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Archives for November 2018

Snapshots: Three Stars, RFAs, Marleau

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The NHL has released their latest Three Stars of the Week, and to absolutely no one’s surprise Patrik Laine finds himself on top. Despite plenty of other outstanding performances last week, Laine was the easy choice after scoring 11 goals in just four games including a five-goal effort on Saturday night. The young Winnipeg Jets forward set all kinds of franchise records with the outstanding performance, and joined an incredibly small group of players to post five goals in a game before their 21st birthday. Only Laine, Don Murdoch and Wayne Gretzky have ever done so; Laine will have to do it again this season to tie Gretzky with two such performances.

Coming in second and third this week are Marc-Andre Fleury and Nikita Kucherov, two players well versed in this award. Fleury earned third star honors just over a month ago, while Kucherov has been in the top three several times throughout his career. The Vegas Golden Knights goaltender and Tampa Bay Lightning forward will have to continue their strong play if they hope to compete for the Stanley Cup again this season, and may even find themselves on this list again down the road.

Minor Transactions: 11/26/18

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The NHL schedule is a little quirky this evening, as there are zero Western Conference teams in action despite five games being on the schedule. Still, we’ll get divisional matchups like the Boston Bruins-Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals-New York Islanders. As teams prepare for those matchups and the rest of the week, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • The Arizona Coyotes have recalled Mario Kempe from the minor leagues, now that the team has an extra roster spot. Arizona completed a 2-for-1 trade last night in which they sent Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini to Chicago, meaning they needed another forward up with the NHL team. Kempe has been that extra man all year, playing four games so far for the Coyotes while suiting up ten times for the Tucson Roadrunners.
  • A vacancy in the GM’s office doesn’t mean the Philadelphia Flyers roster is frozen, as the team has sent Alex Lyon to the minor leagues today. GM Ron Hextall was relieved of his duties earlier, but Paul Holmgren and the rest of the front office still has to focus on the day-to-day operations even as they look for a replacement. Lyon had been dealing with a lower-body injury, but could be ready to get back in the net for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
  • The Islanders have activated Matt Martin from injured reserve and could have him back in the lineup when they take on the Capitals tonight. Martin hasn’t played since November 1st, but actually has four points in 11 games this season. The physical forward won’t be asked to do a lot in his return, whether that comes right away or not.
  • The Los Angeles Kings have recalled Sheldon Rempal from the minor leagues, a deserved promotion after his outstanding start. The 23-year old forward has 19 points in 14 games for the Ontario Reign in his first year of professional hockey. Signed out of Clarkson University, Rempal will try to give the Kings a little more offensive firepower this season.
  • After scoring an overtime winner for the Manitoba Moose this weekend, Mason Appleton is on his way to the NHL. The Winnipeg Jets have recalled the young forward after another strong stretch in the minor leagues. Appleton, who was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie team last season after scoring 66 goals in 76 games, has started this year strong with 18 points in 19 games to lead the Moose. The 22-year old was a sixth-round afterthought in 2015, but developed nicely at Michigan State University and might now make an impact at the NHL level.

Vancouver’s Darren Archibald Placed On Waivers

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Monday: Archibald has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Sunday: As many expected after the Vancouver Canucks activated defenseman Alexander Edler Saturday but didn’t make a corresponding move, the team has now placed Darren Archibald on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

The Canucks designated Archibald as a non-roster player Saturday, according to CapFriendly, to complete the Edler transaction until the forward could be placed on waivers today. Archibald was recalled by the team on Oct. 30 and appeared in nine games, but averaged just 7:38 of ATOI, potting one goal, adding an assist and 12 penalty minutes. However, with an overload in forwards and the impending return of Brock Boeser soon, the team had to send a forward down.

The team did get Edler back finally, who made his return on Saturday after nearly a month after suffering a MCL strain in late October. Edler provides Vancouver with a much needed defensive leader and picked up 16:19 of ice time on his first game back, although he is expected to quickly work his way back to his normal ice time as he averages 21:47 for the season.

Philadelphia Flyers Fire Ron Hextall

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The Philadelphia Flyers’ season has not gone according to plan, and now someone has been forced to pay the price. The team announced today that they have fired General Manager Ron Hextall, and will begin a search immediately for his replacement. Team president Paul Holmgren will be leading that search, and released this statement about the decision to fire Hextall:

The Flyers organization has decided to relieve Ron Hextall of his duties as Executive Vice President and General Manager. We thank Ron for his many significant contributions, but it has become clear that we no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team. In light of these differences, we feel it’s in the organization’s best interests to make a change, effective immediately. I have already begun a process to identify and select our next General Manager, which we hope to complete as soon as possible.

