NHL

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.

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.