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Archives for January 2020

Max Pacioretty, Tomas Hertl Added To All-Star Squad

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You don’t have to vote for Max Pacioretty anymore as the last man in for the All-Star Game. Both Pacioretty and Tomas Hertl have been added to the team, now that Jakob Silfverberg and Logan Couture will not be able to attend. The former has withdrawn due to the imminent birth of his child, while the latter suffered a broken ankle and will be out several weeks. Neither player will be suspended for failing to attend.

This will actually be the first appearance for Pacioretty, despite being a five-time 30+ goal scorer and former captain. The Vegas Golden Knights forward is well on his way to another season of 30, with 20 goals and 45 points through the first 47 games. That’s the best on the Golden Knights and a nice value for his $7MM cap hit.

Hertl meanwhile was the obvious choice to be the Sharks representative once Couture was ruled out, given he is neck-and-neck with him in almost every offensive category. The  26-year old forward has 15 goals and 34 points in 42 games, not quite the pace that he set last season but still a strong performance.

Both players were part of the fan vote to select the final player for the Pacific Division, meaning those left on the ballot will get a little bit higher chance of getting into the festivities. Voting ends today.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Martin Marincin To One-Year Extension

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have locked up one of their depth defenders for another year. Martin Marincin has signed a one-year contract extension worth $700K. The defenseman was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Marincin, 27, has become the annual injury replacement for the Maple Leafs, coming up from the AHL whenever needed. That has meant 13 games with the team this season thanks to a broken foot for Jake Muzzin, where he has averaged a little over 14 minutes a night.

There is little chance that Marincin becomes an impact—or even a full-time—player for the Maple Leafs, but when you have almost an entire defense corps set to hit free agency someone has to be retained to fill out the depth chart. Marincin joins Justin Holl as two that have been extended in-season, with big questions still surrounding the future of Muzzin and Tyson Barrie, both unrestricted in July.

When you spend so much money on your forward group you need minimum salaried players, meaning this likely isn’t the last low-cost deal the Maple Leafs will sign. At the very worst, Marincin will spend the season in the AHL where he has played well for the Toronto Marlies—notably under Sheldon Keefe, who is now in charge of the NHL club.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Galchenyuk, Domingue, Gallagher

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It may come as no surprise, but the Pittsburgh Penguins have made it known around the league that they would like to trade Alex Galchenyuk according to Pierre LeBrun on last night’s edition of Insider Trading for TSN. Galchenyuk was only acquired last offseason in the Phil Kessel trade, but hasn’t found a fit in the Penguins’ top-six.

Bob McKenzie on the same panel notes once again that the Penguins’ priority is finding that top-six forward (even if that’s not what Galchenyuk will bring back at this point) in order to replace Jake Guentzel. McKenzie also suggests that Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford is not necessarily only looking at the rental market.

  • Louis Domingue played in last night’s 6-3 loss for the New Jersey Devils, meaning the Tampa Bay Lightning are getting an extra draft pick. The conditional seventh-round pick sent to Tampa Bay for Domingue earlier this season will now transfer hands thanks to the goaltender playing in his seventh NHL game for the Devils.
  • Head coach Claude Julien told reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that the Montreal Canadiens are sending Brendan Gallagher for more testing to see why he is having headaches. It apparently could be related to a virus, but the team will not take a chance if it has any connection to the concussion that he only just returned from.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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The holiday season is over and the NHL is right back to the grind. Some teams are just counting the days until the draft lottery, while others are making travel plans for the playoffs. Several, including many that are still on the postseason bubble, will have to take a hard look at their roster over the next few weeks to decide whether to add or subtract at the trade deadline.

With that in mind, it’s time to run our first mailbag of 2020. You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. Make sure you get your questions in early and we’ll try to get through as many as possible when the mailbag runs on the weekend.

If you missed our last edition before the Christmas break, it was split into two parts (here and here). In the first, Brian tackled questions regarding Robin Lehner’s future in Chicago, Detroit’s tank-a-thon season, and some New York trade targets. In the second, Alex Pietrangelo was a subject of conversation, along with predictions on how the Metropolitan Division will shake out when all is said and done.

Logan Shaw Clears Waivers

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Friday: Shaw has cleared waivers and was assigned to the minor leagues.

