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Preseason Notes: Carcone, Oilers Injuries, Canadiens Injuries

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The NHL Department of Player Safety is getting their preseason’s worth of action in, too. They announced today that Arizona Coyotes forward Michael Carcone was fined the maximum allowable under the CBA ($2,027.03) for roughing Vegas Golden Knights forward Gage Quinney during last night’s game.

Quinney did not return to last night’s game after taking a high hit from Carcone. He immediately left the ice after the hit and went to the team’s dressing room near the end of the second period. Carcone received a penalty on the play. A 26-year-old minor-league veteran, Carcone played his first 21 NHL games last year with the Coyotes, registering six points.

  • There’s some good news and bad news on the injury front for the Edmonton Oilers. TSN’s Jason Gregor reports that winger Kailer Yamamoto is banged up, but that his injury is nothing serious and he could be ready for the team’s final preseason game on Friday. However, winger Tyler Benson isn’t so lucky, as Gregor reports he’ll be out “longer” and the team will know more in the coming days. Benson was a candidate to find a spot in the team’s bottom-six out of camp.
  • The Montreal Canadiens provided a medical update today, saying captain Nick Suzuki is remaining in Montreal for treatment along with forwards Joel Armia and Emil Heineman. All three have upper-body injuries and, Suzuki is listed as day-to-day. The Canadiens say the trio will be reevaluated on Monday, two days ahead of the season opener.

 

Snapshots: Jets Offseason, Armia, Pokka

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After winning a playoff round last season, the Winnipeg Jets were among the league’s most disappointing teams this season, going 39-32-11, good for 89 points and sixth in the Central division. It was a season full of problems, but one problem the Jets didn’t have was a lack of scorers. Led by Kyle Connor’s 93 points, the Jets had four players hit the 60-point mark. One of those players, Pierre-Luc Dubois, hit the 60-point plateau for the second time in his career and has become the focal point of the Jets offseason. Dubois, 23, was part of the Patrik Laine trade and is now a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The Jets have to decide if they want to commit to a long-term contract with Dubois as well as how much to pay him, and Dubois has to decide if Winnipeg is the place he wants to spend the bulk of his prime years. It looks to be a very interesting contract negotiation, but according to Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff (via Jeff Marek of Sportsnet) that negotiation process has not begun yet. There’s no major rush as we’re still in early June, but with a potential arbitration date looming, it’s likely that both parties would rather get this done before then.

Beyond that update on Dubois, Cheveldayoff also spoke to Marek about the priorities for this offseason, noting a “need to replenish their prospect pool.” The Jets do have two blue-chip center prospects in Cole Perfetti and Chaz Lucius, but that is seemingly not enough for Cheveldayoff and the Jets. The team’s prospect pool was ranked 11th in the NHL by the Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, (subscription link) and based on these comments it seems Cheveldayoff would like to raise his farm’s ranking into the top-10.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:

  • Like many Montreal Canadiens, Joel Armia had a season to forget this past year. Armia, who had scored at a 22-goal pace as recently as 2019-20, scored only six goals in 60 games last season and finished with 14 points. Armia’s contract has made him a potential candidate to be traded this offseason, as the Canadiens would clear $3.4MM off their books if they move him. That contract and Armia’s performance was generally believed to be working against Montreal if they chose to shop him, but one thing that could be working in their favor is Armia’s performance at the recent IIHF World Championships. Armia scored five goals and added three assists in ten games and captured the gold medal as a member of Finland’s team. Armia looked rejuvenated after taking a personal leave at the end of the NHL season, and a league source told Jimmy Murphy of Montreal Hockey Now that Armia’s performance at the World Championships has gotten him noticed. That’s far from an indication that a trade is near, but it does indicate that the Canadiens could have an easier time finding a trading partner than they would have had a few months ago.
  • Former top prospect Ville Pokka, who was the focal point of the Blackhawks’ return for trading Nick Leddy to the Islanders, never quite made it to the NHL despite being reasonably successful at the AHL level. Pokka played four seasons of North American hockey, scoring 138 points in 289 AHL games. The defenseman looked to be on the cusp of making the NHL in 2015-16, when he scored 45 points as an under-22 AHLer. But that success didn’t translate into an NHL job, and after being traded to the Senators organization Pokka left for the KHL. Now, it seems Pokka’s stint as a starting-caliber KHL defenseman is over. According to Swedish outlet SportExpressen, Pokka will spend next year playing for Farjestad of the SHL, the reigning champions. Pokka is still just 28 years old, so perhaps with success on one of the best teams in the SHL Pokka can earn another crack at making an NHL roster.

