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Alex Ovechkin

Snapshots: MHL, Arbitration, ESPN

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The KHL will be testing a new backcourt violation rule in their junior hockey league, the MHL (Twitter link). The rule that will come into effect for the 2024-25 season will forbid players from skating the puck back to their side of center in overtime more than one time. A first violation will cause a stoppage in play and the team guilty of the backcourt violation will see a faceoff occur in their defensive zone. Any additional violation in overtime will cause a minor penalty to be called.

The trial run will be interesting to watch as there have been calls for this type of rule in North America, although no change to the rule is pending. NHL clubs have been utilizing their defensive zone in recent years as a reset during overtime and it has made 3 on 3 overtime in the NHL far less exciting than it was when it was first introduced.

In other news from around the hockey world:

  • David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that the NHLPA has taken a new approach to arbitration hearings, opting not to release a full schedule ahead of the hearings. The news makes sense given that very little information is available about the scheduled hearings and they will begin tomorrow. The pivot means that fans won’t know about the time and date of hearings until an arbitrator has decided the outcome or the team and player have settled before arbitration. Arbitration can be contentious between teams and their players and might be something that is looked at the next time the NHL and NHLPA renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement.
  • ESPN released a list ranking the top 100 professional athletes of this century. The list was largely absent of hockey players but there were a handful that made the cut. It isn’t shocking to see so few players on their list but keep in mind that this is the network that owns a lot of NHL distribution rights and streaming rights at the moment. Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby topped this list for hockey players, finishing 22nd, while Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin was 54th, and Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid finished a shocking 98th.

Evening Snapshots: Wild, Capitals, Drysdale

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Earlier today, the Minnesota Wild announced that defenseman Jared Spurgeon would be missing the rest of the season due to back and hip surgery, and Joe Smith of The Athletic speculates that the organization may use their newfound cap space to improve their situation. Only two days ago, General Manager Bill Guerin publicly stated that he is unwilling to give up on the 2023-24 season, and fully expects this team to compete for a playoff spot over the next couple of months.

If Minnesota is going to operate as a buyer come trade deadline time, there are a few options at defense they could look to acquire. Assuming the team looks for a right-handed defenseman to replace the lost minutes left by Spurgeon, they could become a dark horse contender for a defenseman such as Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames, or even look to acquire Tyson Barrie from their division rivals, the Nashville Predators.

In the next few weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the status of the Wild’s playoff chances should come into much clearer view for Guerin, which should help him steer the ship in a more concrete direction. Whatever the case may be, if Minnesota decides to make a major move to replace Spurgeon for the rest of the season, they will have approximately $5.1MM in cap flexibility to do so.

Other snapshots:

  • In tonight’s game for the Washington Capitals, they saw the return of their captain, Alex Ovechkin, who had missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, the team will be without a few players, as Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network reported that defenseman Joel Edmundson would not play in tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, and forward Beck Malenstyn is out due to personal reasons.
  • Moving on to another team in the Metropolitan Division, even though Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported earlier that newly-acquired defenseman Jamie Drysdale was not seen at practice today, he was able to draw into the lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers this evening. Suiting up for the team in two games, Drysdale came down with an illness shortly after arriving in Philadelphia and subsequently missed the next two contests for the team. Drawing back in the lineup against the Dallas Stars, Drysdale has already skated in over 14 minutes of the game and has put two shots on the net.

Morning Notes: Byram, Lehkonen, Ovechkin, Guentzel

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Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram and winger Artturi Lehkonen will make their returns to the lineup within the next week, head coach Jared Bednar said on Altitude Sports Radio (KKSE-FM). Both players, who are on IR and LTIR, respectively, will be activated by next Wednesday’s game against the Capitals at the latest. They’ve been ruled out for tomorrow’s game in Boston, however. Byram will have missed at least seven games with a lower-body injury sustained Jan. 4 against the Stars, while Lehkonen has been out for over two months with a neck injury and will miss his 34th game tomorrow. The Avalanche will either need to assign one contract to the minors or move Valeri Nichushkin to LTIR while he completes treatment in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program to clear up the cap space for Lehkonen’s $4.5MM cap hit to come off LTIR. They’re currently short about $500K in space to execute the transaction, per CapFriendly.

