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Archives for April 2019

Nikita Kucherov Suspended For One Game

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12:10 PM: Kucherov has been suspended for one game, the Department of Player Safety announced (video link).  He’ll be eligible to return for Game Four on Tuesday night.

8:02 AM: It hasn’t been a great start to Tampa Bay’s postseason as their 5-1 loss to Columbus on Friday night caused Lightning head coach Jon Cooper to call the situation a “five-alarm fire” as they now trail the best-of-seven series 2-0.  Things could potentially get worse for the Presidents’ Trophy winners as winger Nikita Kucherov will have a disciplinary hearing today, the Department of Player Safety announced.

This comes from a boarding incident on Blue Jackets defenseman Markus Nuutivaara late in Friday’s game.  Nutivaara was on his knees but Kucherov still lined him up with a big hit, receiving a minor for tripping, a major for boarding, and a game misconduct in the process.

Losing Kucherov for any period of time would be a huge blow to the Lightning.  He led the league in scoring with 128 points (41-87-128) during the regular season, setting a new record for the most points by a Russian-born player in the process.  While he has been held off the scoresheet through the first two games, he’s certainly capable of putting up points in a hurry.  The series resumes on Sunday so a decision from the league will likely come quickly one way or the other.

Minor Transactions: 4/13/19

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After some very interesting Game Twos on Friday night, four more of them will take place today.  There will be some roster juggling throughout the day; we’ll keep tabs on those moves here.

  • Winger Paul Carey has been recalled by the Bruins as he is participating in their morning skate, notes WEEI’s Matt Kalman (Twitter link). The veteran split the season between Ottawa and Boston, spending the majority of his time in the minors where he put up 60 points in 59 games between the two AHL teams.  However, his offensive prowess down there hasn’t translated to much NHL success as he has just 16 points in 99 career games.
  • The Flames have recalled center Dillon Dube from AHL Stockton, per the AHL’s Transactions page. He had just been sent down from his emergency recall; with no injuries up front at the moment, this means that Dube is now up on a regular call-up and will count against the four post-deadline non-emergency recalls that Calgary has.  Dube had 39 points in 37 AHL games this season but was limited offensively in the NHL, with just a goal and four assists in 25 contests.

Flyers To Interview Alain Vigneault For Their Head Coaching Position

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One name that hasn’t come up too frequently in the various head coaching searches around the league is veteran bench boss Alain Vigneault.  However, he appears to be on the radar for at least one team as the Flyers have asked for (and been granted) permission from the Rangers to speak to Vigneault, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Philadelphia had to seek permission as Vigneault has one year left on his existing deal with New York and actually will see his pay increase from $4MM to $4.25MM for the 2019-20 season.  The Flyers would likely need to assume at least a significant portion of that if they ultimately pick him to take over from interim head coach Scott Gordon.

The 57-year-old would certainly be a step in the opposite direction compared to their recent hires as their last two full-time head coaches (Dave Hakstol and Craig Berube) were both in that role for the first time.  That wouldn’t be the case for Vigneault who has 1,216 career games behind an NHL bench with the Canadiens, Canucks, and the Rangers with his teams posting a 648-435-133 record in that span.  He’s reached the Stanley Cup Final twice, once with Vancouver in 2010-11 and again with New York in 2013-14.

Vigneault was not behind an NHL bench at all this season after David Quinn took over for him with New York.  However, he will lead Team Canada at the upcoming World Championships so if he’s deemed to be GM Chuck Fletcher’s preference, it wouldn’t be surprising if they tried to get a deal done before his duties with Canada get underway in the not-too-distant future.

NCAA All-American Selections Announced

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The college hockey season is wrapping up, beginning with Thursday night’s Frozen Four semifinal games, tonight’s end of the year awards banquet, and finally tomorrow’s National Championship game. Many awards were handed out tonight, including the Hobey Baker Award, but the NCAA also announced this year’s All-American rosters, as voted on by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The teams are as follows:

First-Team All-Americans – East

G Cayden Primeau, Northeastern University (MTL)
D Adam Fox, Harvard University (CAR)
D Cale Makar, University of Massachusetts (COL)
F Mitchell Chaffee, University of Massachusetts
F Ryan Kuffner, Princeton University (DET)
F Nico Sturm, Clarkson University (MIN)

First-Team All-Americans – West

G Hunter Shepard, University of Minnesota – Duluth
D Quinn Hughes, University of Michigan (VAN)
D Jimmy Schuldt, St. Cloud State University (VGK)
F Taro Hirose, Michigan State University (DET)
F Patrick Newell, St. Cloud State University (NYR)
F Rem Pitlick, University of Minnesota (NSH)

