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Archives for January 2024

West Notes: Blackhawks, Wild, Dostál

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There’s been some talk recently about the Blackhawks being big players on the restricted and unrestricted free-agent markets next summer. Not so fast, however, says The Athletic’s Scott Powers, who doesn’t believe the Blackhawks will be in the conversation for top potential UFAs such as current Maple Leafs winger William Nylander.

Powers reports Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson strongly desires to stick to a conservative rebuild plan, allowing the team’s current young talent and expected prospect additions over the next year to develop more before determining what holes the team needs to plug long-term on the free-agent market. In theory, this approach should afford the Blackhawks more cap space after signing franchise cornerstones Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski to long-term deals that would begin in 2026, permitting them to dangle more cash to attract marquee free agents when their young core has already done most of the work to return them to playoff contention.

That doesn’t mean the Blackhawks will turn their phones off on July 1, either. Expect their offseason plan to look similar to last summer’s, adding veteran talent on short-term commitments to fill out a 23-player roster that allows prospects they deem necessary for seasoning to see extended action in the minors.

Other notes from the Western Conference on Thursday:

  • Don’t expect the Wild to make any trades to fill out their injury-ravaged roster, GM Bill Guerin says. Speaking with The Athletic’s Michael Russo, Guerin says the Wild won’t have the salary cap flexibility to keep any acquired players on the roster after defenseman Jonas Brodin, whose $6MM cap hit is on long-term injured reserve and is providing necessary temporary cap relief, is ready to return to the lineup. Brodin remains listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury and is close to becoming eligible to come off LTIR. Aside from Brodin, six other Wild regulars are out of the lineup thanks to injuries, including captain Jared Spurgeon and their two highest-scoring forwards, Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.
  • The Ducks may have lost in overtime to the Maple Leafs last night to extend their winless streak to three, but a team record was set in the process. 23-year-old backup Lukáš Dostál made 55 saves en route to the 2-1 loss, the most in a regular-season game by a Ducks goalie since the franchise began play in 1993. Anaheim’s third-round pick in 2018 has started 14 of the Ducks’ 37 games this season, posting a 6-8-1 record and a .901 SV% that sits just below the league average.

Lightning Expected To Place Mikhail Sergachev On LTIR, Recall Sean Day, Declan Carlile

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3:00 PM: The Tampa Bay Lightning are expected to move Mikhail Sergachev to long-term injured reserve.

8:30 AM: The Lightning recalled defensemen Sean Day and Declan Carlile from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on Thursday, a team release states. Today’s transaction comes after the Lightning were forced to play their last game, a 4-2 loss to the Jets on Tuesday, with 13 forwards and five defensemen due to an injury to Erik Černák and no salary cap space available for a corresponding recall.

Thus, the Lightning must have made a corresponding transaction to fit Day and Carlile on the active roster. It’s possible the team has transferred defenseman Mikhail Sergachev from standard injured reserve to long-term injured reserve, which would rule him out of the team’s next five games with a lower-body injury. He’s already missed six games and 15 days with the injury, which he sustained in the first period of a December 19 game against the Blues.

Day and Carlile now come up to the Lightning roster to provide reinforcements to a badly bruised blue line without two of its three best players in Černák and Sergachev. This isn’t new territory for Day, 25, who was recalled three times last month to serve as injury insurance but did not appear in a game. The one-time OHL exceptional status nod is in his fourth season with the Lightning organization and has made 17 appearances with Syracuse this year, recording eight assists and a +8 rating. He has not made an NHL appearance since logging a pair of games with the Lightning in the 2021-22 season.

For the 23-year-old Carlile, though, this is a career-first. Signed by the Lightning as an undrafted free agent after completing his junior season at Merrimack College in 2022, the Michigan-born defender earns his first in-season recall in the final year of his two-year, entry-level deal. It’s an important step en route to him potentially earning a qualifying offer at the end of this season and remaining in the Lightning organization.

The 2020 Hockey East All-Rookie Team nominee does his best work in transition, posting solid zone entry denial metrics at the collegiate and AHL levels. He was a monster two-way minutes-muncher for Syracuse last season, recording 24 points in 69 games throughout his first full pro season while posting a team-high +28 rating. His numbers this season (three goals, six assists, nine points, +8 rating in 31 games) aren’t quite as strong, but there’s still reason to believe NHL upside exists in Carlile’s game.

One of Day or Carlile will likely draw into the lineup in a third-pairing role alongside recent call-up Philippe Myers tonight when the Lightning visit the Wild. Day and Carlile are both left-shot defensemen.

