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Five Key Stories: 1/22/24 – 1/28/24

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The All-Star break is almost upon us and once again, it was a busy week on and off the ice where several players took leaves while another entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  Here’s a rundown of the key stories of the week.

Setback For Chytil: The Rangers were hoping that they’d be getting a key center back soon with Filip Chytil returning to practice.  Instead, he suffered a setback in his recovery from a concussion in practice and soon after, the team announced that he’d miss the rest of the season and playoffs.  His season comes to an end after just ten games while New York now has a notable hole to fill in its lineup.  Notably, with Chytil confirmed to be out for the rest of the season, GM Chris Drury will be able to use Chytil’s money ($4.45MM) that’s on LTIR to go out and try to find a replacement on the trade market.

Gallagher Gets Five: Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher was handed a five-game suspension for his elbow to the head on Islanders blueliner Adam Pelech.  With the Department of Player Safety electing to only do a basic phone hearing, it’s the maximum they could suspend him for.  It’s the first suspension of Gallagher’s career; he’ll forfeit nearly $170K in salary and won’t be able to return until February 15th.  Meanwhile, Pelech, who has dealt with concussion issues, is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Parise To Colorado: Veteran winger Zach Parise had been speculated as an in-season signing for a while now but many thought he’d wind up back with the Islanders.  That isn’t the case as instead, he signed a one-year, $825K (prorated) contract with Colorado.  The deal doesn’t contain any additional performance bonuses.  Parise is a veteran of 18 NHL seasons, recording 429 goals, 21 of which came last season with the Isles.  While it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be able to score at that per-game pace after missing more than half the season, it’s a low-risk addition for Colorado who will likely spot him into the role they initially signed Tomas Tatar for before they moved him to Seattle.  The 39-year-old will make his Avalanche debut after the All-Star break.

Extensions: The Blackhawks continued their recent trend of signing veterans to above-market extensions, inking goaltender Petr Mrazek to a two-year, $8.5MM deal.  The contract actually represents a small raise for the 31-year-old who is playing on a $3.8MM price tag and made it to Chicago as part of a cap-dumping move by Toronto.  But Mrazek has had a nice season, posting a .910 SV% in 34 games on a rebuilding team; keeping him around will give more time for youngsters Arvid Soderblom and Drew Commesso to develop.

Meanwhile, the Flyers signed a pair of players as well.  First, they made winger Owen Tippett a cornerstone piece of their future, signing him to an eight-year, $49.6MM extension.  The 24-year-old had a breakout year last season, notching 27 goals and 49 points in the first season of his bridge deal.  He has a chance to beat that this year, already collecting 18 goals and 30 points in 46 games.  Soon after, they agreed to terms on a two-year, $3.8MM extension with center Ryan Poehling.  The 25-year-old is in his first season with Philadelphia after signing with them as a non-tendered free agent in July.  Poehling has done well in a bottom-six role, picking up 14 points in 45 games while taking nearly ten faceoffs per game.

More Expansion Coming? While we’re not far removed from the last round of expansion when Seattle joined the league as its 32nd team, the Salt Lake City-based Smith Entertainment Group has filed a request to initiate a formal expansion process by the NHL.  Salt Lake City has been a speculative landing spot for a new or relocated franchise for more than a year as they’ve been working with the league behind the scenes to position themselves for an opportunity when one becomes available.  At this point, there is no formal expansion process in place but with the rising franchise values and thus a rising expansion fee, there could be one in the cards at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Senators Notes: Trade Targets, Martin, Tarasenko

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Ottawa Senators president of hockey operations and general manager Steve Staios spoke with the media this morning to discuss a multitude of issues and concerns surrounding the franchise. In the mid-season update, Staios told the media that he has had a lot of discussions with other teams about potential trades and is looking to add players with leadership experience as well as complete 200-foot players.

The news isn’t that surprising given that the Senators don’t possess many players who have been part of a winning culture in the NHL. Outside of a couple of players, most of the Senators currently lineup have never played an NHL playoff game.

Staios’ desire to add complete players is also not surprising given that Ottawa has struggled to play a structured game over the past few seasons. While the offensive skill on the Senators is obvious, they don’t have a lot of defensively skilled forwards or defensemen and it’s been a glaring hole throughout their lineup for a few years now.

Staios mentioned that he would like to be active before the deadline but given most teams cap situation it is unlikely that the Senators will make many moves before the summer.

