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Brendan Gallagher, Mikael Backlund Issued Fines

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Both Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher and Calgary Flames forward Mikael Backlund have avoided suspension, incurring fines for their respective incidents instead.

Gallagher has been given a $2,500 fine for his punch on New York Rangers forward Barclay Goodrow at the end of another frustrating loss for the Canadiens. He was given a two-minute minor for roughing and a ten-minute misconduct. Notably, the fine is not actually the maximum allowable in this circumstance.

Backlund meanwhile faces a $5,000 fine for his cross-check on Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny. The check sent Konecny dangerously into the boards, and resulted in a two-minute minor penalty. In this case, it is the maximum allowable under the CBA.

Both players will have these fines considered when determining any future supplementary discipline.

Injury Notes: Canadiens, Pitlick, Sullivan

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Ahead of Sunday’s road tilt for the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins, head coach Dominique Ducharme provided injury updates regarding a few Canadiens players. After leaving Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, goaltender Jake Allen has been assigned a day-to-day status while he undergoes evaluation for a more detailed evaluation. Allen left the contest after a net-front play which resulted in him colliding with Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. Ducharme also notes that Mike Hoffman is absent from the lineup with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day, as Adam Brooks draws into the lineup in his place. It’s Hoffman’s second instance of injury this season, missing the team’s first three games of the season with a lower-body injury.

  • Calgary Flames forward Tyler Pitlick is absent from Sunday afternoon’s game against the Ottawa Senators with a lower-body injury. He’s classified as day-to-day, per the team. Forward Walker Duehr was inserted into the lineup, making his NHL debut. Pitlick has just two assists in 12 games this season, playing a bottom-six role, but remains a strong defensive presence if nothing else.
  • After being activated from the league’s COVID-19 protocols today, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan doesn’t think he’ll be available for Thursday night’s game in Montreal due to border restrictions. Sullivan will be behind the bench for Sunday’s game against Washington and Tuesday’s game against Buffalo barring any unforeseen circumstances. The Penguins have dropped three out of five as they finally look to be close to healthy for the first time this season.

Matthew Tkachuk Fined For High Sticking Incident

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  • Flames winger Matthew Tkachuk has been fined $5K for his high sticking infraction on Stars defenseman John Klingberg on Thursday night, the league announced. The incident occurred in the third period of the game with a minor penalty being assessed on the play.  The fine is the maximum allowable in the CBA.

Snapshots: Tkachuk, Drouin, Coyotes

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While many fans will be eager to move on from the Jack Eichel trade saga that finally wrapped up Thursday after an early-morning deal to the Vegas Golden Knights, there were many rumors in the days leading up to the trade that deserves attention. While it was common knowledge in the week or so prior to Thursday that the Calgary Flames were potential suitors for the star forward, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes tweeted Wednesday that the team had offered winger Matthew Tkachuk in a potential package for Eichel. However, Tkachuk said today that he “had a hard time believing” that Calgary would have been willing to part with him, supporting other reports today that Tkachuk was not on the table. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams also stated that the report “was not accurate.” It would’ve been shocking to see the Flames part with Tkachuk, who’s entering the final season of a $7MM contract. The 23-year-old has four goals and six points through nine games this season.

More from around the league:

  • Jonathan Drouin sits out tonight for the Montreal Canadiens, per Newsday’s Andrew Gross. Drouin left Montreal’s game on Tuesday night after taking a puck to the head and was actually transported to the hospital for further evaluation, but was discharged and was seen at the Bell Centre after the game. No timeline has been issued by the team on his injury, but it continues an unfortunate slew of health issues that have plagued the Canadiens this season.
  • The Arizona Coyotes tried to be a part of the Eichel trade, as mentioned in today’s episode of TSN’s Insider Trading. As a third-party member, the Coyotes likely could’ve taken on considerable value by offering to retain a small portion of Eichel’s salary in the deal. Salary retention in three-team deals has been an increasing trend in the league, with multiple low-spending teams gaining draft capital at last year’s Trade Deadline by helping facilitate deals.

Brett Ritchie Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Calgary Flames recalled Walker Duehr from the minor leagues this morning and to make room on the roster have moved Brett Ritchie to injured reserve. Ritchie suffered a lower-body injury on Tuesday during his fight with Nashville Predators defenseman Mark Borowiecki.

Injured reserve means at least a week out of the lineup for Ritchie and a chance for Duehr to make his NHL debut. The 23-year-old forward was an undrafted free agent signing earlier this year after four seasons at Minnesota State-Mankato and has just ten AHL contests under his belt. Five of those have come this season, where Duehr has scored two goals and three points while continuing to be a physical presence. If he ends up in the lineup, he will likely fill the same role as Ritchie, a right-shot forward for the fourth line.

With the Jack Eichel saga in the rearview, the Flames can focus on their opponent tonight and try to continue their early-season success. Calgary is sitting at 6-1-2 on the year, two points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the lead in the Pacific Division. While Ritchie hasn’t exactly been a huge part of that, averaging around ten minutes a night through his first month, he did give the team the kind of big, veteran, bang-and-crash forward that Darryl Sutter has loved in his bottom-six for years.

