- The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that for the Chicago Blackhawks to earn themselves a playoff spot this season, they must fulfil a 10-point plan for the remaining 33 games of the season. The Blackhawks, currently in last place in the Central Division with 53 points, are seven points removed from a wildcard spot and will have a tough time making up the ground, but it isn’t impossible. The scribe writes that the estimate is the team will have to go 20-12-1 over the next 33 games to reach the playoffs, a tall order, but not impossible. Obviously, the return of goaltender Corey Crawford will be critical and that looks like a real possibility soon. Among some of his other key points, Powers writes that Brandon Saad must start playing better in the second-half of the season. His 13 goals and 10 assists is currently heading for one of his worst seasons ever. Powers also suggests a trade could help, but only if it doesn’t involve one of the team’s top prospects. The team had every reason to make those types of trades in the past, but no longer.
Blackhawks Rumors
All-Star Skills Competition Assignments Released
With the All-Star game one day away, many NHL fans often get more excited for the 2018 GEICO NHL All-Star Skills Competition, which will be tonight. The NHL released the list of who will be participating in each of the six competitions with the winner of each receiving $25K.
Enterprise NHL Fastest Skater – Each skater is timed for one full lap around the rink.
Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Rickard Rakell (Anaheim Ducks)
Noah Hanifin (Carolina Hurricanes)
Josh Bailey (New York Islanders)
Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche)
Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres)
Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Dunkin Donuts NHL Passing Challenge – Requires three skills over one round, including Target Passing (making four passes to a target that light up randomly), Give-and-Go (must complete four successful passes through a course in the neutral zone) and Mini Nets (must complete four passes over barricades and into mini-nets).
Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
Brayden Schenn (St. Louis Blues)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona Coyotes)
Eric Staal (Minnesota Wild)
Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis Blues)
Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings)
GEICO NHL Save Streak – Goalies attempt to win by making the most consecutive saves against an opposing division on a minimum of nine shots.
Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) vs. Central Division
Connor Hellebuyck (Vancouver Canucks) vs. Pacific Division
Pekka Rinne (Nashville Predators) vs. Metropolitan Division
Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas Golden Knights) vs. Atlantic Division
Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning) vs. Central Division
Gatorade NHL Puck Control Relay – A timed event that involves three skills, including Stickhandling (where a skater must control a puck through a series of eight pucks in a straight line), Cone Control (where a skater controls a puck through a series of eight cones in a zig-zag formation) and Gates (where a skater must shoot or choose to guide the puck through a lighted rung of a gate).
Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers)
Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators)
John Tavares (New York Islanders)
Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers)
Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars)
Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
PPG NHL Hardest Shot – Over two rounds, each player will attempt two shots measured in miles per hour with the highest speed recorded.
John Klingberg (Dallas Stars)
Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
P.K. Subban (Nashville Predators)
Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks)
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Honda NHL Shooting Accuracy – A timed event in which a skater is positioned 25 feet behind the goal line and must shoot at five LED targets in the goal. A target will light up and the players has three seconds to hit it.
Brian Boyle (New Jersey Devils)
Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg Jets)
James Neal (Vegas Golden Knights)
Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks)
Brad Marchand (Boston Bruins)
Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings)
Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Michael Lindqvist Drawing NHL Attention
The last few years the NHL has been mining the Swedish Hockey League and other European teams for talent even more than in the past, signing undrafted players and bringing them directly into the NHL. The SHL is full of talented players who may have been overlooked as youngsters, and Michael Lindqvist is just the latest example. The 23-year old is garnering plenty of NHL interest according to Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130, who lists the Vancouver Canucks as one of the many teams pursuing Lindqvist, but wouldn’t put them as a “leading candidate” at this point.
Lindqvist, and undersized but talented forward, was also mentioned in the latest 31 Thoughts column by Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman as one of several Swedish players being scouting by the NHL. Friedman listed the Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Vancouver and the New York Rangers as teams that had been watching, noting that there were likely even more.