More from around the NHL this morning:

  • The Capitals expect captain Alex Ovechkin to return from a lower-body injury during their next two games, head coach Spencer Carbery said on 106.7 The Fan (WJFK-FM) today. Ovechkin has missed the last three games, but the Capitals have emerged with a 2-1-0 record in a trio of low-scoring affairs without him. Carbery commented further on the nature of his star sniper’s absence, saying the injury isn’t related to an awkward collision he had with Hurricanes center Jordan Staal earlier in the month. While “The Great 8” has had a much-publicized down season in the goal-scoring department (8-19–27 in 39 games), he was on a six-game point streak before exiting the lineup and still holds a slim lead on Dylan Strome for most points on the team.
  • Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is expected to have a conversation with pending UFA winger Jake Guentzel’s camp about his future with the team during the upcoming All-Star break, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Monday’s edition of the “32 Thoughts” podcast. Reports earlier this month indicated Guentzel’s agent, Ben Hankinson, may opt to delay extension talks until the summer. While a 6-2-2 run in their last 10 games now has the Penguins at a 60% chance of making the postseason, per Hockey Reference, they’re not a lock in a competitive Metropolitan Division. If their conversation in a few weeks doesn’t result in Dubas having substantive confidence in his ability to extend Guentzel, the two-time 40-goal scorer may end up the subject of a blockbuster deadline trade.

Morning Notes: Alexandrov, Bussi, Ovechkin

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The St. Louis Blues have announced that they’ve recalled forward Nikita Alexandrov from his conditioning assignment with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League. Alexandrov was loaned to Springfield back on January 4th after he had been a healthy scratch for ten straight games with the Blues.

Alexandrov made the most of the demotion and was very productive with the Thunderbirds as he tallied two goals and five assists in seven games. The 23-year-old has no points in 10 NHL games this season with St. Louis and is a -2. He has averaged 7:28 of ice time per game with the Blues and has struggled badly at even strength.

In other morning notes:

  • The Boston Bruins have announced that they’ve returned goaltender Brandon Bussi to the Providence Bruins of the AHL. Bussi had been recalled on an emergency basis back on January 11th, although he didn’t see any game action during his recall. The 25-year-old has put together an impressive AHL career thus far but has yet to see any NHL action despite being recalled on a number of occasions. This year has been a struggle for Bussi as he has seen his save percentage fall dramatically to just .901 on the season while his goals-against average has climbed to 2.94.
  • Sammi Silber of The Hockey News is reporting that Washington Capitals star forward Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision tonight when they take on the Anaheim Ducks. It will make the fifth straight game that Ovechkin is a game-time decision as he tries to battle through a lower-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since January 11th. Ovechkin has missed two games at this point but did take the entire morning skate with the Capitals today, although he sat out of the power-play reps. Ovechkin has just eight goals this season after tallying 42 last year. The 38-year-old had been heating up leading up to the injury with a goal and five assists in his last five games.

Snapshots: Ovechkin, Vlasic, Petan, Bellows

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Washington Capitals star winger Alex Ovechkin is officially sidelined, now set to miss his second straight game with a lower-body injury, per team reporter Bailey Johnson. Ovechkin has been dealing with the injury for about a week, taking part in the optional practices and traveling with the team to New York. Ovechkin’s next chance to play will be when the Capitals face the Anaheim Ducks at home on Tuesday.

Ovechkin is experiencing the lowest goals-per-game pace of his career this season, boasting just eight through 39 games this season. But that hasn’t limited his scoring upside, with the 38-year-old still leading the Washington roster with 27 points. He also leads all Capitals forwards in ice time, averaging roughly 19-and-a-half each game. It’s been an impressive year for the 1386-game veteran of the league, who is proving just how effective he still is, even if his illustrious chase of Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record may be dwindling.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson spoke about the likelihood of signing high-end rookie defenseman Alex Vlasic to a long-term deal – sharing that the team is definitely considering weighing the idea but wants to be sure before committing to a long-term cap hit. Vlasic currently has 10 points in 37 games this season, adding 25 penalty minutes and a +7. He ranks second in scoring among Hawks defenders, and first among the team’s multiple rookie defenders.
  • The Minnesota Wild have sent forward Nic Petan back to the minor leagues. Petan was recalled on December 31st, appearing in the team’s last five games. He managed two points and a -2 over the stretch. Petan has also appeared in 26 AHL games this season, scoring 10 goals and 28 points.
  • Kieffer Bellows has signed a minor league deal with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, officially joining the team through the rest of the season. Bellows has already appeared in 25 games with the club, scoring 14 goals and 26 points, leading the team in goals and ranking second in points. Bellows played in 27 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers last season, scoring three goals and recording a -7. The New York Islanders drafted Bellows 19th-overall in the 2016 NHL Draft and is one of seven players from that First Round to not yet play in 100 NHL games. He remains five games short, managing 31 points in 95 career games.

Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Ovechkin, Kakko

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Among the teams that the Flyers discussed a Cutter Gauthier trade with was the Avalanche, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link).  Friedman suggests that Philadelphia’s target from the Avs may have been blueliner Bowen Byram, an option that wasn’t palatable for Colorado in a one-for-one swap.  Of course, Gauthier wound up being moved to Anaheim for another blueliner, Jamie Drysdale, who is off to a nice start with his new team with a pair of assists in his first two games while averaging nearly 21 minutes a night.  With Drysdale being a right-shot player and Byram a left-shot blueliner (which Philadelphia has more of in their system), it’s possible that Colorado’s rejection may work out better for them in the long run.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin was scratched today due to a lower-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). It has been a tough year for Washington’s captain as the 38-year-old has been limited to just eight goals and 19 assists in 38 games although his 27 points still lead the team.  Ovechkin has missed several practices in recent days with this lingering issue and it looks as if they’re going to try resting him outright to see if that helps the injury heal.
  • Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko isn’t quite ready to return yet, relays Newsday’s Colin Stephenson (Twitter link). The 22-year-old has missed the last six weeks with a lower-body injury and while he’s skating with the team, head coach Peter Laviolette indicated that they want to give Kakko a ramp-up period before returning so it appears he’ll need a bit more time.  Kakko has struggled this season, notching just three points in 20 games before the injury.

Injury Updates: Skinner, Nečas, Capitals

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Although the Sabres have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL and one that seems likelier and likelier to extend through 2023-24, their lack of team progress has not stopped individual Sabres from taking major steps forward in their career. $9MM AAV forward Jeff Skinner is coming off of a career year in which he scored 82 points, and currently has 33 points in 38 games. He’s among Buffalo’s most reliable offensive generators, which makes it all the more distressing that he’s suffered an upper-body injury, according to The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn.

Fairburn reports that “the Sabres are waiting for the results” of the imaging Skinner underwent this morning in order to determine a timetable for his recovery. Any significant Skinner absence could be a potential killing blow to the Sabres’ long-shot playoff hopes. He’s skated on the team’s first line alongside Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson, and although three-time 20-goal scorer Victor Olofsson would see more regular time in the lineup in Skinner’s absence, the Sabres don’t have any players who appear capable of replicating Skinner’s playmaking abilities.

Other injury notes from across the NHL:

  • Carolina Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff has provided updates from head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who says that forward Martin Nečas’ upper-body injury “isn’t too serious,” though it may keep him out of the lineup tomorrow. Necas last played in Carolina’s December 2nd win against the New York Rangers, before getting injured. After scoring 28 goals and 71 points last season Necas is scoring at a 20-goal, 56-point pace this season.
  • The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson reports that both Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson were on the ice ahead of team practice this morning. Wilson was wearing a “fishbowl” helmet to protect his broken nose. Both players skated in the team’s most recent game Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings, but there was some fear that neither would be available tomorrow against Seattle due to injury. They’re still not confirmed to be ready to play, but today’s reporting does point in a positive direction in that regard.

Injury Updates: Sandin Pellikka, Bennett, Ovechkin

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Axel Sandin Pellikka, one of the Detroit Red Wings’ top prospects, played the gold medal game of the recent IIHF World Junior Championship through an injury. Additionally, Sandin Pellikka will at the very least miss this full next week as he awaits further information on the injury, which could have a “longer recovery period” according to Swedish outlet Sportbladet.

Although Sandin Pellikka couldn’t quite manage to lead Sweden to the gold medal, he nonetheless had an extremely strong tournament with six points in seven games. He’s played club hockey this year for Skellefteå AIK, one of the SHL’s better teams. Playing as the team’s number-two defenseman, Sandin Pellikka has had a strong start to the season with nine goals and 13 points in 25 games.

Some other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett sustained an upper-body injury, according to head coach Paul Maurice. (via AP’s Colby Guy) Maurice added that they’re “not too concerned” about the injury, indicating that it’s likely his injury will not keep him out for much longer than a day-to-day timeline. Bennett is currently slotted in as the Panthers’ second-line center in between Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe, and he has scored seven goals and 14 points in 27 games this season.
  • The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber reports that Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is a game-time decision for today’s contest against the Los Angeles Kings. Ovechkin played in the Capitals’ most recent game but was held out of yesterday’s practice as a maintenance day. Ovechkin’s absence would leave a hole on the Capitals’ first line to be filled, with healthy scratch Matthew Phillips potentially taking up his role next to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson.

Morning Notes: Ovechkin, Zub, Avon

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It’s been a horrid start to the season for the Capitals, who sit at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with a 1-2-0 record and just four goals scored. Only the Kraken have potted less while playing in as many games. A fair bit of this poor performance has been precipitated by the unusual early-season struggles of captain Alex Ovechkin – as multiple people have pointed out over the last 12 hours, Ovechkin has now failed to record a shot on goal in back-to-back contests for the first time in his 19-season, 1,350-game NHL career.

