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Petr Mrazek

Evening Snapshots: Holland, Blackhawks, Carlson

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While Ken Holland is selling assets off following his deal of goaltender Petr Mrazek to the Philadelphia Flyers, he’s quick to caution that it’s not a full rebuild while adding that the Red Wings are “open for business.” NBC Sports’ Sean Leahy notes that Holland and the Red Wings are about to go through some “pain” in order to return to the higher echelon of the NHL, and even then, Holland may not be around to see the full plan in motion. Leahy writes that whether Holland ends up going to Seattle or if the Ilitch family decides that they will move on to a new general manager. Regardless, Holland will not do an entire teardown, preferring to retool the Wings in a gradual sense. Whether that works or not, it will take some time for Detroit to see the fruits of those labors.

  • Elliotte Friedman offered his 31 thoughts as the deadline nears. One such thought was that the Chicago Blackhawks prefer to hold onto Artem Anisimov since centers don’t exactly drop into teams laps all that often. Because of the language in his contract, Anisimov has less choice as to where he can go starting July 1, so should interested teams call, he can be pickier now with a no-move clause than a partial no-trade this summer. Friedman adds that after the Michal Kempny deal, the Blackhawks are focused on getting what they can for impending UFAs which include Lance Bouma, Jan Rutta, Tommy Wingels, and Patrick Sharp.
  • Friedman also pours some cold water on any hopes that John Carlson could reach free agency. Saying the Caps and Carlson seem “very comfortable” to discuss contract terms at the end of the season, teams hoping to snag the 28-year-old defenseman may be disheartened to read that. Freidman attributes the Steven Stamkos Sweepstakes (that never were) two seasons ago as a reason why teams are not nearly as “scared” when it comes to later negotiations. Stamkos, of course, seemed to be linked a new team every day until he inked an eight-year, $68MM extension.

 

Injuries Pile Up For Philadelphia Flyers

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The Philadelphia Flyers were already without Brian Elliott for some time as they headed into the trade deadline, and then were given some other bad news. Michal Neuvirth will be out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury, leading to the team’s acquisition of Petr Mrazek last night. Mrazek won’t start tonight for the Flyers, but should get an opportunity to prove himself as a true #1 goaltender once again.

Unfortunately, that’s not where the injuries end for Philadelphia. The team also announced that Wayne Simmonds would be out up to three weeks with an upper-body injury. Simmonds’ loss is perhaps even more troublesome than the goaltending issues, as the veteran winger is in the midst of another excellent season.

With 20 goals on the year, Simmonds extends his streak to five straight campaigns with at least that many, and had a good chance of cracking 50 points once again before the injury. The 29-year old winger is one of the league’s biggest bargains, carrying a cap hit of just less than $4MM. That contract extends for one more year, putting Simmonds on track to be part of the superclass of free agents in 2019. If the Flyers are to make the playoffs and cause any problems in the first round, they’ll need Simmonds at full strength.

Oskar Lindblom has been recalled by the team and could make his NHL debut tonight.

Minor Transactions: 02/20/18

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The trade market is heating up, with two deals yesterday that indicate a willingness to sell. Though much of the action may come down to the very last day, this week will be filled with preparations. We’ll keep track of all those minor moves right here, as teams set their roster for a big deadline splash.

Flyers Acquire Petr Mrazek From Red Wings

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The Flyers have added some goaltending depth with the absences of Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth, announcing that they have acquired Petr Mrazek from the Red Wings in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018 and a conditional third-round pick in 2019.  TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that the 2018 selection will become a third-rounder if Philadelphia makes the playoffs and Mrazek wins five regular season games and will become a second-rounder if they reach the Eastern Conference Final with Mrazek winning six postseason contests.  The 2019 pick will transfer to Detroit if Mrazek re-signs with the Flyers at the end of the season.

