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Archives for January 2020

Shayne Gostisbehere To Have Arthroscopic Surgery

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The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that Shayne Gostisbehere will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee next week, and will be out for three weeks. The team has also recalled David Kase from the minor leagues while sending Mikhail Vorobyev down to the AHL.

Gostisbehere, 26, has seen his offensive production evaporate over the last two seasons and his usage decrease alongside it. The Calder Trophy runner-up in 2015-16 after scoring 46 points in 64 games, he hit a career high in 2017-18 with 65 points. That total seems a lifetime away at the moment as he sits with just 12 points in 40 games this season and now facing an uphill battle back from injury.

While he is still a useful player, Gostisbehere has only averaged a little over 18 minutes a night this season as the Flyers lean heavily on Ivan Provorov and Matt Niskanen instead. That has led to plenty of trade rumors given his contract status—signed through the 2022-23 season at a $4.5MM cap hit—and obvious upside. Philadelphia has a whole army of young defensemen and more coming, though many are still relatively unproven at the NHL level.

With the Flyers set to have nine straight days off near the end of the month, there is a chance that Gostisbehere could miss only a handful of games.

Prospect Notes: Zamula, Thomas, Tomasino

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Yegor Zamula turned a ton of heads at the recent World Junior Championship, recording five points in seven games for the Russian team while proving he can hang with the best players in the world at his age. That impressive performance may have been even better if he wasn’t fighting through injury.

Sport-express in Russia is reporting that Zamula will miss the rest of the CHL season with an injury after playing through it the entire tournament. Zamula apparently didn’t tell anyone about the ailment–which is not specified–until afterwards, but will need three to four months to recover. An undrafted free agent signing by the Philadelphia Flyers, Zamula currently plays for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL.

  • Another medalist from the World Juniors, Akil Thomas, is on his way to join the Peterborough Petes for the rest of the season after a trade was made official this morning. Thomas scored the gold medal-winning goal for Team Canada, and landed the Niagara IceDogs a package that includes Cameron Butler, two second round picks, a third round pick and a fourth round pick. The Los Angeles Kings prospect is in his final year of junior and will get another chance at the OHL playoffs with the Petes.
  • Thomas wasn’t the only player the IceDogs traded today though. Philip Tomasino, the Nashville Predators first-round pick, was dealt to the Oshawa Generals for a package that dwarfs what they received for Thomas. Niagara will receive six second round picks, a third round pick, two fourth round picks and the rights to David Gucciaridi, who is currently playing in the USHL.  Tomasino is still just 18 and has 57 points in 36 games for the IceDogs this season.

Joseph Blandisi Clears Waivers

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Thursday: Blandisi has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the AHL.

Wednesday: For the third time, Joseph Blandisi has been placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Blandisi previously cleared just before the season began and again at the beginning of December. Despite that, he has played in 21 games with the Penguins and needs to go through the process again in order to be eligible for assignment to the AHL.

Like the last two times, it seems unlikely that Blandisi will be claimed by anyone despite his NHL experience. The 25-year old has now played in 101 NHL games over parts of five seasons, most coming with the New Jersey Devils several years ago. A star offensive player in junior, Blandisi has 31 points at the highest level but is more of a threat in the AHL. He has seven points in his 13 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season, where he may find himself again should he clear waivers this time.

The fact that he is on waivers could perhaps be another sign that Sidney Crosby is nearing a return, after taking practice and traveling with the team. The Penguins’ captain has been out since the beginning of November and has played just 17 games this season.

Logan Couture To Miss Several Weeks With Broken Ankle

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Though reporters had caught wind of it last night, the San Jose Sharks didn’t make an official announcement until today regarding Logan Couture. GM Doug Wilson released a short statement confirming that the Sharks’ captain has a small fracture in his left ankle and will miss “several weeks.” The team has recalled Joachim Blichfeld from the minor leagues.

Couture suffered the injury on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues, a game which the Sharks were on the losing end of once again. It has been an absolute disaster of a season for San Jose, who now hold the worst goal differential in the Western Conference at -30. Their record of 19-22-4 is actually relatively flattering given they have scored just 121 goals while allowing 151, more than anyone other than the Detroit Red Wings. For a team that has $26.5MM in cap space eaten up by three defensemen for at least the next five seasons, that’s not exactly ideal.

More notably however might be the fact that the Sharks’ first-round pick belongs to the Ottawa Senators. That pick was originally a conditional 2019 selection, but after San Jose made the playoffs it pushed forward to this year. It can’t get pushed any further, meaning the Senators will have at least two chances at the draft lottery unless one of the teams completes a miraculous comeback in the second half of the season.

Without Couture, that will be difficult. The 30-year old forward took over the captaincy this season when Joe Pavelski left in free agency, and was without a doubt the team’s best player so far. His 36 points leads the group while contributing in all situations and providing his normal two-way presence. Couture is averaging nearly two minutes on the penalty kill a night while also logging nearly three minutes on the powerplay. His +/- rating of -1 is (amazingly) second on the team among regulars, only behind Barclay Goodrow’s +1. Basically, this is a huge loss for the team as they try to salvage their season, and should only push their expiring contracts further into the trade speculation spotlight.

