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Archives for January 2022

Minnesota Wild Looking To Add At Trade Deadline

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The Minnesota Wild are quickly becoming a wagon of a team, separating themselves from the rest of the pack in the Western Conference. Their .689 points percentage puts them on pace for 113 points this season, which would break their record of 106 set in 2016-17 and would be their fifth 100+ point season since joining the league in 2000-01. Despite a track record of decent teams, though, Minnesota has only advanced to the Conference Final stage once — their third season, 2002-03. They’ve made the playoffs numerous times since then but have only escaped the first round twice, losing back-to-back Second Round series in 2014 and 2015.

But with the good ol’ salary cap looming over his team’s head in the near future, general manager Bill Guerin knows there’s no time like the present to add assets for a potential Stanley Cup run in a weak Western Conference. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the Wild are still in on J.T. Miller, who would be a hot commodity if Vancouver does opt to trade him after their recent hot stretch. Miller was linked to the Wild as far back as November 2021. They’ll face stiff competition, though, as Seravalli notes the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames are also interested in his services.

The Fourth Period also notes that Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion was spotted scouting tonight’s game between the Wild and Montreal Canadiens. Senators center Chris Tierney is a pending unrestricted free agent, and the experienced bottom-six pivot will also likely be gone at the deadline. He’s another body the team could be interested in.

A center is a common theme here, and it’s the position at which Minnesota lacks the most. Ryan Hartman is enjoying a career year playing between stars Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, but he’s not a natural center and has won just 46.6% of his faceoffs this year. Miller, who’s got 39 points in 39 games so far with Vancouver, is a proven top-six center with better faceoff numbers, the ideal complement down the middle to Joel Eriksson Ek.

It’s worth noting that Miller does have one season remaining after this one on his contract, which carries a $5.25MM cap hit. With the buyout penalties of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter increasing by a staggering $8MM this offseason, salary retention may be a requirement for them. There’s no guarantee Vancouver would be willing to oblige, and Miller will certainly have other suitors.

Anaheim Ducks Activate Troy Terry, Cam Fowler

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The Anaheim Ducks are getting some big names back into the fold. They tweeted today that they’ve activated forward Troy Terry and defenseman Cam Fowler from COVID-19 protocol, assigning forward Vinni Lettieri to the team’s taxi squad to make roster space.

Anaheim is still in playoff position in the Pacific Division. However, they’ve entered a bit of a slide with big names out of the lineup, posting just a 3-7-0 record in their last 10 games.

The Ducks’ return to relevancy certainly came sooner than expected this season, and Terry and Fowler are big parts of that. Heading to his first All-Star Game this year, Terry leads the team in goals (22) and points (36) in 38 games. Fowler’s once against logged big minutes this year, playing 23:42 a game and notching 20 points.

Lettieri comes out of the lineup playing decently well in injury relief, notching seven points in 15 games while receiving a top-six role at times.

Teddy Blueger Undergoes Surgery

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The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without Teddy Blueger for the next while, as the team announced the checking center underwent surgery to repair a fractured jaw. Blueger will be out for the next six to eight weeks.

The injury occurred on a hit from Brendan Dillon yesterday, which even had Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune-Review wondering if Blueger had suffered a broken jaw on the play. While the team won in a shootout over the Jets, they’ve now lost an important piece of the lineup for up to two months.

Blueger, 27, averages nearly 16 minutes a night for the Penguins, eating the hardest defensive deployment on the team and generally coming out ahead. In more than 537 minutes with Blueger on the ice at even-strength, the Penguins have outscored opponents 24-18 despite him hardly ever starting his shift in the offensive zone. With him out of the lineup, the team will also need to find another center for the penalty kill, where he averages more than any Penguins’ forward not named Brock McGinn.

Injuries certainly aren’t something new for the Penguins, but head coach Mike Sullivan has always been able to find a replacement from somewhere to keep the machine chugging along. The team has won five in a row and is now within striking distance of the New York Rangers for first place in the Metropolitan. Luckily, Blueger’s timeline means he’ll be back in advance of the playoffs, and even potentially the trade deadline which is still almost two months away.

