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Archives for January 2021

Pittsburgh Penguins Make Several Transactions

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The Pittsburgh Penguins, who seem to be dominating the headlines lately, have grabbed another one by making several transactions ahead of their game against the Boston Bruins. Kevin Czuczman has been recalled under emergency conditions, while Sam Lafferty is up under a regular recall. Drew O’Connor, who had previously been up under emergency conditions, is now on a regular recall. Zach Aston-Reese, Juuso Riikola, and Evan Rodrigues have all been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to their last game played, while Marcus Pettersson has been moved to injured reserve.

Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau, Will Reilly, and Yannick Weber have all been assigned to the taxi squad. All of these moves were announced by interim GM Patrik Allvin.

Czuczman is expected to be in the Penguins lineup for the first time tonight, returning to the NHL after nearly seven years. The last time he suited up at that level was April 13, 2014 with the New York Islanders, but the 30-year-old defenseman at least knows the Penguins’ system from spending the last three seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Perhaps the most interesting addition of all is Reilly, who joins the taxi squad before ever playing a professional game. The 23-year-old defenseman was a seventh-round pick of the Penguins in 2017 and signed his entry-level contract last spring after finishing his senior season at R.P.I. While Weber is going to meet the team in New York this weekend, Reilly is really just an injury or two from being forced into the NHL lineup for the Penguins. He was a strong performer in college, recording 22 points in 34 games last season, but there’s little reason to believe he should be jumping onto the roster at this point.

AHL’s Stockton Heat To Play 2020-21 Season In Calgary

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Jan 28: The AHL has officially announced the move to Calgary, where the Heat will join in the Canadian Division for 2020-21. A revised schedule will be released in the coming days.

Jan 25: In a surprising move, especially given the AHL’s return to action in less than two weeks, the Stockton Heat will not be playing in Stockton in 2021. Scott Linesburgh of The Stockton Record writes this evening that city and county officials have confirmed that the club does not intend to play out of their home city this season. Instead, the Calgary Flames’ affiliate is expected to share a home with their parent club. Linesburgh reports that this is likely just a one-year change related to the Coronavirus pandemic and cross-border logistics, though he does note that this was the final year on the Heat’s current lease at Stockton Arena.

This move will have quite the ripple effect on the AHL just ten days away from the planned start to the season. Stockton’s move north of the border, and the impossibility at this time of playing American opponents as a result, means that the AHL will have to realign on the fly once again. The Heat will be placed in the Canadian Division alongside the Belleville Senators, Laval Rocket, Manitoba Moose, and Toronto Marlies. This will mean that the Pacific Division will drop to six teams this season and the schedule, which was already released on Friday, will need to be amended. The Heat leave behind a 40-game schedule against the numerous AHL clubs in the American Southwest for an unknown slate in the Canadian Division, which has yet to release a schedule and features only one team within 1,600 miles of Calgary.

Of course, for the Flames’ purposes this means a much simpler strategy for moving players to and from the minors this season. Players who cross the border into Canada this season require a mandatory 14-day quarantine period. While the taxi squad has been implemented to offer a small group of stand-ins, any other additions for Calgary from Stockton would have left those players out of commission for two weeks. Now the team will require no wait time at all with their AHL squad expected to be sharing a facility.

The Heat’s move leaves the Edmonton Oilers as the only Canadian NHL team whose AHL affiliate remains in the U.S. or who hasn’t otherwise negotiated an agreement to send players to another AHL team in Canada, such as the Vancouver Canucks’ and Manitoba Moose’ relationship. If the Oilers plan to make such a move, they have limited time before the AHL season begins.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Several Players

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The Carolina Hurricanes are back in action tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but as of yesterday several players still remained on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list. With that in mind, the team has made a large number of transactions, starting with the recall of Morgan Geekie, Steven Lorentz, Max McCormick, and Jake Bean from the taxi squad. The team has also recalled Sheldon Rempal directly from the AHL to the active NHL roster, while adding Drew Shore and Joey Keane to the taxi squad.

The Hurricanes were forced to postpone several games after Jordan Staal, Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, Teuvo Teravainen, and Jesper Fast all found themselves on the CPRA list. Of that group, only Staal had been removed as of yesterday.

Among the recalls, all but Lorentz have already played in the NHL, with Geekie even playing two games this season. The 24-year-old Lorentz broke out last season with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, scoring 23 goals and 46 points in 61 games. Selected 186th overall in 2015, the 6’4″ forward has worked his way up through the minor league system, first spending time in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades. If he makes his NHL debut this evening, it will be quite the climb for the former Peterborough Petes player.

