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Brendan Smith And Austin Watson Fined By DOPS

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety had a busy day today levying two fines to two different players. New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Austin Watson will be both lighter in the wallet after the official announcements this afternoon.

Smith was fined for a dangerous trip in last night’s game against the Seattle Kraken. The incident occurred midway through the third period when Smith tripped Kraken center Devin Shore, which led to a minor penalty. Smith’s fine is the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement and will cost him $2,864.58. Smith’s fine comes just a week after he was suspended two games for slashing Philadelphia forward Travis Konecny.

Meanwhile, Watson was fined for an incident that occurred at the end of regulation in a game against the Nashville Predators. Watson fired a puck at Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and was quickly assessed a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute misconduct. The penalties had little consequence for Watson as the game was over at that point, however, they did initiate a brawl on the ice. Watson will face a fine of $2,022.57 which is the maximum allowed under the CBA. Lauzon appeared injured on the play and struggled to get off the ice as he slammed his stick in frustration, no word yet on his status.

The money from both players’ fines will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Penguins Recall Three Players, Place Noel Acciari On IR

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The Pittsburgh Penguins’ bottom two lines will have a very different look tonight when they take on the Florida Panthers. The Penguins are desperate to turn things around after a very poor showing against the Tampa Bay Lightning two nights ago and are hoping a shakeup in their bottom six can fix some of their issues. Today the Penguins announced that they’ve recalled forwards Marc Johnstone, Jonathan Gruden, and Valtteri Puustinen from their AHL affiliate.

Johnstone is in his first year with the Penguins organization after signing a two-year, two-way contract on July 2nd. At 27 years old he has never dressed in an NHL game before, meaning he could see his first NHL action in a Penguins jersey. Thus far this season the native of Cranford, New Jersey has two goals and three assists at the AHL level in 21 games.

Gruden was acquired by the Penguins from the Ottawa Senators in the Matt Murray trade back in October 2020 after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL entry draft. He dressed in three NHL games in Pittsburgh last season tallying zero points while averaging just over five minutes of ice time per game. In the AHL this season, Gruden has registered five goals and five assists in 21 games.

Puustinen is probably the most intriguing of the three call-ups as he has the longest track record of offensive success at the AHL level. He has started slowly this year with just five goals and five assists in 18 games but does have one NHL game under his belt back in 2022. In his only NHL action Puustinen recorded an assist in just over ten minutes of action.

The recalls demonstrate just how desperate the Penguins are to find a fix to their bottom six woes. Pittsburgh hasn’t been able to find much success outside of their top two lines, and with injuries to Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, their lack of NHL quality depth is beginning to become apparent.

In a corresponding move, the Penguins also assigned forwards Alex Nylander and Joona Koppanen to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Many thought that Nylander turned a corner at the end of last season, but his play this year has been uninspired. He had no points in five games during this recall and looked overwhelmed on most of his shifts. Koppanen didn’t fare any better, going pointless in three games. He struggled on the Penguins’ fourth line with Pittsburgh unable to generate much of anything offensively with the 25-year-old on the ice.

Finally, the Penguins also announced that they’ve placed center Noel Acciari on the injured reserve. Acciari struggled to start the season but was starting to settle in on the fourth line when he was hurt. He also found a role on the Penguins penalty kill which has been one of the few bright spots for the Penguins this season. Acciari has been unable to dress in the Penguins past three games and won’t be eligible to get back in the lineup until next Tuesday. In 22 games this season, the 32-year-old has two goals and one assist while averaging over 12 minutes of ice time per game.

Evening Notes: Olympics, Smith, Laine

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On TSN’s Insider Trading today, Pierre LeBrun relayed some of the reservations the NHL might be having about a potential NHL return to Olympic hockey participation in 2026. The NHL hasn’t taken part in the Olympics since the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, a tournament in which Canada took gold. The league did not participate in the events in 2018 and opted not to return in 2022 due to COVID concerns as well as concerns surrounding travel.

LeBrun told viewers that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke to the NHL board of governors and had concerns about the Olympic arena in Milan, Italy which is not built yet and has a projected timeline that would see construction conclude just six to eight weeks before the Olympics begin.

On top of that, there remains no agreement on many important details such as families travelling to the Olympics as well as an agreement on the players’ insurance.

