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Nikita Kucherov

Atlantic Notes: Booth, Lightning, Canadiens

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David Booth had quite the night writes the Athletic’s Katie Strang (subscription required). Booth, who was signed to a PTO after sending general manager Ken Holland an email, has been a healthy scratch for most of the season. Last night, the 33-year-old journeyman netted two goals in a 4-3 Red Wings loss. The second goal tied the game after the Wings fell behind 3-1, gave the team a surge of energy, and nearly potted a hat trick for Booth just seconds later. After two seasons in the KHL that Booth describes as “two very tough years,” returning to the NHL with the team he grew up idolizing seems like a dream come true. A scrappy, “lunch-pail” type player, Booth is trying to follow in the footsteps of former Red Wings–Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Cleary–who struggled to find a niche until landing in Detroit.

  • Should a few losses be a cause for concern in Tampa Bay? The Tampa Bay Times Joe Smith notes that while the Lightning locker room is frustrated, they’re hardly panicking. Smith offers a few bits of advice for the team, specifically getting out to a better start as the Bolts have struggled to start strong. Nikita Kucherov has also cooled off, and teams are keying on him as expected. Smith adds that keeping things simple, instead of trying to “out-skill” teams every game. A team as sound, deep, and skilled as the Lightning will certainly face bumps in the road. It’s keeping a level head, and sticking to simplicity that should bring them out of prolonged slumps.
  • The Montreal Canadiens have a big week in front of them writes the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey, and it will most likely determine where the Habs truly stand. With a home-and-away series with division rival Detroit, Montreal has a chance to surpass Detroit in the standings by taking at least three of  four points when the two teams play.  Columbus and Ottawa are the other two foes in the four game stretch. Columbus proves to be an effective gauge in how the Habs fare against a playoff contender while the Sens are another inter-division game that can yield crucial points. Hickey adds that the fourth line–who is just one of many culprits in Montreal’s inability to score, has been “stunningly” inefficient. To gain any traction in the standings–and ultimately the season–the Canadiens will need to see more from their depth lines.

Eastern Notes: Cole, Vrana, Djoos, Lightning

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Tight up against the salary cap for the next few years, Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) answers a number of mailbag questions about the Pittsburgh Penguins present and future. Among the tidbits of information is the scribe’s opinion that the team is likely to allow defenseman Ian Cole to depart via free agency this offseason.

Yohe writes that Cole, who is one of the team’s better defenseman is more likely of all their unrestricted free agents next year to be wearing a different sweater in the 2018-19 season. As Pittsburgh is already loaded with four defensemen making at least $4MM per year next season, Cole would likely be the odd man out for the Penguins, especially since there will likely be many teams offering big money to the blueliner. The  27-year-old has been a solid defender and likely could play a major position on another team’s top-four if given the opportunity.

  • NBC Sports Tarik El-Bashir writes that Washington Capitals wing Jakub Vrana, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this year on Thursday, will return to the lineup today against the Minnesota Wild on the Capitals third line. He had just two points (both goals) in his previous 13 games. “I’m putting him back where he was … and I want to see him play really well tonight,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.
  • El-Bashir adds that Washington Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos, who suffered an upper-body injury Tuesday against the Nashville Predators and missed Thursday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche, did not skate today. “I don’t know exactly when he’s going to skate yet,” Trotz said. “He’s still day-to-day with the trainers. Once they tell me he can skate, he’ll be out there.”
  • Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times writes that with the Tampa Bay Lightning off to their best start in team history as they lead the league with a 15-2-2 record and 32 points, the team has a number of players who are also leading the NHL, including Nikita Kucherov, who leads the NHL in goals scored with 17; Steven Stamkos, who leads the league in assists with 25 and points with 35; and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins with 14.

Atlantic Notes: Pastrnak, Lightning, Hicketts, Krejci

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It wasn’t the best matchup for the Boston Bruins Saturday, but the team allowed right wing David Pastrnak to take the faceoff with 0.9 seconds remaining in their overtime game with the Los Angeles Kings. According to Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe, had Pastrnak just got a stick on the puck, things wouldn’t have spiraled out of control in that short amount of time. Instead, the Kings’ Anze Kopitar won a clean faceoff and passed it to Tyler Toffoli, who blasted it past Boston goaltender Tuuka Rask with 0.4 seconds left, allowing the Kings to walk away with a shocking victory. If you haven’t seen it, catch the video here.

