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Senators Snapshots: Melnyk, Karlsson Daigle

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As the 2017 trade deadline approached, the Ottawa Senators and owner Eugene Melnyk had a decision to make: would they be buyers or sellers? With Ottawa exceeding preseason expectations and in contention for a postseason slot, Melnyk authorized Senators GM Pierre Dorion to make two deadline deals, adding much-needed forward depth in the form of Alexandre Burrows and Viktor Stalberg, essentially betting on his club, as Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen writes. As injuries have mounted down the stretch, Ottawa needed every bit of that depth to lock up a playoff spot.

Garrioch notes that those additions added roughly $2.5MM to the team’s payroll, not an insubstantial amount for a budget team. Ultimately, Melnyk believed that the team had gelled under new head coach Guy Boucher and instead of saving the cash he invested it in making his club better. Burrows got off to a fast start in Ottawa, netting four goals and six points in his first six contests with his new team. All told, Burrows and Stalberg have contributed eight goals and 12 points in 35 games combined.

The cost to acquire the veteran forwards, prospect Jonathan Dahlen It remains to be seen just how long the Senators postseason run will last, but it’ clear Melnyk’s faith has been rewarded with an opportunity to find out.

In other Senators news:

  • With the Senators locked in a heated battle to secure a postseason spot and injuries to key players mounting, Boucher took a calculated risk in sitting star defenseman and team captain Erik Karlsson down the stretch, writes Ken Warren, also of the Ottawa Citizen. Karlsson, who leads the Senators in scoring with 71 points, is a likely Norris Trophy candidate and may well garner Hart Trophy consideration as well. Yet Boucher elected to give his team’s best player time to recuperate from a heel issue and it appears likely he’ll hold Karlsson out of the lineup this weekend despite Ottawa having a chance to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The strategy has the potential to pay huge dividends if Karlsson returns even close to 100%. Ottawa also hopes to welcome Marc Methot, Zack Smith and Bobby Ryan back to the lineup and a healthy Sens team could surprise come playoff team.
  • Lastly, while Alexandre Daigle’s name is almost synonymous with the word bust, the Ottawa Citizen’s Don Brennan hypothesizes that Daigle was simply ahead of his time. Daigle, the top overall selection in the 1993 entry draft by the Senators, had the size and speed to be a star in any era but after scoring 20 goals and 51 points as an 18-year-old rookie, he struggled to find success in a league where clutching, holding and grabbing was common. Brennan believes had Daigle begun his career a decade later, when the NHL cracked down on obstruction, the gifted center would have reached his potential and been the superstar many projected him to be. For his part, Daigle has no regrets though he is hopeful his five-year-old son Vincent, who has just taken up the sport, will become a defenseman rather than an offensive forward like his dad. In Daigle’s mind there is too much pressure on forwards to score goals while defensemen can carve out a long pro career simply by mastering the ability to “chip the puck out.” Obviously those comments were not meant to be taken seriously but it likely does speak to how the style of game played during Daigle’s formative professional years stifled offense.

Tavares Week-To-Week With Lower-Body Injury

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The New York Islanders dwindling playoff chances, already on life support with the team four points out and just five games remaining, may have just received the final nail in the proverbial coffin. The team announced this morning that team captain John Tavares is week-to-week with a lower body injury. With just eight days remaining in the regular season, the injury would therefore have a good chance of prematurely ending the star center’s season.

Cal Clutterbuck told Brett Crygalis of the New York Post that Tavares appeared to have caught his skate in a rut in the Barclays Center ice, leading to the injury. The quality of the ice at Barclays Center has long been an issue and it seems to have led to the loss of the Islanders best player at a time they need him most.

Tavares leads the Islanders in scoring with 66 points, 14 ahead of second place Josh Bailey. He’s second on the club in goals with 28, just one behind Anders Lee.

