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Archives for February 2021

Five Key Stories: 02/22/21 – 02/28/21

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While it was a quiet week on the transaction front aside from the usual long list of daily taxi movement, there were still plenty of newsworthy stories around the NHL which are highlighted in the key stories of the week.

Skinner Saga: Last season was a tough one for Jeff Skinner as he managed just 14 goals in 59 games, hardly the type of performance they were expecting from a $9MM commitment.  However, his struggles last year pale in comparison to this season as he has just one assist in 16 games.  Things came to a head when he was a healthy scratch for three straight games with his agent, Don Meehan, getting involved on behalf of his client.  Skinner has since returned but Buffalo’s offensive drought continued as they’ve been shut out in two straight games.  While a trade at this point is all but impossible with six more years left on his deal after this one so it will be worth watching to see if they try to put him back in a top-six role to try to get him going or if he’ll be spending more time in the press box before long.

More From Buffalo: Skinner’s situation wasn’t the only notable news.  It was also revealed that defenseman Jake McCabe would miss the next six-to-eight months due to several injuries to ligaments in his right knee, ending his season.  It’s a tough blow for the Sabres who lose a top-four defenseman while McCabe now will be entering unrestricted free agency coming off a season that was limited to just 13 games.  Meanwhile, another pending UFA has hit the trade block in blueliner Brandon Montour.  The 26-year-old looked like a core addition when Buffalo acquired him back in 2019 but he has struggled considerably over parts of three seasons with the team.  With a $3.85MM price tag, the Sabres will either have to retain salary or take a contract back to facilitate a trade.

Canadiens Change Coaches: The first coaching change of the season has taken place with Montreal firing head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller.  Assistant coach Dominque Ducharme was promoted to the top spot on an interim basis for the rest of the season while Alex Burrows was added to the coaching staff after spending parts of three seasons with AHL Laval.  The Canadiens actually got off to a hot start this season winning seven of their first ten games (and picked up a point in two of their losses) but have won just twice in ten games since then.  Julien is 13th in all-time NHL coaching victories (17th in games played) and is still owed $5MM this season and next on his contract.  Meanwhile, this is Ducharme’s first head coaching role in the NHL.

Vancouver-Anaheim Trade Talks: While a trade ultimately didn’t materialize (or hasn’t yet, at least), the Canucks and Ducks were involved in discussions surrounding wingers Jake Virtanen and Danton Heinen.  Making the money work has been a challenge so far despite the fact that the difference in cap hit between the two is only $250K.  It goes to show how tricky making the salary cap element work is going to be with so many teams tight to the Upper Limit of the cap this season.  Both wingers have struggled this season and could certainly benefit from a change of scenery but it doesn’t appear as if they’ll be getting moved for each other just yet.

Panarin Leave Of Absence: Rangers winger Artemi Panarin has been granted a leave of absence from the team following public allegations of an assault on an 18-year-old female during his time with Chekhov Vityaz in the KHL ten years ago.  Panarin denies the allegations, which some believe are politically motivated with his prior public support of opposition leader Alexi Navalny while the Rangers have also issued a statement supporting their star.  There is no timetable for his return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Injury Updates: Ryan, De La Rose, Stecher, Beecher

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Calgary center Derek Ryan has resumed skating as he works his way back from a thumb injury, reports Postmedia’s Daniel Austin.  The veteran has missed the last dozen games due to the issue and was placed on LTIR.  Since he has missed the required 10 games and 24 days, he’s eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return, as long as the Flames can get back into cap compliance.  Ryan cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and was likely headed back for the waiver wire again had he not been injured in his tenth game; he had been getting shuffled to and from the taxi squad, being demoted on non-game days to bank cap space.  Another placement there will likely be what ultimately signifies his readiness to return.