Coyotes’ Jason Zucker Suspended Three Games For Boarding

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Coyotes winger Jason Zucker has been suspended for three games for boarding Panthers forward Nick Cousins during Tuesday’s 4-1 loss, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced late last night. Zucker faced a phone hearing for the play earlier in the day.

Officials assessed a major penalty and game misconduct to Zucker for boarding on the play, which occurred with less than a minute remaining in the second period. He will be eligible to return on January 11 against the Flames.

Zucker is a first-time offender in the truest sense, never once having been fined or suspended by the league over his 13-year career. However, as the Department of Player Safety outlined in their explanation video for the incident, Cousins sustained an injury due to Zucker’s hit, which limited him to one shift in the third period, leading them to lay down a multi-game suspension. He is now in concussion protocol and is uncertain for tonight’s game against the Golden Knights.

Other factors in the length of suspension included Cousins’ lack of movement before the hit, meaning that when Zucker began to approach Cousins, the latter was in a position that made the impact illegal and satisfied the league’s boarding rule. In the NHL rulebook for the 2023-24 season, the NHL defines a boarding penalty (rule 41.1) as a “player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously.”

Noted in this rule is the immense discretion of officials in assessing boarding penalties, but Cousins’ positioning against the boards at the time Zucker began the check classifies him as a defenseless opponent in no uncertain terms. Cousins also did not have possession of the puck at the time of the play.

The check occurred a few moments after Cousins made contact with Coyotes defenseman Juuso Välimäki along the half wall. However, the Department of Player Safety said Zucker claimed the check was not made in retaliation for his teammate. The Department did not factor retaliation into their decision on a three-game suspension length.

His suspension leaves the Coyotes with only 11 forwards available on the active roster. Unless they opt to dress Josh Brown and utilize seven defensemen in tonight’s tilt against the Islanders, expect the Coyotes to recall a forward from AHL Tucson later today.

It also leaves them without a significant third-line contributor as they try to maintain their place in the Western Conference Wild Card race. Their loss to the Panthers on Tuesday dropped their points percentage to .556, and while they remain in the second Wild Card spot based on current standings points, they sit third in the race based on points percentage behind the Oilers’ .557. They’ll likely need to capture two wins over their next three games without Zucker to keep pace in the playoff race. The 31-year-old missed seven games with a lower-body injury earlier this season, and the Coyotes went 3-3-1 in his absence.

In his first season with Arizona after inking a one-year, $5.3MM pact in free agency, Zucker has six goals and six assists for 12 points through 29 games. He isn’t producing up to the expectations set by his salary, nor his 27 goals and 48 points in 78 games with the Penguins last season, but he has been a solid cog in a Coyotes top-nine that’s produced much better depth scoring than expected.

East Notes: Senators, Cousins, Murray, Palat, Sergachev

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The Senators are believed to be looking to add a veteran bottom-six forward, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  It has been a disappointing season so far for Ottawa who is well out of the playoff picture and have already made a coaching and GM change.  With one of the younger rosters in the league, Garrioch notes GM Steve Staios would like to bring in someone to help in the room while adding some grit up front.  The Sens have limited cap space and is currently in LTIR so it will take some roster juggling to make any sort of addition to their group.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Panthers winger Nick Cousins is in concussion protocol, the team announced (Twitter link). He was injured late in the second period of last night’s game against Arizona on a hit that has Jason Zucker facing potential supplemental discipline.  The 30-year-old has drawn the ire of a couple of opponents in recent weeks with Columbus blueliner Erik Gudbranson also taking exception to a hit.  Cousins is having his worst offensive season so far, notching just two goals and three assists in 37 games.
  • When Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving spoke with the media yesterday, he told reporters including Postmedia’s Terry Koshan that goaltender Matt Murray is on track in his recovery from bilateral hip surgery. Treliving cautioned that he still has a long way to go but as of now, there haven’t been any setbacks.  The pending unrestricted free agent is currently on LTIR and isn’t expected to play during the regular season.
  • Devils winger Ondrej Palat was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Washington with the team announcing (Twitter link) that the veteran has an upper-body injury. The 32-year-old had played in all 35 games leading into this one but has struggled somewhat offensively, collecting just 13 points in those appearances.  Curtis Lazar took Palat’s place in the lineup.
  • The Lightning have placed defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on IR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The 25-year-old has missed the last two weeks with a lower-body injury so this move is purely procedural; if they back-dated it to the date of his injury, he can be activated at any time.  Sergachev has 19 points in 33 games so far this season.

Oilers Activate Dylan Holloway, Assign Him To AHL

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Oilers forward Dylan Holloway has been cleared to return but he won’t be suiting up in Edmonton for the time being.  The team announced that Holloway has been activated off LTIR but he has been assigned to AHL Bakersfield.