Even with Tavares in the lineup, the Islanders were faced with a tall task trying to make it to the postseason. The team is four points behind the Bruins for the second wild card spot in the east with both Tampa Bay and Carolina, each of whom has a game in hand on the Isles, ahead of them in the standings. According to the Sports Club Stats website, the Islanders have just a 2.9% chance of making it to the postseason. Minus Tavares, those odds today are practically zero.

Assuming the Islanders do come up short in their pursuit of a postseason berth, the long term future of their franchise player will immediately take center stage in Brooklyn. Tavares will be an unrestricted free agent following the 2017-18 season and has expressed at every every opportunity his desire to remain with the team that drafted him first overall in 2009. However, if Tavares questions whether the Islanders have the means and wherewithal to challenge for a Stanley Cup, he may not wish to tie himself to the club through the balance of his prime seasons. Unless and until he inks an extension, Tavares will likely dominate the hockey hot stove headlines beginning in the summer of 2017.

Minor Transactions: 4/1/2017

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There may be just a little more than a week remaining in the NHL regular season, but teams are still making roster moves. We’ll track all of the days minor league call-ups and reassignments in this post.

  • Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall announced this morning that the team has recalled forward Colin McDonald from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. McDonald, 32, has yet to appear in the NHL this season but has 145 NHL games on his resume, a vast majority coming as a member of the New York Islanders. He is expected to be in the team’s lineup tonight as the Flyers are set to host their Metro Division rivals, the New Jersey Devils. McDonald, the Phantoms captain, has tallied 23 goals with 18 assists in 67 AHL games and has helped the team to the third best record in the league. The recall of McDonald seems strange on the surface, as Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post notes via Twitter. The team has plenty of healthy options and a lengthy stay in Philadelphia may have a negative impact on the Phantoms AHL playoff chances. Perhaps it’s a reward for the veteran pro, who has had a strong season, giving him a chance to earn a larger paycheck while in the NHL, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him returned to Lehigh Valley after tonight’s game.
  • Joel Vermin continues to rack up the frequent flyer miles as the 25-year-old native of Switzerland was again reassigned to Syracuse of the AHL, according to Lightning GM Steve Yzerman. Vermin has been called up seven different times this season, only to be reassigned each time. In 16 games for Tampa Bay, Vermin has tallied three assists in 10:00 of ice time per night. Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times suggests the reassignment bodes well for Nikita Kucherov, who missed the Lightning’s victory over Detroit Thursday night due to an illness, but would appear set to return to the ice tonight.
  • The St. Louis Blues announced via Twitter that they have recalled defenseman Petteri Lindbohm from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL on an emergency basis. Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds that fellow blue liner Robert Bortuzzo was hurt in last night’s 2 – 1 shootout loss to Colorado and may not be able to play tomorrow. Additionally, Carl Gunnarsson is still out, thus necessitating the call up of Lindbohm. In five earlier appearances this season with the Blues, Lindbohm is pointless with four penalty minutes while averaging under 13 minutes of ice time a night.

NHL Comparables For Top Draft Propects

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While free agency and trades tend to grab most of the offseason headlines, the annual entry draft is generally far more important to NHL teams. Controllable young talent is the life blood of any successful organization and the best way to secure that talent is through the draft. While this year’s draft crop perhaps lacks the “generational” type of player that we’ve seen in each of the two previous years (Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews), there is no shortage of young players who will be selected this June who will go on to have successful NHL careers.

A common approach when discussing 17 and 18-year-old draft prospects is to compare their potential upsides to those of present day or past NHL stars. Sidney Crosby was often compared to a young Wayne Gretzky, not solely due to possessing similar, elite offensive abilities, but also because he exuded the traits of a player that could be one of the game’s great ambassadors. McDavid, in turn was compared to a young Crosby for many of those same reasons.

