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Archives for September 2017

Brian Boyle Could Play In Season Opener

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The New Jersey Devils have not ruled out an opening-night return of veteran free agent signee Brian Boyle, reports Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. This is a noteworthy development because Boyle was recently diagnosed with a chronic myeloid leukemia, a bone marrow cancer that is “largely treated with medication.”

The Devils open up the season at home against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday October 7th. Boyle has not joined practices yet, but coach John Hynes says that Boyle should be ready to go if he can get a full week of intense practices before the 7th. Hynes is confident that Boyle will return in time for opening puck drop.

The Devils signed Boyle to a two-year, $2.75MM a year deal in the offseason. Last season Boyle played with the Tampa Bay Lightning before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for an abbreviated playoff drive. In 75 games Boyle scored 13G and 12A, but no goals and only 3A in his final 21 regular season games.

Evening Snapshots: Blackhawks, Faceoffs, Labonte

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News and notes from around the NHL this evening:

  • The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned goaltender Collin Delia to the AHL Rockford IceHogs, the team announced today. The roster cut leaves the Blackhawks with 35 remaining players at camp, including 20 forwards, 12 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders. The Blackhawks signed Delia to a two-year entry level deal this summer worth $767K a year. Delia most recently played for Merrimack College in the NCAA, posting a 2.15 GAA and .927 SV% in 21 games. Delia was never expected to make the big team—Corey Crawford’s backup spot is between Anton Forsberg and Jean-Francois Berube—but will round out the AHL roster for now.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported today in his 31 Thoughts column that the impetus for the faceoff rules crackdown came from the competition committee. David Backes—a committee member—admitted to Boston media that faceoffs have devolved into scrums where the goal is to not lose rather than to win. Players were increasingly crowding the dot and focusing more on holding off the other center until a winger arrives. The tweaked enforcement standards hope to swing the pendulum back to skill-based faceoff wins.
  • One of Canada’s most prolific international goaltenders retired this week. Charline Labonte, a three-time Olympic gold medal winner, retired from hockey on Monday. Labonte is probably the most well-known female goaltender outside of Manon Rheaume, and like Rheume, Labonte made her mark early on by playing in the men’s QMJHL. She played two seasons with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL in 1999-00 and 2000-01 before eventually playing for Canada and McGill University. Labonte spent the last two seasons playing for the Montreal Canadiennes in the CWHL, and posted an astounding 1.53 GAA and .934 SV%. There is no doubt that the 34 year-old is leaving the game on a high note.

Poll: How Should The Blues Deal With Their Injury Woes?

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The St. Louis Blues have been ravaged by injury already this preseason, with no fewer than five key players out long term. Robby Fabbri, Patrik Berglund, Zachary Sanford, Alex Steen and Jay Bouwmeester are all out somewhere between weeks and months, and each was supposed to play a big role on the team this year. So, while discussing Fabbri’s season-ending knee injury at a press conference earlier today, GM Doug Armstrong was asked about the possibility of signing free agent Jaromir Jagr.

He’s a great player, certainly someone we’ve talked about internally as with a number of players. We’re going to have to really dig deep into how our style of play is, and what type of players can come in and compliment that style.

Armstrong was clear he wouldn’t rush to a conclusion, but did reiterate that since the plan he set forth on July 1st, he’s lost nearly a third of his penciled-in roster. That would suggest that a move will have to come to get better, even if it is simply bringing in a young player from inside their own organization.

So what do you think the Blues should do? Should they go after a free agent like Jagr to compliment what is left, make a trade to try and shore up the roster, or rely on some of their young guns to fill in until help arrives healthy. Make sure to leave your comments below!

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Snapshots: Islanders, Lipanov, Cramarossa

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The Oak View Group submitted their proposal for a new arena at Belmont Park, Elmont today, with the intention of housing the New York Islanders there once completed. Several other proposals are expected to be submitted, including one from New York City FC, the city’s Major League Soccer team.

John Shannon of Sportsnet reports that the Islanders’ ownership group was in Detroit to tour the new Red Wings arena, as they continue to try to work out where the team will play in the future. We aren’t expected to get a ruling on which is the successful bid for several months.

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Alexei Lipanov to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 18-year old forward was selected in the third round of the most recent draft, and is now playing with the Barrie Colts of the OHL. Last year in the Russian junior and minor leagues, Lipanov scored 11 points in 32 games but captained the Russian U18 World Junior team to a bronze medal.
  • Joseph Cramarossa was released from his PTO this week with the Calgary Flames, but signed an AHL deal today with the Stockton Heat to continue his professional career. Cramarossa is still just 24 and was selected in the third round in 2011, but has yet to catch on full-time around the NHL. He’ll try to rebuild some of that value in the AHL this year, and prove that he can add more than just a checking role.

St. Louis Blues Sign Robert Thomas

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Though he was just sent back to the London Knights to compete in the OHL again this year, the St. Louis Blues have signed Robert Thomas to a three-year entry-level contract. Thomas was the team’s first pick in the recent entry draft, selected 20th-overall.

At the beginning of the 2016-17 season, the London Knights were looking for someone to step up in the absence of some of their big names. Mitch Marner, Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk were all headed to the NHL, leaving a gaping hole for someone to step into. Thomas was one of those who pounced on the opportunity, exploding to 66 points in 66 games as a 17-year old. He became a reliable member of the Knights’ powerplay, and showed off his elite playmaking ability with 50 assists on the year.