According to Shinzawa, Pastrnak still was the best option for who was out there between Anders Bjork and Torey Krug, but he should have done anything, even illegal, to keep the Bruins from allowing a clean faceoff. A penalty would have only given the Kings an extra attacker, which would have made little difference with 0.9 seconds remaining, but it could have allowed Boston to substitute with a better face-off specialist like Patrice Bergeron.

“All we’re asking him to do is basically affect the puck there,” said coach Bruce Cassidy. “Not even win it. We don’t need to win it. We just need some sort of stick on it so it bounces toward the boards. I think that’s what David was thinking. If he could push it toward the boards, it has no chance of going backwards. Didn’t happen.”

  • Brandon Burns of NHL.com writes that special teams is what let the Tampa Bay Lightning down in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. The scribe writes that it has been the team’s special teams that has made the difference in the team’s success this season. While the team only found itself in two penalty killing situations all game, Tampa Bay allowed goals both times, while the power play had four power play chances and couldn’t convert, something the team has done in 10 of 11 games. Neither Steven Stamkos or Nikita Kucherov were able to get on the scoreboard, breaking both of their scoring streaks at 11 games.
  • Katie Strang of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Detroit Red Wings should be taking a long look at Grand Rapids Griffins defenseman Joe Hicketts as a potential callup to fix the team’s defensive struggles. The 21-year-old undrafted free agent has impressed the organization and almost made the team out of training camp with his physical play, despite his 5-foot-8, 177-pound frame. The scribe breaks down Hicketts’ play and points out that he is the perfect player to shake up the team’s failing blueline.
  • The Boston Bruins tweeted that veterean center David Krejci will miss Monday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets with what’s believed to be a back injury. Krejci, who missed Saturday’s game against the Kings, has one goal and five assists in six games, centering the Bruins top line. David Backes will likely fill in for him in that spot again.

Lightning Notes: Kucherov, Sergachev

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While the top two picks from 2016 (Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine) have been pegged as the next two players that are set to surpass the $10MM mark in salary, Jared Clinton of The Hockey News suggests that Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov should also be in that mix.  The 24-year-old is off to a flying start this season having scored in each of the first seven games which is quite a way to follow up a 2016-17 campaign where he finished fourth in league scoring with 86 points.

While it’s fair to suggest that GM Steve Yzerman would like to keep Kucherov at or below the $8.5MM that Steven Stamkos is making, that’s going to be a tough sell with some of the deals in the double-digit millions that have been handed out since then.  The salary cap continues to go up (albeit only slightly recently) so his value will be higher through cap percentages while he will also have arbitration rights, something that wasn’t the case coming off of his rookie deal.  Add those together and Tampa has a player that could very well be the next one to sign for $10MM or more as soon as next July.

More from Tampa Bay:

  • The team has a decision to make in the coming days regarding defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, notes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. The 19-year-old is one of the junior-aged players who will burn a year of their entry-level contract once they play in their tenth game and he has already played in seven, recording four assists while averaging nearly 12 minutes per night.  Yzerman had the following to say on the situation: “For Mikhail as an individual, No. 1 it’s important that young players play. How many minutes is he going to play? How many games? From a team perspective, we’re trying to win. We’re trying to make the playoffs. Are we a better team with him or not? You weight all of those things and watch over the course of time, is he headed in the right direction? So far, he’s done fine.”  At this point, it seems likely that Sergachev will play past the nine-game mark which will turn the focus to the 40th game.  At that point, the Lightning won’t receive the conditional second-round pick from the Canadiens as part of the offseason trade that involved Jonathan Drouin while it will guarantee him a year accrued towards UFA eligibility as well.