Petr MrazekMrazek has had an up-and-down year with Detroit.  In the first three months of the season, he posted a GAA of 3.64 with a .892 SV%, numbers that are well below average.  He has turned things around considerably since then.  In his past 11 games, he has cut his GAA down to 2.29 and upped his SV% to a strong .925.  As a result, he had started to wrestle away starts from Jimmy Howard as of late.  On the season, Mrazek has a 2.89 GAA with a .910 SV% in 22 appearances.

With Elliott out for roughly another month and no word yet on how long Neuvirth will miss, the Flyers were down to Alex Lyon and Dustin Tokarski on the depth chart.  (They did get some good news earlier in the day as prospect Anthony Stolarz was activated off season-opening injured reserve and was assigned to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley.)

The 26-year-old is in the second and final season of a two-year, $8MM contract signed back in July of 2016.  Craig Custance of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that Detroit is retaining the maximum 50% of his deal.  He has a $4.15MM salary in 2017-18 which will stand as his required qualifying offer in June.  Both Elliott ($2.75MM) and Neuvirth ($2.5MM) are already signed for 2018-19 so at first glance, Mrazek may very well be a non-tender candidate but he will at least give them a boost between the pipes as they continue to battle for a postseason spot in a tight Metropolitan Division.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Philadelphia Flyers Discussing Petr Mrazek With Detroit Red Wings

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After losing Brian Elliott for a good chunk of time, the Philadelphia Flyers need to look elsewhere to solve their goaltending problem. While Buffalo Sabres’ netminder Robin Lehner was an option, he’s now dealing with a minor injury of his own and Darren Dreger of TSN instead reports the Flyers are in discussions with Detroit over Petr Mrazek.

Mrazek has been on the block for much of the season, once linked strongly to the Edmonton Oilers when Cam Talbot was dealing with an injury and just recently reportedly offered to the Flyers for a third-round pick. Instead, he’s stayed with the Red Wings and really played well when given the chance. In his last ten games, Mrazek has posted a .935 save percentage and two shutouts. Those numbers would be more than enough for an acquiring team to push towards the playoffs, but they don’t come without some concern.

The 26-year old goaltender has never been considered a consistent performer, and there has been speculation in the past on a poor locker room presence. While those things are difficult to quantify (if they’re even true), he also brings a hefty cap hit at $4MM and is a restricted free agent in the summer. If a team does not believe he can be their starter next season, he’s a prime non-tender candidate as he’d require a $4.15MM qualifying offer.

Philadelphia may be one of the only spots that could bring in Mrazek and extend him, as they’re only set to pay Elliott and Michal Neuvirth a combined $5.25MM next season. Burying one of them in the minors in favor of Mrazek would give the team a regularly priced goalie duo, though whether it is actually much of an improvement is still to be seen.

How Flyers Can Deal With Injuries In Net

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Things have been going well for the Philadelphia Flyers. The team has won six of their past ten games and are firmly engaged in a battle for a Metropolitan Division playoff spot. However, the one shortcoming of the Flyers for years now has again reared its ugly head: goaltending. Philly’s goalies have performed well this season, with starter Brian Elliott holding 21 wins and backup Michal Neuvirth performing statistically even better as Elliott’s understudy. For the first time in years, goalie performance has not been a defining issue for the Flyers. However, Elliott is now out of the picture for the time being after suffering a core muscle injury earlier in the month which required surgery and could keep him sidelined through the end of March. Meanwhile, Neuvirth succumbed to a lower-body injury earlier today and had to leave the Flyers’ match-up with the rival New York Rangers. While young Alex Lyon performed admirably in relief, allowing only one goal en route to his first NHL win, the Flyers face a real possibility of being without their top two goalies for some time. So what do they do?

1) Stand Pat

It’s too early to know how long Neuvirth will be out, so the Flyers could let cooler heads prevail and wait to see what the prognosis is on his injury. If Neuvirth will simply miss a few games, the team could rely on Lyon and veteran journeyman Dustin Tokarski, acquired in October for this exact emergency situation, for the time being. Lyon, a former phenom at Yale University, has struggled in limited NHL action this season, but has been good for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in each of the last two seasons. Now could be a good time to see what the 25-year-old brings to the table.

