, tied with Chicago for tops in the Western Conference, and McDavid is a major part of that. He is tied for second in the NHL with 17 points.
Tuesday night marked the first time McDavid, the future face of the NHL, took on Sidney Crosby, the current face of the NHL. The Oilers captain posted three assists while Crosby was held pointless for the first time this season. McDavid won the battle, but his team lost the war on a Benoit Pouliot own-goal with less than two minutes remaining.
Despite his high praise for McDavid, Gretzky still believes Crosby is the best player in the NHL, until “somebody knocks him off that mantle.”
McDavid leads the way for several highly-skilled young players like the top two selections from last June’s draft: Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. Laine is leading the NHL with 11 goals in 14 games; he already has two hat-tricks in his young career, earning him the nickname “Hat-trick Laine”.
ESPN’s Joe McDonald relayed a story from the World Cup, where Laine represented the Finns. During a team practice, Laine ripped a shot past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Rask admitted he never even saw the puck go past him. Laine’s 11 goals in 14 games ties former Winnipeg Jets sniper Teemu Selanne‘s record for goals in his first 14 NHL games. While Laine may not reach Selanne’s mark of 76 goals this season, he will certainly be among the NHL rookie leaders.
In Toronto, Matthews set an NHL record with a four goal outburst in his debut, but has slowed down slightly since then. He has six goals and 11 points in 13 games on a rebuilding Maple Leafs squad.
On the NHL Network, Gretzky complimented a few young players, including McDavid and Matthews for accepting “a responsibility of being that person for their city.”
Still in their prime, Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin are two of the best player in the NHL. With McDavid, Matthews, and Laine now in the picture, the future appears to be in very skilled hands.
LeBrun’s Latest: Budaj, Trouba, Hanzal
When the Los Angeles Kings lost not just Jonathan Quick but Jeff Zatkoff as well in the span of a few days, panic immediately set in for a franchise known for its excellent goaltending over the years. Even with Peter Budaj, an experienced NHL netminder coming in to start, the team was looking everywhere to find some help in net. That might have come to an end, says Pierre LeBrun in his latest column, as Budaj has performed extremely well and Zatkoff is back from injury. The team has stopped looking for help and is at least somewhat comfortable with the Budaj/Zatkoff tandem for now.
Budaj, the AHL goalie of the year in 2015-16, has posted a .912 save percentage and 2.06 GAA in ten games, including a shutout of the Calgary Flames on Saturday. The former Colorado and Montreal netminder has a ton of NHL experience over the years, and at 34 is still playing well enough to help the Kings. Zatkoff will likely figure in a bit more as the season stretches on, though he does have much less experience.
- Even though Jacob Trouba has signed on for two years and said that he’s ‘committed’ to the Winnipeg Jets, doesn’t sway LeBrun from thinking he’ll eventually be dealt. Though head coach Paul Maurice has said he’ll use Trouba in a variety of situations in order to keep him involved, the conviction that led to his holdout can’t possibly have all dissipated at this point. Trouba still wants to be a top pairing blueliner on the right side, something that simply won’t happen in Winnipeg, at least not right now.
- It’s an open competition in Colorado now, as the net will be shared between Semyon Varlamov and Calvin Pickard. Though Varlamov came into the season as the clear No. 1, the younger Pickard has played extremely well and forced himself into the conversation. A .946 save percentage even if it is just a few games. With the Avalanche going after a playoff spot this year, they can’t afford to wait for Varlamov’s game to come around.
- When you turn your calendar over to February in a few months, make sure you make a note to watch for Martin Hanzal rumors. LeBrun feels as though the Coyotes center – who’s injured at the moment – is an easy pick for a deadline deal. An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, he’s always had the talent to change a game. Health has always been a factor for Hanzal though, who just can’t seem to stick in a lineup for a full year. LeBrun believes that the Coyotes would need a young player, and not just picks, in return.