In other Ottawa notes:

  • Staios added that the Senators’ plan behind the bench is to have interim head coach Jacques Martin finish out the season. Martin hasn’t had a great start to his second run in Ottawa but did receive praise from Staios who said that Martin has laid a foundation for this group. Martin who has long been a good defensive coach, was seemingly brought into Ottawa to help the team find a defensive identity going forward. While the team didn’t see immediate improvement, they have shown signs of it lately with points in five of their last six games.
  • Staios also addressed the status of pending unrestricted free agent forward Vladimir Tarasenko. Staios said that he has not talked to the 32-year-old about a move, but he has been impressed with the former Stanley Cup winner. Tarasenko was signed last summer to a one-year $5MM contract and has been as advertised with 12 goals and 19 assists in 41 games. While he is no longer a perennial 30-goal scorer, he is still providing offense at five-on-five and is on pace for 24 goals.

Calgary Flames Recall Cole Schwindt

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The Calgary Flames have recalled forward Cole Schwindt from the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. Schwindt was one of the pieces that came over to the Calgary Flames as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade with the Florida Panthers alongside Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and a 2025 lottery-protected first-round draft pick.

Schwindt has yet to suit up for the Flames but does have three games of NHL experience with the Panthers back in 2021-22. He was held scoreless during that stretch and was -4. At the AHL level, the 22-year-old has been a productive player with 42 goals and 52 assists in 189 career games.

Schwindt has plateaued offensively in recent years as he has seen his offensive numbers drop from his career-best season in 2021-22. The former third-round pick had 19 goals and 21 assists in 72 games that year with the Charlotte Checkers but hasn’t been able to duplicate that success or come close to the 17.9% shooting percentage he posted.

This season with the Wranglers, Schwindt has eight goals and 12 assists in 37 games which is a tick below his career-best numbers, but he has yet to take the next step offensively. While his offense hasn’t taken off, the defensive side of his game has steadily improved over the years and that is likely the reason he could get his first taste of NHL action in two years.

Calgary could be looking at some major moves over the next few weeks and if Schwindt can show he belongs at the NHL level he may be able to extend his stay with the Flames.

Flyers Recall Olle Lycksell, Assign Bobby Brink To AHL

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The Philadelphia Flyers have recalled forward Olle Lycksell from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and in a corresponding move loaned forward Bobby Brink to the Phantoms as well.

Lycksell is having a good season with Lehigh Valley as he has registered 16 goals and 12 assists in 33 games. He was held scoreless in his lone NHL game earlier in the season and does have nine career NHL games to his credit. Last season, the Oskarshamn, Sweden native dressed in eight games for the Flyers and had an assist. The 24-year-old is on the smaller side at just 5’11” but he has good offensive instincts and can make plays with the puck.

Brink has been a healthy scratch in the last three games and was loaned to the AHL to likely get back into some games. The 22-year-old is having a decent offensive season with seven goals and 11 assists in 38 games but has seen his ice time dramatically reduced over the last five games in which he has dressed. Brink had eight points in his first ten games of the season but has been held scoreless in the last seven games as his struggles have coincided with his reduction in ice time. Brink will likely have an opportunity to regain some of the confidence he showed earlier in the season and find his scoring touch once again.

The Flyers have been one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season and currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division. They dropped two games on the weekend to the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators as they had their win streak snapped at five games.

Conor Timmins Fined For Cross-Checking

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced today that the league fined Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins for his cross-check on Seattle Kraken forward Brandon Tanev in yesterday’s game. The 25-year-old was ordered to pay $2,864.58 for his penalty which is the maximum amount allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The incident happened early in the game when Timmins cross-checked Tanev below the numbers, causing the Kraken forward to crash into the end boards behind the Toronto net. Tanev jumped up to his feet to try and fight Timmins, but Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit stepped in for Timmins and received a two-minute minor for roughing along with Tanev. Timmins received a two-minute minor for his infraction which left Seattle with a power play that they did not score on.

Timmins has had a difficult time staying in the Maple Leafs lineup this season as he has dressed in just two of Toronto’s last 15 games. While he has been a healthy scratch recently, he also missed almost all of October and November with a lower-body injury. When he has dressed, he’s been a good offensive defenseman having posted a goal and five assists in just 15 games.