In 32 games this season, Lindqvist has 34 points and is among the league leaders in goals with 20. Ten of those have come on the powerplay, where he sets up as a right-handed shot in the left circle and can beat goaltenders with his quick release. Teams could be viewing him as a potential help to a powerplay in the future, given his success there this season.
According to Friedman, some of the other players being targeted are Lawrence Pilut, Joel Persson and Par Lindholm. As teams continue to try to find competitive advantages, free agents from overseas provide easy additions to the depth of an organization. Whether Vancouver or anyone else will land Lindqvist and others is still unclear, but don’t overlook the impact they could make in the near future.
Minor Transactions: 1/21/18
After a 13-game schedule on Saturday, the NHL has five games scheduled today, including the Vegas Golden Knights against the Carolina Hurricanes this afternoon. If the expansion Golden Knights come away with a victory, they will pass the Tampa Bay Lightning in the standings as the best team in hockey. In the meantime, keep an eye out for roster moves:
- The Detroit Red Wings announced they have recalled defenseman Joe Hicketts from the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL today. The team recalled the diminutive Hicketts after defenseman Trevor Daley suffered a lower-body injury. Despite being 5-foot-8, 180 pounds, Hicketts has proven to be a one of the Griffins most physical players and many have felt deserves to be getting playing time with the struggling Red Wings. How much playing time he will get is unknown, but the 21-year-old undrafted free agent has two goals and six assists in 43 games this season.
- CapFriendly also reported that after activating forward J.T. Compher off of injured reserve Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche also placed forward Sven Andrighetto on injured reserve with a lower-body injury to make room for him. The 24-year-old Andrighetto has missed seven games and hasn’t played since Dec. 31.
- The Athletic’s Scott Powers tweets that the Chicago Blackhawks have assigned defenseman Gustav Forsling to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. The 21-year-old defenseman has been with the team all season, having played in 41 games. He has three goals and 10 assists, but needs to build his confidence, according to Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mark Lazerus. The move opens a spot for forward Artem Anisimov to return to Chicago’s lineup. Anisimov has missed the team’s last 10 games with an upper-body injury.
Quenneville Expects Crawford To Return This Season, Anisimov Could Play Monday
Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times that it is his “expectation and hope” that goaltender Corey Crawford will return at some point this season. He also acknowledged that the netminder has done very limited workouts since being shut down with what has been reported to be vertigo-like symptoms and that they won’t be able to provide any sort of timetable for a possible return until he is able to resume working out. In the meantime, they will continue to go with a tandem of Anton Forsberg and Jeff Glass although a trade for short-term help can’t be ruled out either.
- In a separate column, Lazerus also reports that Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov returned to practice on Friday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in late December. While he won’t play today, he could be back in the lineup as early as Monday against Tampa Bay and should slot in somewhere on the second or third line.
Options For Chicago With Corey Crawford Out Long-Term
With the report from earlier this week that the Blackhawks could be without Corey Crawford for possibly the rest of the season, Chicago GM Stan Bowman may be working the phones in the near future to bring in some help. They sit in last place in the Central Division but are still only three points out of a Wild Card spot. However, if they’re going to make a run, they’ll be in tough to do so with a tandem of Anton Forsberg, Jeff Glass, and the injured Jean-Francois Berube.
With that in mind, Bowman will be looking for some options. However, given their perennial status as a team that’s right up against the salary cap ceiling, they’re likely going to set their focus on players that won’t be part of their plans beyond this season. They’re also going to primarily be limited to dealing with non-contending teams which will take quite a few of the better rental players out of the equation. Despite that, there are still a few goaltenders that could very well be of interest to Chicago down the stretch. Here is a look at those players.
Michael Hutchinson (Jets): While Hutchinson has yet to play in the NHL this season, he has been dominant in the minors, posting a .942 SV% along with a 1.94 GAA in 20 games. He is a bit of a streaky netminder at the NHL level but when he’s on, he can be quite effective. Considering Winnipeg chose to recall Eric Comrie over Hutchinson at one point earlier on in the year, they could view him as expendable although moving him to a division rival could be a tougher sell.
