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Injury Notes: Simek, Guhle, Barron

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San Jose Sharks defenseman Radim Simek did not travel with the team to Winnipeg, according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Nikolai Knyzhov and Nick Cicek were recalled on Sunday, as the Sharks reshuffle their blueline ahead of their matchup with the Jets. They’ll be looking to put together a bounce-back performance after their squad was thoroughly dismantled by the Washington Capitals after the first period of yesterday’s game.

Simek has been a defense-first member of the Sharks’ blueline since coming over from the Czech league in 2017 as a free agent. He has recorded 28 points in 199 games played since making his NHL debut, and while he averages over 15 minutes of ice time per game for his career, he has struggled with nagging injury issues in recent years. Simek is making $2.25MM against the cap through next season.

Some other injury notes from across the NHL:

  • The Montreal Canadiens announced today that rookie defenseman Kaiden Guhle is out with an upper-body injury. Per the announcement, Guhle’s status is to be considered day-to-day. It’s an unfortunate development for the 21-year-old as he just recently returned from an extended injury-related absence. When healthy, he has impressed despite being thrust into a challenging situation as a minutes-eating rookie blueliner with significant defensive responsibilities.
  • Another Canadiens rookie, Justin Barron, is also out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. While Barron didn’t make the Canadiens out of training camp as Guhle did, Barron got some extra seasoning at the AHL level and has played well as of late. He’s scored three goals and nine points in 24 games this season and is averaging just over 15 minutes time-on-ice per game.

2023 AHL All-Star Rosters Announced

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While the focus of many hockey fans is on the upcoming NHL All-Star festivities, the AHL is set to hold its own event to honor the league’s best players. Today, they announced the rosters for the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic, which will be held in Laval, Quebec on February 5-6. Todd Nelson (Hershey), Greg Moore (Toronto), Neil Graham (Texas), and Mitch Love (Calgary) will be the four head coaches.

The rosters are as follows:

Atlantic Division

F Will Cuylle, Hartford Wolf Pack
F Tyson Foerster, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
F Ethen Frank, Hershey Bears
F Matthew Highmore, Springfield Thunderbirds
F Vinni Lettieri, Providence Bruins
F Riley Nash, Charlotte Checkers
F Mike Vecchione, Hershey Bears

D Samuel Bolduc, Bridgeport Islanders
D Xavier Ouellet, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
D Cam York, Lehigh Valley Phantoms

G Brandon Bussi, Providence Bruins
G Joel Hofer, Springfield Thunderbirds

North Division 

F Alex Barré-Boulet, Syracuse Crunch
F Brandon Biro, Rochester Americans
F Gabriel Dumont, Syracuse Crunch
F Anthony Richard, Laval Rocket
F Logan Shaw, Toronto Marlies
F Egor Sokolov, Belleville Senators

D Justin Barron, Laval Rocket
D Noel Hoefenmayer, Toronto Marlies
D David Jiricek, Cleveland Monsters
D Darren Raddysh, Syracuse Crunch

G Nico Daws, Utica Comets
G Joseph Woll, Toronto Marlies

Central Division 

F Riley Barber, Texas Stars
F David Gust, Rockford IceHogs
F Tommy Novak, Milwaukee Admirals
F Lukas Reichel, Rockford IceHogs
F Brett Seney, Rockford IceHogs
F Sammy Walker, Iowa Wild

D Declan Chisholm, Manitoba Moose
D Thomas Harley, Texas Stars
D Max Lajoie, Chicago Wolves
D Brian Lashoff, Grand Rapids Griffins

G Yaroslav Askarov, Milwaukee Admirals
G Jesper Wallstedt, Iowa Wild

Pacific Division

F Thomas Bordeleau, San Jose Barracuda
F Michael Carcone, Tucson Roadrunners
F Seth Griffith, Bakersfield Condors
F Matthew Phillips, Calgary Wranglers
F Andrew Poturalski, Coachella Valley Firebirds
F T.J. Tynan, Ontario Reign

D Ryker Evans, Coachella Valley Firebirds
D Brad Hunt, Colorado Eagles
D Daniil Miromanov, Henderson Silver Knights
D Christian Wolanin, Abbotsford Canucks

G Lukas Dostal, San Diego Gulls
G Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers

Canadiens Recall Justin Barron

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The Canadiens have decided to get a look at one of their main acquisitions from the trade deadline last season as they announced the recall of defenseman Justin Barron from AHL Laval.