More injury news from around the league:

  • The Blues have placed center Jacob de la Rose on injured reserve, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He suffered a lower-body injury early in yesterday’s wild game against San Jose.  While de la Rose cleared waivers to start the season, he had been a regular on the fourth line for the past three weeks, averaging just under 10 minutes per name, a total that’s slightly skewed by his early exit on Saturday.  He’s the sixth Blue on either regular IR or LTIR with Vladimir Tarasenko being the closest to returning.
  • The Red Wings have placed defenseman Troy Stecher on injured reserve, CapFriendly reports. The 26-year-old has missed the last five games due to a lower-body injury and his placement is retroactive to February 19th.  Accordingly, he’s eligible to be activated at any time.  Detroit used the roster spot to recall winger Mathias Brome from the taxi squad in advance of their game tonight against Chicago.
  • Bruins prospect John Beecher has undergone shoulder surgery which puts his college season to an end, relays Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now. It was a bit of a tough year for the 2019 first-rounder as a bout with COVID-19 put an end to his World Junior hopes and between that and this, the center was limited to just 16 games with the Wolverines this season, notching four goals and four assists.  Boston will now have to decide if he’s better off returning for his junior year or turning pro.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/28/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Here is today’s list:

Arizona – John Hayden
Detroit – Patrik Nemeth*
NY Rangers – Kaapo Kakko
San Jose – Tomas Hertl

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: F Ryan Dzingel (Ottawa), F Travis Konecny (Philadelphia)

Even with Nemeth’s addition, it’s still a positive day with two more names coming off the list.  Dzingel, of course, was on there for a mandatory two-week quarantine period following his trade from Carolina and is now eligible to practice with the team.  As for Konecny, he had been on there for the past two weeks, similar to his Flyers teammates who were on there before he was.

Snapshots: Eichel/Krueger, Sutter, Wheeler, Grzelcyk

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Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger isn’t having a good week. The team has lost three straight, including a 3-0 shutout loss to Philadelphia Sunday. When star Jack Eichel went down with an injury and was expected to miss time earlier this week, Krueger told the press, including The Athletic’s John Vogl that Eichel got hurt during warm-ups on Thursday and his injury was not related to the fact that he missed the morning skate that day.

Eichel, who played Sunday, said after Sunday’s game that the injury didn’t happen in warm-ups like Krueger said. Eichel said the injury occurred during Tuesday’s game against New Jersey, contradicting Krueger’s statement three days earlier.

When Vogl asked about his job status, Krueger said he wasn’t worried.

“Absolutely not, John,” said Krueger. “If you do, I don’t know. But I’m not wired that way, just so you know. I’m wired to work on solutions and take responsibility, and I do both right now.”

Not a good sign in Buffalo.

  • Vancouver Canucks center Brandon Sutter is having a solid season in the final year of his five-year, $21.9MM contract. The 32-year-old has scored six goals in 24 games so far this year. Despite being a logical trade chip for the upcoming trade deadline on April 12th, Sutter says he wants to stay with the Canucks past this year, according to The Province’s Ben Kuzma. “You know when your contract is up there’s always going to be speculation and talk,” he said. “For me, I’m just focused on this group and this team. I want to be here and this is where I want to stay. Really no secrets there from me.”
  • Just because the Winnipeg Jets asked defenseman Toby Enstrom to waive his no-movement clause so the team could protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie in the 2017 Vegas expansion draft, don’t expect Winnipeg to do the same with Blake Wheeler this year for the upcoming Seattle expansion draft. The Athletic’s Murat Ates (subscription required) writes that Wheeler would fit the profile of someone the Seattle Kraken would pass on if he were left exposed, considering he’s 35, has three more years at $8.25MM and is no longer a dominant top-line forward (although still a solid top-six player). The scribe notes that the Jets would never ask him to waive his no-movement clause. Winnipeg intends to use Wheeler as well as Mark Scheifele as examples to other Jets’ players that the team will stick with their stars for their entire career.
  • Joe Haggerty of BostonHockeyNow writes the Boston Bruins could see the return of top-four defenseman Matt Grzelcyk soon. The 27-year-old blueliner practiced Saturday, but wasn’t ready to go Sunday against the Rangers. Grzelcyk has been out with a lower-body injury and has missed all but two games since Jan. 21. He has tried to come back twice when he obviously wasn’t ready. Grzelcyk has only appeared in six games this year.