Kucherov Notches Goal In Seventh Consecutive Game

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Nikita Kucherov has joined some elite company. Becoming only the fourth player in the last 30+ years to do so, Kucherov notched a goal in his seventh straight game. He joins powerhouse names like Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky as one of only six players during the modern era to score in each of his team’s first seven contests.  When asked about his scoring prowess yesterday, Kucherov shrugged it off, stating how the “W” was far more important than individual accolades. He now has eight goals on the season.

The Lightning, a preseason favorite by some to win the Stanley Cup, have been on a tear to start out the season. Buoyed by Kucherov’s hot start, the Bolts are off to a 5-1-0 start. While it is early, it’s certainly of note to see what a healthy Tampa Bay squad is capable of doing.

Only in his fifth season, Kucherov was a second round pick (58th overall) in the 2011 draft. Since the 2014-15 season, Kucherov has posted 60 or more points, culminating with 85 (40-45) last season. With 10 points in just six games (7-3), Kucherov seems to be on his way to another dominant year.

Morning Notes: Kucherov, Murphy, Malgin

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to the start many expected, going 4-1 through their first five and scoring 20 goals in the process. A healthy Tampa Bay squad was picked by many experts to vault back into the playoff picture this year after being decimated by injuries last season. The biggest part of that healthy renaissance is captain Steven Stamkos who, with seven early points looks like he’ll be near the top of the league in scoring once again. Speaking with Dan Rosen of NHL.com, Stamkos credits his linemate Nikita Kucherov for much of that early success.

It’s just easy when you’re out there with him. He’s one of the best players in the league.

Kucherov is undoubtedly one of the best players in the league, scoring 40 goals and 85 points last season to lead the Lightning for the second straight year. At just 24 he’s one of the brightest young stars in hockey, and has a long successful career in front of him. Kucherov mentioned the early chemistry with Stamkos when he frustratingly called out some of his other teammates in the spring, after the duo combined for a whopping 42 points through the team’s first 17 games. Now that they’re back together, expect much of the same as they terrorize defenders all around the league.

  • Connor Murphy has been a healthy scratch twice already for the Chicago Blackhawks, and Scott Powers of The Athletic examines what exactly is going wrong between the two sides. Murphy was one of the main components of a Niklas Hjalmarsson deal this summer, and was expected to take on a big role with the Blackhawks right away. That hasn’t happened, as even when he gets into the lineup Murphy is averaging just over 16 minutes a night, which easily puts him fifth on the team’s blue line, right beside Michal Kempny. While Jan Rutta has been a revelation for the team, there still isn’t a lot of depth in Chicago and there will certainly be a time when Murphy is needed to step into bigger minutes this season. The marriage isn’t going well yet, but needs to be sorted out—Murphy is under contract for four more seasons at $3.85MM.
  • The Florida Panthers have recalled Denis Malgin from the AHL, filling their final roster spot. The team is now carrying 14 forwards as they head to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers tomorrow. Malgin, 20, made his NHL debut last season just a year after being drafted and ended up playing 47 games with the team. He scored just ten points in those games but showed that despite his size—5’9″ 177-lbs—he can be effective at the highest level. Still waiver-exempt, he will likely bounce up and down from the minor leagues again this season.

Evening Notes: Stamkos, Jagr, Price, Khudobin

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The Tampa Bay Lightning’s preseason is over and Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes about where the Lightning look to be as the new season gets under way. The key positive to the preseason is that both Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan look healthy and ready to go for the regular season.

Stamkos, who had knee surgery in mid-November and missed all but 17 games last year, is healthy and played in four preseason games. Smith referred to Stamkos as looking like he never missed any time, although he is still working on his timing, but looks ready to put up big numbers this year. Callahan has also been healthy, after having surgery on his hip and missing all but 18 games a year ago.

Smith writes that the lines will be totally up in the air as the season begins as the only two players who seem to be definitely together will be Stamkos with Nikita Kucherov, who have been together all preseason. The depth on the team is solid as they still have cuts to make, but top talent like 2017 second-round pick Alexander Volkov are right on the horizon. On defense, the team is expecting Jake Dotchin to have a solid season, despite breaking a team rule that kept him out of all, but one preseason game. He has been paired consistently with Victor Hedman in practice.

