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Five Key Stories: 1/15/24 – 1/21/24

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With teams now past the midway point of the season, activity is starting to pick up across the NHL.  Here’s a rundown of the biggest stories in what was a very busy week across the league.

One In, One On The Way Out? As expected, the Senators signed RFA center Shane Pinto to a one-year deal that checked in at the league minimum of $775K.  The 23-year-old missed the first 41 games of the year after violating the league’s sports wagering rules, negating the two-year deal with an AAV in the $2MM range that was being negotiated.  Pinto will once again be a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer.  Meanwhile, the Sens are believed to be listening to interest in blueliner Jakob Chychrun.  The 25-year-old was acquired last season from Arizona in the hopes he’d shore up their back end but Ottawa has struggled in all facets in the first half of the year.  With one year left on his contract after this one with a $4.6MM price tag and the fact he’s on pace for his best season offensively, his trade value might be at its highest over the next few weeks if GM Steve Staios wants to make a big move.

Merzlikins Wants Out: After recently voicing his frustration over a lack of playing time but noting that he hadn’t asked for a trade, Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has confirmed that he has now indeed requested to be moved.  The 29-year-old has bounced back from a tough showing last year, upping his save percentage from .876 to .905 but his game-to-game consistency has still been a concern, resulting in Daniil Tarasov getting an extended look as the starter.  With three years left after this one on his deal with a $5.4MM AAV and with Spencer Martin now in Carolina after being claimed off waivers earlier in the week, it seems unlikely that Merzlikins will see his request granted in the near future.

Coaching Change: With the Islanders struggling, some had wondered about Lane Lambert’s future with the team.  GM Lou Lamoriello indeed decided to make a change but who he hired caught many by surprise as Patrick Roy was named their new head coach.  Lambert spent barely a year and a half behind New York’s bench with his team playing to a 61-46-20 record while the Isles lost in the first round of the playoffs last year and Lamoriello clearly felt that a change could help kickstart this team.  He turns to Roy, who hasn’t been behind an NHL bench since the 2015-16 campaign, his third and final year with Colorado before he abruptly resigned the following offseason over a lack of say in personnel decisions.  He’s unlikely to get much input in that regard as long as Lamoriello is in charge but the former Jack Adams Award winner certainly had some success with the Avs and will now get his second crack at running an NHL bench.

Extensions: A pair of centers in very different situations inked new deals with their current teams.  First, the Blackhawks signed Jason Dickinson to a two-year, $8.5MM extension.  Dickinson is in the middle of a breakout season offensively, notching 15 goals already; he had yet to crack double-digits over the past five years.  He was a pending unrestricted free agent but will now continue to serve as a bridge veteran in Chicago.  Meanwhile, the Capitals inked a key part of their future, agreeing to terms with Aliaksei Protas on a five-year, $16.875MM extension.  The 6’6 23-year-old has just ten career NHL goals in 134 games but is a little under half a point per game this season.  Clearly, Washington believes that he can get to another level offensively and be a strong middle-six piece for the foreseeable future.

Leaves Of Absence: Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be away from the team indefinitely as he has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The 28-year-old was in the midst of his best season offensively as he notched 22 goals and 20 assists in his first 40 games before stepping aside.  There is no set timeframe for how long he might be out as Nichushkin will only return once he’s cleared by program administrators.  Meanwhile, the Flames announced that winger Dillon Dube has been granted an indefinite leave of absence to attend to his mental health.  Last season, the 25-year-old had a career year with 45 points but he has struggled this season with just seven points in 43 contests and will now take some time away from the organization.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Coyotes Liam O’Brien Fined For Roughing

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced last night that Arizona Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien would be fined $2,018.23 for roughing Vancouver Canucks forward Sam Lafferty on January 18th. The amount is the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the money from it will be put towards the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

O’Brien was given a minor penalty for roughing on the play, which occurred at the 5:26 mark of the first period. O’Brien left Arizona’s bench and immediately went after Lafferty after the Canucks forward had laid a big hit earlier in the game. O’Brien threw off his gloves and began punching Lafferty, who did not offer a response. The referees pulled O’Brien away and restrained him before escorting him to the penalty box.