Jacob Trouba Signs Two-Year Deal With Winnipeg
The Winnipeg Jets announced that they have re-signed defenseman Jacob Trouba to a two-year deal worth an AAV of $3MM with the Winnipeg Jets. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first with the report. The contract will pay him a prorated $2.5MM this season and $3.5MM in 2017-18. The restricted free agent had been holding out all season hoping for a trade to a different club where he could play a bigger role on his preferred right-side.
While this does not rule out a trade completely – as we saw with Kyle Turris just a few years ago – the Jets may have convinced Trouba that playing this year is more important than finding the perfect situation. The defenseman would have been ineligible to play had he not signed by December 1st.
The former first-round pick is considered a potential top-pairing defenseman able to play in all situations, and is currently blocked by both Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers on the right-side. Believing he’s deserved of more minutes and a core role, many teams had inquired on him this summer and into the first part of the season.
Again, this doesn’t mean he won’t be dealt this season, in fact he may become even more desirable for teams who were worried about him demanding a long-term deal. Now with the cost certainty for the next two seasons, a club can fit him in under their payroll structure. Teams like the Maple Leafs or Canucks now who have big contracts expiring over the next couple of seasons may find room and pick up the phone once again.
As Trouba likely realized, holding out is rarely helpful to a player’s case. While his hope was clear from the beginning, a strong front office can hold on and take any leverage you may have away from you. We saw it with Jonathan Drouin last season, who eventually made good with the club and has become a strong part, and the aforementioned Turris who was forced to sign a similar bridge deal before being dealt to the Ottawa Senators.
If Trouba can get back to playing, and prove that he’s the puck-moving shutdown defender that he’s looked like in the past, many teams around the league will be after him. At a $3MM hit this year and next, he’d be a welcome addition to almost any blueline.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Central Division Snapshots: Trouba, Mitchell, Hudler, Dowling
To this point, the only outcomes discussed in the Winnipeg/Jacob Trouba stalemate have involved either the player caving in and signing a new contract to remain with the Jets or a trade sending the RFA defenseman elsewhere. But as Rory Bolyen of Sportsnet writes, there is a possibility Trouba re-signs with the team as a way to help facilitate a trade down the road.
Bolyen references comments made by Nick Kypreos and Elliotte Friedman made yesterday on the Saturday’s Headlines segment. Kypreos states the a signed Trouba may have more value on the trade market than he does currently.
“Kurt Overhardt (Trouba’s agent) met with Kevin Cheveldayoff in Detroit. The feeling is it’s still pretty quiet on that front, but Winnipeg would love to sign this guy. And sign him to that same contract we’ve seen other defensemen get. The perception out there right now is that there is a deal, like a Morgan Rielly deal, for $5 million, six years.
“And that would still come with the thought that it could be tradable if in fact he signs this and starts playing again, that they could be in a position where teams would love the known certainty of Jacob Trouba for the next six years and it would be tradable if that’s the direction they wanted to go.”
Friedman added that Overhardt went through a similar situation with another client, Kyle Turris.
“Just so you know, Kyle Turris when he went through the situation, he signed on November 22, he was traded on December 17,”
Sitting out the season likely would do little to enhance Trouba’s value so getting back on the ice should be a priority. Obviously he would sacrifice the only leverage he possesses as Winnipeg could simply choose to hang onto the young blue liner instead of moving him. But perhaps it would be best for both sides if Trouba signs a new deal and gets back to playing while the Jets continue to pursue a trade to their liking.
Elsewhere in the Central Division:
- The Colorado Avalanche placed John Mitchell on waivers Friday and the veteran pivot, who is in his ninth NHL season, cleared Saturday. Mitchell, who has been held scoreless in five appearances this season, is in his fifth season with Colorado. He has reached double-figures in goals and tallied at least 20 points in each of his first four campaigns with the Avalanche. With only a projected $1.7MM in available cap space, the move was made in order to provide additional cap flexibility for GM Joe Sakic, as Mike Chambers of The Denver Post writes. The club can now send Mitchell down to their AHL affiliate in San Antonio at any point over the next 30 days to open up a spot on the roster for a younger player and/or to clear an additional $950K in salary cap space. Mitchell is in the last season of a three-year deal worth $5.4MM. He is making $1.9MM in actual salary.