Chad Johnson (Sabres): It hasn’t been pretty for Johnson in 2017-18. However, he’s only a year removed from battling for the number one job with Calgary and two years removed from being one of the best backups in the league with Buffalo. It’s safe to assume that he’s not part of the future for the Sabres with Linus Ullmark ready for full-time NHL duty so the acquisition price should be low. He’s a risk given how he has struggled through the first half of the season but a change of scenery could also give him and Chicago a boost.
Kari Lehtonen (Stars): The division factor is in play here as well but their salary cap situation could make the two teams interesting trade partners. Chicago can absorb Lehtonen’s full contract with LTIR (assuming Crawford is out for the year) which would give them a veteran that could stabilize things while Dallas would free up the money to fill other holes. It’s always a tough sell helping someone you’re battling for a playoff spot but such a move could be mutually beneficial.
Petr Mrazek (Red Wings): While Mrazek is a restricted free agent after the season, his qualifying offer in June will be set at his $4.15MM salary. Considering how he has played in 2017-18, he’s a strong candidate to be non-tendered which makes him a rental candidate. Mrazek has taken over the starting role and run with it in the past and he should be motivated down the stretch knowing he’ll be showcasing himself around the league.
Ondrej Pavelec (Rangers): Pavelec hasn’t been victorious often this season but he has quietly posted a .915 SV%, slightly better than the NHL average while also higher than Forsberg and Glass. If the Rangers wind up selling, the asking price shouldn’t be very high which might allow Bowman to try to upgrade without mortgaging much of the future.
Antti Raanta (Coyotes): Raanta offers the most upside but also will probably be the most expensive to acquire. He’s looking to prove himself as a legitimate starting goalie before entering free agency in July and would undoubtedly welcome a chance to do so while pushing for a playoff spot. They’re not going to be the only team showing interest in him, however.
Considering that the Blackhawks are on the outside looking in at a playoff spot, they’re not likely going to be willing to mortgage a key prospect or high draft pick to get a Crawford replacement for the stretch run which could take Raanta out of the equation. However, the other veterans would give them some more depth at the very least with a little bit of upside if they can get hot down the stretch. There’s no guarantee that adding one of these players will get Chicago back to the postseason but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Bowman do just that in the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Morning Notes: Crawford, Trade Bait, Green
The Chicago Blackhawks are sitting at 50 points in the standings, but somehow find themselves in last place in the Central Division. Their 22-17-6 record would be good enough for fourth in the Atlantic and fifth in the Pacific, but unfortunately they find themselves playing in a division where all seven teams have positive goal differentials. Now, even as they struggle to climb the Central ladder, they could lose one of their most important players for the rest of the year.
Corey Crawford is currently on injured reserve, and Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the goaltender is suffering from vertigo-like symptoms. It’s not the first time symptoms like this have surfaced for Crawford, who dealt with them in 2016 as well. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote yesterday that coach Joel Quenneville believed last week that Crawford would return, but Lazerus claims things have complicated since then. The Blackhawks resume their schedule on Saturday, when they will take on the New York Islanders.
- TSN’s Frank Seravalli has updated his Trade Bait board, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Michael Grabner, Jack Johnson, Nick Holden and Aaron Dell all joining the list. The emphasis on New York Rangers’ players is clear, with Seravalli writing that they’re a “team to watch” heading into the trade deadline. The Rangers are in a playoff spot currently, but are stuck in the middle of a super-competitive Metropolitan Division and could fall out of the race with a bad week or two. If the team doesn’t believe they can really make an impact in the playoffs, the distinct lack of sellers on the market could make them consider moving some of their expiring pieces.
- Mike Green has not been asked to waive his trade protection yet by GM Ken Holland, but Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports on TSN’s Insider Trading that when he’s eventually asked, the Detroit Red Wings will be willing to eat some of his salary to get a deal done. LeBrun notes Tampa Bay as a possible fit for the powerplay specialist, though is quick to note that no discussions have been had just yet.