The money from Timmins’ fine will go to the Player Emergency Assistance Fund.

Five Key Stories: 1/15/24 – 1/21/24

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With teams now past the midway point of the season, activity is starting to pick up across the NHL.  Here’s a rundown of the biggest stories in what was a very busy week across the league.

One In, One On The Way Out? As expected, the Senators signed RFA center Shane Pinto to a one-year deal that checked in at the league minimum of $775K.  The 23-year-old missed the first 41 games of the year after violating the league’s sports wagering rules, negating the two-year deal with an AAV in the $2MM range that was being negotiated.  Pinto will once again be a restricted free agent without arbitration rights this summer.  Meanwhile, the Sens are believed to be listening to interest in blueliner Jakob Chychrun.  The 25-year-old was acquired last season from Arizona in the hopes he’d shore up their back end but Ottawa has struggled in all facets in the first half of the year.  With one year left on his contract after this one with a $4.6MM price tag and the fact he’s on pace for his best season offensively, his trade value might be at its highest over the next few weeks if GM Steve Staios wants to make a big move.

Merzlikins Wants Out: After recently voicing his frustration over a lack of playing time but noting that he hadn’t asked for a trade, Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has confirmed that he has now indeed requested to be moved.  The 29-year-old has bounced back from a tough showing last year, upping his save percentage from .876 to .905 but his game-to-game consistency has still been a concern, resulting in Daniil Tarasov getting an extended look as the starter.  With three years left after this one on his deal with a $5.4MM AAV and with Spencer Martin now in Carolina after being claimed off waivers earlier in the week, it seems unlikely that Merzlikins will see his request granted in the near future.

Coaching Change: With the Islanders struggling, some had wondered about Lane Lambert’s future with the team.  GM Lou Lamoriello indeed decided to make a change but who he hired caught many by surprise as Patrick Roy was named their new head coach.  Lambert spent barely a year and a half behind New York’s bench with his team playing to a 61-46-20 record while the Isles lost in the first round of the playoffs last year and Lamoriello clearly felt that a change could help kickstart this team.  He turns to Roy, who hasn’t been behind an NHL bench since the 2015-16 campaign, his third and final year with Colorado before he abruptly resigned the following offseason over a lack of say in personnel decisions.  He’s unlikely to get much input in that regard as long as Lamoriello is in charge but the former Jack Adams Award winner certainly had some success with the Avs and will now get his second crack at running an NHL bench.

Extensions: A pair of centers in very different situations inked new deals with their current teams.  First, the Blackhawks signed Jason Dickinson to a two-year, $8.5MM extension.  Dickinson is in the middle of a breakout season offensively, notching 15 goals already; he had yet to crack double-digits over the past five years.  He was a pending unrestricted free agent but will now continue to serve as a bridge veteran in Chicago.  Meanwhile, the Capitals inked a key part of their future, agreeing to terms with Aliaksei Protas on a five-year, $16.875MM extension.  The 6’6 23-year-old has just ten career NHL goals in 134 games but is a little under half a point per game this season.  Clearly, Washington believes that he can get to another level offensively and be a strong middle-six piece for the foreseeable future.

Leaves Of Absence: Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be away from the team indefinitely as he has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The 28-year-old was in the midst of his best season offensively as he notched 22 goals and 20 assists in his first 40 games before stepping aside.  There is no set timeframe for how long he might be out as Nichushkin will only return once he’s cleared by program administrators.  Meanwhile, the Flames announced that winger Dillon Dube has been granted an indefinite leave of absence to attend to his mental health.  Last season, the 25-year-old had a career year with 45 points but he has struggled this season with just seven points in 43 contests and will now take some time away from the organization.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Coyotes Liam O’Brien Fined For Roughing

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced last night that Arizona Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien would be fined $2,018.23 for roughing Vancouver Canucks forward Sam Lafferty on January 18th. The amount is the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the money from it will be put towards the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

O’Brien was given a minor penalty for roughing on the play, which occurred at the 5:26 mark of the first period. O’Brien left Arizona’s bench and immediately went after Lafferty after the Canucks forward had laid a big hit earlier in the game. O’Brien threw off his gloves and began punching Lafferty, who did not offer a response. The referees pulled O’Brien away and restrained him before escorting him to the penalty box.