Second-Team All-Americans – East

G Andrew Shortridge, Quinnipiac University (SJS)
D Jeremy Davies, Northeastern University (NJD)
D Joseph Duszak, Mercyhurst University (TOR)
F Blake Christensen, American International College
F David Cotton, Boston College (CAR)
F Josh Wilkins, Providence College

Second-Team All-Americans – West

G Joey Daccord, Arizona State University (OTT)
D Jack Ahcan, St. Cloud State University
D Bobby Nardella, University of Notre Dame (WAS)
D Scott Perunovich, University of Minnesota – Duluth (STL)
F Mason Jobst, Ohio State University (NYI)
F Blake Lizotte, St. Cloud State University (LAK)
F Troy Loggins, Northern Michigan University

The St. Cloud Huskies led the way with four All-American selections, which is little surprise from a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country for much of the year. Yet, St. Cloud won’t be playing in the National Championship game this year. Instead, it will be the UMass Minutemen and UMD Bulldogs. UMass, the only other team with two first-team selections, features the Hobey Baker winner Makar, while Duluth includes two All-Americans as well. Northeastern goalie Primeau was also named the Mike Richter Award winner as the best goalie in the country and was one of two selections from the Huskies. While not included among the All-Americans, Boston University forward Joel Farabee (PHI) was named the Tim Taylor Award recipient as rookie of the year.

Cale Makar Named 2019 Hobey Baker Award Winner

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On Friday night, the top player in all of college hockey was announced as University of Massachusetts sophomore defenseman Cale Makar. Makar was named this year’s recipient of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, the highest honor in NCAA Men’s Hockey, at a special event held in Buffalo, New York, the site of this year’s Frozen Four Championship. However, Makar is in Buffalo for more than just an awards banquet, as he and UMass defeated the University of Denver in overtime on Thursday and will play for the National Championship tomorrow night. Makar, the fourth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, is then expected to join the Colorado Avalanche in their first-round postseason series as early as Monday. Talk about a wild week.

Makar edged out two other talented defensemen for the Hobey Baker this year; his fellow “Hat Trick Finalists” were Harvard University’s Adam Fox and St. Cloud State University’s Jimmy Schuldt. This was the first time that all three finalists were defensemen, as voting has begun to favor defensemen more in recent years than it had in the past. University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher won the award in 2017, but prior to that it had not gone to a blue liner since Boston University’s Matt Gilroy in 2009. Like Butcher, now with the New Jersey Devils, Makar, Fox, and Schuldt are all expected to step into immediate NHL roles once turning pro. Schuldt, an undrafted senior, has already signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, while Makar will soon do the same with the Avalanche. Fox, a junior, has been the subject of controversy with not one, but two different NHL teams already, as he has been reluctant to sign with the team that drafted him, the Calgary Flames, and his current rights holder, the Carolina Hurricanes. As a result, the speculation is that Fox will return to Harvard for his senior season and could be a Hobey Baker candidate again next season.

As for the man of the hour, it’s hard to argue that Makar was not deserving of this recognition. Considered by many to be the top prospect in hockey, Makar is a generational talent in terms of his skating and ability to move the puck. Makar is an elite play-maker with vision and creativity, but is far from just an offensive specialist. He is not afraid to play physical, breaks up plays with consistency, and is a smart positional player. Makar holds a team-high 49 points in 40 games this year, but also leads UMass with a +33 rating. Nationally, Makar is second among all defensemen in both goals and assists and is third in scoring among all players, but still has one game remaining with the National Championship still to come.

The next step for Makar will be to sign his standard three-year entry-level contract, but the 20-year-old is likely to burn his first year immediately by suiting up for Colorado as soon as possible. He will then challenge for and likely succeed in landing a starting role for the Avalanche next season and should wind up as a top-four if not top-pair defensemen for the team by the end of the 2019-20 season. The dynamic defender will undoubtedly be one of the favorites to win the Calder Trophy next season as the best rookie in the NHL. Despite the unbelievable streak that Makar is on right now, the best is yet to come for the promising prospect.