2) Acquire a stopgap

Perhaps if Lyon had more than three NHL appearances or Tokarski had more than 10 minutes of NHL action in the past two years, the Flyers would be willing to stick with this tandem, even if Neuvirth remains out for a week or two. Maybe if Anthony Stolarz, shut down for the season after knee surgery in September, was available they would be fine with waiting for Elliott and Neuvirth to return to health. However, the Flyers are in the middle of a playoff race and cannot afford to stick with such inexperienced options for more than a handful of games nor wait on injury timelines with the NHL Trade Deadline a week away. Instead, they could turn to the trade market and look for a short-term option. There isn’t much goalie talk on the rumor mill right now, other than the fact that the Flyers turned down a recent offer from the Detroit Red Wings of Petr Mrazek for a third-round pick. They could certainly revisit bringing in the impending restricted free agent for a tryout down the stretch. The team could also look at trading for San Jose Sharks backup Aaron Dell, who’s having a breakout year and comes with a cheap price tag for the remainder of the season. However, the Sharks are a fellow playoff-chaser and might be hesitant to move their backup unless they were getting another in return, either Neuvirth or Elliott. Other options could include Michael Hutchinson from the Winnipeg Jets (though they too have injury issues in net), Andrew Hammond from the Colorado Avalanche, or one of the many minor league keepers from Toronto or Calgary, if those teams are willing to deal.

3) Acquire a starter

Of course, the Flyers could also take this opportunity to bring in a starting-caliber goalie; one who could eliminate the worry of whether Elliott will be healthy by playoff time. Philadelphia could look at short-term starter, such as impending free agents Antti Raanta from Arizona or Robin Lehner (RFA) from Buffalo. However, more interestingly, they could also look for a long-term fit. Both Elliott and Neuvirth are only signed through next season. If they could send one or the other back in a trade, they could look to acquire a starter with term on his contract. That could be as easy as bringing in Lehner or Mrazek with the intention of extending them. Either one could do the job for a few years, bridging the gap to star prospect Carter Hart. It could also open the door to Detroit’s other goalie, Jimmy Howard, who could benefit from a change of scenery with one year left on his deal. The Vancouver Canucks could entertain moving Jacob Markstrom during a down year, though he may not be much of an upgrade over Philly’s current stable and is signed for two more seasons. One possible dark horse candidate would be Colorado starter Semyon Varlamov, who has been outplayed by backup Jonathan Bernier this season and is signed through 2018-19 at an expensive $5.9MM cap hit. For those of you thinking Carey Price though, think again.

Snapshots: Mrazek, Rangers Injuries, Hutton, Vegas

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The Flyers turned down a trade proposal from the Red Wings that saw Detroit request a third-round pick in exchange for goaltender Petr Mrazek, reports Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.  This comes on the heels of Philadelphia losing Brian Elliott for more than a month which has them going with a current tandem of Michal Neuvirth and Alex Lyon between the pipes.  As a result, many have expected Philly to add another netminder at some point before the February 26th trade deadline but it appears GM Ron Hextall isn’t prepared to do so just yet or has more of a depth goalie in mind.

More news and notes from around the league:

  • It’s a case of good news and bad news on the injury front for the Rangers. Larry Brooks of the New York Post notes that winger Pavel Buchnevich will return to New York’s lineup tonight against the Senators after missing the past seven games with a concussion.  However, center Kevin Hayes is unlikely to play due to a lower-body issue that has been lingering since the All-Star Break.
  • The Canucks continue to receive trade interest in defenseman Ben Hutton, Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 reports (Twitter link). The blueliner has been a frequent healthy scratch of late and has another year left on his contract after this one at a $2.8MM cap hit which is a bit pricey for someone who is on the outside looking in at playing time.  In a separate tweet, Dhaliwal adds that Vancouver has inquired about the asking price for Coyotes center Max Domi and winger Tobias Rieder but notes that the price is quite high.
  • Vegas has been keeping tabs on the Sabres lately, notes Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. David Conte, special advisor for hockey operations for the Golden Knights, has attended multiple Buffalo games over the past week while also watching their AHL affiliate in Rochester.  While they are probably not a likely suitor for winger Evander Kane, they could be interested in adding some of Buffalo’s depth players in an effort to shore up their roster before the deadline.