The situation did not cool down after that as O’Brien fought Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov later on in the first period which earned him another five penalty minutes. O’Brien is now the NHL leader in penalty minutes with 105 PIM in 43 games which nearly eclipses the 114 minutes he accumulated last season in 56 games with Arizona.

The 29-year-old has spent parts of seven NHL seasons with the Coyotes, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche and set career highs last season in games played with 56, goals with three, and assists with eight. He has not faced discipline before from the DOPS.

Sabres Recall Eric Comrie, Assign Devon Levi To AHL

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1/21: The Sabres have recalled Levi and sent Comrie back to the minors – reversing the moves made yesterday.

1/20: The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Eric Comrie from the Rochester Americans of the AHL and in a corresponding move they’ve assigned netminder Devon Levi to Rochester. The Sabres had gone with three goaltenders at the NHL level earlier in the season, but have demoted Levi and Comrie at different times to try and open up some roster flexibility,

The 28-year-old Comrie has appeared three times for the Americans during his time in the AHL and has been terrific as he went 2-1 with a .951 save percentage and a goals-against average of 1.67. It was a dramatic turnaround from his numbers with the Sabres earlier in the season, as the Edmonton, Alberta native struggled in the NHL with a 1-5 record, a 4.01 goals-against average and a save percentage of .863.

22-year-old Devon Levi has also posted good numbers at the AHL level in limited action as he has gone 1-1 with a .921 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average. Much like Comrie, Levi has also struggled at the NHL level as he has dressed in 19 games registering an 8-7-2 record with a 3.32 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage.

While neither of the two netminders have cemented themselves as a full-time NHL backup this season, Levi has posted better underlying numbers according to MoneyPuck.com. While one would think that the Sabres would want to keep the stronger netminder of the two at the NHL, this move could be more about Levi’s development than anything else. The Sabres may want to get Levi into more games down the stretch, and given that he hasn’t been able to do so in the NHL, they might have deemed the best course to have him as a regular starter in the AHL.

Blue Jackets Put Spencer Martin On Waivers, Jiricek Sent To AHL

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that they’ve placed goaltender Spencer Martin on waivers today and sent defenseman David Jiricek to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. Martin was placed on waivers for the purpose of sending him to the AHL, but he will need to clear waivers first before he can be sent there.

Martin has struggled this season after he was acquired on waivers from the Vancouver Canucks back in September 2023. He has not appeared in a game since a loss on January 2nd to the Boston Bruins. For the season, Martin has dressed in 13 games and has a 3-8-1 record with a 3.65 goals-against average and a save percentage of .887%. Those numbers are not great, and some might speculate that they are being dragged down by playing on a bad team in Columbus, however, Martin’s numbers are only slightly worse with the Blue Jackets as his career average goals against is 3.63 and his career save percentage is lower at .886. Martin’s demotion could lead to Elvis Merzļikins getting more playing time in the coming days, which could be interesting given his recent trade request.

Jiricek heads to Cleveland after dressing in 36 games this season for the Blue Jackets. The former sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft has played okay this season, although he hasn’t posted much in the way of offense with just a goal and eight assists this year. The Blue Jackets tried to give the 20-year-old the bulk of his zone starts in the offensive zone and did appear to be sheltering him as best they could. With his demotion to Cleveland, he will likely see more minutes and have an opportunity to play in more high-leverage situations which could help his development long-term.

Islanders Put Casey Cizikas On IR, Recall Kyle MacLean

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The New York Islanders announced today that they have placed forward Casey Cizikas on the injured reserve and recalled forward Kyle MacLean from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. The move with Cizikas is retroactive to January 9th, meaning that he can return anytime he is healthy enough to do so. He is currently listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury so he may be out until closer to the all-star break.

