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Pacific Notes: Lindholm, Hertl, Karlsson

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Flames center Elias Lindholm is one of the top players believed to be available between now and the trade deadline should the two sides fail to work out an extension between now and then.  In an appearance on 630 CHED (audio link), Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli suggested that Calgary’s asking price could involve a first-round pick plus multiple pieces, one of which being NHL-ready or close to it with the team not necessarily motivated for a long-term rebuild.  Lindholm is only two years removed from a 42-goal season but has just nine so far through 49 games so far in 2023-24.  However, with his track record and defensive ability, there’s a good chance the Flames can land a package like that for the pending unrestricted free agent who will be seeing a sizable raise on his current $4.85MM AAV.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

  • With the Sharks in a full-scale rebuild, many have wondered about the futures of their remaining veteran forwards. One of those is Tomas Hertl and it appears he’s also wondering about his future and where he fits in San Jose’s long-term plans.  The center told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News that he’d like to discuss his fit with the organization moving forward.  Before adding him to the speculative rumor mill, Hertl acknowledged that those discussions likely wouldn’t happen until the end of the season.  The 30-year-old has six years left on his contract after this season with a cap hit of just over $8.1MM.  Other teams will likely want San Jose to pay that down somewhat if Hertl and GM Mike Grier decide in the summer or down the road that a parting of ways makes the most sense for the franchise so a move, if one could be coming, could take a while.
  • The Canucks announced (Twitter link) that Linus Karlsson has been returned to AHL Abbotsford. The 24-year-old has been shuffled back and forth frequently this month but it hasn’t resulted in much NHL playing time as he has suited up in just four games with Vancouver so far.  Meanwhile, in the minors, Karlsson has produced close to a point-per-game, noting 25 points in 28 appearances so far.

Sharks Notes: Ferraro, MacDonald, Hertl

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The Sharks moved blue-liner Mario Ferraro to injured reserve on Monday, per CapFriendly. Ferraro, 25, has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury sustained against the Kings over a week ago.

While he’s eligible to return at any time, given he’s been sidelined for at least seven days, Ferraro is likely to sit out the Sharks’ two remaining games before the All-Star break, according to the last update on his status. The Sharks have an odd schedule surrounding the break – after getting two games in on Tuesday and Wednesday before the league schedule shuts down for a brief prior, they’re off for an extended period of time after the break. Ferraro will have a full two weeks to recover after the Sharks’ back-to-back slate this week, and all signs point to him returning for their Feb. 14 contest against the Jets.

Signed through 2026 with a $3.25MM cap hit, Ferraro is the Sharks’ de facto number-one defender after trading Erik Karlsson to the Penguins last summer. It’s a tough spot for the 6-foot, 209-lb Canadian to be in, although he’s on pace to break his previous career-high in points. He’s scored once and added 13 assists in 47 games this season, averaging nearly 23 minutes per game. He’s boasted better even-strength possession numbers than the average Shark this season, but the team’s abhorrent defensive depth means he’s been on the ice for 90 total goals against – the most of any player in the league.

Other updates from San Jose:

  • Ferraro was moved to IR to create a roster space for Jacob MacDonald, who the team activated from IR yesterday. The defenseman-turned-winger has been one of the team’s most effective goal-scorers when in the lineup this year, but a laundry list of appearances has limited him to 17 games. Despite that, his six goals are tied for sixth on the team. The 30-year-old’s latest absence was a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup since Christmas, resulting in a 15-game absence. It’s unclear whether he’ll draw into the lineup tonight for a Sharks team that’s gaining some relative momentum, winning three out of their last four games.
  • Adding to their win total over the next two days may be tough without the services of first-line center Tomáš Hertl, who head coach David Quinn said is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury (via The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka). The 30-year-old did not practice yesterday and may have been injured in the same collision against the Sabres last Saturday that sidelined Buffalo winger Jack Quinn for the next eight weeks. Unsurprisingly, Hertl’s 15 goals and 34 points lead the Sharks, as does his nearly 21 minutes of ice time per game among forwards. A Hertl absence would mean a slightly elevated role for captain Logan Couture, who has an assist in slightly over 18 minutes per game in four contests since returning from a lower-body injury.

Jack Quinn Expected To Be Out Longer Term

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January 29th: Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News has confirmed that Quinn had surgery today for a lower-body injury and will miss the next eight weeks.

January 28th: Sportsnet is reporting that Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Quinn is expected to be out longer term according to Sabres head coach Don Granato. The Sabres bench boss spoke with the media after a 5-2 Sabres win over the San Jose Sharks telling them that the injury he suffered during the game likely wouldn’t be a day-to-day situation.