Lebrun added that he believes this is the most negative he has heard the NHL talk about 2026 Olympic participation but he does add that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly is not pessimistic towards NHL players returning to the Olympics.

In other evening notes:

  • The Nashville Predators announced that forward Cole Smith missed tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks with an apparent illness. The 28-year-old is currently listed as day-to-day, and it is unknown whether he will be able to suit up on Thursday when the Predators take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Smith has just one full NHL season under his belt and has started this year at a solid pace with four goals and five assists in 24 games while averaging nearly three hits a game.
  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine was a scratch tonight due to an illness. No word yet on any timeline for Laine to return as the news came out just before the start of the Blue Jackets’ game against the Los Angeles Kings. Mathieu Olivier was expected to be scratched for the game but took Laine’s place in the lineup and scored his first goal of the season in the 4-3 loss. Laine has struggled out of the game this season and has been a healthy scratch at times, he has just five goals and two assists in 16 games thus far which is well short of the numbers he has put up in recent years where he has been a point-a-game player.

Board Of Governors Updates Salary Cap Projections

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Largely expected for the last calendar year, Pierre LeBrun of TSN reported that at the Board of Governors meeting today, the league updated team owners on the revenue projections for this season, and projected next season’s salary cap to reach $87.7MM. It will be both the largest dollar value and the highest percentage raise the salary cap has seen in the last five years combined.

If the projection holds, and the salary cap indeed raises by $4.2MM for the start of next season, it will mark the highest possible percentage (5%) increase allowed under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA. If the league can sustain its current growth, it would not be unreasonable to see the league have a salary cap of more than $100MM by the end of the current decade.

As with any time the salary cap is increased by a substantial margin, it primarily benefits players in contract years and gives breathing room to a majority of the teams in the league. With players such as William Nylander, Jake Guentzel, and Brandon Montour, among others, set to hit unrestricted free agency next offseason, the first major cap increase in the last five years may put them in a position to garner record-breaking contracts.

Aside from players set to hit the free agent market this upcoming summer, players such as Leon Draisaitl, Mitch Marner, and Mikko Rantanen will be eligible for contract extensions, meaning this news bodes well for their earning power, as well. Still, although league salary standards are different for all three, the NHL has quite a ways to go in terms of revenue compared to the MLB, NFL, and NBA.

Nevertheless, it is a positive sign for the league as a whole, which saw a stagnant cap during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, and a mild $4MM increase overall in the cap since the 2018-19 season.

Panthers To Focus On Extending Pending Free Agents

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ESPN’s Kevin Weekes tweeted today that he expects the Florida Panthers to turn their attention to their pending unrestricted free agents after missing out on signing forward Patrick Kane. The Panthers didn’t have much available cap space to sign the three-time Stanley Cup champion for this season and could face a shortage of it next summer when they try to negotiate long-term extensions with some of the top free agents available.

Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, and Gustav Forsling are all set to hit the market on July 1st, 2024, and could take a sizeable chunk of the $28.8MM in cap space the Panthers are projected to have available next summer.

Reinhart has scored at least 22 goals in six consecutive seasons and is coming off back-to-back 30-goal campaigns. He is currently on pace for the first 100-point season of his career, although it is early in the season. But if the 28-year-old can keep up a pace close to that he could be looking at a long-term deal in the range of $8MM-9MM annually.

Montour on the other hand is a difficult projection to make. He had 73 points last season in 80 games but has never topped 40 points in any other season during his eight-year NHL career. He missed the Panthers’ first 16 games of the season and has had a slow start offensively with just a single assist in five games thus far. He will most likely see a sharp increase on his next contract from the $3.5MM cap hit that he currently carries, but much of his future earning potential will be decided by the direction the rest of this season takes.

Forsling is the final high-profile free agent the Panthers will need to sign next summer and after a pair of solid seasons in Florida will be looking to cash in. The 27-year-old plays in all situations and has really seen his offensive game improve over the last couple of years. He is currently carrying a cap hit that is a shade over $2.6MM and could command an additional $3MM-$4MM per season given that he has proved he can be a top-pairing defenseman for the Panthers.

Florida will be hard-pressed to sign all three players as they will have other areas of need to consider going forward. Aaron Ekblad will be a free agent in the summer of 2025 as will Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe.

