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Cal Foote

Atlantic Notes: Lightning, Senators Sale, Barkov

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The Lightning transferred defenseman Cal Foote to injured reserve today, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider (Twitter link).  He has missed the last three games since suffering an upper-body injury on a hit from Capitals winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel last week, one that earned him a three-game suspension.  The placement might be a short-term one, however, as the 23-year-old is skating in a non-contact sweater which suggests he might be close to returning.  Tampa Bay has the option to back-date the placement to last week in which case they’d be able to activate Foote as soon as Monday.

What the placement does is give the Lightning an open roster spot, one that Erlendsson suggests could be used to activate blueliner Zach Bogosian tomorrow.  The 32-year-old has yet to play this season since undergoing shoulder surgery back in July and would be a welcome addition to their third pairing if he is indeed given the green light to suit up in that one.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Add another suitor to the list of groups interested in purchasing the Senators as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Angelo Paletta and his family have expressed interest in the franchise. Paletta looked to bring another team to Southern Ontario back in 2018 while also looking to purchase the Coyotes one year later.
  • While the Panthers had to play short a player last night due to a lack of cap space, that won’t be the case for their game against Calgary on Saturday. Head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link) that he is optimistic that center Aleksander Barkov will return for that contest after missing yesterday’s game against Dallas due to an undisclosed injury.  Since they played with only 17 skaters for that one, they’re now allowed to make an emergency cap-exempt recall from AHL Charlotte but Maurice indicated that they don’t plan to do so at this time.

Injury Notes: Lightning, Wild, Orlov

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are lagging behind the pace in the Atlantic Division, and injuries are becoming a complicating factor. Neither defensemen Erik Cernak nor Cal Foote was on the ice for their morning skate today after sustaining injuries in Friday night’s 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, according to The Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina. Mikhail Sergachev, who was also injured in that game, was present.

Tampa could be without both Cernak and Foote when they take on the Capitals in a rematch tonight. If neither is ready to go, no recalls will be necessary as Haydn Fleury and Philippe Myers are already on the active roster as healthy extras. The Lightning’s depth is doing little to support the strong play of its stars, a stark change from years past. They’ll need a gritty performance tonight to avoid dropping to .500 on the season.

  • Jordan Greenway has been a rarely-seen presence in the Minnesota Wild lineup this season, with injuries limiting him to just two games. After suffering yet another upper-body injury, he’s not expected to travel with the team on their one-game road trip to Nashville early this week, according to Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He’ll miss that game and today’s home matchup against the Sharks, while Matt Boldy continues to slot in aside Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek in Greenway’s usual spot. Brandon Duhaime, who’s missed two weeks with an upper-body injury, is a possibility for the Nashville game.
  • The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov participated in morning skate ahead of the team’s game tonight against Tampa, but is expected to miss his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. Orlov is on injured reserve and remains day-to-day. The 31-year-old has five assists in 13 games.

NHL Player Safety Fines Cal Foote For Cross-Checking

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The NHL Department of Player Safety announced today that they’ve fined Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Cal Foote $2,125 for cross-checking Anaheim Ducks forward Buddy Robinson. This is the maximum allowable amount per the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Foote delivered the cross-check to Robinson with 18.4 seconds remaining in last night’s game against the Ducks. The Lightning lost that game 5-1.

This is the first fine Foote’s received from NHL Player Safety in his NHL career.

The 23-year-old defenseman has just three assists in 28 games this year, but in recent days he’s gotten a look on the team’s top pairing with Victor Hedman. The potential is still there for the 14th overall pick in 2017.

Cal Foote, Taylor Raddysh Enter COVID Protocol

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced some good news and some bad news today. Head coach Jon Cooper and forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare have both exited the COVID protocol, but Cal Foote and Taylor Raddysh have taken their place. Goaltending coach Frantz Jean has also entered the protocol.

Getting Cooper back is obviously big news for the Lightning, who take on their state rival Florida Panthers tonight in a matchup that could have playoff implications down the road. Tampa Bay, Florida, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are all battling for supremacy at the top of the Atlantic Division, with the Lightning currently holding a four-point lead on both. The head coach doesn’t have to split his attention anymore either–his services at the upcoming Olympics are no longer required, after the NHL decided against participation.

Losing Foote hurts though, even if he is averaging just over 13 minutes a night this season. The 23-year-old defenseman is a key piece of depth for the Lightning and has suited up 20 times this season, registering strong results in his limited ice time. With Andrej Sustr and Mikhail Sergachev already unavailable due to the COVID protocol, the defensive depth of Tampa Bay will be tested.