 

Montreal Canadiens Issue Several Injury Updates

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The Montreal Canadiens are on fire. The team has won four in a row under new head coach Martin St. Louis, with Cole Caufield looking reborn. The team is still dead last in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve now passed the Arizona Coyotes and are at least showing some fight for the future. With that in mind, the team has issued several updates on their injured players, starting with Carey Price.

Price is “doing better” in his off-ice rehab, but he’s still not ready to return to the ice just yet. The 34-year-old goaltender has been out all year for various reasons and may end up missing the entire year. The Canadiens aren’t rushing anything in their franchise goaltender’s rehabilitation, knowing that there’s not really any benefit in getting him back into games this season.

Corey Schueneman has been cleared from the COVID protocol and returned to practice today. He was joined by several other teammates that have been dealing with injuries. Joel Armia was at practice, is listed as day-to-day, but won’t play on Saturday night. Mathieu Perreault was a full participant in practice and is also listed as day-to-day. Josh Anderson meanwhile has been cleared to play tomorrow against Ottawa.

The two big ones are Joel Edmundson and Jake Allen, who have been out for quite some time–or in the former’s case, the entire season. Edmundson was on the ice for the first time with teammates, and will travel with the group to Ottawa. He won’t play, but it’s great to see Edmundson back on the ice at all after the nightmare season he has gone through. Allen was also on the ice and is “progressing” though there is no clear timeline on his return. Nor for Paul Byron, who is dealing with an upper-body injury and has no timeline for a return.

Injury Updates: Islanders, Canadiens, Tarasenko

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The Islanders will be without winger Oliver Wahlstrom for tomorrow’s game against Montreal due to an upper-body injury, relays Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link).  He was injured in Thursday’s victory over Boston and is listed as day-to-day.  The good news for New York is that they’re expected to welcome winger Josh Bailey back after he missed Thursday’s contest.  Meanwhile, Semyon Varlamov has returned to New York after testing positive for COVID while in Western Canada.  He remains unavailable for the time being.

Other injury news from around the NHL:

  • The Canadiens are expected to have defenseman Ben Chiarot back in the lineup tomorrow, notes TSN’s John Lu (Twitter link). The blueliner was injured last weekend against Columbus and while it was a minor injury, they needed to move him to IR to free up a roster spot to bring up a replacement for him.  Chiarot is widely expected to be traded by the deadline but it appears Montreal isn’t ready to hold him out of action as a precautionary measure just yet.
  • Still with Montreal, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that Joel Armia is listed as day-to-day and will not play tomorrow afternoon. He took a skate blade to the face late in Thursday’s victory over St. Louis.  It has been a tough season for the 28-year-old as he has scored just twice in 37 games in the first season of a new four-year, $13.6MM contract.
  • The Blues announced that winger Vladimir Tarasenko will not play tonight in Toronto due to an undisclosed injury suffered in Thursday’s game against Montreal. The nature of the injury was not disclosed but head coach Craig Berube listed the veteran as day-to-day.  Tarasenko has had a nice bounce-back season and leads St. Louis in scoring with 45 points in 44 games.  Tyler Bozak will take Tarasenko’s place in the lineup.

Cole Caufield, Joel Armia Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Montreal Canadiens can’t seem to get a healthy lineup together. Just as some of their forwards were getting back from injuries, they’ve lost Cole Caufield and Joel Armia to the COVID protocol. Both played in yesterday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes, but will now face an isolation period of at least five days if they tested positive.

That means Caufield and Armia likely won’t be available tonight against the Dallas Stars, Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights, or Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche as the Canadiens go through a fast-paced road trip. The team will be in Minnesota on Monday, a game that technically they would be eligible for if they are able to test out of the protocol.

It’s not like having them in the lineup was adding much anyway, as both Caufield and Armia are experiencing brutal offensive seasons. Each has just a single goal on the year, despite playing 29 and 32 games respectively. Caufield’s disappearance has been especially frustrating for fans who believed he would contend for a Calder Trophy this season. The 21-year-old sniper has just eight points on the season and hasn’t scored since late November.

New general manager Kent Hughes will have to wait to get his first look at the young forward as part of the Montreal front office, but everyone understands that this is a lost year for the Canadiens anyway. Now just 7-25-5 on the season, they are last in the NHL and are in pole position for the draft lottery in a few months.

East Notes: Canadiens, Gallant, McDonnell

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Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is expected to soon meet with the surgeon who performed his knee surgery over the summer to determine the next step in his rehab, notes Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.  The veteran has yet to play this season after spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and had resumed on-ice drills until about three weeks ago.  There remains no timetable for his return for now but that should change soon following that meeting.