Morning Notes: Ekman-Larsson, Czechs, Sikura
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is one of the most interesting names on the rumor mill lately, with the Arizona Coyotes destined for a finish near the bottom of the league once again. The 26-year old defenseman will be a free agent in the summer of 2019, but Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that the team will have to make a decision before that.
Garrioch reports that the asking price for Ekman-Larsson right now is two high-end roster players and a first-round pick, a prohibitive package for any team really trying to compete this year. Still, the Maple Leafs, Devils and Flyers have all apparently shown interest in the defender in the past, and several other teams would surely jump in if the price dropped closer to the deadline.
- The Czech Republic released their Olympic team for the upcoming Games, including familiar NHL names like Martin Erat, Roman Cervenka and Jiri Sekac. Like the other countries, the Czech team is made up of professionals scattered across various European leagues and the KHL.
- Dylan Sikura continues to impress at Northeastern with 30 points in his first 19 games, and as Scott Powers of The Athletic writes, the Chicago Blackhawks have more than just an eye on him for the end of the season. The Blackhawks fully intend to sign Sikura and add him to the NHL roster after his NCAA career comes to an end, though depending on how far his school goes in the final tournament if could throw a wrench into those plans. Powers excellently details all the possibilities for Sikura, including waiting until August 15th to become an unrestricted free agent. Though that technically could happen still, it seems extremely unlikely that he’d do anything but sign with the Blackhawks at this point.
Anisimov Could Be Out Even Longer
- Tracey Myers of NHL.com tweets that Chicago Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov, who has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury attempted to practice today, but coach Joel Quenneville said he was “just OK” and might miss even more time. The 29-year-old Anisimov has 13 goals for Chicago this year.
Chicago Blackhawks Acquire Anthony Duclair
The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired Anthony Duclair and Adam Clendening from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin. Dauphin returns to the Coyotes after being part of the package sent last offseason for Niklas Hjalmarsson. No salary has been retained by either side.
Duclair, 22, was reported to have asked for a trade during what has become another disappointing season. While he’s already matched his point total from last year, Duclair hasn’t been able to show the consistent offense that got him to a career-high 44 points in 2015-16. That 20-goal campaign was a breakout for the young winger, after a trade from New York brought him to the desert.
Last offseason, the Coyotes seemingly made several moves to try and bring immediate success to the franchise, acquiring players like Hjalmarsson, Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta and Jason Demers to help Oliver Ekman-Larsson and company make a push for the playoffs. It hasn’t worked out that way, with Arizona still languishing in last place in the NHL and perhaps now the attention will return to their original rebuild plan. Though Duclair is certainly not a past-his-prime asset, he is a pending restricted free agent who could file for arbitration, and would require a $1.2MM qualifying offer to retain his rights.
The Blackhawks on the other hand are in search of help both this year and in the near future. The club has struggled this season, but is still all-in salary wise with their core group of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. The latter of which was a healthy scratch recently, but will be back in the lineup for Chicago tonight as the dress seven defensemen in Panik’s absence.
Panik himself is part of that salary problem, after he was signed to a two-year $5.6MM contract this summer. His play has dropped off a cliff this season, recording just 16 points in 37 games and seeing his role alongside Toews disappear. Though he’s proven himself to be an NHL talent after bouncing around the league in the early part of his career, the Blackhawks can’t afford to spend close to $3MM on a player that isn’t producing as planned.
Dauphin, 22, will return to the place he made his NHL debut and try to prove once again why the team spent the 39th-overall pick on him in 2013. Obviously Coyotes’ GM John Chayka was loathe to lose him in the first place, and he gives this deal a spark of upside for the club. While he hasn’t shown a ton in his short time in the NHL, he does still have potential to be a contributing center that can provide some speed and size to the bottom-six of a lineup.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the deal was close, while Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported the final details.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images