Red Wings Notes: Trade Rumors, Athanasiou

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The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James writes that general manager Ken Holland is absolutely cognizant of the fact that the Red Wings are in “seller” mode. St. James quotes Holland as saying:

“I’m working the phones, I’m trying to see what the other teams in the league are thinking,” Holland said. “We are obviously not a buyer, we are not spending future assets to try to get in. We’ll see here over the next week what direction we are going, but I am aware we are eight points out and games are running out.”

The quote is nearly verbatim from last year, where Holland pulled the plug during early February and started dealing at the deadline.  Beating the Anaheim Ducks last night, in a game where the Ducks outplayed and outshot the Red Wings, isn’t anything to mistake as a game that get Detroit into a playoff spot. The issue remaining is whether or not Holland will truly begin rotating players out to stockpile as much young talent and higher draft picks that he can. Where the verbiage has changed is that on a roster that Holland usually gives the nod to a veteran, he seems to be ready to open up spots for younger players:

“I’ve talked to lots of teams over the last week and 10 days, and I’m doubling back with a number of them,” Holland said. “We’d like to get assets, open up spots for a kid or two for next season.”

Holland has been gun shy when it comes to making trades in the Cap era, and he’s still working without a contract extension. With Mike Green, Jimmy Howard, Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist, and even Tomas Tatar in trade conversations, it will be interesting to see if Holland really will make the deals he seems to be hinting at.

  • Andreas Athanasiou is ready to make amends for his lackluster play that resulted in a third period benching reports the Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan. Punished for a lack of effort, Athanasiou played just one shift in yesterday’s 2-1 win during the third period. In spite of his athleticism, speed, and gamebreaker ability, Athanasiou has long been made an example by head coach Jeff Blashill when he hasn’t been at his best. Kulfan writes that consistency has been an issue for Athanasiou during his young career, but it’s an interesting take in that several players, especially higher priced ones, have been similarly inconsistent or turnover prone with the puck. Though he hasn’t scored in 11 games, Athanasiou still has more points than Darren Helm, and Justin Abdelkader, and is tied with Frans Nielsen, and Tomas Tatar, who have both played 10 more games than the 23-year-old forward. The combined cap hit for Abdelkader ($4.25MM), Nielsen ($5.25MM), Tatar ($5.3MM) and Helm ($3.85MM) is $18.65MM while Athanasiou makes a fraction of their individual salaries at $1.38MM. He’s also just a point behind Gustav Nyquist ($4.75MM), who also has ten more games to his name. Though it is fair to try and teach the young forward good habits, the larger issue in Detroit is once again giving large contracts to players who simply don’t produce the points to justify such payment.

Trade Candidate: Aaron Dell

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With the trade deadline approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that have a good chance to be dealt by February 26th.

The San Jose Sharks find themselves in tough position when it comes to their backup goaltender Aaron Dell. The 28-year-old has only been in the league for two years, but has had quite a bit of success, especially this year. With the struggles of starter Martin Jones, Dell has had to take on bigger resposibities and, at times, has outplayed the veteran. Now, with the trade deadline three weeks away, the team must decide what it plans to do with the netminder.

Contract

Dell is in the final year of a two-year, $1.225MM contract he signed with the Sharks in July of 2016. His AAV is $625K.

2017-18

Dell was brought in two years ago as the backup to Jones and has thrived in that role. However, since December Jones has struggled, which has forced Dell into a larger role this year and he has done quite a good job filling in more often for Jones, often being the preferred starter over Jones. His numbers have been impressive, but more importantly, he has led the team to a 12-4-3 record this year.

His name has come up in trade rumors and the Sharks aren’t likely going to be able to keep the backup next year as Dell may look to seek a starting role or an opportunity to split time evenly with another goalie. On top of that, Dell should receive a significant pay raise from the $625K he is currently making.