Prospect Notes: Ginning, Luukkonen, Michaud

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The Philadelphia Flyers have had a near-annual influx of talented young defensemen join the team over the last few years, but they’ll have to wait a little bit longer for one of their next promising blue liners to make the jump. Adam Ginning, the Flyers’ 2018 second-round pick, has re-signed with his Swedish Hockey League club for another year. Linkoping HC announced today that Ginning had inked a one-year contract extension to stay with the organization that has groomed him since he was 13 years old. Now 19, Ginning just finished his first full season in the SHL and did not look out of place playing against older and more experienced competition. At 6’4″ and 205 lbs., Ginning plays a physical and technically sound defensive game and projects to be a shutdown defender in the NHL one day. Some more time in the SHL certainly won’t hurt his development, but Philadelphia is definitely hopeful that he will join the system sooner rather than later to begin working with their coaches and adjusting to the North American style of play.

  • The Buffalo Sabres will get a closer look at one of their top prospects ahead of schedule, as goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has joined the AHL’s Rochester Americans on an amateur tryout basis, the team announced. Luukkonen is likely to make his North American pro debut in the near future to cap off what has been a big season for the talented netminder. Luukkonen, a second-round pick of the Sabres in 2017, made the jump overseas this year to play for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and made an immediate impact. The 6’5″ keeper was a brick wall in net, leading the league in wins and shutouts and finishing in the top three in save percentage and goals against average. Luukkonen was arguably the best goalie in the OHL this year, but that wasn’t even the highlight of the campaign. Luukkonen also led Finland to a gold medal finish at the World Junior Championships earlier this year, posting a .932 save percentage and 1.80 GAA along the way. The Sabres hope that the next stop on Luukkonen’s path of dominance is the AHL and soon after the NHL.
  • One name that won’t be playing in the pros, in North America or Europe, for at least another year is NCAA forward Westin Michaud. Michaud, 23, just wrapped up his senior season at Colorado College, in which he finished second on the team with 30 points in 41 games. Competing in the ultra-competitive National Collegiate Hockey Conference against several elite programs, Michaud still managed to take major steps forward in each of the past three seasons and at least one rival school took notice. With a year of NCAA eligibility remaining after sitting as a freshman, Michaud has decided to spurn pro offers for now and leave Colorado College behind him to transfer to the University of North Dakota for a graduate year with the national powerhouse. The experienced center will likely slot into a top-six position with North Dakota and could be in for yet another jump in production. Joining an already-strong roster that also has an impressive recruiting class incoming, Michaud makes the Fighting Hawks a dangerous contender next season.

 

Flames Sign Adam Ruzicka To Entry-Level Deal

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The Calgary Flames front office is staying busy even as the team battles in the postseason. The Flames have announced today that they have signed center Adam Ruzicka to a three-year entry-level contract. The clock was ticking on getting the 2017 draft selection under contract, but Calgary has done so and add a big and talented two-way forward to the pipeline.

Ruzicka, 19, has used the opportunities presented to him to show that he is a complete prospect and certainly worthy of a commitment from the Flames. The Slovakian forward initially played his junior hockey in the Czech Republic, where he put up good numbers, but really made a name for himself as the clear best player on Slovakia’s entries into international tournaments. Ruzicka finally made the jump overseas ahead of the 2016-17 season, after the OHL’s Sarnia Sting took notice and selected him in the CHL Import Draft. Ruzicka chose North America and the pursuit of an NHL career over a more immediate pro debut, as he was a first-round pick in the KHL Draft the same year, but opted to join Sarnia instead. After a strong debut season in the OHL, Calgary was happy to take Ruzicka in the fourth round after many expected he would go earlier. Ruzicka responded to any remaining doubts about his game by recording 36 goals and 36 assists for 72 points in 65 games last season. He started this year off the same way, with 37 points in 35 games, before he was traded to the Sudbury Wolves. The move only further ignited Ruzicka, who added another 41 points in 30 games, a total of 78 points on the year, and a team-leading ten points in the Wolves’ eight playoff games.

Ruzicka has more than shown that he can score at the junior level, but what makes him such a promising prospect for the Flames is that he also has the physical tools to translate that ability to the pros. Ruzicka stands 6’4″ and weighs in at over 200 lbs. and isn’t afraid to throw that frame around. An old-school center, Ruzicka is physical player with and without the puck, who can check, win battles, and possess the puck as well as anyone his age. His net front presence is also a major factor in his scoring numbers. Ruzicka has also shown some versatility by moving to the wing at times this season, adding yet another skill to his repertoire. There wasn’t much doubt that Calgary would get Ruzicka under contract before the June 1st deadline, but now that it is official, this is a prospect that Flames fans can really get excited about.

Todd McLellan No Longer In Consideration For Buffalo Sabres

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The Buffalo Sabres conducted interviews with Todd McLellan this week as the coach was in town for the Frozen Four, but will not be hiring him to be their next head coach. Bob McKenzie of TSN reports that McLellan is no longer in consideration for the position and that the team never did formalize an offer for him. Instead, McLellan is expected to be hired by the Los Angeles Kings, though that has not been formally announced either. The Sabres will continue their search for a new head coach.