Quinn left the game around the mid-way point of the third period after he was hit along the boards by Sharks forward Tomas Hertl. Quinn couldn’t put any weight on his left leg after getting to his feet and slowly making his way to the Sabres bench.

It’s an unfortunate result for the Ottawa, Ontario native as he had just worked his way back into the lineup a little over a month ago after he had suffered an Achilles injury last summer when training. The 22-year-old had added some scoring punch to a Sabres lineup that desperately needed it as Quinn had posted five goals and seven assists in 17 games. The former Ottawa 67’s star has been an effective complimentary piece for Buffalo with 20 goals and 31 assists in 94 career games.

The Sabres have yet to make any official announcement regarding Quinn’s status going forward and will likely require testing before having any concrete timeline on his return. The Sabres don’t play again until February 6th when they return from the all-star break to take on the Dallas Stars.

NHL Names Western Conference All-Stars

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Sportsnet is reporting that the NHL has named the first 16 selections from the Western Conference who will appear in the NHL All-Star Game that will take place February 3rd in Toronto.

The game will be held in Canada for the first time since 2012, when it was held in Ottawa. Toronto hasn’t hosted the game since 2000 and this year will be the first time that the NHL uses a four-team, three-on-three format in combination with the fantasy draft format that was used from 2011-2015. The league will name four captains, one for each team, who will take part in a draft to select their teams on February 1st.

The initial players named from the Western Conference are as follows:

Central Division

Arizona: LW Clayton Keller (4th appearance)
Chicago: C Connor Bedard (1st appearance)
Colorado: C Nathan MacKinnon (3rd appearance)
Dallas: G Jake Oettinger (1st appearance)
Minnesota: LW Kirill Kaprizov (3rd appearance)
Nashville: C Filip Forsberg (1st appearance)
St. Louis: C Robert Thomas (1st appearance)
Winnipeg: G Connor Hellebuyck (3rd appearance)

Pacific Division

Anaheim: LW Frank Vatrano (1st appearance)
Calgary: C Elias Lindholm (1st appearance)
Edmonton: C Connor McDavid (7th appearance)
Los Angeles: G Cam Talbot (1st appearance)
San Jose: C Tomas Hertl (1st appearance)
Seattle: RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (1st appearance)
Vancouver: D Quinn Hughes (1st appearance)
Vegas: C Jack Eichel (1st appearance)

The initial announcements of 32 players (one player to represent each team) tonight will be followed by the naming of the final 12 all-stars in the coming weeks. Those 12 players will be decided by a fan vote on NHL.com as well as several of the NHL’s social media platforms.

Injury Notes: San Jose Sharks, Conor Sheary, Timothy Liljegren

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San Jose Sharks winger Alexander Barabanov returned to the team’s practice for the first time since his October 24th finger injury. Barbanov did not take part in line rushes during the team skate, suggesting that he still isn’t ready to return just yet. The Sharks were also without top winger Tomas Hertl at the Thursday practice. Hertl has been out of action since November 25th with a mid-body injury.

The loss of the wingers is a hit to the Sharks forward group. Hertl substantially leads the team in points, scoring four goals and 16 points through his first 21 games. Fabian Zetterlund, who has nine points in 22 games, ranks second on the team in scoring – significantly behind Hertl. And while Barabanov has gone without a point through the six games he’s managed this season, he did record 15 goals and 47 points in 68 games last year – adding 20 penalty minutes and a -30. His point totals ranked fifth on the 2022-23 Sharks.

Other injury notes around the league:

  • Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper shared that Conor Sheary is working closer to a return. Tampa is gearing up for a six-game road trip that begins in Nashville and then takes the team across the Northwest, beginning on December 7th. Cooper said that Sheary will likely play at some point on the road trip, albeit likely one of the later games.
  • Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe shared that Timothy Liljegren has returned to on-ice activities but isn’t yet close to a return. Liljegren has been out since November 2nd with an ankle injury. The 24-year-old defenseman has appeared in 10 games this season, notching one assist and a -1. He totaled six goals and 18 points in 67 games last season.

West Notes: Byfield, McBain, Flames, Hertl, Suter

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Kings forward Quinton Byfield has been one of the top breakout performers of the early season, notching 16 points in his first 19 games, just six points shy of his career-high already.  The timing is certainly good on his part as the 21-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level contract this season.  However, despite the hot start, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that there have been no discussions about a possible contract extension just yet.  At this point, it might make sense for both sides to wait it out for a while yet to see if Byfield is able to sustain this type of production over a larger sample size since that would greatly influence any negotiations.  With the number of big contracts Los Angeles has on the books, a bridge agreement might be the eventual outcome for Byfield’s next deal.