Reilly Smith Added To COVID Protocol

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The Vegas Golden Knights have made several transactions, not the least of which was placing Reilly Smith in the COVID protocol. Smith is unavailable for tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals. Jake Leschyshyn, Jonas Rondbjerg, and Daniil Miromanov have been recalled from the AHL.

Smith, 30, has been the focus of plenty of trade speculation in recent weeks because of the tight cap situation the Golden Knights will find themselves in when Jack Eichel returns and his status as a pending free agent. The veteran forward will hit the open market in the summer if he fails to sign an extension, as his five-year, $25MM deal expires at the end of 2021-22.

He’ll miss a chance to add to his 29 points in 40 games tonight when the Golden Knights take on the Capitals, and likely will miss another chance to face his former team in Florida later this week. With a game against the Carolina Hurricanes in between and a trip to Tampa Bay to face the Lighting on the weekend, it’s certainly not the ideal road trip to lose a top forward.

Canucks Notes: Miller, Halak, GM

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The Vancouver Canucks outshot the St. Louis Blues 39-17 last night but still managed to lose 3-1 because of a strong performance from Ville Husso. Even with that loss, the Canucks are still in better shape than they were a month ago, sitting just four points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference. With that in mind, the question of the trade deadline continues to come up, particularly with regards to J.T. Miller. Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV spoke with Canucks president Jim Rutherford, who called Miller the team’s best forward and explained that more management pieces need to be in place before putting together a deadline strategy.

Miller, 28, is having an outstanding season, with 39 points in 39 games while averaging more than 21 minutes a night for the Canucks. He’s really been the only forward the team can rely on every night and would be a big chip at the deadline if they decided to sell. With one more year left on his deal after this season and a reasonable $5.25MM cap hit, there’s at least some reason to believe that the Canucks could hold onto him through the end of the year even if they fall out of the playoff race.

  • Another piece that has been speculated on quite thoroughly is Jaroslav Halak, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. Part of the discourse has been about Halak’s $1.25MM performance bonus for playing in 10 games, something that will come into effect should he appear in two more matches. Rutherford told Dhaliwal that the bonus isn’t an issue for them and that Halak helps them win games. Dhaliwal even went so far as to suggest the decision has already been made to not move Halak.
  • After hiring Emilie Castonguay as an assistant GM earlier today, Rutherford is nearing a decision on the next general manager of the team. Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet tweets that in-person interviews with five finalists have been completed, with a hire potentially coming this week. It’s that GM, along with Rutherford, Castonguay and the rest of the front office, who will need to form a deadline strategy in the coming weeks.

Jarred Tinordi Clears Waivers

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Jan 24: Tinordi has cleared waivers, according to Johnston. The veteran defenseman has now been sent to the taxi squad, which will take his cap hit entirely off the books for the Rangers. To fill his roster spot, Morgan Barron has been recalled.

Jan 23: The New York Rangers placed defenseman Jarred Tinordi on waivers today, per TSN’s Chris Johnston.

Tinordi last dressed for a Rangers game on January 10th, a loss to Los Angeles. He has a goal in just seven games with the Rangers this season, averaging only 12:55 of ice time per game.

He played five games earlier this season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack on a conditioning loan in December after playing just five games during October and November. Often a healthy scratch, the Rangers will gain a bit more roster flexibility if Tinordi clears.

A first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2010, the 29-year-old Tinordi has been claimed on waivers once before. The Boston Bruins picked him up in February of 2021, grabbing him from the Nashville Predators.

Tinordi is signed through 2022-23 with a cap hit of $900,000.

Vancouver Canucks Hire Emilie Castonguay

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The Vancouver Canucks have hired Emilie Castonguay as an assistant general manager, becoming the first female AGM in team history. Canucks’ president Jim Rutherford released a statement on the hire:

Émilie has extensive experience, is driven to succeed, and has a strong reputation in hockey for her intelligence and work ethic. She will play a lead role in player contracts and negotiation, managing the collective bargaining agreement, and her voice will be heard in all aspects of hockey operations. She will be a key member of our leadership team and we are pleased to welcome her to Vancouver.

This is not the first time that Castonguay has broken barriers in the sport. In 2016, she became the first female NHLPA certified agent, representing players at Momentum Hockey like Alexis Lafreniere, Marie-Philip Poulin, Antoine Roussel, and Mathieu Joseph. She too released a statement about the new opportunity:

It is an honour to join the Vancouver Canucks and I am grateful to Jim and the Aquilini family for the opportunity. The Canucks have a passionate fanbase and an exciting young team with a bright future. I can’t wait to help build a winning organization that continues to grow and challenges for championship.