The 22-year-old has been limited to just 14 games this season after suffering a knee injury in mid-November.  Holloway has also dealt with wrist and shoulder injuries in the past which have certainly slowed down his development.

While in Edmonton’s lineup this season, Holloway struggled offensively as he tallied just one goal while averaging a little over 11 minutes a night.  That ATOI is actually an improvement on a year ago when he averaged just 9:35 per contest while notching just nine points in 51 games.  For someone who was a first-round pick back in 2020 (14th overall) and was an impactful scorer at Wisconsin, the lack of production has to be some cause for concern.

With that in mind, a stint with the Condors certainly makes some sense.  It would allow Holloway to get his skating legs back under him while also playing much higher up the lineup than he would have had he remained with Edmonton.  It could also give him an opportunity to play his natural center position after primarily playing on the wing with the Oilers.  From a long-term development standpoint, Holloway contributing as a middleman would be a nice outcome for Edmonton but one that they’ll need to be patient for with how much time he has missed already.

Worth noting from a salary cap perspective is that this transaction takes Edmonton out of using LTIR altogether.  Accordingly, they’re now in a position to try to bank at least a little bit of cap space between now and the trade deadline, barring further injuries throwing a wrinkle into those plans.  If that cap space isn’t used, it would reduce the amount of the carryover penalty from Connor Brown’s games played bonus.

Ducks Place Troy Terry On IR, Activate Isac Lundestrom

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Before their game tonight against Toronto, the Ducks announced (Twitter link) multiple injury news.  Winger Troy Terry was placed on injured reserve, paving the way for center Isac Lundestrom to be activated from IR.  Meanwhile, middleman Ryan Strome is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Terry missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury so it’s likely that the placement will be back-dated to that point, meaning that he could be activated as soon as this weekend, if healthy.  The 26-year-old is off to a slower start by his standards, notching nine goals and 13 assists in 35 games; last season, he played in twice as many games while collecting 61 points.  Still, Terry sits third on Anaheim in scoring and will be a noticeable absence for however long he’s out.

Lundestrom, meanwhile, will be making his season debut after recovering from a torn Achilles tendon.  The 24-year-old was a first-round pick back in 2018 (23rd overall) and looked like he was on his way toward becoming a capable regular after putting up 29 points in 80 games back in 2021-22.  However, he struggled offensively last season, collecting just four goals and ten helpers in 61 games.  Lundestrom was supposed to miss at least six months from his injury sustained in early August so he is coming back a month ahead of schedule.  Considering it’s a contract year and he’ll be owed a $1.8MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights, Lundestrom will be hoping for a big second half of the season.

As for Strome, he is also among Anaheim’s scoring leaders, ranking fourth on the team in total points.  The 30-year-old leads the Ducks in assists with 17 and is on pace for his fifth straight season of at least 40 points or more.  Benoit-Olivier Groulx will take his place in the lineup, making his first appearance in more than two weeks.

West Notes: Zucker, Geekie, Schwartz, Karlsson

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Coyotes winger Jason Zucker is set to have a disciplinary hearing today for his hit on Florida winger Nick Cousins on Tuesday, the league announced.  The incident occurred late in the second period with Zucker receiving major penalties for boarding and fighting plus a game misconduct.  The 31-year-old is in his first season in the desert after inking a one-year, $5.3MM contract with Arizona in free agency last summer.  Zucker, who has no prior fine or suspension history, has six goals and six assists in 29 games so far this season.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Still with Arizona, prospect Conor Geekie could be on the move in junior as soon as Thursday, reports Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek (Twitter link). The 19-year-old was the 11th overall pick in 2022 and has been quite productive with WHL Wenatchee, notching 20 goals and 29 assists in just 26 games.  Now that his time with the World Juniors has ended following Canada’s elimination, his trade restriction has been eliminated and it appears that little time will be wasted moving him; Swift Current is believed to be his next destination.
  • Seattle could be close to getting a key winger back as head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters including Mike Benton of the Kraken Audio Network (Twitter link) that Jaden Schwartz is near a return to the lineup. The 31-year-old has missed a little more than a month with a lower-body injury and is currently on LTIR.  Schwartz had gotten off to a nice start to his year with 15 points in 23 games before the injury.
  • The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Linus Karlsson from AHL Abbotsford. The 24-year-old made his NHL debut earlier this season, getting into three games with Vancouver but has spent the bulk of the year in the minors where he has been quite productive, notching 23 points in 25 games.  Vancouver has an open roster spot so no corresponding move needed to be made to bring Karlsson up.