In an interesting piece appearing on NHL.com, Mike Morreale takes a stab at comparing a handful of the top 2017 draft prospects to some of the day’s top NHL stars using analysis from NHL Central Scouting. Among them is potential #1 overall pick Nolan Patrick, who the scribe compares to Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, citing the former’s hockey sense and vision as the youngster’s best assets. Like the 6-foot-3, 224-pound Kopitar, Patrick has great size (6-foot-3, 198-pounds) and according to Central Scouting, his “playmaking ability with the size and reach is tremendous.”

If Patrick is not chosen first overall then that honor may well go to Nico Hischier of the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads. Morreale cites Washington pivot Nicklas Backstrom as Hischier’s possible NHL comparable, identifying the latter’s hockey sense and skating ability as his top attributes. Central Scouting says “he plays a complete game but is very good offensively.”

Other prospects to make an appearance are Gabriel Vilardi and Owen Tippett, from Windsor and Mississauga of the OHL respectively, as well as USHL stars Casey Mittelstadt and Kevin Petruzzelli.

While it’s natural to project young players into some of the stars of today’s game, it’s important to note that these comparisons essentially represent the bast case scenarios for each of the prospect’s in their long term development. The words prospect and suspect are sometimes used interchangeably, reminding us that no matter how talented the prospect may be, any number of factors can prevent him from reaching his full potential. Every team hopes their top draft pick turns into a Crosby, Backstrom or Kopitar but the possibility remains that instead they end up with the next Patrik Stefan, Rostislav Klesla or Pavel Vorobiev. That same fate could befall any, or all of 2017’s top draft prospects.

Lightning Injury Notes: Stamkos, Johnson, Kucherov

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Injuries are a harsh reality in the NHL and something each team is forced to deal with each season. Tampa Bay, however, has perhaps experienced more than their fair share of health woes this season, losing captain Steven Stamkos and gritty, two-way winger Ryan Callahan for much of the year. In addition, the team has had to manage at times without stalwart defenseman Anton Stralman as well as top-six forwards Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov for short stretches this season because of injuries. All told, the Lightning have used 33 different skaters this season with 30 appearing in at least 10 games.

While the injuries have derailed what many pundits thought would be a Stanley Cup contender, the Lighting have displayed tremendous resiliency and remain within striking distance of a postseason berth. Currently three points behind Boston for the final playoff spot in the east, Tampa Bay’s chances might get a shot in the arm as the team enters the final stretch. As Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes, Stamkos is close to returning and may play as early as tonight when the Lightning host the Montreal Canadiens.

Stamkos has been skating with the club for the last while and according to Smith, was one of the last players to leave the ice at the team’s optional skate Thursday. He was expected to be reevaluated yesterday and if all checks out, he could be in the Lightning lineup for the first time in nearly five months for tonight’s contest. Of course with another game slated for Sunday, head coach Jon Cooper would likely have to monitor the captain’s minutes but Stamkos’ return would certainly represent a much-needed boost to Tampa’s playoff chances.

  • In the same article, Smith also touches on the status of center Tyler Johnson, who has missed the last 10 games with a lower-body injury. He finally joined Stamkos and the rest of his teammates on the ice for the first time in three weeks on Thursday and while that is a positive development, Smith points out that it’s “hard to tell” whether Johnson will be able to suit up this weekend following just one optional skating session. Johnson has posted 19 goals and 44 points in 64 games and is an important player in the team’s top-six as well as on the power play.
  • Perhaps Tampa Bay’s best player, at least with Stamkos sidelined, Nikita Kucherov sat out Tampa Bay’s 5 – 3 win over Detroit Thursday night due to an illness. Smith notes that the bug has made it’s rounds over the last couple of months in Tampa, afflicting Jason Garrison and Victor Hedman as well as Cooper at various points. The hope is that Kucherov will be ready to go tonight. The 23-year-old Russian may well merit MVP consideration with his performance this season. Through 68 appearances, Kucherov has 38 goals and 80 points while averaging a career-high 19:34 of ice time per night. A healthy Kucherov along with the potential returns of Stamkos and Johnson would certainly make the team’s attach much more formidable and presuming the team is able to squeak into the playoffs, the Lightning should be a challenging out in the first round.