Montreal picked up the 21-year-old last season at the trade deadline from Colorado as part of the move that saw Artturi Lehkonen head to the Cup-winning Avalanche.  While Barron got into five games with the Canadiens last season, this will be his first taste of NHL action this year.  So far at the minor league level with the Rocket, he has seven goals and nine assists in 25 games.

With David Savard and Mike Matheson both injured, Montreal was only carrying six healthy blueliners prior to this recall.  Considering the Canadiens still have four games left on their season-long seven-game road trip, some injury insurance on the back end was needed and it will be Barron that gets the nod.

Montreal Canadiens Announce Rookie Camp Roster

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After months of quiet on the ice, rookie camps usually give hockey fans the much-anticipated signal that the season is drawing close. This year, it also signifies a return to normalcy in the schedule and off-ice operations, with the regular season beginning on time and full media access restored in locker rooms. Today, the Montreal Canadiens announced their roster for rookie camp, which will begin September 14 at the Bell Centre.

As per the team announcement, the roster consists of 28 players (15 forwards, 10 defensemen, and three goaltenders). Six of those 28 players were members of Montreal’s 2022 draft class: first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovský, right wing Filip Mešár (26th overall), center Owen Beck (33rd overall), left wing Cedrick Guindon (127th overall), center Jared Davidson (130th overall), and defenseman Miguël Tourigny (216th overall).

Additionally, the team invited four players to rookie camp on a try-out basis: right wing Pierrick Dubé, right wing John Parker-Jones, and goalies Antoine Coulombe and Riley Mercer.

The main story of the camp will be Slafkovsky’s performance. The Slovak winger’s spectacular international play this season shot him all the way up to first overall on the draft board, but it would be quite a large jump for the 18-year-old to shift from a middle-six role in the Finnish Liiga to full-time NHL minutes. Slafkovsky will play for the Canadiens organization in North America this season in all likelihood, but his rookie camp performance will be important in leaving a good first impression. Whether or not he starts in the NHL or in the AHL with the Laval Rocket remains to be seen.

There’s also the matter of which young Canadiens defensemen will make the team out of camp. Four candidates jump out on their rookie camp roster as players who could show they deserve an NHL look right away: Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, and Mattias Norlinder. All four except Guhle made their NHL debuts already last season, while Guhle is coming off a WHL championship with the Edmonton Oil Kings and the playoff MVP award. With at least two NHL spots available for these rookies, it should be good competition all throughout rookie camp, training camp, and preseason.

Justin Barron, Jake Allen Out Rest Of Season

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The Montreal Canadiens season hasn’t gone according to plan, and it’s ending a little prematurely for another two players. The team announced today that Justin Barron and Jake Allen will not play again this season, though both are expected to make a full recovery in time for training camp.

Barron, 20, was acquired by the Canadiens at the trade deadline and played five games for the team before suffering an ankle injury. It will not require surgery, but he won’t be back in the lineup in 2021-22. The young defenseman was the big prize for the team in the Artturi Lehkonen sweepstakes and represents someone that can play a full-time, impact role as soon as next season. Selected 25th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2020, Barron had 20 points in 43 games this season for the Colorado Eagles before the trade.

Allen meanwhile has had just a nightmare season, missing several months due to injury already. He appeared in 35 games, won just nine of them and posted a .905 save percentage. He suffered a groin injury over the weekend, but is expected to be ready by training camp. At that point he is expected to once again be the backup, given Carey Price’s expected return, though Allen will likely still see a lot of playing time. Signed through 2022-23 at a $2.875MM cap hit, he will hit unrestricted free agency at the end of next season.

The team also announced that Emil Heineman, another prospect acquired earlier this season and recently signed to an entry-level contract, is in Montreal being evaluated for an upper-body injury. There is no timeline for his return, meaning the Laval Rocket will have to wait to get a chance to see him on the ice.

Colorado Avalanche Acquire Artturi Lehkonen

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The Colorado Avalanche have acquired forward Artturi Lehkonen from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick and defense prospect Justin Barron, as originally reported by Kevin Weekes on ESPN’s Trade Deadline coverage and confirmed by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

Lehkonen is a gigantic addition to Colorado’s bottom six, especially as they deal with depth issues down the stretch caused by the injury to captain Gabriel Landeskog. In 58 games with Montreal this season, he’s scoring at a career-best pace, netting 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points.

A veteran of almost 400 NHL games, the 26-year-old was the best defensive winger remaining on the trade market. He’s seeing a defensive zone start rate of higher than 50% for the first time since his rookie season, a sign of trust in his strong game. He adds to Colorado’s arsenal of defensively responsible wingers headlined by Valeri Nichushkin.