Her path as an agent and now hockey operations executive followed a playing career that included four years at Niagara University, where she served as captain in 2007-08. A member of the Quebec Bar Association, she will bring plenty of expertise in contract negotiations along with contacts in the QMJHL especially, where she represented some of the top young players.

Earlier this month, Castonguay was at the top of the Hockey News’ list of potential women who could become an NHL general manager. With this new appointment, she is well on her way.

Latvia Announces 2022 Olympic Roster

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With just three weeks until the 2022 Winter Olympic men’s hockey tournament gets underway, rosters are being finalized by all the participating countries. Latvia is the latest to reveal who will represent their country in Beijing next month, though their group won’t be quite as familiar to NHL fans. In fact, there’s only four players with any NHL experience at all.

The full roster:

G Kristers Gudlevskis
G Janis Kalnins
G Ivars Punnenovs

D Uvis Janis Balinskis
D Oskars Cibulskis
D Karlis Cukste
D Ralfs Freibergs
D Janis Jaks
D Arturs Kulda
D Patriks Ozols
D Kristaps Zile

F Rodrigo Abols
F Oskars Batna
F Rihards Bukarts
F Roberts Bukarts
F Lauris Darzins
F Kaspars Daugavins
F Andris Dzerins
F Martins Dzierkals
F Miks Indrasis
F Nikolajs Jelisejevs
F Martins Karsums
F Ronalds Kenins
F Renars Krastenbergs
F Deniss Smirnovs

Like many of the other countries, it’s a veteran group for the Latvians without any real dynamic NHL prospects. Dzierkals, 24, was a third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs and is technically still on the Vegas Golden Knights reserve list, though his last season in North America came with the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears in 2017-18. He ended up on the Vegas list in the Robin Lehner trade, which included Toronto playing middle man for salary cap purposes.

Taxi Squad Shuffle: 01/24/22

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It’s a new week in the NHL and that means a full schedule, including seven games this evening. One of the prime matchups is between two teams that were perhaps not expected to be contenders at the start of the season. The New York Rangers, first in the Metropolitan, will welcome in the Los Angeles Kings, second in the Pacific. Both teams won their previous game and will try to continue that trend at Madison Square Garden. As they and others prepare, we’ll keep track of all the minor league and taxi squad shuffling.

Atlantic Division

  • The Detroit Red Wings have made several transactions. Calvin Pickard is heading to the AHL, while Kyle Criscuolo and Luke Witkowski are headed to the taxi squad. To join them, the team has also recalled Kaden Fulcher from the AHL to the taxi squad. Pickard has been outstanding for the Grand Rapids Griffins this season, posting a .929 save percentage in 26 appearances.
  • With the Toronto Maple Leafs getting Ondrej Kase and Justin Holl back into the lineup, the team has sent Joey Anderson, Carl Dahlstrom, and Erik Kallgren back to the AHL. Dahlstrom played his first NHL game since 2019-20 while Holl was out, but isn’t expected to be a regular contributor.
  • The Ottawa Senators have sent Jacob Bernard-Docker, Filip Gustavsson, and Logan Shaw to the AHL, though they obviously could recall any of them again before tomorrow’s game against the Sabres. Ottawa won just their 12th game of the season last night.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have reassigned Brett Murray to the AHL, though the Rochester Americans don’t play again until Friday, so he might be back up at some point this week. Murray, 23, has played in 19 games for the Sabres so far this season, recording six points.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning have reassigned Charles Hudon, Daniel Walcott, and Andrej Sustr to the AHL. With just three games left for the Lightning before the All-Star break–and all of them coming at home–the team is reinforcing the Syracuse Crunch.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets assigned Jake Christiansen to the AHL from the taxi squad, giving him a chance to continue his strong minor league season. The undrafted defenseman has 20 points in 25 games for the Cleveland Monsters and made his NHL debut, skating in three games with Columbus.
  • The Rangers have added Adam Huska to the taxi squad, a curious move given Keith Kinkaid exited with an injury in yesterday’s Hartford Wolf Pack game. The AHL squad doesn’t play until Wednesday, but will likely need Huska back unless Kinkaid’s injury isn’t serious.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled Linus Sandin, Connor Bunnaman, and Felix Sandstrom to the taxi squad. Sandin, 25, has still not made his NHL debut since signing out of Sweden but has seven points in 13 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
  • A.J. Greer, back from the hit that earned Ross Johnston a three-game suspension, has been activated from injured reserve and returned to the AHL. Greer has 15 points in 22 games for the Utica Comets this season.