Atlantic Division Notes: Sabres, Johnson, Johansson

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Despite being separated by just 100 miles geographically, the difference in success between the respective roster rebuilds in Toronto and Buffalo is much greater. While Toronto is closing in on a potential playoff berth, the Sabres appear set to miss the postseason dance for the sixth straight season. The Score’s Craig Hagerman lists three reasons Buffalo’s rebuild has not been as successful as the Maple Leafs.

First, Hagerman argues, once the team landed top draft prospect Jack Eichel the Sabres overextended themselves by dealing precious young assets to acquire veteran forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Jamie McGinn from Colorado. Buffalo dealt two former first-round draft picks, Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko, along with prospect J.T. Compher and the 31st choice in the 2015 draft to get O’Reilly and McGinn. Given Grigorenko’s and Zadorov’s struggles in two seasons with Colorado versus O’Reilly’s solid play for Buffalo, it’s fair to debate that the Sabres have so far come out ahead in that swap. While a case can be made the O’Reilly has been a good fit for the Sabres, able to take the tougher assignments and freeing up Eichel to see inferior competition, ultimately Hagerman believes a rebuilding team should hoard it’s young assets further into the process.

The scribe also credits Toronto for ridding themselves of their most onerous longtime commitments, finding takers for the expensive contracts of Dion Phaneuf, Phil Kessel and Jonathan Bernier, while at the same time bringing in young talent to augment their rebuild. Buffalo, on the other hand, has four players – Evander Kane, Matt Moulson, Zach Bogosian and Tyler Ennis – that account for roughly $40MM against the salary cap at least through the 2017-18 campaign. Finally, Hagerman points out that the Leafs are getting more production from their young players than Buffalo is. Toronto has Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Auston Matthews, all of whom have either reached or are on a 60-point pace as rookies. Buffalo has Eichel, who has been excellent, but beyond that their top picks in recent drafts, players like Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen, have yet to fulfill their full potential. That’s not to say they won’t, only that Toronto’s top prospects are maturing at a quicker clip helping to advance their rebuild at a faster pace than Buffalo’s.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • While team captain Steven Stamkos is progressing in his rehab from a knee injury and may be nearing a return to the ice, fellow center Tyler Johnson is no closer to resuming his 2016-17 campaign, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. As Smith writes, the 26-year-old Johnson hasn’t even begun skating on his own, lessening the likelihood that he will return during the regular season. Johnson, who has struggled to duplicate his breakout performance in 2014-15 when he tallied 72 points, has registered just 19 goals and 44 points in 64 appearances this season. The Lightning have a decision to make as Johnson will be a RFA this summer and will undoubtedly command a sizable raise despite his decreased production the last couple of years.
  • According to Cap Friendly, via Twitter, the NHL has rejected the ELC contract signed yesterday by Swedish defense prospect Emil Johansson with the Boston Bruins due to “an issue with payment structure.” Johansson was Boston’s seventh-round selection in the 2014 entry draft and is having a solid season with Djurgardens of the Swedish League, ranking second among the club’s blue liners in scoring. It’s likely just a minor setback requiring the two sides to restructure the agreement before re-filing it with the league.

Canucks To Sign Top Prospect Brock Boeser

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted this morning that he has heard the Vancouver Canucks are making a concerted effort to sign Brock Boeser in advance of the team’s game this afternoon in Minnesota. He added in a subsequent tweet that Boeser is at the team’s hotel, suggesting the two sides are nearing a deal that could lead the 20-year-old forward to make his NHL debut today.

Brad E. Shlossman, who covers college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald and would seemingly be in a position to know, replied to Friemdan’s initial tweet, saying that Boeser will indeed sign with Vancouver.

The Canucks appear to have confirmed the signing by tweeting a picture of a Vancouver sweater with Boeser’s name stitched on the back hanging from a locker stall.