  • The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford tweets that he believes the St. Louis Blues are still interested in free agent Jaromir Jagr, but it would have to be at less than $2MM, which he doubts would happen. He adds in a later tweet that Jagr would also have to accept a third-line role and second-line power play spot.
  • The Athletic’s Paul Campbell (subscription required) breaks down what makes Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price so great, citing his tracking skills, his edgework, puckhandling and his unwillingness to give up on a play. Price, who just signed an eight-year, $84MM extension that kicks in next season, dominated the NHL last season with a 2.23 GAA in 62 games.
  • Cam Tucker of NBC Sports writes that Boston Bruins’ backup goaltender Anton Khudobin had an excellent preseason and is forcing the Bruins to make a tough decision at that position. Khudobin, who struggled in limited backup minutes last year, was thought to be in heavy competition with Malcolm Subban as Tuukka Rask’s backup. Subban, who has also played well in camp, would have to go through waivers if they send him back to the AHL and there is fear a team in need of a backup goaltender might grab the 23-year-old netminder. Khudobin’s solid preseason of allowing just three goals in two games could keep the 31-year-old in Boston another  year.

Morning Notes: Wingers, Dzierkals, NCAA

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NHL.com caused quite a stir among hockey fans by releasing their ranking of the top wingers in the game right now, listing Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov and Brad Marchand in the top three. It’s nearly impossible to defiinitively rank players in this fashion, as each bring very different skill sets to the game.

Still, it goes to show how good some of the young players in the league are. Patrik Laine was ranked #8 and David Pastrnak #15 despite being just 19 and 21 respectively. Each were revelations for their teams this season, scoring more than 30 goals and proving that they’re ready to take the next step to the absolute elite around the league. Leave your take on the list in the comments below, and explain who you think was snubbed.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs are close to the NHL contract limit, so they’ve inked prospect Martins Dzierkals to an AHL deal. The 20-year old Dzierkals was a third-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2015, and is ready to take the next step from the QMJHL. Born in Latvia, Dzierkals was drafted out of Europe and was under exclusive Maple Leafs control for another two seasons, but had made it clear he did not want to return to the CHL as an overage player. Instead, he’ll join a Marlies team that should be flush with young talent like Adam Brooks and Jeremy Bracco and try to prove he’s worth an entry-level deal when space becomes available.
  • Tomorrow marks the final day that teams can negotiate with their NCAA draft picks, after which the players will become unrestricted free agents and allowed to sign anywhere in the league. Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot lead a group of players who are now less than 48 hours away from controlling their own destiny in terms of where their hockey career will continue.

Oft-Injured Teams Likely To Rebound In 2017-18

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Every year, some teams invariably get the short straw when it comes to injury. The Washington Capitals, notably, were the healthiest team in the league, and ended up winning the Presidents’ Trophy. That said, organizational depth is absolutely vital, as the Penguins survived well enough to repeat championships, even though they were bottom-5 in man games lost. Ultimately, there are a few franchises that are merely anticipating a restart in 2017-18, in hopes of entirely forgetting the abuses of last season. These three teams are those which suffered the worst, and have a solid chance to rebound in the upcoming campaign.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning lost Steven Stamkos for the majority of the season after he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in November. He missed an astounding total of 65 games. Ryan Callahan was also lost for the majority of the year, losing 64 games of action to a lower-body injury. After that, the onslaught of injuries kept hammering away. Nikita Kucherov only lost 8 games, but was felled on three separate occasions. Ondrej Palat missed only 9 games as well, but his presence was sorely missed when absent. Cedric Paquette lost 23 games, while Tyler Johnson missed 16. It seemed that no one was safe on Tampa’s squad more man-games than an other teams when you factor in essentially retired players.

Tampa will look to remain healthy this season, after an incredibly unlucky venture in 2016-17. They have the depth to endure losses, but the sheer carnage last season was too catastrophic to overcome. Still, they finished only one point out of the final wild card spot. They could easily have squeaked into the playoffs and inflicted serious damage. This year, as long as the fates turn their way, they should be right back in the competitive mix.

