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Marlies, Senators Approved To Host AHL Games

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While the first part of the AHL schedule for both the Toronto Marlies and Belleville Senators has already been released, with the two teams traveling outside of the province of Ontario, it still wasn’t clear how long they would have to wait to host home games. That problem seems resolved now, as Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Minister, tweets that the chief medical officer has approved a return-to-play plan for both teams to host games.

This is huge for the AHL, who had a Canadian Division of teams all circling Ontario, hoping that they would be able to play in the province before the end of their shortened season. It also provides some hope for the Ontario Hockey League, which is still on pause even while the QMJHL continues and the WHL prepares to start. There was some hope that the OHL has formed a start plan recently, but the league threw cold water on any speculation by announcing they have “not yet arrived at an approved return to play framework for the coming season.”

That speculation is going to ramp up again now that the province has allowed the Marlies and Senators to play, especially with pressure from the NHL. The OHL is one of the biggest sources of draft picks for the professional leagues and many of its players haven’t been on the ice in a competitive game in nearly a year. As explained the other day though, if the OHL does restart it will pose an interesting predicament to NHL squads that have junior-aged players suiting up in the AHL currently. Those players would need to return to their junior team once it restarts or go to the NHL, even if they’re handling themselves at the minor league level.

At any rate, this is strong news for the AHL. It happens to come on the same day that Belleville will start their season, hitting the ice against the Laval Rocket later this evening.

League Notes: COVID Safety Measures, Draft Lottery, Draft Date

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As alluded to earlier, the NHL and NHLPA have revealed a joint release describing several new Coronavirus safety measures in response to the growing list of players in the COVID Protocol and game postponements. Included in the list of new strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus are a “work/home quarantine”, a ban on non-virtual team meetings and social interactions, removal of the glass behind the penalty box, KN95 face masks, and even revised seating assignments in the locker room and during travel to use previous positive-test players as “buffers”. There will also be rapid testing for all U.S. teams on game days, with a similar system in the works for Canadians clubs, genome sequencing tests, greater testing availability for household members, and a greater emphasis on COVID education. Will all of this change the current COVID calamity across the league? It certainly won’t hurt.

  • As rumored this off-season, the NHL is going to take a closer look at changing the structure of the NHL Draft Lottery. On Thursday’s edition of TSN’s “Insider Trading”, Pierre LeBrun reported that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has revealed to him that a review of the lottery process is officially underway. He believes that a pitch will be made to the Board of Governors soon as to a proposed new format. The assumption of course is that the new structure will give increased odds of winning the lottery to the teams finishing at the bottom of standings. The talk this off-season centered around the Detroit Red Wings, who failed to win even one of the lottery draws for the 2020 NHL Draft and fell to fourth in a season in which they were historically bad and well below even the 30th-ranked team in the NHL. Many owners and GM’s felt that this shifted the status quo and placed importance on avoiding such poor teams missing out on top picks in the future, or at least offering them a better chance of landing those picks. Whether or not these lottery changes will be approved, and if so in time for the next entry draft, remain to be seen.
  • The question still remains of when the 2021 NHL Draft will actually be held. Given the lack of opportunity for a number of prospects this season, there have been considerable talks about postponing the draft. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that NHL’s general managers plan to meet soon to discuss options for the coming draft. Dreger believes there are three possible options for the draft. The first, of course, is to leave the draft as is in June. With the CHL leagues working toward a return and the American junior and collegiate levels and European leagues well underway, there will likely have been a chance for every team to see every prospect, even if only in a limited sample size. This will put teams on an even playing field, however those drafting later in the first round may wind up benefiting from the lack of complete information allowing some superior prospects to slide. The other two possibilities involve postponing the draft. The first is to schedule the draft for the winter, either December of January, to allow teams to gather more data over the remainder of this season, in summer tournaments, and early next season. The second, and to Dreger the one likely to be most supported by GM’s, is to hold the 2021 and 2022 drafts back-to-back next summer, allowing for another complete season to replace the current campaign before teams are asked to select players. All three options hold merit and there are likely still many factors to consider over the next few months before a formal decision can be made.

Nashville Predators Place Mattias Ekholm On IR

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The Nashville Predators will be without one of their top defensemen for the time being. The club has announced that Mattias Ekholm has been placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed lower-body injury. Additionally, checking forward Mathieu Olivier has also been transferred to the injured reserve. Taking their places on the active roster in the meantime are defenseman Ben Harpur and young forward Eeli Tolvanen. 