Minor Transactions: 01/09/20

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It’s another busy day in the NHL with 11 games set for this evening, including cross-conference battles. Four different teams from the Atlantic Division are taking on Western Conference opponents, with the most interesting being a matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Arizona Coyotes. Both teams are on fire at the moment, with the Lightning having won eight in a row and the Coyotes now sitting at the top of the Pacific Division. As they and the rest of the league prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves:

  • After only being sent down yesterday, Steven Kampfer has been recalled again by the Boston Bruins. Kampfer was skating on the right side with Matt Grzelcyk at the morning skate, with Torey Krug absent. Boston will be taking on the Winnipeg Jets tonight as a quick one-game home stand before hitting the road again for three matchups against the Metro.
  • Sebastian Aho—the defenseman—has been returned to the AHL by the New York Islanders. Aho had been recalled when Adam Pelech was ruled out with injury, but never actually did play. New York doesn’t play again until Saturday, meaning Aho can get into some minor league action for the time being.
  • Christian Jaros has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Ottawa Senators, who are slowly getting some healthy bodies back on the blueline. In his place, Filip Chlapik is back up with the NHL club.

This page will be updated throughout the day

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Toronto Maple Leafs

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We’re in the home stretch in our thankful series where PHR will continue its look at what teams are thankful for as the second half of the season gets underway.  We’ll examine what has gone well in the first half and what each team may be looking for at the trade deadline.  Next up is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

What are the Maple Leafs most thankful for?

Their high-end group of forwards.  They have more than $40MM tied up in their big four up front in Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander and after a sluggish start to the season, they are firing on all cylinders.  The four have combined for more than 47% of Toronto’s goals heading into action on Wednesday night (75 goals out of 159) and give them two very dangerous lines to work with.  Tying up that much money in a small group certainly has its risk but if they’re producing like this, they’re getting what they paid for.

Who are the Maple Leafs most thankful for?

It would be easy to pick one of Marner, Matthews, or Tavares but they’re most thankful for goaltender Frederik Andersen.  He has shown the ability to handle a large workload in terms of games played.  He faces an even bigger workload in terms of shots faced (and chances) as the team doesn’t have as strong of a back end as some contenders due to what they’ve committed to that forward group.  They’ve shown that they can overcome an injury to one of their big four up front but if Andersen goes down for any significant period of time, they’d be in trouble.  Toronto is also thankful that he’s on a below-market deal with a $5MM price tag but that won’t be the case for long as he’s up for a new deal after the 2020-21 season.

What would the Maple Leafs be even more thankful for?

For starters, going more than a few weeks without any injuries of significance.  At one point, they were looking like they were going to need to carry a roster that was close to the minimum size for salary cap reasons but that has yet to happen with so many regulars missing time in the first half of the season.

Beyond that, getting more from their back end will be crucial.  Cody Ceci hasn’t adapted too well to his new team while Travis Dermott hasn’t progressed relative to his role from a season ago.  Morgan Reilly and Tyson Barrie have both underwhelmed offensively.  Defense becomes even more important down the stretch and into the playoffs and a lot of their players have room for improvement; if they can do that, they’ll be in much better shape for their postseason push.

What should be on the Maple Leafs’ Holiday Wish List?

While the injuries have afforded them some short-term relief in the form of more LTIR room to work with, they’re still going to be somewhat limited in terms of cap space at the trade deadline.  As a result, it’s unlikely that Toronto will be able to add an impact player, even if they get the other team to retain salary.  Depth will be the name of the game for GM Kyle Dubas who would be wise to try to add a veteran to shore up their back end and give them some injury insurance.  Given their cap commitments in place already, it will likely need to be a rental acquisition.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Couture, Markstrom, Zucker

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It appears that the injury that Sharks captain Logan Couture sustained last night is going to keep him out of the lineup for a while.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the center has a fractured ankle and will be given a week-to-week designation but that the issue should keep him out for six weeks.  That would be a devastating blow to a San Jose team that is already eight points out of a playoff spot as the 30-year-old is one of the few players who is producing at a rate that’s at least comparable to expectations as he leads the team in scoring with 36 points (14-22-36) in 45 games this season.  If San Jose wasn’t already leaning towards selling by the trade deadline, this could certainly push them in that direction.

More from the West:

  • Canucks GM Jim Benning told Postmedia’s Ed Willes that it would be fair to say that goaltender Jacob Markstrom is their top priority when it comes to contract talks among pending free agents. The 29-year-old has posted a .914 SV% in 30 starts this season and has been rather consistent in that regard over the past several seasons; his previous two years as their starter saw his mark come in at .912.  In a UFA market where there aren’t a lot of starting goaltenders in it, Markstrom appears to be well-positioned to land a sizable raise on his current $3.667MM price tag regardless of whether Vancouver gives it to him or someone else on the open market.
  • Even though he’s currently dealing with a broken leg, the Wild are still receiving trade interest in winger Jason Zucker, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required). Zucker is no stranger to trade speculation with former GM Paul Fenton having basically moved him on two separate occasions before the deals eventually fell through.  However, current GM Bill Guerin hasn’t really shown any inclination towards moving him but with Minnesota once again on the outside looking in at a playoff spot, it’s something they’ll have to consider again.  Pittsburgh had interest last summer and Russo suggests that they’d likely show some interest again if they haven’t already done so.