Maple Leaf Notes: Galchenyuk, Matthews, Andersen, Campbell

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When the Toronto Maple Leafs sent forward Alex Galchenyuk from the taxi squad to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL Saturday, many felt that it was just to get a few games under his belt after having sat out since Feb. 11. That may not only be the case as Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan writes the Maple Leafs intend to properly develop Galchenyuk and his lost game.

Galchenyuk, the third-overall pick in 2012, has never played a game in the AHL, having jumped straight from the OHL to the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs would have sent Galchenyuk to the Marlies right after the trade. However, the AHL squad has been on an eight-game road trip and finally has their home opener on Monday. Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe said the team intends to be patient with Galchenyuk as they try to help the forward find his game.

“Part of our plan was to get him playing and we would have made this move probably a little bit sooner had the Marlies not been out west,” Keefe said.

  • Sticking with the Maple Leafs, it looks like the team could be without star Auston Matthews for another game, according to TSN’s Mark Masters. The forward skated with the team Sunday in Edmonton, but didn’t skated as an extra and didn’t take any hard shots. However, Keefe didn’t rule out Matthews playing either, according to NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger. “He’s not ruled out for tomorrow,” said Keefe. Matthews missed Saturday’s game against the Oilers and now could miss Monday’s bout with them as well. If Matthews is out, John Tavares will fill in as the first-line center.
  • No word on who will start in net on Monday for the Maple Leafs. Goaltender Frederik Andersen, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, was a full-participant in practice, but it’s not looking like he will play Monday, according to TSN’s Kristen Shilton. “Ah, it’s not looking that way, if we’re being honest,” said Keefe. “Basically, where we’re at now is just waiting for him to be comfortable … & we don’t really know when that’s going to be. But today was a very positive step towards that.” To make matters worse, Jack Campbell sat out of practice for a maintenance day after returning from a leg injury on Saturday. “Between Campbell and Fred and their situations, we’ve got a lot of things to sort through that I don’t suspect will get sorted out until tomorrow night,” Keefe said.

 

Colin McDonald Announces Retirement After 13 Pro Seasons

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After 13 pro seasons, veteran forward Colin McDonald announced his retirement from hockey. The 36-year-old forward spent most of his pro career in the AHL, but still managed to appear in 148 NHL games, most of which came with the New York Islanders between 2012 to 2015. He also played for the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers.

McDonald was drafted in the second round of the 2003 draft (51st overall) and opted to play four years at Providence College. He did eventually sign with Edmonton in 2007 and joined the Springfield Falcons of the AHL for the next three years, tallying 34 goals over the three years. He even managed to appear in two games with the Oilers in 2009, scoring one goal. McDonald was later assigned to the Oklahoma City Barons, their dormant AHL franchise in 2010 where he tallied 42 goals.

As a free-agent, McDonald chose to sign a one-year deal with the Penguins, where he spent most of the year with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL, but he did appear in five games with Pittsburgh that year. The following year he signed a two-year deal with the Islanders where his pro career really got going. He split time between the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and the Islanders, playing in 45 games in New York. He followed that up playing 70 games for New York the following year. He returned for one more year, but only appeared in 18 games.

He settled in Philadephia after that, playing in 18 more games over four seasons, playing most of the time with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Last year, he signed a one-year AHL contract with Bridgeport. He played 757 AHL games over his career, captaining many of those teams during that span. In 148 NHL games, McDonald tallied 20 goals and 46 points.

 

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 02/28/21

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There has been plenty of roster movement between NHL teams and the taxi squad on a daily basis this season. Although some major names may be highlighted in separate articles, this is where you’ll find the majority of that shuffle news each day.