Boeser, selected by Vancouver in the first round of the 2015 draft, 23rd overall, recently wrapped up his sophomore season at the University of North Dakota. He scored 16 goals and 34 points in 32 NCAA games this season. The 6-foot, 190-pound right wing was even better as a freshman, tallying 60 points in 42 games. North Dakota’s season ended following a thrilling 4-3 double-OT loss to Boston University last night.

Even though playing Boeser in meaningless games down the stretch will burn a year off his ELC and allow the young forward to reach free agency sooner, Vancouver likely sees the value of adding the skilled prospect to the organization now as worth the downside. If nothing else, Boeser’s debut will add an element of excitement to what has otherwise been a down year in Vancouver.

Boston Recalls Goalie Zane McIntyre On Emergency Basis

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The Boston Bruins announced this morning that they have recalled goaltender Zane McIntyre from Providence of the AHL on an emergency basis. McIntyre has appeared in eight games for the Bruins this season but like his colleague, Anton Khudobin, he has struggled to provide the club with quality play between the pipes, registering a record of 0 – 4 – 1 while posting a GAA of nearly 4 and a S% of just 0.858.

It’s been a different story in Providence for the 24-year-old goalie, as he leads the AHL in both GAA (2.03) and S% (0.931). His strong play in net for the Baby Bruins led to his selection to appear in the 2017 AHL All Star game.

Joe Haggerty of CSN New England suggests the recall is linked to Tuukka Rask not skating yesterday and may mean he will be unavailable for tonight’s game in Brooklyn against the Islanders. Rask’s absence, even for just one game, would be bad news for a Bruins team that has lost four straight and now sits three points behind Toronto for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Metro Division Notes: Shattenkirk, Provorov, Konecny, Ryan

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Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, in the midst of a career season offensively, is poised to become one of, if not the most sought after free agent of the 2017 offseason. We ranked the Capitals blue liner #1 in our mid-season free agent power rankings in January and since moving to Washington from St. Louis at the trade deadline, the 28-year-old has only helped his cause, tallying six assists in 10 games for his new employer. Shattenkirk reportedly rebuffed overtures from three different clubs since the 2016 entry draft who were interested in acquiring the seven year veteran on the condition they could lock him up to a contract extension. With nearly every team in the league looking for skilled, puck-moving defensemen, particularly those that happen to shoot right-handed, there figures to be a robust market for Shattenkirk’s services in July.

Elliotte Friedman, appearing on Toronto’s Sportsnet 590 Friday morning (H/T to Chris Nichols of Fan Rag Sports for the transcription), speculated that one team who may go all-in on Shattenkirk this summer is the New Jersey Devils. The Devils currently rank 28th overall in the NHL in scoring and have just one blue liner, Damon Severson, who has tallied at least 20 points on the season. Clearly they could use a point-producing defender and Shattenkirk will far and away be the top free agent option. Friedman notes that New Jersey will have the cap space ($19.5MM in projected cap space with 17 players under contract for 2017-18 according to Cap Friendly) to essentially outbid any other interested suitor if they so choose.

“I don’t know if Kevin Shattenkirk is going to go there – I still think he wants to be a Ranger. But I could see them throwing a big number at him. They’ve got a lot of cap room. They’ve got a spot for him on their blueline. He’s exactly what they need. It would not surprise me in the least if New Jersey is a team that goes out there and just throws bags of money at him and says, ‘Turn us down.’”

It’s interesting to note that Friedman also believes that Shattenkirk has his sights set on joining the Rangers. The Blue Shirts were among the teams that spoke to the Blues about dealing for the blue liner at the deadline but simply had no desire to meet St. Louis’ high asking price. The thought then was that they were content waiting for the summer when they can add the skilled blue liner without sacrificing any assets to do so. However, given the Rangers heavy, long term commitments to Marc Staal and Dan Girardi, it stands to reason they will have to be creative in fitting a projected Shattenkirk contract under the salary cap. That may mean trading or buying out one of the aforementioned duo.