Cizikas has been enjoying one of his better offensive seasons this year with five goals and six assists in 39 games. However, his defensive work is his calling card, and it has not been quite as good as in previous seasons. Cizikas has long been one of the top defensive forwards in the NHL, but his overall play at five-on-five and the penalty kill has fallen off this year in comparison to previous seasons.

MacLean is the son of long-time New Jersey Devils forward John MacLean. He will join the Islanders from Bridgeport, where he has spent the past four seasons with the team. In 193 career AHL games, the 24-year-old has 29 goals and 49 assists and is -4. He has yet to dress in an NHL game, meaning that he could make his NHL debut in the coming days. This season with Bridgeport he has six goals and 13 assists in 36 games.

Afternoon Notes: Bally Sports, Meier, Barkov

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Teams with Bally Sports-branded channels for their regional sports network provider are nearing some certainty. The brand’s parent organization, Diamond Sports, has agreed in principle to a deal with Amazon, Sinclair Broadcasting Group and other debt holders to finance a restructuring of the company as it continues in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they announced today (via Sportico’s Brendan Coffey). The restructuring includes the streaming rights to Bally Sports channels being transferred to Amazon Prime Video, although details of the move are scarce. Preliminary information implies that this will not affect the games’ national out-of-market availability on ESPN+ in the United States but rather provide a paid streaming option for those within their team’s TV market who do not receive their Bally Sports channel on linear TV. Affected teams include the Blue Jackets, Blues, Ducks, Hurricanes, Kings, Lightning, Panthers, Predators, Red Wings, Stars, and Wild, although all their broadcasting rights are set to revert back to the NHL at the end of 2023-24.

In other afternoon notes:

  • Devils winger Timo Meier is on the ice with the team for morning skate and is likely to return tonight against the Canadiens, team reporter Amanda Stein relays. Meier had missed six games with an abdominal injury and will be activated off IR in the next few hours. The 27-year-old has missed 13 combined games due to injury in his first full season in the Garden State, putting up a rather pedestrian 9-6–15 stat line in 28 games when healthy, along with a team-worst -16 rating. He is an important returning piece for a Devils team that’s also without Jack Hughes and Ondřej Palát on offense, though, as they try, and grab hold of a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. With the move to activate Meier, the Devils have also assigned forward Shane Bowers to their AHL affiliate the Utica Comets.
  • Florida Panthers play-by-play broadcaster Doug Plagens tweeted that Panthers center Aleksander Barkov will not dress tonight when the team takes on the Detroit Red Wings. The 28-year-old missed the final few minutes of Florida’s overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday and is said to be dealing with a lower-body injury that head coach Paul Maurice called short-term. Barkov is having another terrific season at both ends of the ice with 11 goals and 35 assists in 40 games, to go along with solid work in the defensive zone.

Lightning Recall Three Players From AHL

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled a trio of players from the AHL. Defenseman Philippe Myers and Maxwell Crozier were both assigned to the Syracuse Crunch just two days ago, making their transactions effectively paper moves. However, forward Waltteri Merelä was the third recall and has been in the AHL since mid-November.

Tampa Bay had a four-day gap between games and opted to return Myers, Crozier, and forward Gage Goncalves to the AHL where they were able to dress for Syracuse in a 5-4 win over the Utica Comets yesterday. With Tampa Bay back in action on Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild, the Lightning have opted to recall the two defensemen and a different forward in Merelä.

Merelä earned his recall after a two-month stretch with the Crunch. He has dressed in 23 games with Syracuse and has six goals and 10 assists during that time. He has been on a heater as of late with four goals and three assists in his last five games. During an NHL stretch earlier in the season, the 25-year-old was held pointless in 14 games but did provide some physicality in Tampa Bay’s bottom six with 18 hits during his recall.

Merelä is in his first season in North America, after playing in his native Finland during the first five years of his professional hockey career. It will be interesting to see what types of adjustments he has made since going to the AHL and if it can translate to the NHL game. Merelä has also had a few more months of living in North America which may also help his comfort level in this NHL recall.