Lehkonen, who has a cap hit of $2.3MM, is a restricted free agent at the end of this season. Colorado acquired him at 50% salary retention and is only on the hook for $1.15MM.

For Montreal, though, this is a very respectable piece of work by new general manager Kent Hughes. Barron is a stellar prospect, drafted 25th overall in 2020. In his first full professional season, he played in his first two NHL games with Colorado this year and has 20 points in 43 games with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. He’s a candidate to get some NHL looks post-Deadline in Montreal.

Barzal, Toews, Marchand Placed In COVID Protocol

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Just when the New York Islanders thought they were out of the woods, another huge COVID-related blow is struck. Head coach Barry Trotz announced that Mathew Barzal will not play tonight for the Islanders after being placed in the COVID protocol.

Not to be outdone is the Colorado Avalanche, who have faced their own COVID issues this season. Devon Toews, who was recently named third star of the week after an outstanding set of performances is also in the protocol. The Avalanche have recalled top prospect Justin Barron from the Colorado Eagles to replace Toews on the roster.

The Boston Bruins have their own issues as Brad Marchand has been placed in the protocol as well. Unfortunately, Marchand was present at morning skate today, as his test results must have come back afterward. The Bruins notably played the Flames on Saturday, just before Calgary’s season was halted due to a serious outbreak.

With no offense meant to Ryan Lomberg or Craig Smith, who were put in the protocol this morning, the absences of Marchand, Barzal, and Toews are much more important to their respective teams. The Islanders have been desperately trying to climb out of an early-season hole dug by injury, illness, and scheduling. Without Barzal they’ll take on the reeling Detroit Red Wings, a team that has lost three in a row but is still ten points ahead of them in the standings (having played five more games). The star center was on a six-game point streak and now has 17 in 23 games this season.

Toews meanwhile has been playing at an elite level this season, racking up 20 points in 16 games so far while logging nearly 25 minutes a night for the Avalanche. Colorado has won four straight thanks to his help and find themselves skyrocketing up the Central Division standings. In fact, the Avalanche are now tied with the Calgary Flames for the best goal differential in the Western Conference at +25 and are within a single point of second place in the Central.

You might think after Toews, Cale Makar, Samuel Girard, and Bowen Byram that the Avalanche don’t have any more mobile, high-ceiling defenders in the system, but you’d be wrong. Barron, the 25th overall pick in 2020, has nine points in 14 games for the Eagles this season and will now get a chance to show what he can do in the NHL. The 20-year-old represents another wave of exciting talent for the Avalanche, though his debut wasn’t expected this soon.

Marchand is off to another outstanding start this season with 11 goals and 27 points, as he seemingly continues to improve despite entering his mid-thirties. The 33-year-old forward is arguably the most important forward on the Bruins roster, given he leads the team in scoring, plays the most minutes and continues to get under the skin of opponents. The Bruins are set to play the Golden Knights this evening, but will now be missing two important wingers.

For Barzal, Marchand, and Toews, if they have tested positive for coronavirus and are experiencing any symptoms, they’ll be held out a minimum of ten days.

Colorado Avalanche Sign Justin Barron

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Just when you thought the Colorado Avalanche had enough young defensemen, here comes Justin Barron. The 2020 first-round pick has signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Avalanche after a strong (albeit shortened) season in the QMJHL. Barron will report to the Colorado Eagles immediately.

CapFriendly reports that the deal carries a $925K cap hit (the entry-level maximum) in all three seasons with performance bonuses of $212.5K in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and $275K in 2023-24.

When the Avalanche took to the (virtual) podium last October to make their first-round selection, many expected them to go with a forward. The team already had names like Samuel Girard and Cale Makar leading the way in the NHL, with Bowen Byram set to debut soon enough and Conor Timmins working his way back from injury. But instead of drafting for organizational need, the Avalanche went with the player they deemed the best available, a right-handed defenseman from the Halifax Mooseheads.

Soon after, concern emerged over Barron’s future as he was diagnosed with a blood clot. The Mooseheads announced he would be out indefinitely, but after missing some time, he received a clean bill of health. Barron would join Canada at the World Juniors and captain Halifax this year, scoring 31 points in 33 QMJHL games. The 6’2″ defenseman doesn’t have the offensive upside of someone like Byram, but is a rock-solid two-way option that you can rely on to eat big minutes in all situations.

That kind of style could make him a perfect fit on the Avalanche in the coming years, who will have more than enough offense generated from their other young guns. Barron will turn 20 in November and should climb the depth chart quickly once he jumps into professional hockey.

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