Season Stats

22 GP, 12-4-3 record, 2.51 GAA, .917 SV%, 2 SO

Potential Suitors

Dell’s potential suitors aren’t going to be much different than any goaltender on the market whether it be Petr Mrazek, Jimmy Howard or Robin Lehner. The New York Islanders are likely looking for a goaltender, while another legitimate possibility could be the Ottawa Senators, who are struggling at that position and might want a fresh face to compete for playing time with one of their veterans. A third option could just be a trade to a elite team like the Pittsburgh Penguins or Tampa Bay Lightning who might want a more dependable backup for the playoff run.

Likelihood of Trade

A weeks ago, it seemed extremely unlikely the Sharks might move Dell as he was the team’s best goaltender. However, Jones seems to have recovered from his struggles as he has played better in his last two games and looks to have coach Peter DeBoer’s confidence again. Dell, on the other hand, hasn’t been on the ice once since the break, suggesting the team wants to make sure that Jones can handle the load if they move Dell. While San Jose is in second place in the Pacific Division, they have a number of teams right behind them and the team might be fighting to make sure they reach the playoffs as opposed to thinking about winning a Stanley Cup this season.

With the team attempting to re-tool as their veterans like Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski are aging, the team might want to pick up an asset for Dell before they lose him. The team can ensure they get a veteran back in a deal to fill Dell’s shoes for the remainder of the season.

 

Trade Candidate: Petr Mrazek

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With the trade deadline approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that have a good chance to be dealt by February 26th.

After a particularly rough 2016-17 season, the Red Wings were hoping that goaltender Petr Mrazek would bounce back to the level of play from the year before that, one that saw him become a quality NHL starter.  That hasn’t happened and as a result, he has been involved in trade speculation nearly all season long and those talks should only intensify over the next three weeks leading up to deadline day.

Contract

Mrazek is in the final year of a two-year, $8MM deal.  He is due a qualifying offer of $4.15MM (his current salary) in June.

2017-18

Petr MrazekThe start of the season saw the 25-year-old put up even worse numbers than he did last season, notching a GAA of 3.64 with a .892 SV% through the first three months of the year and as a result, he found himself squarely behind Jimmy Howard on the pecking order.

Things started to turn for him in January, however.  Following a loss to the Lightning where he allowed five goals, Mrazek allowed just six goals total in his last six appearances (five starts) and has started to shoulder more of the workload.

Despite that, there is still a legitimate question about whether he will have done enough to warrant receiving a qualifying offer in the summer.  As a result, there’s a case to be made that he will not only to be looking to reclaim the starting job down the stretch but that he will be also trying to showcase himself for prospective suitors if he is let go.

Season Stats

18 GP, 7-5-2 record, 2.74 GAA, .914 SV%, 3 SO

Potential Suitors

Unlike forwards or defensemen, the trade market for goaltenders is a lot more limited but there are still some potential fits.  The Islanders have had their own share of goalie woes this season and are tumbling down the Metropolitan Division as a result.  They could conceivably look at Mrazek’s hot streak and view him as a short-term upgrade on their current tandem.  I also wouldn’t rule out Pittsburgh depending on what else the Penguins are (or aren’t) able to do as they may want to have some experienced insurance behind Matt Murray.

In the West, Mrazek could represent a fallback option if the Sharks decide to part with their potential top trade chip in netminder Aaron Dell to add help up front before the deadline.  They have the cap room to take his contract on without any concern.  Chicago has less of a need now that Corey Crawford appears likely to return but if the Red Wings are willing to retain on his contract, he could still represent an upgrade as their backup if the Blackhawks are looking to make a playoff push.

Likelihood Of A Trade

This will come down to how much GM Ken Holland is looking for in a return.  If the asking price is around where it was believed to be earlier in the season (a mid-round draft pick) with them being willing to retain on his contract if necessary, there is a decent chance that he will move despite there being a pretty limited goalie market overall.  However, if they look to leverage his current stretch of games into a higher return, that may be enough to turn teams looking for depth between the pipes in other directions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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