Not very often in the NHL do you see a GM fired before his coach, which led to plenty of speculation around the hockey world that Hextall had either refused to fire Dave Hakstol or wanted to and was not allowed by upper management. It’s not clear yet how the whole situation played out, but there were obvious differences of opinion in the front office on where the team should be and how to get there. The Flyers were recently demolished by the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-0 but notably took zero penalties in the entire match. When paired with the crumbling powerplay and penalty kill of the Flyers, those even-strength struggles likely accelerated this decision, especially given the lofty expectations of the Flyers this season.

After showing well last year and taking the Pittsburgh Penguins to game six in the first round, the Flyers were hopeful that they would take another step forward and challenge for the Metropolitan Division title. Instead, they now sit seventh in the division at 10-11-2 and are in danger of falling too far behind the playoff pack entirely. With that in mind, it doesn’t come as a total surprise that they would make a big change.

Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that former Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher and former Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis are early candidates to take over in Philadelphia. Both were recently pushed out of their respective situations but are well respected around the league.

Tomas Plekanec Signs In Czech Republic

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When the Montreal Canadiens terminated Tomas Plekanec’ contract earlier this season, he made it clear that he would head back to the Czech Republic to continue his playing career. The next thing we heard was that both Kladno—the team owned by former NHL star Jaromir Jagr—and HC Kometa Brno wanted to acquire his services. Now it turns out they will both have a piece of the veteran forward. In a press conference alongside Jagr on Monday, Plekanec was announced as a new member of Kladno who will also play games for Brno at various times throughout the year. The two teams are in different divisions after Kladno’s relegation a few years ago.

Plekanec, 36, retired from the NHL after agreeing to terminate his contract, and will return to his hometown of Kladno to try and help them earn a promotion to the Czech Extraliga once again. Used to a more rigorous schedule though, he will also play games for Brno before eventually making a decision between the two closer to the end of the year.

The veteran center played 1,001 regular season games in the NHL, all but 17 of those coming with the Canadiens. He never did get the chance to lift a Stanley Cup but had plenty of success in the playoffs, scoring 53 points in 94 games. He very well could face off against some of those NHL opponents once again at the World Championships next spring, a tournament he has attended ten times for his country, serving as captain on multiple occasions.

Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks Complete Blockbuster Deal

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The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes have gotten together once again on a huge trade. The Blackhawks are sending forward Nick Schmaltz to the desert, while Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini will be headed back to Chicago.

Schmaltz, 22, was an integral part of the Blackhawks future as recently as last season, after finding chemistry with Patrick Kane and posting a 21-goal, 52-point season. He looked like the answer as the next first line center in Chicago, given his immense offensive skill and playmaking ability. That moniker was removed a bit this season with Jonathan Toews early resurgence, but there was little warning that Schmaltz had worn out his welcome in Chicago. His offensive numbers weren’t where they were a year ago—the young center has just 11 points in 23 games—but he had begun to play better and even had a three-game point streak over the last few days.

Still, even if Schmaltz still had the full confidence of the front office and coaching staff the Blackhawks may have been unable to pass up this trade. In Strome, the team is getting a player who was selected third overall in the 2015 draft and has shown himself to be an elite talent even at the minor league level. The 21-year old forward scored 53 points in 50 games for the Tucson Roadrunners last season, but had still not been able to carry that success to the NHL level. In fact, through 48 games with the Coyotes, Strome has registered just 16 points and has sometimes seemed to struggle with the pace of play. His two-way skills are easily apparent, but there has always been concern over Strome’s skating ability. If he can put that behind him in Chicago there’s no telling how high his offensive ceiling is.

Beyond even the promise of Strome, there is also Perlini who is an accomplished NHL player in his own right. The 12th-overall pick from 2014—eight spots ahead of Schmaltz—recorded a 14-goal season as a rookie in 2016-17 and followed it up with 17 goals and 30 points last year for the Coyotes. The talented, big-bodied winger has a powerful shot and can protect the puck well in the offensive zone. The fact that he’s only 22 himself allows for plenty of growth still in his career, something the Blackhawks will surely try to cultivate immediately.

That may seem like a lot to give up for Schmaltz if you look at just his body of work this season, but the Coyotes are obviously hoping he can get back to the high level he was at a year ago. Arizona GM John Chayka released a statement explaining why they went after Schmaltz:

Nick is a dynamic forward with top line potential. We feel he can be a core player of our team now and into the future. He’s a good complement to our evolving forward group and a rare combination of speed, skill and creativity.

The last part of his comment is quite interesting, given that Schmaltz and Strome use such different skill sets to achieve their offensive performance. The Coyotes obviously valued the speed and pure playmaking ability of Schmaltz, especially as the league seems to get faster and more skilled each and every year. Smaller players, like the 6’0″ 177-lbs Schmaltz have found jobs all over the league as the NHL moves away from the big, bruising styles of decades passed. Still, it’s not like Strome and Perlini don’t have applicable skills that may shine in Chicago. In fact the former is reuniting with his friend and former junior linemate Alex DeBrincat, something that may bring out another level of his production.