The situation did not cool down after that as O’Brien fought Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov later on in the first period which earned him another five penalty minutes. O’Brien is now the NHL leader in penalty minutes with 105 PIM in 43 games which nearly eclipses the 114 minutes he accumulated last season in 56 games with Arizona.

The 29-year-old has spent parts of seven NHL seasons with the Coyotes, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche and set career highs last season in games played with 56, goals with three, and assists with eight. He has not faced discipline before from the DOPS.

Sabres Recall Eric Comrie, Assign Devon Levi To AHL

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1/21: The Sabres have recalled Levi and sent Comrie back to the minors – reversing the moves made yesterday.

1/20: The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Eric Comrie from the Rochester Americans of the AHL and in a corresponding move they’ve assigned netminder Devon Levi to Rochester. The Sabres had gone with three goaltenders at the NHL level earlier in the season, but have demoted Levi and Comrie at different times to try and open up some roster flexibility,

The 28-year-old Comrie has appeared three times for the Americans during his time in the AHL and has been terrific as he went 2-1 with a .951 save percentage and a goals-against average of 1.67. It was a dramatic turnaround from his numbers with the Sabres earlier in the season, as the Edmonton, Alberta native struggled in the NHL with a 1-5 record, a 4.01 goals-against average and a save percentage of .863.

22-year-old Devon Levi has also posted good numbers at the AHL level in limited action as he has gone 1-1 with a .921 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average. Much like Comrie, Levi has also struggled at the NHL level as he has dressed in 19 games registering an 8-7-2 record with a 3.32 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage.

While neither of the two netminders have cemented themselves as a full-time NHL backup this season, Levi has posted better underlying numbers according to MoneyPuck.com. While one would think that the Sabres would want to keep the stronger netminder of the two at the NHL, this move could be more about Levi’s development than anything else. The Sabres may want to get Levi into more games down the stretch, and given that he hasn’t been able to do so in the NHL, they might have deemed the best course to have him as a regular starter in the AHL.

Blue Jackets Put Spencer Martin On Waivers, Jiricek Sent To AHL

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that they’ve placed goaltender Spencer Martin on waivers today and sent defenseman David Jiricek to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. Martin was placed on waivers for the purpose of sending him to the AHL, but he will need to clear waivers first before he can be sent there.

Martin has struggled this season after he was acquired on waivers from the Vancouver Canucks back in September 2023. He has not appeared in a game since a loss on January 2nd to the Boston Bruins. For the season, Martin has dressed in 13 games and has a 3-8-1 record with a 3.65 goals-against average and a save percentage of .887%. Those numbers are not great, and some might speculate that they are being dragged down by playing on a bad team in Columbus, however, Martin’s numbers are only slightly worse with the Blue Jackets as his career average goals against is 3.63 and his career save percentage is lower at .886. Martin’s demotion could lead to Elvis Merzļikins getting more playing time in the coming days, which could be interesting given his recent trade request.

Jiricek heads to Cleveland after dressing in 36 games this season for the Blue Jackets. The former sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft has played okay this season, although he hasn’t posted much in the way of offense with just a goal and eight assists this year. The Blue Jackets tried to give the 20-year-old the bulk of his zone starts in the offensive zone and did appear to be sheltering him as best they could. With his demotion to Cleveland, he will likely see more minutes and have an opportunity to play in more high-leverage situations which could help his development long-term.

Islanders Put Casey Cizikas On IR, Recall Kyle MacLean

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The New York Islanders announced today that they have placed forward Casey Cizikas on the injured reserve and recalled forward Kyle MacLean from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. The move with Cizikas is retroactive to January 9th, meaning that he can return anytime he is healthy enough to do so. He is currently listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury so he may be out until closer to the all-star break.

Cizikas has been enjoying one of his better offensive seasons this year with five goals and six assists in 39 games. However, his defensive work is his calling card, and it has not been quite as good as in previous seasons. Cizikas has long been one of the top defensive forwards in the NHL, but his overall play at five-on-five and the penalty kill has fallen off this year in comparison to previous seasons.

MacLean is the son of long-time New Jersey Devils forward John MacLean. He will join the Islanders from Bridgeport, where he has spent the past four seasons with the team. In 193 career AHL games, the 24-year-old has 29 goals and 49 assists and is -4. He has yet to dress in an NHL game, meaning that he could make his NHL debut in the coming days. This season with Bridgeport he has six goals and 13 assists in 36 games.

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