The team is expected to have Lorentz skate beside Staal and Ryan Dzingel on the third line, while McCormick, Geekie and Rempal make up the fourth unit. Bean, who was one of the best offensive defensemen in the entire AHL last season, will finally get another chance at the NHL level. The 13th overall pick in 2016, Bean has been stuck behind a deep NHL defensive group and has just two games to his name with the Hurricanes.

Snapshots: Dumoulin, NWHL, Engelland

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for a general manager after Jim Rutherford’s abrupt resignation yesterday, but perhaps more urgent is their search for an answer on defense. Head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed that Brian Dumoulin will be out “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury after exiting Tuesday’s game early. Newly signed defenseman Yannick Weber got caught in a snowstorm, meaning he won’t be available to the club until they travel to New York on the weekend, meaning things are awfully thin on the back end.

Kris Letang, John Marino, Cody Ceci, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Chad Ruhwedel, and Kevin Czuczman seem to be the only healthy options the team has with them at the moment, leaving quite a bit to be desired over their season-opening group. The organization doesn’t even have a lot of NHL-ready options in the minor leagues meaning if any other players go down tonight the Penguins might be forced to make a move.

  • The Metropolitan Riveters have withdrawn from the 2021 NWHL season after several members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19. The Riveters were taking part in the Lake Placid bubble, where the league’s six teams were playing out the regular season and playoffs. After being removed from a game yesterday, the Riveters will now be removed from the tournament completely and forfeit their bid for the Isobel Cup. All league games scheduled for today have been postponed and the NWHL will resume play on Saturday.
  • With the Henderson Silver Knights coaching staff filling in for the Vegas Golden Knights, recently retired defenseman Deryk Engelland stepped in to run the AHL practice today, according to Jesse Granger of The Athletic. Engelland announced his retirement last month but remained with the Golden Knights organization as a special assistant to the owner. In times like this, that apparently also means substitute practice coach.

League Postpones Vegas-St. Louis

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The latest NHL postponement has come down today, as the Vegas Golden Knights and St. Louis Blues will not play this evening. The Golden Knights regular coaching staff was put into self-isolation earlier this week due to an “abundance of caution” while GM Kelly McCrimmon and the AHL staff took over behind the bench. The two teams played on Tuesday night, but today a player and another member of the Golden Knights coaching staff have entered the league’s COVID protocols, leading to the postponement. The team’s training facilities have been closed until further notice.

The Golden Knights were set to meet the San Jose Sharks for games on Monday and Wednesday, then travel back to Las Vegas for a six-game homestand that included the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and Colorado Avalanche. It’s not clear at this point whether there will be more postponements. The Blues meanwhile were headed to Anaheim after today’s game for a back-to-back series on Saturday and Sunday, before returning home to welcome the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday. Importantly, the Blues did take the ice today for an optional morning skate, while the Golden Knights saw their practice canceled.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars have both previously required postponements, creating some serious imbalance on the Central Division table. The Chicago Blackhawks have already played eight games, while the Stars, Hurricanes and Florida Panthers have all played just three to this point. With the league’s focus on getting in all 56 matches for every club, these postponements will have to be squeezed in down the road. The Golden Knights and Blues do finish the season against each other, perhaps a spot to put in an additional game.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/28/21

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It appears as though there will be daily movement this season between the active roster and taxi squad. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of shuffle news each day.

  • The New Jersey Devils have sent Nick Merkley to the taxi squad to make room for Jesper Bratt, who is out of the COVID protocol and will play his first game of the season tonight. Merkley cleared waivers before the season and does not need to clear them again until he plays in 10 games or spends 30 days on the NHL roster.
  • Philip Tomasino, one of the top prospects in the Nashville Predators organization, has been assigned to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL for the time being. Tomasino, 19, normally wouldn’t be eligible to play in the AHL, but since the OHL is still not operating the young forward can hone his game at the professional level. The Predators have also moved Mathieu Olivier from the main roster to the taxi squad.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Connor Bunnaman and Nate Prosser from the taxi squad and are expected to have both in the lineup tonight when they take on the Devils. Prosser, 34, will be making his Flyers debut after spending the entire 2019-20 season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The undrafted defenseman has carved out a 354-game NHL career with all but one of those games coming with the Minnesota Wild.
  • Filip Chlapik has been recalled from the taxi squad of the Ottawa Senators, as the team retroactively places Christian Wolanin on injured reserve. Chlapik, who cleared waivers earlier this month, is still just 23 years old and played in 31 games for the Senators last season.
  • Taro Hirose and Givani Smith are back up for the Detroit Red Wings, recalled off the taxi squad for game day. Since both are on entry-level contracts, the Red Wings save some cash by moving them to the taxi squad—where they earn AHL pay—between games. They also technically bank some extra cap space, though given how much room Detroit has under the $81.5MM ceiling, that seems like an unlikely motivation.
  • The Minnesota Wild have brought goaltender Dereck Baribeau up from the AHL to their taxi squad, giving them another goaltender as they deal with a minor injury for Cam Talbot. The 22-year-old goaltender played four games for the Iowa Wild and 15 for the Allen Americans last season and isn’t expected to dress for Minnesota anytime soon.
  • Joel L’Esperance and Rhett Gardner have both been recalled from the taxi squad as the Dallas Stars place Jamie Benn on injured reserve, retroactive to January 22. The pair of young forwards will give them some extra options, but don’t provide much NHL experience to replace Benn.
  • Patrick Russell and Jujhar Khaira have been sent back to the Edmonton Oilers taxi squad, while the team recalled Joakim Nygard and Devin Shore. The Oilers are back in action tonight as they welcome in the Toronto Maple Leafs, trying to right the ship on the rocky early-season waters.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Jimmy Howard Announces Retirement