Thursday: The Winnipeg Jets have activated defenseman Dmitry Kulikov from injured reserve today, but to make room had to clear a roster spot. They’ve done so by placing Logan Shaw on waivers, with the purpose of sending him to the minor leagues.

Shaw, 27, has played 25 games for the Jets this season, recording two goals and three points. He averages just over seven minutes a game and hasn’t played since 2019, so this comes as little surprise. That small role and relatively ineffective play will also likely save him from claim, even if he does cost just the minimum $700K at the NHL level.

The Jets have worked with a revolving door of defenders this year, but still sit with a 24-16-4 record after last night’s win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kulikov actually returns as the team’s most expensive defenseman, with a $4.33MM cap hit this season. That doesn’t mean he’s the most important, but after averaging nearly 20 minutes a night through his first 25 games, he will give them an added boost for the stretch run. Kulikov hasn’t played since the end of November, but had four points in those 25 early contests.

Minor Transactions: 01/10/20

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It’s a quiet Friday evening around the NHL with only three games scheduled, though one of them is still appointment viewing. When the Pittsburgh Penguins head to Colorado to take on the Avalanche, it’s always a fireworks show between friends Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. The former has been injured for some time, but after traveling with the team there is hope he’ll be able to suit up tonight. As they and the other four teams prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of the minor moves.

  • The Minnesota Wild have returned Kaapo Kahkonen to the minor leagues after he served as an emergency backup for Alex Stalock last night. The Wild don’t play again until Sunday, and will hopefully have Devan Dubnyk available.
  • There was also a minor league trade today, as John Stevens was dealt to the Utica Comets in exchange for future considerations. The 25-year old forward has five points in 16 games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this season.
  • Joel Hanley has been returned to the minor leagues by the Dallas Stars, a good sign that John Klingberg is close to returning. Klingberg hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury in the Winter Classic.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have returned Ivan Prosvetov to the AHL, after he helped fill in for some injuries in net. Though he didn’t actually get into a game with the Coyotes, he can use this experience with the big club as motivation as he continues his development.
  • Alexander Volkov has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning, returning after spending the last two months in the minor leagues. Volkov played four games for the team earlier this season but has spent most of the year with the Syracuse Crunch, scoring two goals and 15 points in 25 games.

Ottawa Senators Hire Jim Little As CEO

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The Ottawa Senators have been without a CEO to run the business side of the operation since Tom Anselmi walked away from the organization in 2018, but today have hired a new leader. Jim Little, most recently an executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Shaw Communications, has been hired as CEO of Senators Sports and Entertainment. Owner Eugene Melnyk released a statement on the hiring:

We are pleased to have Jim joining our executive team during this exciting period of growth for Senators Sports and Entertainment. As part of our long-term strategy to redevelop and rebuild the Ottawa Senators hockey club, an extensive search was conducted to find the right leader to guide the organization into the next decade. Jim’s appointment is an important step towards achieving our goals and building on the positive impact the hockey club has on the community. As our planned rebuild of the Senators continues to develop on the ice, Jim’s wealth of experience and fresh perspective will strengthen the company’s off-ice success, ushering in a new era for our club and fans.

As Melnyk notes, the Senators’ rebuild is continuing on the ice after a few years of absolute chaos in the organization. Star players were traded away, front office members appeared in court, public social media wars were waged between teammates and their families, all while the team struggled to string together even the smallest winning streak on the ice. While Little will obviously not be able to control all of that, his hiring is another step in the right direction to getting the Senators back to stability.

The team sits 16-22-5 through the first half of the season, but have lost five consecutive games.

Snapshots: Chara, Caggiula, Gustafsson

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Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was a surprise absence from the lineup on Thursday night, with the team providing little indication before puck drop that he would not be available. However, the reasoning is tied to the only cause of missed action for Chara dating back to the 2019 postseason. Chara suffered a fractured jaw in Game Four of the Stanley Cup Final and missed the remainder of the game, though he admirably returned for Games Five through Seven. Chara underwent surgery this summer, but was healthy by training camp and the 42-year-old has not dealt with any other injuries so far this year. Chara only missed his first game of the season back in December due to a clean-up procedure on his jaw. Now, it seems the jaw has stuck again, after Chara took a couple of good shots from the Nashville Predators’ Yakov Trenin in a fight on Tuesday night. There has been no time frame provided for Chara’s return to action, as this could simply just be soreness related to the surgically-repaired jaw, which would lend itself to the late announcement that he would not play. The Bruins will be happy to have their veteran leader back whenever he is ready, as the iconic defenseman continues to play big minutes for Boston.