Capitals Activate Max Pacioretty Off LTIR, Place Charlie Lindgren On IR

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The Capitals welcomed one of their key summer signings to the lineup tonight as before their game against New Jersey, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Max Pacioretty was cleared to play, meaning he was taken off long-term injured reserve.  He’ll line up on their third line, taking the place of Hendrix Lapierre in the lineup.  To make room on the roster, Charlie Lindgren has been placed on IR, notes Sammi Silber of The Hockey News (Twitter link).

The 35-year-old is working back from his second torn Achilles tendon in less than a year.  As a result, he missed all but five games last season and while the hope was that he wouldn’t miss too much action this season, Pacioretty wound up missing Washington’s first 35 contests.

In the past, Pacioretty has been a capable top-six forward and averaged better than a point per game over his last two seasons with Vegas before being moved to Carolina in 2022 as a part of a salary cap dump move.  However, over those two seasons, Pacioretty missed 77 games due to injury before missing 77 more last year so there are certainly some concerns about how he’ll hold up down the stretch.

Those concerns were addressed with the contract that he received this summer, one that guaranteed a base salary of just $2MM, well below what a typical top-six forward receives.  Per CapFriendly, Pacioretty will receive another $1MM at the 10-game mark, $500K at 15 games, and another $500K once he plays in his 20th contest so the veteran will need to show that he can stay healthy if he wants to max out those incentives.

Pacioretty’s return will certainly be a welcome one for a Washington team that has struggled considerably offensively this season; only one team has fewer goals than the Capitals.  While it wouldn’t be fair to expect him to make a big impact right away, if he does stay healthy, he could give their attack a bit more depth at a minimum.

As for Lindgren, he missed Saturday’s game against Nashville and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.  He’ll now be out for a few more days at least; once he’s cleared to return, Hunter Shepard will likely be returned to AHL Hershey.  Lindgren has done quite well in limited action this season, posting a .928 SV% with a 2.27 GAA in 15 appearances so far this season.

Wild Recall Daemon Hunt, Place Jared Spurgeon On IR

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The Minnesota Wild have placed captain Jared Spurgeon on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. Spurgeon had only just returned from a lower-body injury that held him out for seven games in December, but now gets placed back on the shelf after three games back. Minnesota is turning to routine call-up Daemon Hunt to fill in while Spurgeon is out. Hunt has played in his first nine career NHL games this season, managing one assist as the only change to his stat line.

Spurgeon’s move to IR is almost poetically devastating for the Wild, who now have their top two forwards, top two defensemen, and their starting goalie on injured reserve – a status complete by Kirill Kaprizov and Spurgeon’s move to IR on Wednesday. The Wild has lost both of the games that they’ve played since losing Kaprizov and Filip Gustavsson in the same game, getting outscored six-to-three. Spurgeon, acting without Kaprizov, Gustavsson, and Jonas Brodin, played in 45 minutes over the last two games managing one assist, three shots, and an even 0 +/-.

This year marks Spurgeon’s 14th season in the NHL – an incredibly impressive mark for a former sixth round draft pick. Spurgeon has also served as the Wild’s captain since the retirement of legendary Wild leader Mikko Koivu in 2020. The 34-year-old defenseman has managed five points in 16 games this season, bringing his career totals up to 384 points in 867 NHL games. He’s played more than all but 10 players from the 2008 NHL Draft class, and could look to  11th among all players from the 2008 NHL Draft class.

Rangers Recall Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick Week-To-Week With Injury

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The New York Rangers have recalled top prospect Brennan Othmann from the AHL. Othmann currently ranks fourth on the Hartford Wolf Pack in scoring and eighth among all AHL rookies with nine goals and 23 points in 28 games. This is the first recall of Othmann’s career after going 16th-overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. He is one of two players from that round to be recalled on Wednesday, with the Los Angeles Kings recalling eighth-overall pick Brandt Clarke. Othmann be looking to become the 16th player from the 2021 First Round to make his NHL debut.

New York also shared that forward Tyler Pitlick is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. This could set up Othmann to make his NHL debut in New York’s Thursday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks. Pitlick has three points in 28 appearances this season.

The Rangers signed Othmann to a three-year, $4.1MM entry-level contract in 2021 that is effective from 2023-24 to 2025-26, with the Rangers receiving two entry level slides from Othmann staying in the OHL.

Othmann was traded midway through last year’s OHL season, moving from the Flint Firebirds to the Peterborough Petes. He would go on to serve as the team’s leading scorer through the postseason, netting 25 points in 23 games as Peterborough won the OHL championship and made it to the semifinal game of the 2023 Memorial Cup. Othmann was one of many NHL prospects on the championship-winning Petes lineup, joining Seattle’s Tucker Robertson, Vancouver’s Connor Lockhart, Philadelphia’s J.R. Avon, and New Jersey’s Chase Stillman.

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