North Division

  • The Ottawa Senators announced they have assigned defenseman Erik Brannstrom to the taxi squad. Brannstrom has been up and down this year and looks to be another game in which he will sit out of Ottawa’s lineup. The 21-year-old has two goals and two assists in nine games with Ottawa this season.
  • The Calgary Flames returned Glenn Gawdin and Oliver Kylington to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  The pair were recalled for Saturday’s game against Ottawa and will likely be brought back up for their next game against the Sens on Monday.
  • The Montreal Canadiens assigned Paul Byron to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  It’s a move that has been made frequently since he cleared waivers earlier this month with him getting recalled on game days.
  • The Winnipeg Jets assigned Logan Stanley to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  He was recalled for Saturday’s game against Montreal after Tucker Poolman was placed on IR.

East Division

  • The Buffalo Sabres made several roster moves as the team announced they have recalled defenseman Brandon Davidson from the taxi squad. That roster spot on the taxi squad has been replaced by forward C.J. Smith, who was brought up from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. The team also assigned defenseman Jacob Bryson from the Sabres back to the taxi squad and moved Casey Fitzgerald from the taxi squad back to the AHL. Davidson has already appeared in two games for the Sabres this year.
  • The New Jersey Devils announced they recalled forward Mikhail Maltsev from the taxi squad. To fill the open spot on the taxi squad, the Devils have recalled defenseman Connor Carrick from the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. The 22-year-old Maltsev has a goal in four games for New Jersey. He is expected to play and fill in for Nico Hischier, who is considered day-to-day.
  • The Boston Bruins made several moves in advance of their game today against the Rangers, per CapFriendly.  Recalled from the taxi squad were Greg McKegg, Steven Kampfer, and Karson Kuhlman while going to the taxi squad were Trent Frederic, Urho Vaakanainen, and Kampfer (after the game was played).
  • As has become a daily custom, the New York Rangers made several roster moves before their contest against Boston, per CapFriendly.  Recalled from the taxi squad were Igor Shesterkin, Libor Hajek, and Jonny Brodzinski.  Keith Kinkaid was sent back to the taxi squad while Tarmo Reunanen and Tim Gettinger were re-assigned to AHL Hartford.

Central Division

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets assigned two taxi squad players to the minors. The team announced that it sent forwards Zac Dalpe and Ryan MacInnis to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. Both players were recalled to the taxi squad on Thursday. The 31-year-old Dalpe has already played five games with Cleveland, posting three goals and four points. The 25-year-old MacInnis did appear in 10 NHL games with the Blue Jackets last year, but has also only appeared in five AHL games this year with a goal and an assist. UPDATE: The Blue Jackets have announced just a few hours later that both Dalpe and MacInnis have been recalled back to the taxi squad from Cleveland after the Cleveland Monsters game was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled defenseman Alex Biega from the taxi squad. The blueliner has been up and down all season between the Red Wings and the practice squad. The 32-year-old has appeared in just two NHL games this year.
  • With the loss of Jarred Tinordi on waivers to the Boston Bruins, the Nashville Predators announced they have recalled defenseman Ben Harpur from the taxi squad. Harpur, who has been going up and down between the NHL and taxi squads this year, has found himself in the lineup the last three games, averaging 17:32 of ice time and looks like he will continue to stay in the lineup for now.
  • The Dallas Stars have reassigned forward Rhett Gardner to the taxi squad. Gardner, also a player who has been up and down quite a bit this year, was recalled to Dallas Saturday. The 25-year-old has appeared in four games for Dallas.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have returned Alex Nedeljkovic and Jake Bean to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  The two have been recalled and sent down frequently over the past month depending on whether or not the team playing that day.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning sent Andreas Borgman back to the taxi squad, per CapFriendly.  With the team off until Tuesday, there’s no need for them to carry more than the minimum six defenders on their active roster.

West Division

Washington Capitals Recall Ilya Samsonov, Intend To Start Him

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The Washington Capitals announced they have recalled goaltender Ilya Samsonov from the taxi squad and head coach Peter Laviolette said that he intends to start the netminder, who will be making his first appearance for Washington since Jan. 17. Veteran Craig Anderson has been returned to the taxi squad.