The Predators will be without Ekholm for at least ten days from his most recent appearance on Tuesday as a result of moving him to IR. However, without more intel on the injury or a timeframe for his return, the talented two-way defender could be out beyond that date. Ekholm actually missed the Predators’ first game against the Tampa Bay Lightning this week, on Monday, February 8th, but returned to the roster the next night for the second game of the back-to-back. It’s possible that he reaggravated the injury or that this has simply been a lingering issue. Either way, the Predators will have to cope with losing Ekholm, a stalwart on the back end for eight years now.

This is an important season for both the Predators and Ekholm and this injury absence puts pressure on both. A Stanley Cup finalist in 2017, Nashville looked like they had the core to contend for years to come. Instead, it has been a steady decline of playoff failure from a second-round upset as the President’s Trophy winners in 2018 to a first-round exit in 2019 and finally a stunning qualifying round loss in 2020. Now they might simply be fighting to even qualify for the postseason this year. The Predators currently sit in seventh in the Central Division with a disappointing .385 points percentage and the third-worst goal differential in the NHL.

If Nashville needs to make major changes to get back on track, one of the key questions is whether Ekholm will be part of that future. With the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft waiting ahead, the Predators will have to decide if they want to protect seven forwards and three defensemen – likely to be Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and the future of the blue line in Dante Fabbro – leaving Ekholm exposed or whether he is worth opting for the eight-skater protection scheme which could leave some young forwards exposed. A rebuilding team might give up (or alternatively trade beforehand) a 30-year-old core defenseman rather than a promising prospect forward. So far this year, Ekholm’s per-game production and ice time are both down considerably compared to the past few years and if he has an extended injury absence or is unable to turn things around upon is return, it could certainly influence the team’s decision.

 

COVID Protocol Related Absences: 02/11/21

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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. The list is in:

Buffalo – Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar, Jake McCabe, Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen
Chicago – Ryan Carpenter
Colorado –  Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost, Gabriel Landeskog
Edmonton – Jesse Puljujarvi*
Florida – Anthony Duclair*
Los Angeles – Andreas Athanasiou, Blake Lizotte
Minnesota –  Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Jonas Brodin, Ian Cole, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brad Hunt, Marcus Johansson, Victor Rask, Carson Soucy, Jared Spurgeon, Nico Sturm, Cam Talbot
New Jersey – Nathan Bastian, Jesper Bratt, Connor Carrick, Eric Comrie, Nikita Gusev, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Andreas Johnsson, Dmitry Kulikov, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Damon Severson, Ty Smith, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri*, Pavel Zacha*
NY Rangers – Filip Chytil*
Philadelphia – Justin Braun, Claude Giroux, Travis Sanheim, Morgan Frost*, Jakub Voracek*
Vegas – Tomas Nosek

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: Marcus Foligno, Minnesota Wild; Yegor Sharangovich, New Jersey Devils

With Puljujarvi’s addition, the NHL has pushed back the start time for Edmonton-Montreal to give them more time to process testing. It is not clear yet if the two teams will play. It would be the first postponed game in the North Division should it be pushed back.

Two more Philadelphia players isn’t a great sign for the Flyers, who are now just ten days away from the scheduled Lake Tahoe outdoor game. It is currently still scheduled as planned, as is the Flyers game on February 18 against the Rangers. We’ll have to see whether that changes, but New York has also had a player pop up on the list today in Chytil.

Palmieri and Zacha were only removed from the protocol yesterday but now find themselves back on it (though, Corey Masisak of The Athletic tweets that this was a clerical error). The Devils are currently scheduled to play on February 16, similarly against the Rangers.

*denotes new addition

Snapshots: COVID, U18, O’Ree

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The NHL has sent out a memo to its teams detailing further enhanced COVID measures, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The memo includes specifically recommended masks, virtual meetings, removing the glass from the penalty box, further recommendations about remaining at home except for practices/games, and, perhaps most importantly, rapid testing on game days.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone spoke about the rapid testing change this morning, one that should hit close to home given his team had a player pulled mid-game recently. Tomas Nosek played two periods before his positive test results forced him out of a Golden Knights game, a situation that rapid testing can hopefully help avoid. Today, the Edmonton Oilers-Montreal Canadiens game has been pushed back an hour to give the league more time to process tests after one Edmonton player was added to the COVID protocol.

  • While the NHL continues to try and navigate their season, international events are starting to be planned for later this year. USA Hockey has announced the 2021 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship, to be held in conjunction with the Dallas Stars in Texas. The event is scheduled for April 26-May 6 and will primarily be held in Frisco, Texas at the Comerica Center.
  • The Boston Bruins will postpone their banner raising ceremony for Willie O’Ree until next year, retiring his number 22 on January 18, 2022, instead, in the hopes that he will be able to attend the event in front of a full arena. That date will be 64 years after O’Ree made his debut as the first Black player in the NHL.