Ovechkin had four shots on goal in the team’s season-opening loss to the Penguins last week, and it took him until Wednesday night’s 6-1 defeat at the hands of the Senators to record a point – a primary assist on John Carlson’s goal. While head coach Spencer Carbery shuffled around some lines ahead of the Ottawa game, Ovechkin had spent the first two games of the season on a line with Nicklas Bäckström and T.J. Oshie – one that expectedly lacked speed in the year 2023 and struggled heavily to limit defensive opportunities. Ovechkin does, however, lead the team in Corsi share at even strength with 54.5%, and he’s likely been a tad unlucky over the past few contests. Still, the scoring will need to kick into high gear soon for Ovechkin to resume his quest of becoming the NHL’s all-time goals leader.

Other items of interest this Thursday morning:

  • Senators head coach D.J. Smith does not believe defenseman Artem Zub will be out long-term after taking a puck to the jaw in last night’s win against the Capitals. Early in the third period, a shot close in from Ovechkin rocketed up Zub’s stick and hit him in the face, a concerning incident for a player who missed 12 games last season with a broken jaw. Zub has been outstanding in the early going, recording a goal and two assists in four contests and laying a team-high eight hits. The Sens are on a decisive three-game win streak, outscoring opponents by 11 goals in the process. Possession numbers suggest some team-wide regression may be incoming, but it’s a huge improvement over their poor starts to the past few campaigns, derailing hope and chemistry while trying to return to the playoff picture.
  • The Flyers have activated forward Jon-Randall Avon off season-opening injured reserve and assigned him to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, per CapFriendly. The 20-year-old center prospect sustained a PCL sprain while preparing for rookie camps that was expected to sideline him for four to six weeks, and he’s returned at the early end of that timeline. A free-agent signing of the Flyers almost immediately after going undrafted in 2021, Avon has put up over a point per game during his past two campaigns with OHL Peterborough and he’s beginning to look like a diamond-in-the-rough type pickup for the Flyers organization. He’ll report to the Phantoms for his first pro hockey experience.

Latest On Alex Ovechkin

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The Washington Capitals have an important season coming up, with the performance of rookie head coach Spencer Carbery and Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record likely to take center stage as key storylines.

Ovechkin’s pursuit of Gretzky is likely to be the most significant storyline in Washington until Ovechkin manages to score his 895th goal.

In order to do so, the soon-to-be 38-year-old will need to remain in top shape and a consistent goal-scoring threat.

Despite his advanced age, Ovechkin hasn’t shown major signs of slowing down. He scored 42 goals and 75 points, though he did battle through a few injuries and ended up only playing in 73 games.

That could end up a more common concern for Ovechkin as he gets even older, though for what it’s worth Ovechkin doesn’t feel as though his health is anything to worry about at the current moment.

Ovechkin told Russian news outlet R-Sport that he feels he is in good health with everything to normal standard so far, and that yesterday he returned to North America to ramp up his preparations for the new season.

For as long as Ovechkin is healthy and chasing Gretzky’s record, one can anticipate the Capitals to avoid entering into a rebuild and instead focus on supporting Ovechkin and putting a contending team around him.

There were some who hoped that the Capitals would plunge deeper into a rebuild-like direction after their disappointing 2022-23, but Capitals GM Brian MacLellan resisted such calls. He aggressively targeted more NHL-ready young talent, showing a willingness to trade valuable draft picks in order to do so. He traded a first-round pick in order to land Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the 23-year-old provided an immediate return on the investment by scoring 15 points in just 19 games as a Capital.

But while Ovechkin’s place as the Capitals’ centerpiece player for the next few seasons is secure and untouchable, there are a few big-name players in Washington entering the season with high stakes.

Evgeny Kuznetsov has been a source of frustration and great optimism for Capitals fans in recent years, and after scoring just 12 goals last season is entering a make-or-break year for his future in Washington. Anthony Mantha, 28, is a pending unrestricted free agent who scored just 27 points last year. Both of those names are entering extremely important campaigns, and while the stakes aren’t as high as an all-time goal record chase, they matter quite a bit to each of those veteran’s playing futures.

With training camp approaching quickly, the Capitals look to be one of the NHL’s more interesting teams. Ovechkin and his record chase are a major reason for that, and thankfully for hockey fans around the world it appears that despite his advanced age Ovechkin shows no signs of slowing down, and is feeling in perfectly good health in advance of puck drop next month.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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