While Thomas wasn’t expected to make the NHL for some time, there is reason to believe it may come in relatively short order. In training camp he showed perfectly capable of keeping up with professional players, scoring twice in the preseason and creating several offensive chances. He’s not big, but can handle himself at the OHL level and should fill out even more by the time he has to crack the pro ranks. Though Cliff Pu (Buffalo) will be back in London as well, J.J. Piccinich (Toronto) will not, giving Thomas even more opportunity to contribute offensively. It could be a big year for him, before trying to compete for a spot in training camp again next fall.

Waivers & Recalls: 09/28/17

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Waivers are coming fast and furious as teams have to have their final rosters submitted by the evening of Tuesday, October 3rd. After Jordan Nolan was claimed a couple of days ago, everyone on waivers yesterday cleared. Here is the list from today thanks to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, which contains quite a bit of NHL experience.

Waivers:

Scott Sabourin (ANA)
Corey Tropp (ANA)
Sam Carrick (ANA)
Steve Oleksy (ANA)
Mike Liambas (ANA)
Jeremy Smith (CAR)
Jake Chelios (CAR)
Trevor Carrick (CAR)
Brad Malone (EDM)
Harri Sateri (FLA)
Chris Terry (MTL)
Matt Puempel (NYR)
Andrew Hammond (OTT)
Tom Sestito (PIT)

There are also bound to be a few recalls over the next few days, as injuries and poor performance lead teams to reconsider their original decisions.

Recalled:

Nikita Scherbak (MTL)
Alex Lyon (PHI)
Jacob Middleton (SJS)
Nick DeSimone (SJS)

Vegas Golden Knights Sign Dylan Ferguson To ELC

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The Vegas Golden Knights have signed goaltender Dylan Ferguson to a three-year entry-level contract after starring for them in training camp. The 19-year old was selected in the seventh round by the Dallas Stars this summer, but immediately flipped to the Golden Knights as part of the Marc Methot trade.

Ferguson is already back in Kamloops for this season, where he was part of one of the best tandems in the league last year. Splitting time with Connor Ingram (a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect), Ferguson recorded a .922 save percentage in 31 games. While Ingram got most of the headlines as a third-round pick and starter for the Canadian World Junior team, Ferguson slowly developed into a legitimate goaltending prospect.

He’s still a long way from the NHL, but Ferguson will be given the reins in Kamloops—Ingram, 20, has moved on to the Syracuse Crunch—this season to try and show what he can do. It’s unlikely that he’ll get a chance to represent Canada at the World Juniors without something catastrophic happening to the other candidates, so instead he’ll just focus on trying to make the WHL playoffs.

Training Camp Cuts: 09/28/17

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Just a few more days until the 2017-18 NHL regular season is underway, and teams are starting to make their final roster decisions. We saw tons of cuts yesterday, and today should be no different. We’ll keep track of all the day’s movement right here.

Anaheim Ducks

F Mitch Hults – San Diego (AHL)
D Brian Cooper – San Diego (AHL)
D Marcus Pettersson – San Diego (AHL)
D Andy Welinski – San Diego (AHL)
F Scott Sabourin – Waivers for purpose of assignment
F Corey Tropp – Waivers for purpose of assignment
F Sam Carrick – Waivers for purpose of assignment
F Mike Liambas – Waivers for purpose of assignment
D Steven Oleksy – Waivers for purpose of assignment

Buffalo Sabres

F Nicholas Baptiste – Rochester (AHL)
G Linus Ullmark – Rochester (AHL)

Carolina Hurricanes

F Nicolas Roy – Charlotte (AHL)
F Valentin Zykov – Charlotte (AHL)
F Aleksi Saarela – Charlotte (AHL)
F Jeremy Smith – Waivers for purpose of assignment
D Jake Chelios – Waivers for purpose of assignment
D Trevor Carrick – Waivers for purpose of assignment

Chicago Blackhawks

G Collin Delia – Rockford (AHL)

Edmonton Oilers

F Brad Malone – Waivers for purpose of assignment

Florida Panthers

G Harri Sateri – Waivers for purpose of assignment

Los Angeles Kings

F Michael Mersch – Ontario (AHL)
F Andrew Crescenzi – Ontario (AHL)

Montreal Canadiens

D Matt Taormina – Laval (AHL)
F Chris Terry – Waivers for purpose of assignment

New York Rangers

F Lias Andersson – Frolunda (SHL)
F Vinny Lettieri – Hartford (AHL)
F Boo Nieves – Hartford (AHL)
D Neal Pionk – Hartford (AHL)
D Ryan Graves – Hartford (AHL)
F Matt Puempel – Waivers for purpose of assignment
F Bobby Farnham – Released from PTO

Ottawa Senators

G Andrew Hammond – Waivers for purpose of assignment

Pittsburgh Penguins

F Tom Sestito – Waivers for purpose of assignment

St. Louis Blues

F Beau Bennett – Chicago (AHL)
D Petteri Lindbohm – Chicag0 (AHL)
D Chris Butler – San Antonio (AHL)

Washington Capitals

F Travis Boyd – Hershey (AHL)
D Tyler Lewington – Hershey (AHL)
D Jonas Siegenthaler – Hershey (AHL)
G Pheonix Copley – Hershey (AHL)

Winnipeg Jets

G Eric Comrie – Manitoba (AHL)

Jaromir Jagr “Discussed Internally” By St. Louis

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At a press conference to discuss Robby Fabbri’s season-ending knee injury, St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong was asked about the potential of Jaromir Jagr being signed to help the team up front. The Blues now have several forwards out long-term, and will have to put a lot of pressure on their young players at this point.

In response to the Jagr question, Armstrong said that management had discussed that possibility internally, and that they’d need to take a look at their style of play and see if there could be a fit.

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