Sharks Sign Justin Bailey To NHL Deal, Place Filip Zadina On IR

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The San Jose Sharks have announced that they’ve signed forward Justin Bailey to an NHL contract and placed forward Filip Zadina on the injured reserve. Bailey has signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Sharks with an NHL salary of $775K and a salary of $300K at the AHL level.

Bailey had a professional try-out with the Sharks this season, which he converted into an AHL contract with their affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. The 28-year-old dressed in 16 games in the AHL, posting six goals and five assists, which was good enough to lead the team in scoring. After signing his contract, Bailey was quickly recalled by the Sharks to replace the injured Zadina. Bailey has five goals and four assists in 82 NHL games with three different NHL teams.

The Sharks also announced today that Zadina has been placed on the IR. The former sixth-overall pick left the Sharks game on Friday night against the Montreal Canadiens and did not return. He reportedly was dealing with an upper-body injury and did not dress for San Jose’s game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Zadina signed a one-year deal with the Sharks in the offseason to ignite his NHL career after struggling through five seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. Thus far with San Jose, Zadina has been unable to find any traction, as he has just three goals and two assists in 20 games while posting a -19.

Toronto Maple Leafs Loan Alex Steeves To AHL

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they’ve loaned forward Alex Steeves to their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Steeves was recalled last week and served as a health scratch for the Maple Leafs in their losses to the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend.

The 23-year-old has yet to play in an NHL game this season but has six games of experience, all with the Maple Leafs. Steeves has suited up in three games in each of the past two seasons, notching a single assist over that time. The story has been much different in the AHL, as Steeves has proved to be a solid scoring option with the Marlies. In 14 games this season, he has 11 goals and seven assists and is +2. For his AHL career, Steeves has dressed in 137 games and has 115 points.

Steeves spent his NCAA career with the University of Notre Dame before he signed with the Leafs as an undrafted free agent in 2021. His return to the AHL means he will have an opportunity to build on an 11-game point streak that remains intact. Steeves has 11 goals and five assists during the streak, and if he can continue to pile on the offense for the Marlies, he may be able to force his way into the Maple Leafs lineup at some point this season.

The Maple Leafs have not received a ton of offensive production from their bottom six forwards thus far this year, and with how tight they are against the salary cap, they may have no other choice other than exploring internal options to try and improve the offensive production they get from their bottom two lines.

Five Key Stories: 11/20/23 – 11/26/23

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The final full week of November is in the books and it was a stretch that was dominated by injury news.  We recap the biggest headlines in our key stories.

Back On The Market: Jaroslav Halak’s time with the Hurricanes came to a quick conclusion with the veteran requesting and being granted his release from his PTO agreement.  The 38-year-old was brought in a couple of weeks ago when Frederik Andersen was diagnosed with blood clots with the hope that he’d give Carolina some extra depth between the pipes.  However, the team wasn’t prepared to offer him a contract at this point, likely prompting Halak to try to move on.  Halak has done quite well for someone picked in the ninth round, putting together a 17-year NHL career so far.  He’ll have to wait a little longer at least before he has a shot at making it 18.

Done For The Year: When the Blackhawks picked up Taylor Hall over the summer, the hope was that he’d be a capable top-six scorer to give top prospect Connor Bedard some support.  Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as planned.  Hall has dealt with multiple injuries already this year and his latest one, a torn ACL, will end his season prematurely as he’ll undergo surgery on Monday.  Hall’s year comes to an end with just two goals and two assists in ten games, hardly the start to his time in Chicago anyone was hoping for.  He has one year left on his contract after this one with a $6MM AAV.

Perry Gone Indefinitely: Still with Chicago, midway through the week, Corey Perry was a surprise scratch with head coach Luke Richardson calling it an organizational decision.  Saturday, GM Kyle Davidson stated that the veteran would be gone for the “foreseeable future” while declining to provide further details or comment on any speculation.  Meanwhile, soon after that, his agent released a statement stating that Perry has stepped away to attend to personal matters, somewhat contradicting Chicago’s assertion of his absence being an organizational decision.  Perry has been relatively productive this season, sitting fourth on the team with four goals and five assists through 16 games but those totals won’t be getting added to for a while by the looks of it.