Elsewhere in the Metro Division:

  • While the Philadelphia Flyers are a likely bet to miss the playoffs this season, the development of Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny has been a bright spot, as Sam Carchidi of Philly.com writes. Provorov, just 20, has recorded 28 points as a rookie blue liner and has shown the potential to be a top-pair defender for years to come. Konecny, meanwhile, has registered 11 goals with 16 assists and has the elusiveness and creativity the Flyers sorely lack on their roster, according to Carchidi. Flyers GM Ron Hextall wisely avoided the temptation to be a buyer at the trade deadline and instead chose to remain patient with his retooling. The continued development of Provorov and Konecny demonstrate that Hextall’s decision was the correct one.
  • Carolina center Derek Ryan has taken an unusual route to becoming a NHL regular, playing professionally in both Austria and Sweden prior to joining the Hurricanes organization. Ryan, who played for current Hurricane head coach Bill peters for the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, went undrafted and spent four seasons playing collegiate hockey at the University of Alberta before turning pro. Now the 30-year-old rookie is Carolina’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, writes Chip Alexander of The News & Observer. Playing on a one-year, two-way contract this season, Ryan has registered 11 goals and 24 points while playing all over the Hurricanes lineup and has likely earned a raise on his $600K salary when he reaches free agency this summer. While he doesn’t qualify as a game-breaking talent, Ryan has proven he belongs in the NHL and is a solid, bottom-six contributor.

Saturday Snapshots: Tkachuk, Stamkos, Stone

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Given his pedigree, it should come as little surprise that one of Matthew Tkachuk’s strengths is his advanced hockey sense. His father, Keith Tkachuk of course, played 18 seasons in the NHL and scored 538 career regular season goals. As Darren Haynes writes on his Flames From 80 Feet Above blog, the younger Tkachuk displays hockey awareness on par with that of a 10-year veteran as opposed to that of a 19-year-old rookie.

Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan certainly agrees with the sentiment, praising the young power forward’s “gamesmanship, his hockey sense (and) his ice awareness.” Haynes describes a subtle play made by the rookie in a recent win over Dallas in which Tkachuk touched the puck with a high stick and knew if he was the first to touch it that the officials would blow the play dead. Instead, Tkachuk tracked the puck into the offensive zone and waited for a Stars player to play the puck. Adam Cracknell did just that and Tkachuk picked his pocket and moved the puck to Mark Giordano whose shot deflected off of Stars defenseman Dan Hamhuis and into the net.

Tkachuk has tallied 13 goals and 46 points in 67 games this season which represents excellent production for any rookie, much less one just 19 years old and in his first professional campaign. Yet beyond his offensive output, it may be the little things Tkachuk brings to the table that makes him such a valuable contributor to a team that appears poised to make the playoffs.

Elsewhere in the NHL on this Saturday:

  • Steven Stamkos, out since November with a knee injury, returned to the ice as a full participant at the Lightning’s Friday practice. While that has to be considered a positive sign in his lengthy recovery, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Stamkos’ return is still not “imminent.” The Lightning, who have surprisingly managed to resurface in the playoff race despite a trade deadline selloff of goalie Ben Bishop along with forwards Brian Boyle and Valtteri Filppula, would certainly welcome a healthy Stamkos with open arms but at this point it appears they’ll have to manage without their captain for a little while longer.
  • Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone, who has missed the last week with a lower-body injury, is still considered week-to-week and according to head coach Guy Boucher hasn’t skated while recovering from the leg issue, reports Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen. Stone, a terrific forechecker, has tallied 22 goals and 50 points in 63 games this season and is an important cog up front for the Senators. While the loss of Stone certainly stings, his absence has been mitigated somewhat by trade deadline acquisitions Alexandre Burrows and Viktor Stalberg, who have combined for six goals and nine points in the eight games since coming to Canada’s capital. Ottawa, at this point safely in possession of a postseason slot, will continue to look for production from the newest Sens as they work to secure a playoff berth.

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