Latest On Jack Eichel

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The Jack Eichel trade was “on the one-yard line” yesterday according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN, with the Vegas Golden Knights and Calgary Flames listed as finalists. Both clubs have agreed to allow Eichel to have the artificial disk replacement that he wants, but obviously, the Buffalo Sabres are trying to get the best package possible in return before accepting a trade.

If you were wondering what kind of package could get it done, Kevin Weekes of ESPN tweets that it is his understanding that the Flames have Matthew Tkachuk, an upcoming first-round selection, a player who was a first-round pick, and two prospects on the table. In any Eichel deal, a big-ticket salary (or several smaller ones) would have to be included, not only to open up cap space for the acquiring team but also to get the Sabres over the cap floor. Remember, Eichel is not yet on long-term injured reserve, meaning any acquiring team would need to have the space under the cap to land him before moving him off the roster.

Tkachuk of course would be that big-ticket, especially given his upcoming qualifying offer. When his current three-year, $21MM deal expires at the end of this season, whichever team has his rights will have to issue him a $9MM qualifying offer to retain them. At that point, given Tkachuk has already played in six seasons, he could simply accept the one-year, $9MM deal or go to arbitration to secure a contract that walks him right into unrestricted free agency in 2023.

Eichel isn’t expected to be ready to play for several months after the surgery is performed, meaning whoever does end up with him isn’t getting any help right away. The Golden Knights are dealing with quite a few injuries already, while the Flames are currently 6-1-2 and tied for first place in the Pacific Division. It’s hard to fathom either one making a huge splash right now, but reports have continued to indicate that a deal is on the horizon.

Flames head coach Darryl Sutter meanwhile isn’t giving up any information. When asked about the Eichel speculation today, he told reporters that he’s not aware of any talks and believes it is “just a media thing.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 11/02/21

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With a busy night upcoming on the NHL calendar, it’s a busy night across the rest of the hockey world as well. There’s a fair amount of movement across lower levels of North American hockey today. We’ll keep track of that right here.

  • Former top goalie prospect Jon Gillies is once again getting a shot at the AHL level, as the ECHL’s Maine Mariners loaned him to the Providence Bruins today. Gillies hasn’t played an NHL game since 2017-18 with the Calgary Flames, since spending time in the St. Louis Blues and now the Bruins organization. In one start with the Mariners this year, Gillies posted a .920 save percentage in a losing effort.
  • The AHL’s Rochester Americans reassigned defenseman Peter Tischke to the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, per the team’s Twitter account. The 25-year-old undrafted Tischke was a former captain at the University of Wisconsin but has struggled to keep his footing in the AHL during a short professional career so far. He notched two points in 16 games with the Colorado Eagles last year, staying at the AHL level all season. But after just one game in Rochester, he’s heading back to the ECHL where he posted 15 points in 51 games with the Utah Grizzlies in 2019-20.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Flames Linked To Jack Eichel

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The Jack Eichel saga continues, though things are coming to a head according to several NHL insiders. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweets that the Vegas Golden Knights are “well down the track” in Eichel talks with the Buffalo Sabres, but notes that there are still plenty of moving parts. Kevin Weekes of ESPN adds that the Calgary Flames are with the Golden Knights as potential destinations still, though he too notes that things remain “fluid and complex.”

Minor Transactions: 10/30/21

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The NHL’s got a busy schedule today as the Florida Panthers attempt to maintain their undefeated record today on the road against a strong Boston Bruins team. Yet still, there are still many minor moves to keep track of across the AHL and ECHL on this busy Saturday. We’ll keep a record of those right here:

  • The AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights have added a pair of forwards to the roster in Lynden McCallum and Colt Conrad, per a team release. McCallum signed a one-year contract after spending five games with the team on a professional tryout contract, impressing with a goal and three assists in those games. Conrad joins the team on a PTO after spending the 2020-21 campaign with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, scoring four points in 22 games. The Golden Knights organization faces a thin forward group at the NHL level due to injury, which has cost the Silver Knights some players early on that they expected to be important contributors.
  • Per a team tweet, the AHL’s Stockton Heat released forward Ryan Francis from his PTO, assigning him to the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Francis went pointless in four games with the Heat before being released from the PTO. A fifth-round pick of the Flames in 2020, Francis was old enough to spend the entire season in the AHL, but the team has decided that his development would be better served with an overage season in the QMJHL.
  • The AHL’s Belleville Senators recalled defenseman Xavier Bernard from the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators today and signed forward Kameron Kielly to a PTO, per a team tweet. Bernard was a 2018 fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils but was never signed and now finds himself in the Senators organization playing his first professional season. He has no points and a +1 rating with the Gladiators this season. Kielly is a 24-year-old entering his second professional season looking to play his first AHL game. He totalled 19 points in 39 ECHL games last season, split between the Allen Americans and Indy Fuel.

Noah Hanifin Listed As Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury

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  • Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin is dealing with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He’s listed as day-to-day and was not in the lineup against Pittsburgh on Thursday night.  Michael Stone made his season debut in Hanifin’s absence while Nikita Zadorov remained a healthy scratch.

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