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Veteran goaltender Jimmy Howard has officially hung up his pads, announcing his retirement on Instagram. The long-time Detroit Red Wings netminder released a statement, thanking his fans and teammates as he moves on to the next part of his adventure:

Becoming an NHL goalie was a childhood dream and after an incredible 14 years within the Red Wings organization, I’ve decided to say farewell to playing professional hockey and move on to the next chapter. It has been the honor of a lifetime to play and I’m forever thankful to the fans, everyone within the Red Wings organization, my teammates and my family for their ongoing support, loyalty and dedication. As I enter this new chapter in my life, I look forward to spending more time with my family, coaching my son’s hockey team and new opportunities the future will hold.

From his selection in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, to his final appearance on February 27, 2020, Howard was a Red Wing. Some teams, including the Edmonton Oilers, led by his former GM Ken Holland, tried to talk him out of retirement this winter, but it’s over for the 36-year-old. Howard ends a long career with 543 regular season appearances plus 48 more postseason games, over a 14-year span.

It might surprise you to find out that puts Howard at 62nd all-time among goaltenders, tied with Marty Turco and just a few games being Hall of Famer Johnny Bower. His 246 wins tie him for 61st, also an impressive achievement for a goaltender that almost never received Vezina Trophy votes. A beating heart of the Red Wings for the last decade-plus, Howard will get to go out without ever pulling on a different sweater.

More On Jim Rutherford’s Resignation

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The biggest question that arose from yesterday’s shocking news that Jim Rutherford had resigned as general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins was simple: why now? The season is just a few weeks old, the Penguins are keeping their heads above water even while dealing with a rash of injuries and Rutherford was still the unquestioned head of the front office. In fact, the front office was a lot thinner on experienced names these days, after former assistants like Tom Fitzgerald, Jason Botterill, and Bill Guerin had all taken their own gigs somewhere else. ’Why?’ was the question that kept coming up, though a health-related issue was quickly ruled out by reporters and Penguins executives.

This morning, Colin Dunlap of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh tweeted that multiple sources had Rutherford working on a trade of Kris Letang, which was squashed by ownership, leading to the resignation. Rob Rossi of The Athletic however almost immediately threw cold water on that, reporting that Rutherford was “not working on a trade of any player that management/ownership halted.” Rossi went so far as to say that the resignation had nothing to do with roster-related matters.

Speaking to Rossi and colleague Josh Yohe, Rutherford said “it was just time” for him to leave, but others from the organization admitted they are now scrambling. Patrik Allvin has taken over as interim GM but was only just promoted to assistant GM a few months ago.

In response to the thought that his resignation perhaps had to do with a lawsuit filed by former AHL assistant coach Jarrod Skalde, Rutherford also explained the two were not connected in any way. Rutherford was on the final year of his contract as GM, but contract talks also appear not to be the reason for the resignation.

Much of the speculation has now been addressed directly, but even through Rossi’s thorough reporting one question still remains. Why now?