More Injury News: A tough start to the season just got a bit tougher for Columbus as they’ll be without one of their top defensemen for at least the next six weeks as Damon Severson is sidelined with an oblique injury.  Columbus picked up the 29-year-old in a sign-and-trade with New Jersey who gave him an eight-year, $50MM contract; he was off to a decent start with eight points in 19 games while logging nearly 21 minutes a game.  Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs will be without John Klingberg for a while as he has been placed on LTIR as his undisclosed injury is not healing as well as hoped.  He had struggled when he was in the lineup and didn’t provide the offensive boost Toronto was expecting.  It wasn’t all bad news on the injury front, however, as the Lightning welcomed back goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy as he has fully recovered from the back surgery he had in training camp.  How did Tampa Bay celebrate?  By becoming the first team in NHL history to score at least eight goals on 14 or fewer shots in a game since shots were first officially tracked in 1955-56.

Girard Enters Player Assistance Program: Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard has taken a leave of absence from the team to enter into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The blueliner stated that he “made a proactive decision to take care of my mental health, and will be entering treatment for severe anxiety and depression that has gone untreated for too long and led to alcohol abuse”.  The 25-year-old has become an integral part of Colorado’s back end in recent years but will now be away from the team indefinitely as he works through the program.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Samuel Girard Enters NHLPA Player Assistance Program

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After leaving the team for personal reasons on Wednesday, the NHL announced that Colorado Avalanche defenseman, Samuel Girard, has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Under the agreement between the two parties, Girard will be away from the team indefinitely and will continue to be paid for however long he is within the program.

The Player Assistance Program is available to all players in the NHL and is a resource to battle mental health, substance abuse, or any/all personal struggles a player may be going through. Given the serious nature of these issues, it would be entirely inappropriate to speculate the reasoning behind Girard’s entry into the program.

However, through his agency (CAA Hockey), Girard gave his own statement regarding his entry into the program:

“I have made a proactive decision to take care of my mental health, and will be entering treatment for severe anxiety and depression that has gone untreated for too long and led to alcohol abuse. Taking care of your mental health is of the upmost importance, and I encourage everyone to speak up and seek help should you feel like you need it. I want to express my gratitude to my wife, family, friends, the club, my teammates, and the fans for their patience, understanding, and continued support” (X Link).

In 15 games so far this season for Colorado, Girard has scored one goal and three assists, all while averaging over 20 and a half minutes of ice time per night. Over this last five seasons for the Avalanche, Girard has regularly averaged between 25 and 40 every year, including 22 points in 51 playoff games.

All of us at PHR extend our wishes to Girard that he receives the help he needs and a productive road to recovery.

Elias Pettersson Still In No Rush To Sign Contract Extension

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TSN Insider Chris Johnston is reporting that pending restricted free agent Elias Pettersson still doesn’t appear to be in any rush to sign a contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks. Pettersson is under Canucks control for one more season after this one and Johnston wonders if Pettersson might elect to go to arbitration with the club and accept a one-year contract, or take a qualifying offer which would come in north of $8MM.

While that news might not sit well with Canucks fans, it appears that Pettersson’s logic for the holding pattern might be to try and get a better sense of where the NHL salary cap ceiling is going before he puts pen to paper on a long-term deal.

The 25-year-old is off to a terrific start this season with eight goals and 20 assists in 20 games for the surprising Canucks who currently sit second in the Pacific Division with a 13-6-1 record. Many thought that Pettersson could be in a holding pattern to see what the future of the Canucks looked like before signing a new deal, but 20 games into the season it doesn’t appear as though the Canucks hot start has moved the needle for Pettersson.

The native of Sundsvall, Sweden is coming off a season in which he registered 39 goals and 63 assists in 80 games and is currently on pace for a 114-point season should he dress in all 82 games this year. It appears the longer Pettersson waits, the higher his price is going to climb, barring an injury or a massive slump at some point this season.

The Canucks are in a reasonably good salary cap situation beyond this year, and it shouldn’t be an issue fitting in a cap hit that is at or around the $10MM per season that Pettersson is sure to be seeking on a long-term deal. But until he signs that deal, there is sure to be a cloud of doubt surrounding Pettersson’s long-term future in Vancouver.

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