More from the Western Conference:

  • It will be a while yet before the Coyotes get Jack McBain back in their lineup. PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports (Twitter link) that the center is still several weeks away from returning from his lower-body injury that has kept him out for a couple of weeks already. The 23-year-old was off to a nice start to his season before the injury, collecting three goals and four assists in 13 games while chipping in with 33 hits.
  • The Flames announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Jacob Markstrom will miss tonight’s game with the flu. However, as it was too late to recall a goalie from the minors (past the 5 PM local time deadline), the team has signed Dustin Nickel to an ATO agreement to serve as the emergency backup to Daniel Vladar tonight.  Nickel spent four years at Mount Royal University, wrapping up that part of his career following the 2015-16 season.
  • Sharks center Tomas Hertl will miss tonight’s game due to what’s being termed a mid-body injury, relays Max Miller of The Hockey News. While many of San Jose’s players have struggled mightily this season, the 30-year-old has put up reasonable numbers, notching four goals and a dozen assists through 20 games.  His injury paves the way for the recently-signed Justin Bailey to make his San Jose debut.
  • Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet provided an update to reporters including Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link) that center Pius Suter is dealing with a lower-body injury that is taking longer to recover from than originally expected. He had a setback a week ago and has yet to resume skating.  Suter, who has four goals in 15 games this season, was placed on IR last week.

Poll: When Will The Sharks Win Their First Game?

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To say the San Jose Sharks have been the worst team in the league through ten games would be an understatement. Expectations for the 2023-24 iteration of the squad were low, but the team is on the verge of making history with a 0-9-1 record through ten contests. Two more losses would put them in second place all-time among winless streaks to start a season, trailing only the 1943-44 New York Rangers, who went 15 games without a win.

The numbers behind it aren’t pretty, either. They’ve scored just ten goals, four less than the 31st-ranked St. Louis Blues offense, who have played two fewer games. Through ten games, the Sharks also have a lowly goals-for percentage of 17% at five-on-five – worse than the worst team in NHL history, the 1974-75 Washington Capitals, who controlled 30% of goals at five-on-five through their first ten contests.

Obviously, some positive regression is bound to come offensively. The team is shooting at just 2.9% collectively at five-on-five, far below the 7.7% league average. Their goaltending had helped matters somewhat, although conceding ten goals to the Canucks last night took a significant bite out of both Mackenzie Blackwood’s and Kaapo Kähkönen’s save percentages. They’re controlling 40.6% of expected goals at five-on-five (per MoneyPuck), still the worst in the NHL but significantly higher than their actual rate of 17%.

All of this is to say the Sharks are absolutely a slam-dunk pick to finish 32nd in the league at season’s end, but the points will likely start coming soon for players like Tomáš Hertl, Luke Kunin, Mario Ferraro, and Fabian Zetterlund, who all rank top four on the team in shots at the moment. There’s no telling when that positive regression will occur, however, and the clock will keep ticking on perhaps the worst start to a season in NHL history.

With all that in mind, when do you think the Sharks will log their first two points of the 2023-24 season? Vote in the poll below:

If you can’t access the embedded poll, click here to vote.

Evening Notes: Couture, Motte, Nylander

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Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News is reporting that San Jose Sharks center Logan Couture will miss the team’s home opener on October 12th against the Vegas Golden Knights. Couture remains week-to-week currently but has started some light skating over the last few days. Couture suffered a lower-body injury prior to the start of training camp and failed his physical which has kept him out of pre-season action. This will be the first time Couture starts a season on the IR.

The Sharks are likely to use Tomas Hertl in Couture’s usual spot centering their first line. While Hertl can play on the team’s top unit, it does create a domino effect on an already thin forward group. Mikael Granlund appears likely to center the team’s second unit which could be problematic given how much he struggled last season.

The Sharks appear poised to finish the season near the bottom of the standings and seem prepared to take their time with Couture’s injury. Couture is only halfway through his eight-year contract and could become a tradeable asset for the Sharks if he is able to get healthy and contribute this season.

In other evening notes:

  • Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Motte left the game in the second period of their 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators. The 28-year-old took a puck in the hand with just under six minutes left in the middle frame and did not return to the game. Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper told reporters that the team will know more about Motte’s condition at some point tomorrow. Motte signed a one-year deal in the offseason after setting a career-high with 19 points last season in 62 games.
  • Pierre LeBrun reported on TSN Insider Trading that the Toronto Maple Leafs and pending unrestricted free agent forward William Nylander are continuing contract extension discussions into the season with both sides remaining tight-lipped on the proceedings. LeBrun added that Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving had a face-to-face discussion with Nylander at training camp as the sides try and work towards a resolution. LeBrun finishes by saying that it appears from the outside that all parties are on the same page as far as getting the deal done.