If McLellan does end up with Los Angeles, it would be his third Pacific Division team in five years after previously coaching with the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers. The Kings are looking for a coach to help turn around their franchise after a dreadful season, and informed interim coach Willie Desjardins that he would not be getting the job. The 51-year old McLellan was fired by Edmonton after going 9-10-1 through the first 20 games of this season, but has an overall coaching record of 434-282-90.

The Sabres meanwhile are looking to replace Phil Housley after just two seasons on the job. The Hall of Fame defenseman was considered an outstanding assistant coach with the Nashville Predators but failed to put together much success in his time in Buffalo. The Sabres rode a winning streak all the way to first place in the NHL early in the 2018-19 season, but ended up with an overall record of 33-39-10, a huge disappointment for GM Jason Botterill and his staff.

While Buffalo hasn’t had much success over the last several years, there are definitely parts of the roster that should appeal to any prospective head coach. Captain Jack Eichel set a career high with 82 points in 77 games this season while first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin was as advertised and stepped into a top-pairing role almost immediately. The 18-year old defenseman—he’ll turn 19 tomorrow—recorded 44 points in 82 games while logging more than 21 minutes a night and should be in consideration for the Calder Trophy.

Still, there will be immense pressure on whoever the Sabres do bring in to replace Housley as the team hasn’t experienced a winning season since 2011-12 and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010-11.

Poll: Which First-Round Favorite Is In The Most Trouble?

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The NHL playoffs are never what you expect. Every single year a bubble team surprises in the first round and plays better than they were expected to, sometimes pushing a favorite to the brink or defeating them outright. Last season saw the Toronto Maple Leafs push the Boston Bruins to seven games in their opening round series, while the San Jose Sharks actually upset the Anaheim Ducks. This year, things are off to quite the interesting start.

Four different underdogs were able to win game one of their series, including two different wild card teams in the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets especially shocked the world as they came back from a 3-0 second period deficit to defeat the historically-good Tampa Bay Lightning. Other games came down to the wire, as the New York Islanders needed an overtime winner from Josh Bailey to take game one on the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Washington Capitals held off a late charge from Andrei Svechnikov and the Carolina Hurricanes.

Inspired by a question in yesterday’s live chat, we now ask you to decide which favorite is in the most trouble in round one. Can the Lightning get things organized after their collapse and go back to their dominant offensive ways? Will the Nashville Predators be able to crack Dallas’ suffocating defense and goaltending? Can Jordan Binnington be beaten?

Cast your vote and make sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Morning Notes: Denver, McDavid, KHL

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The Denver Pioneers were eliminated from the NCAA Frozen Four tournament last night by an overtime goal from Marc Del Gazio of the UMass Minutemen. That means their players are free to sign entry-level contracts with NHL clubs, including top prospect Ian Mitchell. The Chicago Blackhawks draft pick told Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) earlier in the year that he wanted to play with them “as soon as [he] can” though nothing had been decided yet on his future. The 20-year old was the 57th overall pick in 2017 and recorded 27 points in 39 games for DU this season.

What the win also means is that Cale Makar is moving on to the NCAA final and can’t join the Colorado Avalanche until at least after tomorrow’s championship game. The young defenseman is expected to join Colorado right away and could potentially jump into their series against the Calgary Flames. That’s still on the back of his mind though, as the Minutemen prepare for Minnesota-Duluth.

  • The Edmonton Oilers sent Connor McDavid for second and third opinions on his leg injury this week according to Sportsnet, though they do not have any information on what exactly is wrong with the superstar forward. McDavid injured the leg when he slid into the post during the team’s last game of the season, and will not be suiting up for Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Championship.
  • Igor Eronko of Sport-Express tweeted some KHL notes this morning, reporting that Los Angeles Kings forward Nikita Scherbak could be heading to the KHL next season. The 23-year old forward is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer after his current deal expires, and could potentially bolt for Russia. Scherbak, originally a first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, was claimed on waivers this season by the Kings but failed to make much of an impact at the NHL level. The winger has just eight points in 37 NHL games across his career.
  • Eronko also notes that Rushan Rafikov, a seventh-round pick of the Calgary Flames back in 2013, has signed a two-year extension with Lokomotiv. The 23-year old defenseman set a career high with 14 points in 48 games last season, and doesn’t appear interested in the NHL at this point. The Flames will maintain his exclusive draft rights indefinitely.

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