- According to Mark Stepneski, who covers the Stars for the team’s official website, Dallas has placed Jiri Hudler on injured reserve due to an undisclosed illness and recalled forward Justin Dowling from Texas of the AHL. Hudler was signed this summer to provide secondary scoring but the 12-year veteran has played in just four games and has so far failed to record a point. Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News adds that since Dowling played both Friday and Saturday in California for the Texas Stars, head coach Lindy Ruff may elect to dress seven defensemen for tonight’s game. According to Ruff (via Heika), the team has no idea what specifically has afflicted Hudler as tests have revealed nothing.
Rookie Notes: Laine, Werenski, Marner
After writing yesterday about the incredible group of teenagers that inhabit the NHL right now, they continued to show why they deserve to have ink spilled every night about them. Patrik Laine, playing in his 12th NHL game scored his seventh goal (while seemingly practicing his golf game) which is the fastest since it took Evgeni Malkin just six games in 2006. The Finnish sniper now has 9 points in those 12 games, and is showing why he was drafted so high.
The Jets are obviously pretty high on Laine, as he’s averaging over 19 minutes a night which leads all rookie forwards this season. As fans watch him play, they must be reminded of another Finnish scoring winger that made an impact as a rookie once upon a time – Teemu Selanne‘s amazing rookie season started with 11 goals in his first 12 games, and ended with 76.
- The idea that defensemen take longer to develop than forwards is being thrown out the window in Columbus, as Zach Werenski continues to dominate in his rookie season. The Blue Jackets are currently tearing the Montreal Canadiens apart (8-0 as this article is written), and Werenski is a big part of it. Though he has just one assist tonight, he’s also the quarterback of an effective powerplay that has gone 4/5 in the game. This 19-year old blueliner was drafted eighth overall in 2015 and is providing huge dividends already for the Blue Jackets; they’ll be 5-3-1 after tonight, with Werenski scoring (at least) nine points.
- Though Mitch Marner wasn’t included in the original post, he probably should have been. His start with the Maple Leafs has been overshadowed slightly by Auston Matthews, but the former fourth-overall pick has played extremely well in his own right. Two goals last night led the Maple Leafs to victory in Buffalo, a place they’ve had trouble winning in for years. Though Marner now has eight points in eleven contests, it’s his defensive play that is repeatedly mentioned by head coach Mike Babcock. The diminutive winger has nine blocked shots on the season, which leads all Toronto forwards.
Jets “Gauging Interest” On Alexander Burmistrov
Winnipeg Jets’ forward Alexander Burmistrov has just one point through his first ten games, and has seen less than 15 minutes of ice time in each of them. Now, according to a tweet from Gary Lawless of TSN, the Jets are “gauging trade interest” on the 25-year old.
Obviously, general managers gauge interest on many players at many times, and it doesn’t mean they’re looking to trade them. In Burmistrov’s case though, it does seem like his favor has soured somewhat and he could be on his way out. After scoring just 21 points last season despite his playing time actually increasing down the stretch, he’s now been relegated to the fourth line most nights and almost removed from the powerplay entirely.
While trading him at this point would represent a case of selling-low for the Jets, perhaps his eighth-overall pedigree and relative youth could still command a solid return. Burmistrov clearly has skill, as he showed during his time in the KHL; the forward scored 63 points in 107 games at a very young age. With the Jets struggling out of the gate, perhaps adding a different type of player could give them a boost and vault them back into playoff contention in the Western Conference. If not, fans and coaches alike might just have to hope Burmistrov can find his game and become the player the Jets’ (then Thrashers) envisioned when they selected him in 2010.