Amazingly, after trading Schmaltz today, the Blackhawks have no players on the roster that they selected in the first round between 2008-2014. They’ve often found great talent in the round, but have seen Kevin Hayes, Phillip Danault, Teuvo Teravainen, Ryan Hartman and now Schmaltz all leave in one way or another, while lacking a first round pick altogether in other years. That’s a tough way to build a franchise, but with the additions of Strome and Perlini GM Stan Bowman is betting on their potential to bring about the next great wave of talent in Chicago.

It’s important to note that Schmaltz is also scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer, and perhaps could have demanded a quite hefty raise given his previous point totals. Perlini is a pending RFA as well but doesn’t have the same kind of leverage given his pedestrian assist totals and less important position, while Strome is still under his entry-level contract through next season. While Chicago does have some substantial contracts coming off the books at the end of the year, they’re still always looking for a financial advantage given the huge commitments they’ve made to their core.

In all, this turns out to be a change of scenery deal for all three players that could end up win-win in the end. There is plenty of talent going to both teams, and if all three players fulfill their potential neither side will be able to complain all that much. Though Chicago may be taking on a little more risk with the less established names, they needed to take a home run cut while they still have the chance to compete with the likes of Kane and Toews.

Five Key Stories: 11/19/18 – 11/25/18

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The week of American Thanksgiving is often viewed as the time where teams make to start changes.  This year was no exception as a pair of teams made coaching moves which highlight the top stories of the week.

Blues Fire Yeo: The Blues made several big changes to their forwards over the summer in the hopes that doing so would vault them back into contention after just missing the playoffs last season.  Instead, they got off to a slow start to their season and a coaching change was made with Mike Yeo being let go with assistant Craig Berube taking over on an interim basis.  GM Doug Armstrong indicated that a full coaching search is now underway so there’s no guarantee that Berube (who will be considered in the search) will be in place for the rest of the season.

Ducks Staying Put: While there hasn’t been any speculation that the Ducks could one day be on the move, any thought of that can be put aside for a long time.  Anaheim City Council approved a 25-year extension to their current arena deal with the team (that’s in place through 2023) meaning that the team has its home set through 2048.  There are five additional five-year extension options in the agreement as well.

Asking Price For Skinner: Sabres winger Jeff Skinner is off to a torrid start to his season, his first with Buffalo after they acquired him from Carolina over the offseason.  He has 18 goals through his first 24 games which certainly will help his case in free agency next summer.  With that in mind, his reported asking price to forego testing the open market is between $9MM and $9.5MM per season, a significant raise on his current $5.725MM AAV.  Talks between Skinner’s representation and the team are scheduled to start sometime next month.

Coaching Change In Edmonton: With the Oilers starting to struggle once again, a change was made behind the bench.  The fact that they relieved Todd McLellan of his duties wasn’t necessarily too surprising but the fact that Ken Hitchcock has taken over caught many by surprise.  Hitchcock had stepped aside at the end of last season in Dallas to move into a consulting role for the team and at that time, no one really anticipated that the 66-year-old would be looking to step behind the bench again.  He’ll try to insert some more structure into Edmonton’s style of play as they look to get back into the playoff hunt but chances are that this will be a short-term hire.

Oilers Acquire Wideman: The Oilers have added some defensive depth, acquiring defenseman Chris Wideman from Ottawa in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick (previously acquired from St. Louis for Jakub Jerabek).  The 28-year-old will give Edmonton some mobility from the back end, an area that GM Peter Chiarelli acknowledged recently that he needed to address.  Wideman was deemed expendable by the Sens with players like Maxime Lajoie and Christian Jaros stepping into regular roles.  Speaking of the Senators, this wasn’t the only time they were in the headlines as their proposed arena project has taken a turn for the worse.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Canadiens, Valimaki, Maroon

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It appears that clearing their logjam on the back end isn’t the only thing the Canadiens are looking to do with their defense corps.  Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports (video link) that they may be eyeing a veteran left-shot player to add to their blueline, suggesting that the Blues and Kings could be potential targets.  Montreal has a collection of inexperienced youngsters and depth players on that side and if they plan to hang around the playoff picture, adding a proven top-four defender would certainly help their chances.  In the meantime, with Shea Weber expected to return on Tuesday, they will need to make a roster move between now and then.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Flames defenseman Juuso Valimaki is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). The injury was sustained on Friday against Vegas and kept him out of the lineup earlier today in their win over Arizona.  The 20-year-old has fared well in his first professional season as he made the team out of training camp and has held down a regular spot in the lineup while averaging a little over 15 minutes per night of ice time.
  • While Blues winger Patrick Maroon was viewed as an early extension candidate when the calendar turns to January, that’s looking more unlikely at this point and if the Blues continue to struggle, he could be dealt as a rental. With that in mind, Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe notes that a trade would be a lot easier to accomplish beginning in February when his full no-trade clause drops to an eight-team one.  The 30-year-old has just a single goal along with seven assists in 16 games this season and carries a cap hit of $1.75MM which will be of interest to some teams that have limited salary cap space.