Snapshots: Verhaeghe, Couture And Hertl, Senators Cap Hit

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Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice shared with The Hockey News that he will be holding top-six forward Carter Verhaeghe out of the team’s first preseason game. Verhaeghe “tightened up” on the first day of camp, per Maurice, and has been skating on the side as a precaution ever since. However, the Panthers aren’t expecting the injury to last through training camp – with Maurice sharing that, even if he wears a no-contact jersey through Wednesday, Verhaeghe should be playing in preseason games soon.

Verhaeghe has been an important piece of the Florida top-six since joining the team in 2020, averaging 17 minutes a night through three seasons in Florida. He’s also tallied 164 points in 202 career games with the Panthers, including a staggering 42 goals and 73 points in 81 games last season. Going over those scoring totals makes it clear why Florida would want to be careful with overextending Verhaeghe. Maurice’s emphasis on being cautious also gives fans good insight into how the team is planning to operate. Florida faced a slew of injuries last season, including an Achilles injury that held Anthony Duclair out of a majority of the season and are looking to flip those fortunes in a new year. Verhaeghe is the first to face this cautiousness but how it will carry into the regular season should be interesting to see.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Mercury News’ Curtis Pashelka shared that the San Jose Sharks would be open to trading Logan Couture or Tomas Hertl, if the veterans want to leave. It seems San Jose recognizes the situation they’re in and understands if their aging veterans want to chase the playoffs. However, their contracts may be difficult to move. Couture carries an $8MM cap hit and Hertl carries $8.1375MM, both with some sort of trade protection. While a deal would come at the request of either player, meaning trade protection wouldn’t likely make much impact, it’ll still be challenging to work out the logistics in the flat-cap environment the NHL currently finds itself in. Nonetheless, being offered top-end talent previously only offered to San Jose should be enticing for any NHL club.
  • New Senators owner Michael Andlauer spoke to the team’s salary cap situation and unsigned RFA Shane Pinto. He told the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch that, “We’re at the cap. We have a problem signing Shane Pinto because we are at the cap. At the end of the end of the day, it’s about sustainability and making sure we have enough money in the coffers to pay our players and making sure we’re sustainable”. He went on to emphasize that player success drives fan interest, which then drives the money ownership can put back toward the players. While these comments likely don’t impact the chances of Pinto re-signing, they could limit the upside of his cap hit.

West Notes: Sharks, Predators, Steel, Nill, Sale

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The San Jose Sharks just drafted a potential first-line center with the fourth overall pick with Will Smith, and at the draft in Nashville, there are some rumors that the team’s current top-six centers could be on the move. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that “teams have talked to” the Sharks about Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture.

Pagnotta stressed that no trade is close, and it’s worth noting that Hertl has a full no-move clause and Couture has a three-team no-trade list. It’d be a hard trade to complete, but the news that they’re listening on their two top centers signals GM Mike Grier is leaving no stone unturned as he attempts to rebuild San Jose into a playoff contender.

Some other notes from the Western Conference:

  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman cites colleague Jeff Marek to report that the two restricted free agents the Nashville Predators will issue qualifying offers are center Cody Glass and defenseman Alexandre Carrier. That means notable players such as 2017 first-round pick Cal Foote and capable defensive winger Rasmus Asplund will hit the open market. It’s somewhat a surprise to see Foote go unqualified, seeing that he was recently acquired as part of the Tanner Jeannot trade and does have a first-round pedigree.
  • Sam Steel won’t be issued a qualifying offer by the Minnesota Wild, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. Steel had a decent season with the Wild, scoring 10 goals and 28 points playing at times in the team’s number-one center role. But the Wild could be weary of Steel’s arbitration potential given their dire cap issues, so he’ll now have a chance to hit the open market in a few days.
  • Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill was named the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year, beating out finalists Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers. While Nill’s club didn’t make it to the Stanley Cup Final like Zito’s or go on a historic regular season run like Sweeney’s, Nill’s shrewd moves such as acquiring Max Domi and Evgenii Dadonov during the season helped propel the club to the Western Conference Final.
  • Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports that Eduard Sale, the Seattle Kraken’s recent first-round pick, is going to play for the OHL’s Barrie Colts next season. Sale has played the last two seasons in Czechia’s top pro league for Brno Kometa, and now will get the chance to play against his peers in major junior hockey. He’s an exceptionally skilled offensive player, so Colts fans should expect Sale to be among their top scorers if all goes well.

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