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Jack Studnicka

Pacific Notes: Flames, LaCombe, Oilers, Studnicka

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With the Flames entering tonight’s action in a tie for the final Wild Card spot, GM Brad Treliving told NHL.com’s Aaron Vickers that he’s not prepared to commit to being a buyer just yet.  While he acknowledged that adding another forward would be nice (a desire that goes back to training camp), he will wait to get a better sense of where things stand closer to the deadline before making that call.  Treliving also acknowledged that he hasn’t received clarity on Oliver Kylington to know if the defenseman will be able to return this season from his personal leave.  That answer will go a long way towards determining what the Flames can or can’t do with his $2.5MM AAV and will also help to shape their trade deadline planning.

More from the Pacific Division:

  • With Ducks prospect Jackson LaCombe playing in his final college season, some wondered if the defenseman might opt to not sign with Anaheim and instead go to free agency in the summer. However, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts column, that won’t be the case as the 22-year-old has indicated to the team that he will sign at the end of his season at Minnesota.  LaCombe is averaging just shy of a point per game this season with 26 in 28 contests, helping him earn a nomination for the Hobey Baker Award.
  • Oilers GM Ken Holland acknowledged to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, Mike Johnson, and Pierre LeBrun on the Got Yer Back podcast (audio link) that he’d like to add before next month’s deadline but isn’t sure if he’ll be able to do so. Once Kailer Yamamoto returns off LTIR, Edmonton will be trimming down its roster simply to stay cap-compliant so they’ll be in a dollar-in, dollar-out situation.  However, with winger Jesse Puljujarvi and his $3MM AAV being on an expiring contract, he’s someone that could be moved as a salary offset to help facilitate a move.
  • The Canucks have sent Jack Studnicka back to Vancouver and the forward won’t play on the rest of their road trip, relays Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre (Twitter link). The 23-year-old is dealing with a non-COVID illness that is slowly improving.  Studnicka was acquired from Boston early this season and has four goals and two assists in 30 games with Vancouver so far.

Vancouver Canucks Activate Jack Studnicka

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Earlier this evening, the Vancouver Canucks announced they have activated forward Jack Studnicka off of IR. No corresponding move was announced, and with Studnicka bringing the roster to a complete 23 players, no move was needed. Vancouver will host the Arizona Coyotes this evening.

Although the Canucks seem to have some other big pictures issues to deal with when it comes to turning their season around, such as Brock Boeser’s production and Thatcher Demko’s performance, and now injury, getting Studnicka back to health and rounding out the team’s depth is surely welcomed. The forward has just a goal and an assist so far this season in eight games, seven of which have come with Vancouver, but the once highly-touted prospect does have a knack for offense, turning in 35 points in 41 games at the AHL level last year. Getting some level of that production out of the winger at the NHL level would be much welcomed at this point in the season.

The 23-year-old was originally a second-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins back in 2017 and while he had played in parts of four seasons with Boston, he was never able to settle in as a regular contributor. Boston dealt him to Vancouver back in late October for goaltender Michael DiPietro and defenseman Jonathan Myrenberg.

Jack Studnicka Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Vancouver Canucks, fresh off another defeat on Sunday, have moved Jack Studnicka to injured reserve and recalled William Lockwood from the minor leagues. Studnicka joins Tanner Pearson, Curtis Lazar, Tucker Poolman, and Travis Dermott (and Micheal Ferland) on various types of IR for the Canucks, who can’t even stay healthy enough to have a chance of turning their season around.

Studnicka, 23, was acquired from the Boston Bruins earlier this season and inserted directly into the lineup, but certainly hasn’t turned out to be much of a difference-maker. The young forward has two points in seven games, while averaging just over ten minutes a game. On Sunday against his former team, he took a minor penalty and failed to register a shot on goal in 11:14 of ice time.

It’s hard to build any momentum with a new team if you are on the sideline just a few games into your new opportunity. This injury comes at a bad time for Studnicka, though it is not clear how long he’ll be out.

In his place comes Lockwood, a player that has had his own trouble taking advantage of NHL opportunities. Through 15 career games, he has failed to register a single point. The 24-year-old was selected in the third round in 2016 and has five goals in ten AHL games this season.