PHR Originals: 11/19/18 – 11/25/18

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Here’s a rundown of the original content here at PHR over the past seven days.

The William Nylander saga is likely coming to an end sometime between now and Saturday as if he’s unsigned by then, he’ll sit for the remainder of the season.  How will this eventually end?  Will he be dealt, re-sign, or go past the deadline without a contract?  Voting is very close so far but there’s still time to make your prediction.

With American Thanksgiving coming and going, our Thankful For series has returned.  I took a look at the Ducks and Bruins, Gavin assessed the Coyotes, and Holger reviewed the Sabres who have been one of the bigger surprises through the opening quarter of the season.

Bruins winger David Pastrnak set a career high in goals last season with 35.  Boston fans were hoping that the logical next step would be for him to push to reach the 40-goal mark but to say he has gone a step further than that would be an understatement.  He’s already at 17 through just 23 games and if that pace is maintained, he’d wind up with 61 tallies.  Only one player has reached that plateau in the past decade; can he be the second?  Make your pick here.

Gavin held his weekly Thursday live chat.  Topics this week included his prediction on what happens with Nylander, potential trade targets in Anaheim, Edmonton’s decision to hire Ken Hitchcock, Western Conference predictions, Boston’s secondary scoring concerns, and more.

We’re nearing the end of our 2006 redraft series as we’re up to the 29th pick, held by the then-Phoenix Coyotes.  While the top players have already been scooped up, there are still several capable forwards on the board to choose from.

Central Notes: Bowman, Bishop, Laine, Edmundson

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While he may not be the most popular person in Chicago lately, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman sat down with The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) in an in depth interview, going over the state of the franchise. While Bowman is aware of fans’ displeasure with the recent firing of coach Joel Quenneville as well as the state of the team’s salary cap over the past few years, Bowman said he must remain focused on the present.

“It definitely comes with the job,” Bowman said. “When you take this job, you understand that part of it is the fans have a passion for the team, which I wouldn’t want any other way. So, yeah, I don’t follow it in the sense that whatever people say, they’re going to say, and I need to do what I think is right because I believe in it. If I start getting into the weeds and trying to follow it, then it can just distract me from I have a job to do.”

Bowman did say that although many fans feel that he waited too long to trade the contract of Marian Hossa to Arizona this summer (the trade happened on July 12), but that was the first time that the Coyotes agreed to take on Hossa’s contract. Regardless, fans were upset that the team wasn’t able to use the extra $4.5MM in cap space created by that trade as most offseason work was already done by teams at that point. Bowman said he intends to be patient in using that cap space.

“The one thing you don’t want to do is just use it to just to get somebody who doesn’t really fit, and it’s going to preclude you from doing something else later,” Bowman said. “I’m not sitting on it to sit on it, but nothing has come along. Like there’s been potential trades, but the guy’s got two more years on his deal. Like he could help us in the short term, but we’re going to be able to do better than that. You just got to be patient. That’s the thought process.”

  • Mike Heika of NHL.com writes that the Dallas Stars may be close to getting back starting goaltender Ben Bishop who has been out for almost a week with a lower-body injury. Heika writes that Anton Khudobin is expected to start Tuesday in Edmonton, followed likely be Landon Bow on Wednesday in Calgary. However, the scribe writes that Bishop might be ready for the team’s game in Vancouver on Saturday. Bishop is having a impressive season with a 2.33 GAA and a .923 save percentage in 15 games.
  • Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun writes that while Patrik Laine knew he’d break out of his 19-game five-on-five scoreless slump earlier this season, it did weigh on him as it wore on. However, after scoring eight of his 11 goals this week on five-on-five, Laine feels more confident than ever, but credits his new linemates’ Bryan Little and Kyle Connor for much of his success. Much of Laine’s success has been with his recent chemistry with Little. The two struggled connecting for the past two years, especially last season. Those five-on-five struggles disappeared after the team added Paul Stastny at the trade deadline, but the Laine and Little finally seem to have found that connection this year.
  • St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann writes that St. Louis Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson has been working hard lately to avoid penalties. In his last 11 games, Edmondson has been called for a penalty in eight of those games and the 25-year-old leads the team with 29 penalty minutes. “I think I’m getting a little wild with my stick,” Edmundson said. “Sometimes the game gets the better half of me and I take out my frustrations. I’m looking to be smarter in that department. Sometimes I get worked up a bit and anger takes over. Coach (Berube) has talked to me. I just have to settle down a bit.”

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