Erik Cernak Day-To-Day, Lightning Recall Maxwell Crozier

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they’ve recalled right-shot defenseman Maxwell Crozier from their AHL affiliate the Syracuse Crunch after the team told Lightning reporter Chris Krenn that defenseman Erik Cernak is day-to-day. The 23-year-old Crozier was originally drafted by the Lightning in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL entry draft and is looking to make his NHL debut should he get into the lineup during his recall.

The Calgary, Alberta native played his college hockey at Providence College prior to being drafted and is in his first full season in the AHL. He wrapped up his NCAA career just last season and did sneak in nine games with the Crunch towards the end of the year, notching three assists. In 24 AHL games this year, Crozier has a goal and six assists and is +5.

Crozier’s recall comes one day after Lightning defenseman Cernak was forced to leave a game due to an upper-body injury. Cernak has dealt with injury woes on several occasions over the past year and was only in his second game back from another upper body injury that he suffered on December 31st against the Montreal Canadiens. Cernak missed four games with that injury.

The 26-year-old has five assists in 39 games this season and was a huge part of their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021.

Montreal Canadiens Activate Rafaël Harvey-Pinard

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The Montreal Canadiens announced today that they’ve activated forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard from the injured reserve. Harvey-Pinard was on the IR with a lower-body injury that he suffered in November. The Canadiens then placed the 25-year-old on the IR on November 20th after he had started the year with four assists in his first 13 games.

The Saguenay, Quebec native returned to the Canadiens lineup tonight in a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks that ended San Jose’s losing streak at 11 games. Harvey-Pinard registered a single shot but was held pointless as he played 13:57.

It’s been a disappointing season for Harvey-Pinard after he had a strong showing last season with Montreal and their AHL affiliate the Laval Rocket. In 40 AHL games, Harvey-Pinard registered 16 goals and 15 assists. This prompted Montreal to promote him to the NHL where he had a solid stretch of 34 games in which he posted 14 goals and six assists.

Following his strong showing, Montreal locked him up to a two-year, one-way contract worth $1.1MM per season. The deal cemented Harvey-Pinard as part of a logjam of Canadiens forwards that has been necessary this season as the Canadiens have dealt with a pile of injuries to their forward core.

With the return, Emil Heineman was healthy scratched by the Canadiens for tonight’s game.

Golden Knights Make Several Roster Moves

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The Vegas Golden Knights have made a flurry of roster moves today as they try and shake up their roster after being shutout for the fifth time this season last night. Jesse Granger of The Athletic is reporting that defenseman Lukas Cormier and forward Grigori Denisenko have been reassigned to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL, while forward Jonas Rondbjerg and defenseman Kaedan Korczak have been recalled to Vegas.

21-year-old Cormier had an assist during his NHL debut on January 6, was +1 and averaged almost 15 minutes of ice time in two games. He is in his second year in the AHL and has a goal and 11 assists in 27 games. The former third-round pick was a good offensive option for the Silver Knights last year as he had ten goals and 25 assists in 62 games.

Denisenko was held pointless in three games during his most recent recall. His AHL numbers on the other hand have been solid this year, in 31 games the former 15th overall pick has 12 goals and 18 assists. In four years as a professional, Denisenko has played 29 NHL games and has seven assists and no goals.

Rondbjerg is looking to get back into the Golden Knights lineup for the first time in almost two months, the 24-year-old had a recall earlier in the season and had a goal and two assists in six games. The 2017 third-round pick has had a decent offensive season in Henderson with four goals and 10 assists in 24 games this season.

Korczak showed promise during a two-month recall earlier in the season and will get another look with Vegas. The 22-year-old is typically known as a physical defensive defenseman but has shown some offensive upside in a limited sample size as he has a goal and six assists in 15 NHL games this season.

Vegas currently sits in second place in the Pacific Division with a 23-13-5 record. Despite the good start to the season, the Golden Knights have struggled as of late with a 3-7 record in their last ten games. They have also struggled on the road with a 9-9-3 record.

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