West Notes: Saad, Hughes, Bear, Studnicka

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The St. Louis Blues are in a rocky stretch of their season at the moment. After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Blues have stumbled and are now 3-4 and second-to-last in the Central Division. Injuries haven’t played a major role in the team’s lackluster performance, but St. Louis could still nonetheless certainly stand to get healthier. Forward Brandon Saad has skated in just three games this season, and the Blues have to be hoping that he can return to health soon.

Despite the fact that he has not been placed on injured reserve, it doesn’t look as though Saad will be returning any time soon. As The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports, Saad hasn’t been practicing due to an upper-body injury, and per Blues head coach Craig Berube, he’s “still a ways away.” Saad is an important contributor to the Blues’ all-around game, and the 24 goals and 49 points he scored last year is certainly the sort of production St. Louis could use right now.

Some other notes on Western Conference teams:

  • The Vancouver Canucks’ defense has been ravaged by injuries so far this season, although their situation has begun to improve. As noted by The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, top defenseman Quinn Hughes was back on the ice with his teammates today at practice. Hughes has missed Vancouver’s last four games with a lower-body injury, but could be returning soon. The American blueliner has five assists in five games this year and had 68 points in 76 games last season.
  • The Canucks have been busy on the trade market as of late, acquiring center Jack Studnicka from the Boston Bruins and defenseman Ethan Bear from the Carolina Hurricanes. Drance reports that both Bear and Studnicka are on the ice today at practice. Bear and Studnicka have played just one NHL game combined so far this season, so it will be interesting to see how coach Bruce Boudreau chooses to deploy them to begin their Canucks careers.

Bruins Re-Sign Jack Studnicka

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The Bruins didn’t reach an agreement with Jack Studnicka by the time that qualifying offers lapsed on Friday but they didn’t need much time after that to sign him as the team announced that they’ve signed the forward to a two-year contract.  The deal carries an AAV of $762.5K and is a two-way agreement for 2022-23 and a one-year pact for 2023-24.

The 23-year-old was a second-round pick of the Bruins back in 2017 (53rd overall) and has seen some NHL action in each of his first three professional campaigns.  Last season, Studnicka played in 15 games with Boston, picking up three assists while averaging 12:35 per game.  He was, however, more productive in the minors with AHL Providence, notching 10 goals and 25 assists in 41 contests, the best points-per-game rate of his three professional seasons.

Studnicka will have to pass through waivers next season to make it back to Providence and while he hasn’t had a lot of NHL success just yet with just a goal and six assists in 37 career contests, the fact he’s a young center with some experience would make him a candidate to be claimed off waivers if they tried to send him back down.  Instead, it seems likely that Studnicka will be able to collect his NHL salary for both years – $750K next season and $775K in 2023-24 – by hanging on to a spot at the back of Boston’s roster while hoping to land a full-time spot in their lineup.

John Matisz of The Score was the first to report the contract.

Morning Notes: Skills Results, Bruins, KHL

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The NHL held their Skills Competition as part of their All-Star festivities last night.  The winners for each event are as follows:

Fastest Skater: Jordan Kyrou (Blues)
Save Streak: Jack Campbell (Maple Leafs) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning)
Fountain Faceoff: Zach Werenski (Blue Jackets)
Hardest Shot: Victor Hedman (Lightning)
Breakaway Challenge: Alex Pietrangelo (Golden Knights)
21 in ’22: Joe Pavelski (Stars)
Accuracy Shooting: Sebastian Aho (Hurricanes)

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • There are teams with some interest in Bruins youngsters Jack Studnicka and Urho Vaakanainen but there are questions as to what the upside for both players are, suggests Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (subscription link). Studnicka started the season in Boston’s top six but has spent most of the season in the minors while Vaakanainen’s limited experience makes it hard to project whether or not he could become a second-pairing rearguard.  Both players are potential trade options if the Bruins try to make a splash at the trade deadline but those questions of upside will make their value considerably varied around the league which could complicate things in a trade.
  • The KHL announced that they have canceled the remainder of their regular season. The season was paused in mid-January due to several COVID outbreaks and while teams have less than 10 games remaining, the Olympic break would make it too difficult to play the rest of the season without compressing the playoff schedule too much.  Instead, they’ll elect to start their postseason on March 1st with more of a normal schedule while the seedings will be based on win percentage.  The IIHF World Hockey Championships are slated to begin in mid-May so this isn’t a situation where the KHL could have played later in the spring; they want to be finished by then so their players can participate in this tournament.

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