Trade Rumors: Penguins, Mete, Bjork

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Amidst the shocking news that Jim Rutherford had resigned as GM of Pittsburgh Penguins, it is easy to forget that this was a team that less than a week ago was reported as being active on the trade market. While ownership suddenly needs to focus on the long-term welfare of the franchise by finding a new GM, the Penguins are still in need of defense in the short-term. While Rutherford’s final move was to find a stopgap in free agent addition Yannick Weber, that might not be enough. The Pittsburgh blue line has been devastated by injuries early this season with Michael Matheson, Juuso Riikola, and Zach Trotman on injured reserve, Marcus Pettersson also officially out, and Brian Dumoulin injured in last night’s game. Even the thought-to-be-healthy John Marino was missing at practice today. What’s left is a group that is almost entirely right-handed, including the newcomer Weber, and includes a struggling Cody Ceci and an untested rookie in Pierre-Olivier Joseph. The Penguins need to to continue to be on the look out for help on the back end. With that said, NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz doubts that interim GM Patrick Allvin will have the authority to make a trade, until they potentially remove the interim tag that is. In the meantime, can the Penguins afford to stand pat in a shortened season facing tougher playoff odds and a more difficult division? Can they withstand extended absences from their current injured defenders? Unless owner Mario Lemieux decides to step in and pull the strings while also making a decision on his next GM, they may not have an option but to stick it out.

  • Through their first six games of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have yet to lose in regulation and have earned 10 of a possible 12 points. Everyone in Montreal is happy so far this year, that is except defenseman Victor Mete. With the team rolling on all cylinders, the Habs have had no reason to change out their starting six defenseman. In fact, there has been only one lineup change among skaters for one single game thus far. The Canadiens do not want to lose the promising, young Mete on waivers, but so far that has left 22-year-old sitting in the press box for every game. If Montreal continues to win and stay healthy, then there is also no reason for that to change. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has taken notice and he’s not alone. Friedman reports that there is interest in Mete across the league and offers will be coming to Montreal soon, if they haven’t already. After losing Noah Juulsen on waivers earlier this year, the Habs may be hesitant to part with another young defenseman whose career has been impacted by injuries but could be primed for a breakout. However, if Mete won’t get any opportunity to shine in Montreal, they may as well move him. After all, he will likely be available for free to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft anyway.
  • If there is one thing that has quietly defined the Don Sweeney administration in Boston, it is that they are not afraid to move young forwards who are unable to carve out a consistent role in the lineup. In consecutive years, the Bruins have traded away Frank Vatrano, Ryan Donato, and Danton Heinen, each of whom was struggling and bouncing around the lineup prior to being moved. Now, Anders Bjork could be the next name on that list. The team has liked the upside of Bjork, 24, and made that clear with a three-year, $4.8MM contract this summer. However, injury and inconsistency has made it hard to get a good look at the player. Now healthy and in the starting lineup through six games this season, that look hasn’t been good. Bjork has played on several different lines and with different line mates but nothing has clicked. He has zero points and just two shots on goal and hasn’t made a major impact defensively either. With the emergence of rookies Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic as NHL-ready assets and the upcoming injury returns of David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase, there won’t be space left in the lineup for Bjork. Multiple sources are now reporting that in anticipation of this result, interest is growing in the young winger. Bjork may not be a fit in Boston right now, but as a player with positional and two-way versatility and under team control for several years, a number of teams could be interested in taking a chance. With a lineup that is looking pretty complete so far this season, Bjork may also come cheap with the Bruins opting for a pick or prospect rather than a roster player in return.

Sharks Set To Return To San Jose In February

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The San Jose Sharks will soon be back home at the SAP Center. Due to a ban on contact sports in Santa Clara County, the Sharks held training camp in Glendale, Arizona. The team has since played on the road and will be the “home” team in Glendale for games against the Vegas Golden Knights on February 1st and 3rd. However, the Sharks have announced that with the ban lifted back in San Jose, they have begun planning and implementing health and safety measures in preparation for a return home. The Sharks plan to make their true home debut on February 13 against the Anaheim Ducks.

The plan is for all future Sharks (and AHL Barracuda) home games beyond the upcoming Glendale series to take place in San Jose. However, the team will be on a short leash. Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News writes that Santa Clara County has already vowed that “Any professional athletics organization that violates the order shall be immediately and automatically suspended from engaging in athletic activities.” The Sharks must abide by the NHL’s COVID Protocol anyhow, but rather than only face a league fine and players and/or coaches out of commission, the team may actually lose their home again if they do not follow local guidelines as well.

For now, the team is focused on their upcoming “home” games in Glendale. The Sharks’ players may arguably be more excited for these games than they are for their return to San Jose. Included in the team’s release today was that they have received permission to have limited attendance during the two-game series. Given the much stricter COVID climate in California, these may be the only games that the Sharks play in front of fans all year. Of course, Pashelka notes that only 2,500 tickets are expected to be sold for each game and sales are limited to Arizona citizens only, but there are sure to be some local Sharks fans in attendance.

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