Meanwhile, wingers Josh Anderson, Mike Hoffman, Joel Armia, and center Christian Dvorak have all been classified as day-to-day as they work their way back from respective injuries.  Anderson, in particular, appears to be ahead of schedule as he was initially expected to be out until early February.  With Montreal having 15 players currently in COVID protocol, any returns would be a boost as they get set to resume their season on Wednesday in Boston.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • The Rangers announced (Twitter link) that head coach Gerard Gallant has been placed in COVID protocol. Assistant coach Kris Knoblauch will take over as New York’s acting bench boss.  It’s the second year in a row that Knoblauch has filled in for this reason as he also was thrust into that role in 2020-21 when he filled in for David Quinn for six games with the team winning four of those contests.  Gallant shouldn’t be out that long as he could return after as little as five days.
  • With the OHL trade deadline now just a day away, another NHL-drafted player is on the move as Lightning prospect Declan McDonnell has been moved to the Barrie Colts. The 19-year-old was the final pick of the 2020 draft (217th overall) but has collected 24 points in 28 games this season.  Tampa Bay has until June 1st to sign McDonnell or they will lose his rights.

Canadiens Add Lehkonen To Protocol, Place Armia, Perreault On Injured Reserve

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The Montreal Canadiens made a slew of roster moves today, adding Artturi Lehkonen to the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol and placing Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault on injured reserve, per a team tweet.

Armia is out with an undisclosed injury after being a game-time decision on Thursday. He’s been in and out of the lineup this month with an undisclosed ailment and has just five points in 29 games this year. He signed a four-year extension worth $3.4MM with the team this past offseason.

Perreault was classified as day-to-day with a lower-body injury on Thursday. He has three goals (a hat-trick) and an assist in 14 games this year, battling an eye injury early in the season.

Both Armia and Perreault are ineligible to play until after the holiday break.

Lehkonen is the only Canadien officially on COVID protocol. Through all 31 games this year, he had four goals and seven assists.

Montreal will likely have to make some recalls, as these transactions leave them with just 10 active forwards on the roster.

Tyler Toffoli Undergoes Hand Surgery

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Montreal’s injury woes have been an issue all season for them and they’ll now be without one of their top wingers for a while.  The team announced following their morning skate today that Tyler Toffoli has undergone successful hand surgery and will be out of the lineup for eight weeks.

Toffoli is in his second season with the Canadiens and this one hasn’t gone anywhere near as well as his first one did.  Last season, he was one of the higher-scoring wingers in the league, collecting 28 goals in 52 games while chipping in with 14 points in 22 playoff contests.  But as has been the case with many Montreal players, this season has seen him struggle as he has scored just five times in 26 games with his shooting percentage down nearly 10% from a year ago.

The 29-year-old is likely to be out longer than the timeline that the team listed as that basically takes them to the All-Star Break which is immediately followed by the Olympics.  Accordingly, the earliest that he’s likely to return is February 26 versus Ottawa, a little more than three weeks before the trade deadline.  Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek recently listed Toffoli as a trade candidate to watch for with a $4.25MM AAV for two more years after this one, a bit below market value for a top-six winger but he won’t have a lot of time to show he’s back to full strength before teams need to decide whether or not he’s worth acquiring this season.

Montreal will get a bit of help on the injury front tonight as Joel Armia returns from an undisclosed injury that has caused him to miss the last two games.  However, they’re also losing another regular as Arpon Basu of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that forward Jake Evans is now listed as day-to-day and won’t suit up versus St. Louis.

Montreal Canadiens Re-Sign Joel Armia

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The Montreal Canadiens have made a mark on free agency before it even gets started. Joel Armia has agreed to terms with the club on a new four-year contract extension that will keep him away from the open market. The deal carries an average annual value of $3.4MM and keeps Armia under contract through 2024-25. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that the deal does not include any signing bonuses or trade protection.

Armia, 28, may not create a lot of offense, but he’s still a valuable contributor to the Canadiens that can be used in a variety of ways. One of the best penalty killers in the league, he scored two short-handed goals in Montreal’s 21-game playoff run while lining up against some impressive competition. His 6’4″ frame allows him to get a stick in passing lanes or easily strip players of the puck, all helping Montreal’s identity of a tight defensive group with a penchant for the counter-attack.

The Canadiens, who also have Corey Perry, Phillip Danault, Eric Staal and Tomas Tatar scheduled for unrestricted free agency, were going to need to add some forwards at some point this summer, so why not bring back a player you know and like. The risk involved in a four-year deal is mitigated somewhat by the fact that Armia is still just 28, though he did get a pretty substantial bump in pay. If his defensive ability declines at all, it’s hard to see how Montreal would get their value back from a player that has only hit 30 points once in his career.