  • Drake Caggiula has returned to the lineup for the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday after having missed nearly two months with a concussion. Caggiula, who was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers last season, is hoping he can return to the same level of production he flashed after initially arriving in Chicago, recording 12 points in 26 games. Caggiula had just four points through 15 games to begin this season, but the opportunity is there for the two-way forward to take on a bigger role for the offense-challenged Blackhawks.
  • Winnipeg Jets rookie David Gustafsson played his first 22 games of the season in the NHL and then played well at the World Junior Championship. His reward? A demotion to the AHL. The Manitoba Moose report that Gustafsson has been reassigned to the team, where he will make his AHL debut after reporting directly to the Jets after coming over from Sweden this year. Gustafsson had just one lone point with the Jets before being loaned to the WJC, but if his production in the SHL and on the international stage are any indication, he could be a scoring force for the Moose and earn his way back to Winnipeg shortly.

Trade Rumors: Andersson, Islanders, Avalanche

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As if it wasn’t complicated enough when Lias Andersson, the New York Rangers first-round pick at No. 7 overall in 2017, demanded a trade from the team last month, TSN’s Darren Dreger states that as the situation continues to unravel, things are getting “messy”. Andersson, who was suspended by the Rangers after leaving the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, has returned to his native Sweden for the time being. In the meantime, rumors have swirled that the 21-year-old is dealing with mental health issues, a sentiment that Andersson’s camp is now fighting back against. Where there is some documented injury is in his foot, and Andersson is set to undergo surgery shortly that will keep him sidelined for multiple weeks.

Yet, teams are still not shying away from kicking the tires on the young forward. Despite his discontent with his role in the Rangers organization and his lack of production in the NHL and AHL, Andersson’s history of strong work ethic, good teamwork, and immense skill persists, and NHL clubs will continue to keep tabs on him. Dreger’s colleague Bob McKenzie believes that the Rangers are ready to move on and preparing to trade Andersson before the NHL Trade Deadline if they can get “the right prospect” in return. McKenzie does warn though that New York is cognizant of the message that this could send to other prospects in their system and want to be careful with how they deal with the Andersson situation.

  • When the New York Islanders lost stalwart defenseman Adam Pelech for the season due to injury, GM Lou Lamoriello was quick to note that “You don’t replace an Adam Pelech at the trade deadline”. The shutdown defender is relied upon for big minutes and competent defensive play that is not easy to replicate. The Islanders’ plan is to handle the loss internally for the time being, mixing their defensive pairs until they find the right fit. Thus far, the results on the back end are “encouraging”, writes The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. However, that doesn’t mean that the Islanders won’t be on the lookout for defensive help ahead of the trade deadline. Yet, Staple believes that the team’s current scoring doubt shows that offense is still a greater concern than defense, even with the absence of Pelech, and that the team should devote more of their trade capital to improving up front rather than on the blue line.
  • For much of the season, the Colorado Avalanche have been talked about as one of the biggest suitors on the trade market. A legitimate Stanley Cup contender with considerable cap space, it makes sense that the Avs could choose this year to load up for a run. However, Colorado did not land Taylor Hall despite rumored interest and now Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater reports that they are no longer pursuing another top option. Dater writes that Los Angeles Kings forward Tyler Toffoli will likely not be landing in Denver this season, as the Avs have apparently falling out of the running for the two-way winger. Dater is beginning to doubt if Colorado makes any big moves this season in an uninspiring trade market.

Los Angeles Kings Recall Jaret Anderson-Dolan

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The Los Angeles Kings are ready to take another look at part of their future. Jaret Anderson-Dolan has been recalled, technically for the first time in his career. The 20-year old forward did play five games for the Kings at the beginning of last season before being sent back to the WHL.

This year, Anderson-Dolan has been playing for the Ontario Reign of the AHL where he has 19 points in 36 games. The second-round pick from 2017 is one of the building blocks for the Kings moving forward, and in another rebuilding season they might as well see what they have.

Anderson-Dolan may not have as high an offensive ceiling as some of the other top prospects in the Kings system, but his two-way ability and experience at center ice makes him one to watch. The Reign are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the AHL meaning his 19 points actually puts him in a tie for second on the club, only behind Martin Frk.

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