Scott Perunovich To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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This is certainly not the rookie season Scott Perunovich was hoping for. The St. Louis Blues defenseman will undergo shoulder surgery tomorrow and is out for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. He is expected to be healthy and ready for the 2021-22 season.

It’s brutal news for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award winner, who ended up signing a two-year entry-level contract in July after three years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Selected 45th overall in 2018, the 22-year-old defenseman has huge offensive upside and was expected to challenge for a spot on the Blues roster right away. Instead, he won’t even play his first professional game until next season.

Perunovich seemed to be on the verge of recovery when he was moved to the minors last month and then recalled to the taxi squad, but it appears as though the decision has been made for surgery over rehab. He’ll be in the mix for a job next season, though with the crowded blue line in St. Louis, it won’t be an easy task to crack the NHL roster.

Andrew Shaw In Concussion Protocol

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The Chicago Blackhawks announced some unfortunate injury news today, noting that Connor Murphy will be out for 10-14 days with a right hip issue and Andrew Shaw is in the concussion protocol. Murphy didn’t play in the team’s last game, but Shaw did, hitting the ice for nearly 15 minutes in their overtime win against the Dallas Stars.

The important thing here is Shaw’s health, given his history of concussions. The bang-and-crash forward has been sidelined by head injuries many times in the past, and head coach Jeremy Colliton (whose playing career was also ended due to concussions) was “visibly distraught” when he updated reporters including Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago on Shaw’s status today.

It’s not clear at all what this mean’s for Shaw’s future, but for now, he won’t be in the lineup when the Blackhawks host the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening.

The team announced two other transactions: Wyatt Kalynuk has been recalled to the taxi squad from the AHL, while Anton Lindholm has gone the other way, assigned to the Rockford IceHogs.

Loui Eriksson, Artem Anisimov Among Those On Waivers

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Feb 11: All three players have cleared waivers. They can now be assigned to the taxi squad or AHL.

Feb 10: The Vancouver Canucks have placed Loui Eriksson on waivers again, after clearing just before the season began. Eriksson has played in just one game, but the team has decided to reset his waiver clock so that they can continue to move him to the taxi squad. He isn’t alone on waivers today. Artem Anisimov of the Ottawa Senators and Taylor Fedun of the Dallas Stars have also both been placed on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Seeing Eriksson there shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Despite carrying a $6MM cap hit, tied for the highest on the team, the 35-year-old forward is basically a practice player at this point in his career. He suited up 49 times last season for the Canucks but recorded just six goals and 13 points. Eriksson received an odd chance to skate beside Bo Horvat on the weekend, but was quickly moved back off that line and scratched the following game. He won’t be claimed, not at that price.

Anisimov’s story isn’t all that different. Now 32, Anisimov hasn’t been a regular in the Senators lineup this season and has just one point in four games. His contract carries a $4.55MM cap hit (though the actual salary remaining is very low) and he is a shell of his former self. There was a time when Anisimov could be relied on for 20 goals and forty points, but that seems to be in the past—at least while he remains in Ottawa.

Fedun is a much different kind of player, still scratching by for any chance he can get in the NHL. The 32-year-old undrafted defenseman has played in just 127 games over the course of his long professional career and none this season with the Stars. He does have some interesting possession statistics over the last two seasons and has recorded 20 points in 81 games, but it seems unlikely that anyone would claim him, given the other names that have slipped through waivers already this season.

 

Elvis Merzlikins Activated From Injured Reserve

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are off to a rocky start, going 6-5-3 through their first 14 games. Not only have they struggled on the ice, but they’ve also been swirling in controversy since the start of the year. After trading Pierre-Luc Dubois, benching Patrik Laine, and watching Mikko Koivu retire just a few weeks into the season, the Blue Jackets are due for some good news.

Perhaps they got it today when Elvis Merzlikins was activated off injured reserve. The 26-year-old goaltender, who finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting as a rookie last season, last played on February 2 in a relief role, before suffering an upper-body injury in practice. Joonas Korpisalo, his tandem partner, hasn’t been playing up to his high standard this season and has just a .901 save percentage through nine appearances.

If there was anything that stood out about the 2019-20 Blue Jackets, it was their excellent tandem, who posted outstanding results regardless of who was in the net. In the postseason, they combined for a .942 save percentage in ten games, winning a qualification round against the Toronto Maple Leafs and even stealing a game from the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

Getting Merzlikins back should help to right the ship in Columbus whenever he gets back into the crease, as even his early-season results were much better than Korpisalo’s.

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