Flames Sign Rasmus Andersson To A Six-Year Extension

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The Flames have locked up one of their young defensemen for the long term as they announced that they’ve signed Rasmus Andersson to a six-year extension.  The deal will carry an AAV of $4.55MM.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:

2020-21: $5.05MM
2021-22: $4.05MM
2022-23: $4.55MM
2023-24: $4.55MM
2024-25: $4.55MM
2025-26: $4.55MM

The 23-year-old is in his second season as a regular on Calgary’s back end and has seen his role increase considerably from his rookie year.  After spending a lot of time on the third pairing a season ago, he has spent a fair bit of time inside their top four while averaging over 19 minutes a night in playing time.  He has also seen his production tick up slightly as he’s on pace to surpass the 19 points he put up a year ago as he already has three goals and nine assists on the season in 45 games.

This contract represents a significant raise on his current entry-level deal that carries an AAV of just over $755K with an extra $57.5K in performance bonuses.  He was slated to become a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer but this deal will buy out his remaining RFA years plus two seasons of UFA eligibility.

Andersson is now the fourth Calgary defender signed for next season, joining Mark Giordano, Noah Hanifin, and Juuso Valimaki (injured).  With now more than $64MM in commitments for next season already to just 13 players, it’s hard to imagine that they’ll be able to keep both of their notable pending UFA blueliners in the fold in T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic; the latter already indicated earlier back in October that he would not engage in any discussion regarding a contract extension during the season.

With that in mind, it’s safe to assume that Andersson should be a regular in their top four in 2020-21, something that certainly would have come into consideration during these talks.  This price tag may seem a bit high for the moment but if he continues to show improvement over the next few seasons, it has the potential to be a value deal as the contract progresses.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Ryan Lindgren Will Not Receive Suspension

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Following a hearing today, the Department of Player Safety has decided that New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren will not receive any supplementary discipline for his hit on Colorado Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi last night. Donskoi was knocked out of the game, while Lindgren then fought Nazem Kadri and suffered an injury of his own. The DoPS gave this explanation:

While there was significant head contact on this play, Lindgren took a proper angle of approach, did not extend outward or upward and hit through Donskoi’s core. Therefore, under Rule 48.1 (i), the head contact was determined to be unavoidable.

If an incident warrants a hearing with the league, it almost always results in a suspension for the player involved. Not so for the Rangers’ young defenseman though, who will escape without punishment (other than that which Kadri dealt) and his record intact. That’s important for any future incidents, as this will no longer be held against him.

The question now is whether or not Lindgren and Donskoi will be out for any length of time. The Avalanche did not practice today or give an update on Donskoi, while the Rangers explained yesterday that they believe Lindgren will be okay.

Pittsburgh Penguins Looking For Forward

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Even though they seem ready to welcome back captain Sidney Crosby in the next few days, the Pittsburgh Penguins will still be without one of their most potent offensive weapons for the rest of the season. Jake Guentzel is facing a four to six month recovery time after his recent shoulder surgery, which according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, has the Penguins looking for help up front.

Earlier today, Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) also wrote that Penguins’ GM Jim Rutherford is “ready to deal,” though suggested a bit of a different take. Custance listed Alex Galchenyuk and Nick Bjugstad—noted forwards—as players to watch on the trade market. If Rutherford is looking for a swap upfront, it wouldn’t be the first time. Just last year the Penguins traded away Carl Hagelin for Tanner Pearson when they needed a different look. Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan followed out the door when they were looking for a bit more punch up front, landing Bjugstad and Jared McCann in return. The following summer they traded Phil Kessel for Galchenyuk (after attempting to pry Jason Zucker out of Minnesota), and while that deal had a ton of factors, it still showed the willingness to try something different at the forward group around Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

That may be exactly what is happening now, especially with Guentzel—one of the only forwards on the team to find instant chemistry with basically anyone you put him with—on the sideline. The Penguins do have other assets, but it’s hard to know exactly what would be available in any trade to acquire real impact forwards. A lot has been written about the fact that Casey DeSmith is sitting in the minor leagues while Tristan Jarry runs away with an NHL job, but there is also little certainty in the goaltending position given Jarry and Matt Murray’s contract status past this season (both are restricted free agents at season’s end).

At the very least, you can bet that Rutherford will be willing to take a swing at the fences and go for another Stanley Cup. The team has managed to stay in a divisional playoff spot even with their countless injuries and are now getting closer to having their superstar back at center ice. If there’s a GM to watch over the next few weeks—or really at any time during the year—it’s the one sitting in the Pittsburgh front office.

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