Still, the team has cap space to burn, given Shea Weber’s likely placement on long-term injured reserve for at least this season. Even with Armia back in the fold, Montreal has close to $20MM in room to add in free agency and just a handful of spots left to fill on the roster.

Free Agent Focus: Montreal Canadiens

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Free agency is now just under a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. The Montreal Canadiens come bitterly into the offseason after a Stanley Cup Final loss, but a large amount of unrestricted free agents mean it’s a pivotal time for the franchise.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Artturi Lehkonen – An up-and-down season ended strongly for the first Finnish Canadiens RFA. While in part due to the shortened season, Lehkonen had his worst offensive season to date, failing to post either 10 goals or 20 points for the first time in his five-year NHL career. He didn’t fare too well under either Claude Julien or Dominique Ducharme, at least in the regular season. It resulted in the lowest usage of his career, being played just 13:25 minutes per game. However, when the opportunity arose during their playoff run, Lehkonen rose to the challenge. Taking the left-wing spot with Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher, Lehkonen helped formed a line that shut down opponents’ top players for the majority of the playoffs. He added an overtime series winner to boot, as one of his three playoff goals sent Montreal to the Stanley Cup Final. Yet the reality stands that Lehkonen was inconsistent at best overall this season, and his next deal will likely reflect that. A shorter-term deal should be expected for a depth player like Lehkonen.

F Jesperi Kotkaniemi – It’s hard to know what to make of Montreal’s 2018 top draft pick at this stage in his career. Coming off of his entry-level deal, Kotkaniemi has broken expectations during each of his playoffs runs, totaling nine goals and 12 points in 29 games. Yet Kotkaniemi didn’t even score that amount in a full 56-game campaign this year, potting only five goals. While the young Finnish center has oozed potential during Montreal’s playoff appearances, he hasn’t been able to perform at the same level over the course of his regular seasons. With all that being said, it’s extremely unlikely that general manager Marc Bergevin commits to Kotkaniemi long-term this offseason. At just 21 years old, Kotkaniemi still has four more seasons of RFA eligibility. It’s impossible to imagine that Montreal would give him a deal longer than that, instead allowing Kotkaniemi to live up to his potential over the course of a lower-stakes bridge deal.

Other RFAs: F Joseph Blandisi, F Michael Pezzetta, F Ryan Poehling, F Jacob Lucchini, D Otto Leskinen, D Cale Fleury, G Michael McNiven

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Phillip Danault – Danault had largely been regarded as one of the more underrated defensive centers in the NHL over the past few seasons. That’s no longer the case. Danault’s shot-suppressing expertise was on full display throughout the regular season and playoffs. And while his offense took a backseat in the playoffs with just one goal and four points in 22 contests, he’s scored 124 points in 205 games over his past three seasons. The offense will come back next season if history is any indicator. It’s why Danault is expected to get a significant raise on his $3.083MM cap hit. With Danault possibly receiving offers over $5MM and even $6MM on the open market, Montreal will have to shell out the cash to retain their Quebec-born top-six center.

F Tomas Tatar – Montreal’s usage of Tatar this season, especially in the playoffs, was puzzling to many. It was just last year where Tatar had emerged to lead the Habs in scoring with 61 points in just 68 games. While Tatar was limited to just 30 points in 50 games this year, his line with Danault and Gallagher had performed extremely well from a possession standpoint. Even through the beginning of their first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tatar’s line had succeeded at silencing Toronto’s top talent. Yet Tatar soon found himself scratched for the rest of the playoff run, with Lehkonen taking his role on that line. It’s hard to expect that Montreal will want to retain Tatar at this point, especially with outside teams knowing what they can get out of him. Expect Tatar to be in a top-six role again next season — just not with Montreal.

Other UFAs: F Corey Perry, F Joel Armia, F Eric Staal, F Michael Frolik, F Jordan Weal, F Alex Belzile, D Jonathon Merrill, D Erik Gustafsson, D Gustav Olofsson, G Charlie Lindgren

Projected Cap Space

While Montreal sits with a respectable $14.7MM in cap space, the team has a lot of expiring talent. Retaining the expected pieces and building on this roster’s weaknesses will likely bring Bergevin and Montreal into a tricky dance with the salary cap yet again next season. And while no drastic moves are expected from this year’s Stanley Cup finalist, it might be challenging for Montreal to navigate the free-agent waters after they’ve re-signed key pieces. However, Montreal’s camaraderie and team strength were on full display this season. It’s the type of performance that incentivizes players to take pay cuts to play for a winner, something that may very well be a reality for Montreal this offseason.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

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