Samsonov has appeared in just two games this season before he and a number of Russian teammates found themselves on the COVID-19 protocol list. Once activated, the team sent him to the Hershey Bears of the AHL to find his game, but the 24-year-old has struggled there instead, posting a 3.25 GAA and a .869 save percentage in four games. Samsonov’s last game on Friday showed promise as he picked up the win, while allowing just three goals. The team hopes that giving him an easy assignment against the New Jersey Devils, who are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games, might make for an easy transition back to the NHL.

The Capitals have been relying most of the season on rookie Vitek Vanecek, who has played quite well considering the workload they have placed upon him. Vanecek has posted a 2.81 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 17 appearances. Depending on Samsonov’s success, Vanecek will likely return to the back-up role that he was projected to take this year.

The Capitals allowed starting goaltender Braden Holtby to walk in free agency this offseason as they felt that Samsonov was the goaltender of the future after an impressive season in 2019-20. In 26 games, he put up 16 wins and a .913 save percentage. He didn’t appear in the playoffs, however, due to a lower-body injury and now has seen little time so far this year.

 

Minnesota Wild Place Alex Stalock On Waivers

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The Minnesota Wild have placed goaltender Alex Stalock on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. The 33-year-old veteran led the Wild in wins and starts last season, but has yet to make an NHL appearance this year.

Stalock, who took over as the Wild’s starter last year after a disappointing season by long-time starter Devan Dubnyk, has been out since the beginning of the season due to an upper-body injury. Stalock was coming off a season in which he posted 20 wins, a 2.67 GAA and a .910 save percentage last year in 38 games. He also played in all four postseason games in the bubble last year, but didn’t fare as well, going 1-3 with a 3.03 GAA and a .897 save percentage.

The Wild then changed up their goaltending during the offseason, trading Dubnyk to San Jose and signing Cam Talbot as a free agent. The team also had last year’s AHL Goaltender of the Year Kaapo Kahkonen, leaving Stalock’s status on the team shaky already. Both Talbot and Kahkonen have played extremely well with Minnesota this year. Talbot has a 2.19 GAA and a .926 save percentage in seven appearances, while Kahkonen has 2.41 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 12 games.

That leaves Stalock, who is finally healthy and ready to come off injured reserve, as the odd man out and a serious candidate to be claimed by other teams in need of a veteran goaltender. On top of all that, Stalock is quite inexpensive as he is earning just $725K this year, just his second year in a three-year, $2.36MM deal he signed back in 2019.

With several teams in need of goaltending help, it would seem improbable that the Wild can slip him through to assign him to the taxi squad. One interesting fact is the team could have assigned him to the AHL for a conditioning stint first, but opted not to do that, perhaps hoping that Stalock, who hasn’t appeared in a game since the playoff bubble in August, might not be ready to jump into a game for any time right away, thereby dissuading teams to claim him.

However, there are plenty of teams in desperate need of help in goal (especially veteran help), with many people pointing to the Buffalo Sabres, who just lost Linus Ullmark for a month due to injury, who would be strong candidates to take a chance on him.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo was the first to report that Stalock was going to be put on waivers.

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/27/21

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Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Though today’s list release was delayed, here are the awaited results:

Arizona – John Hayden*
NY Rangers – Kaapo Kakko
Ottawa – Ryan Dzingel
Philadelphia – Travis Konecny
San Jose – Tomas Hertl

As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol

Players removed today: None

Unfortunately, the new addition to CPRA list today is a familiar name. Coyotes forward Hayden had previously been on the list earlier this season and now makes his return. Hayden was made a healthy scratch last night and Arizona made a roster addition earlier, seemingly without an open spot, so this move explains the situation.

There were no players removed from the list today, but with Dzingel only on the list as a post-trade quarantine formality and Konecny expected to be removed in the next day or two with a negative test following his required two-week absence, the league is still in a good place, especially compared to their status a few short weeks ago.

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