Winnipeg Jets

Tyler Myers lost out on the bulk of the season, only playing in 11 contests. As a big component of the team’s defense, he will need to be back to peak performance if the Jets hope to stop some of the bleeding in their own end of the ice. Center Bryan Little lost 23 games to a lower-body injury, while Shawn Matthias missed 37 contests to an upper-body ailment. Not a single player survived the entire year without succumbing to some sort of injury or sickness, and the team as a whole struggled to find a consistent groove with so many bodies filling in and falling out.

The Jets need consistent goaltending and less obnoxiously aggressive defense if they hope to reach the post-season again. That said, simply remaining healthy will go a long way in transforming Winnipeg into a dangerous team. Mark Scheifele was absolutely dominant last season, and with reliable depth behind him, only good results lie ahead. The Central is also slightly less intimidating this year, even with Dallas making as many transactions as they did. Nashville and Chicago both took steps backward, the Blues remained relatively the same, while the Wild made lateral moves.

Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver will have a tough time entering the playoff conversation. In the relatively weak Pacific however, anything can happen. The Sedin twins are another year older, and GM Jim Benning hasn’t acquired any game-breakers in the off-season (Michael Del Zotto doesn’t count). Still, when a team loses over 300 man-games to injury in a year, things should theoretically improve the following year. Admittedly, some of their most heavily injured players were nominal players, like Derek Dorsett (68 lost) and Anton Rodin (79 lost). Still, they missed the presence of multiple depth players at a time and ultimately relied too heavily upon call-ups to crawl through the year. Jannik Hansen (39 lost), Chris Tanev (29 lost), and Erik Gudbranson (52 lost) are far from world-beaters, but on a team as thin at both offense and defense as the Canucks, their losses were unsustainable.

It remains to be seen how much of an impact general health will play for the Canucks. They still need their top players to find consistent production, and their younger players (Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi) must continue to progress. That said, with a little luck, they might find themselves somewhere near the mix yet again. With new coach Travis Green and a fresh beginning, perhaps there is one more Wild Card berth left in a team that has been prolonging their inevitable full-on rebuild.

Kucherov Will Be Next To Receive McDavid-Like Money

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With the eight-year, $100MM extension of Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid already in the rearview mirror, many people have been speculating on the next big contract in the NHL. There are some who are looking at teammate Leon Draisaitl to break the bank, others at Auston Matthews in Toronto. Nashville’s Ryan Johansen just picked up $8MM per year, while Washington Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up $7.8. However, Larry Brooks of the New York Post, points the finger at Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov who should be getting a huge extension in two years.

Kucherov is going into his second season of a three-year deal where he will be making $4.76MM, but when his contract is up in two years, expect there to be a major payday. The big-scoring winger will be just hitting his prime at age 26 when his contract is up and Tampa Bay’s Steve Yzerman will have a tough time from keeping Kucherov’s next contract from doubling, according to Brooks.

The 24-year-old winger took another major step this year, putting up career highs in both goals and assists, scoring 40 goals and 45 assists for 85 points. Kucherov has come a long way in just a short time. Originally drafted as a second round pick in 2011, he stayed in Moscow for one year before coming over and playing junior hockey, before finally reaching the AHL in 2013-14 season. After 17 games, he was quickly promoted to Tampa Bay where he put up nine goals and nine assists in 51 games, but broke out the following year. He put up consistent numbers the next two years, combining for 58 goals and 72 assists, before taking the next step this past year.

While his 30 goals and 66 points in the 2015-16 season was still outstanding, Kucherov had little negotiating room when he hammered out this three-year deal. According to Brooks, Kucherov did not threaten to return to the KHL and had little recourse but to accept the three-year deal offered to him as a restricted free agent without arbitration rights. However, everything will change in two years when he can dangle his unrestricted free agency tag. His improved performance should only increase his pricetag. Add in the fact that Kucherov went out and got a new agent in Daniel Milstein of Gold Star Sports and expect that Kucherov should break the bank unless Yzerman can prove that he can lock up another great player to a team-friendly deal.

 

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