Foote and Raddysh join Sergachev, Sustr, Anthony Cirelli, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Brian Elliotte on the sidelines.

AHL Shuffle: 10/31/21

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There’s a light schedule on this Halloween Sunday, with only five games on the NHL’s docket. Nevertheless, there should be some action on the recall and reassignment front as teams deal with short-term roster absences. We’ll keep track of those moves here.

Atlantic Division

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning recalled defenseman Cal Foote from his conditioning stint with the Syracuse Crunch today, per a team release. The 22-year-old, who’s arguably Tampa Bay’s top defense prospect, hasn’t played in the NHL yet this season after undergoing finger surgery during training camp. He’ll likely draw into the lineup on the team’s third pairing with Mikhail Sergachev, letting veteran Andrej Sustr, who’s averaged just 10:48 per game in seven contests, return to the press box or minors.
  • According to Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards, the Florida Panthers are re-assigning forward Zac Dalpe and defenseman Chase Priskie to the Charlotte Checkers. Dalpe was recalled just yesterday but was forced into action with Sam Bennett unable to go. Priskie’s shuffled up and down multiple times this season due to him not being waiver-eligible but hasn’t gotten into game action yet with the Panthers.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs returned goalie Michael Hutchinson to the Toronto Marlies yesterday. Petr Mrazek is once again healthy and after playing against the Detroit Red Wings last night, Hutchinson’s emergency recall is now over.
  • Forward Jack Studnicka has been returned to Providence by the Boston Bruins, according to the AHL’s transactions page. Studnicka, one of their top forward prospects, has one assist in three games with the big club this season.

Metropolitan Division

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, per the team. The move comes after Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel were added to the COVID-19 protocol today. Joseph will likely make his season debut during this call-up after notching five points in 16 games with Pittsburgh last year, his first NHL action.

Central Division

  • St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube says that the team will recall goalie Joel Hofer from the Springfield Thunderbirds after Ville Husso entered COVID-19 protocol today. The 21-year-old Hofer was a fourth-round selection by the Blues in 2018 and could make his NHL debut this coming week as the team’s next two games fall on back-to-back nights. A WHL and World Junior champion, Hofer’s started strong with a .936 save percentage and 3-0-1 record in Springfield this year.

Pacific Division

  • The Anaheim Ducks recalled Sam Carrick from the San Diego Gulls after announcing forward Jakob Silfverberg entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol today, per The Athletic’s Eric Stephens. The news comes after Silfverberg’s mysterious brief disappearance from the Ducks’ public roster yesterday. This is Carrick’s second NHL stint this season, playing 9:51 in his only game with the Ducks in 2021-22.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Cal Foote Assigned To AHL On Conditioning Stint

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could be getting a young defenseman back in the coming days, as Cal Foote was assigned to the AHL on a conditioning stint. Foote is recovering from offseason finger surgery and will be able to get up to speed with the Syracuse Crunch.

Foote, 22, played in 35 games as a rookie last season for Tampa Bay, averaging fewer than 13 minutes a game. By the time the playoffs rolled around though and the Lightning had made some in-season additions, he found himself on the outside looking in and failed to suit up for a single postseason game.

Heading into this season it looked like Foote would be in line for a full-time spot, but after missing training camp and the first few games he’s lagged behind the bottom pairing of Jan Rutta and Zach Bogosian. Now that Bogosian is dealing with an injury of his own and Andrej Sustr of all people is in the lineup, there’s certainly a chance for Foote to grab hold of a spot if he can quickly move through the last stage of his rehab.

While the Lightning are once again operating in long-term injured reserve space, defense appears to be a place where they could make an improvement at some point this season. It’s up to Foote to make sure they don’t need to, by stepping into that bottom-pairing role and running away with it.