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.
Jets Place Tyler Myers On IR
The Winnipeg Jets have placed star defenseman Tyler Myers on injured reserve today. Myers suffered a lower-body injury and has missed the past two games. It is unclear how long Myers is expected to be out, but the 4-6-1 Jets face a tough upcoming stretch on the road against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers before returning home to the Dallas Stars, and would rather have the big blue liner healthy.
Myers, the 2010 Calder-Trophy winner, isn’t much of an offensive threat, but is one of the best shutdown defenseman in the league. Acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in 2015 alongside Drew Stafford, Joel Armia in a package for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian, Myers has become one of the leaders of the young Jets squad. Myers and Dustin Byfuglien give Winnipeg some of the best depth on the right side of the blue line of any team in the league.
While Myers remains sidelined, the Jets had previously called up Julian Melchiori. The young defenseman appears likely to remain on the roster as long as Myers remains on IR. While Winnipeg would undoubtedly rather have Jacob Trouba filling in, those talks still appear to be going nowhere.
To fill the roster space created by the designation, Winnipeg announced today that they have called up Nic Petan. The 2013 second-round forward played in 26 games last season and will try to work his way into the lineup and secure a spot on the team for the rest of 2016-17.
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Spooner, Carlo, Detroit
Until either Jacob Trouba signs a new deal with Winnipeg or is finally traded away to a club willing to meet the Jets high asking price, you can expect to see countless rumors linking the young blue liner to anyone in need of a right-shot defender. One of the latest comes courtesy of Nick Kypreos, who during an appearance on Hockey Night In Canada indicated the Jets had reportedly asked the Boston Bruins for a package highlighted by Ryan Spooner and Brandon Carlo in exchange for Trouba. However, from Boston’s perspective, any hypothetical trade package for Trouba should not include Carlo, opines Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.
Elliotte Friedman recently reported there was significant interest in Spooner and any team in the league would love to add a 19-year-old, right-shot defenseman like Carlo. While that type of package might be appealing to Winnipeg, it’s not something Boston should even consider, writes Haggerty. The scribe notes that already through nine NHL games, Carlo is already one of Boston’s best blue liners and at just 19 there is still plenty of room for growth in his game. Essentially, Haggerty is arguing that Carlo has the same kind of potential as Trouba and at least at this point in their respective careers is a lot cheaper than the Jets defenseman.
Now it should be apparent that if Winnipeg had actually proposed this deal to Boston that the Bruins rebuffed the Jets offer otherwise Trouba would be in Beantown today.
The other curious factor to this rumor is that Carlo is also a right-handed shot. All previous indications have had the Jets insisting on a left-shooting defender of comparable age and ability to Trouba. Of course it’s possible Winnipeg was simply willing to overlook that detail in order to land an overall package of talent they were comfortable with.
- Detroit iced Stanley Cup contending teams throughout the late 1990’s and well into the 2000’s built around speed and skill. However, in 2016 the Red Wings are behind the rest of the league and need an infusion of speed and quickness, as Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News writes. He points out how the mid-season acquisition of Carl Hagelin appeared to represent a course change last season for the Penguins and helped turn that team into the speedy club that would eventually win the Stanley Cup. Of course skating speed is just part of the equation. Wings bench boss Jeff Blashill believes playing with pace and speed is as much a mentality as anything else: “But playing fast has way more to do with than just your team speed. It has to do with the mentality that every time you can, you want to beat people up the ice, the mentality that every time there’s a transition opportunity you’ve got to beat them up the ice.” Blashill also notes that this mentality was a big reason the team inked Darren Helm to a pricey extension in advance of the free agent signing period: “I think it’s both: It’s about our speed, but it’s also about our mentality of playing fast.We looked at it over the summer, and that is part of the reason that we wanted to make sure to get Darren Helm re-signed.” While the Wings realize their roster deficiencies and are doing what they can to overcome, the team does need to add quicker players to the organization.