Central Division

  • The Dallas Stars have reassigned Riley Damiani, Rhett Gardner, and Riley Tufte from the AHL to the taxi squad, giving them some extra bodies for their trip to Philadelphia. The Stars have won their last two games but still sit nine points behind the Minnesota Wild for fourth place in the Central Division.
  • The Nashville Predators have recalled Matt Luff to the taxi squad, while sending Tomas Vomacka all the way back to the ECHL. Vomacka, 22, has been used as a practice squad goaltender this season, while also posting solid numbers for the Florida Everblades in 12 ECHL appearances.

Pacific Division

  • The Calgary Flames have added Byron Froese to the taxi squad, as they prepare for action tonight against St. Louis. The Flames have had quite a rough stretch, losing seven of their last ten and falling out of a playoff spot. Froese, 30, has ten goals and 19 points in 22 games for the Stockton Heat this season.
    • The team’s now brought up another body to the taxi squad, calling up defenseman Connor Mackey. The Illinois native has 20 points in 34 games this year with Stockton.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Five Key Stories: 1/17/22 – 1/23/22

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With the trade market basically being non-existent at the midway point of the season, most of the biggest news in the NHL over the past seven days came away from the rink, including the rescheduling of over 100 games.

Flyers Injuries: On top of seeing their losing streak extend to 11 games marking the second stretch of at least 10 straight losses this season, Philadelphia also got hit hard by injuries to a pair of key forwards.  First, center Kevin Hayes will miss three to four weeks after undergoing a procedure to drain fluid from his adductor region.  The veteran has been limited to just 20 games this season with multiple IR stints plus a stint in COVID protocol.  Meanwhile, winger Joel Farabee will be out for up to four weeks with an upper-body injury.  The 21-year-old has seen his production drop like many Philadelphia players this season but he still has 11 goals in 33 games.

Two For Orlov: Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov received a two-game suspension for his knee-on-knee hit on Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers.  It’s the second time that the 30-year-old has been suspended after being hit with one for a boarding incident back in 2014.  He missed games against Boston and Ottawa and will be able to return on Monday against Vegas.  Ehlers, on the other hand, won’t be returning for a while as he was placed on LTIR on Saturday, freeing up the cap space for them to activate Blake Wheeler.  As a result, Ehlers will miss at least 10 games and 24 days.

Setback For Price: Canadiens goaltender Carey Price hasn’t played at all this season with his recovery from offseason knee surgery going slower than expected.  It turns out that the veteran recently had a setback and will be essentially starting from scratch in his recovery as he tries to work his way back to the ice at some point this season.  Montreal has struggled considerably this season with Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault between the pipes and with Price having four years left on his contract, they will be balancing a fine line between having him return in a situation where they have no playoff hopes while also wanting to ensure that their star goalie won’t have any question marks heading into 2022-23.

New GM: Still with Montreal, they now have their replacement for former GM Marc Bergevin as Kent Hughes was named their new general manager.  The 52-year-old has never worked in an NHL front office but has plenty of experience around the NHL having served as a player agent and had more than $290MM of contracts on his roster before deciding to go with this career change.  Like Executive VP of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton, Hughes received a five-year contract and the duo will look to rebuild a Canadiens team that has gone from a Stanley Cup Finalist to lottery contender in roughly six months.

Protocols Changing: There should soon be a sharp decline in the number of players testing positive for COVID-19.  Following the All-Star Game, the only times that players and team staff will be tested is for cross-border travel or if they’re showing symptoms.  Roughly 73% of NHL rosters have tested positive this season so that decrease was likely to happen on its own with players not being subject to testing for three months after that time but a few weeks from now, the list of players in COVID protocol should be pretty short.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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