Injury Updates: Oilers, Varlamov, Foote, Rust, Dunn, Maatta

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Oilers winger Zack Kassian will suit up tonight after missing Edmonton’s season opener while in concussion protocol, the team announced (Twitter link).  He suffered the injury in a fight late in the preseason when his helmet came off.  To make room for Kassian, Edmonton has placed forward Devin Shore on IR with an undisclosed injury, notes Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link).  The placement is retroactive to last Saturday which means he’ll have missed seven days already which means Shore could be activated as soon as Tuesday’s game against Anaheim.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov missed training camp due to nagging soreness with head coach Barry Trotz expressing optimism that the veteran wouldn’t miss much time. However, Newsday’s Andrew Gross relays that while the netminder took a few shots at the end of practice on Friday, there remains no timetable for a return.  Trotz ruled out the possibility of a conditioning stint but it remains unclear when Varlamov will actually be able to suit up for New York.
  • Lightning defenseman Cal Foote is roughly a week away from returning, notes Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). He had surgery last month to repair a torn tendon in his hand which caused him to miss all of the preseason.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tampa Bay asked him to start with a short conditioning stint first; he’d have to agree to the move as he’s no longer waiver-exempt.
  • The Penguins have ruled out winger Bryan Rust for tonight’s game against Chicago, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters including Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 29-year-old was injured early in the third period on a hit from Florida’s MacKenzie Weegar on Thursday.  The team is still evaluating Rust’s injury so there’s no timetable yet for his return although he has been placed on IR.
  • Vince Dunn will miss tonight’s game for the Kraken, relays Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (Twitter link). The blueliner is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed issue.  Haydn Fleury will take Dunn’s place in the lineup.
  • The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated defenseman Olli Maatta off injured reserve. He’ll take the roster spot of Christian Wolanin who was claimed off waivers earlier today by Buffalo.  The 27-year-old had a sparing role with Los Angeles last season, logging less than 17 minutes a game in 41 appearances while recording just four assists.

Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning Begin Extension Talks

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Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that the Tampa Bay Lightning have begun contract extension talks with head coach Jon Cooper. Cooper is entering the final season of a three-year deal paying him $3.5MM per season.

A raise is undoubtedly in order for Cooper, who’s now guided the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. It’s an incredible achievement for Cooper, who’s already the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL. He took over the reins with 15 games left in the 2012-13 season after Guy Boucher was fired.

The Lightning have never won less than 40 games in a full season coached by Cooper, who’s now 54 years old. His coaching record stands at 384-197-53, good enough for a .647 points percentage during his time as a head coach in the league. Those numbers tie him for 42nd all-time in wins and 11th among all current head coaches in the league.

Cooper’s job could get more challenging this year. Salary cap constraints hit the Lightning hard this offseason, and they’re now a team that will be relying on their youth more than in recent years. He’s shown at multiple junctures in the past that he can get the most out of Tampa’s prospect system, helping coach underappreciated assets like Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli to the heights of their success.

He’ll have to perform a similar act this year with names such as Ross Colton, Callan Foote, Mathieu Joseph, and other potential roster players such as Alex Barre-Boulet and Taylor Raddysh. If Cooper’s able to guide Tampa Bay to yet another Stanley Cup championship, he could become the first coach to win three straight Stanley Cups since Al Arbour won four in a row from 1980 to 1983.

Cal Foote Will Miss Start Of Regular Season After Surgery

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There have been several injury updates throughout the league today as training camps get underway and one of them came from Tampa Bay.  GM Julien BriseBois told reporters, including Joe Smith of The Athletic (Twitter link) that defenseman Cal Foote recently underwent surgery to repair a torn tendon in his finger.  He’s expected to miss all of training camp plus the first two-to-four weeks of the season as a result.

The 22-year-old spent most of last season with the Lightning, playing in 35 games during the regular season although he didn’t suit up in the playoffs.  The 14th pick in 2017, Foote was expected to push for a spot on the third pairing in camp and now that he’s waiver-eligible, his days in the minors were likely over.  Instead, he’ll be on the outside looking in once the regular season gets underway next month.

The timetable for a return is noteworthy here.  Tampa Bay is protected to have a roster that’s right up against the Upper Limit even with Brent Seabrook’s eventual transfer back to LTIR and it’s one that will be below the maximum size of 23.  If Foote is expected to return within the first two weeks of the season, he won’t miss enough time to be eligible for LTIR; players need to be out for three weeks or ten games to qualify.  If he’s projected to be out that long, they’ll be able to place Foote on there and bring up a replacement that carries roughly the same $850K AAV that he does.

While there were some injuries from the playoffs for Tampa Bay, Foote is the only Lightning player expected to miss the start of the season.  In a pair of other tweets, Smith notes that defenseman Victor Hedman has fully recovered from his meniscus surgery while winger Alex Killorn is still rehabbing from his broken fibula but is expected to be ready for opening night.

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