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USA Hockey Notes: Sanderson, Beniers, Brisson

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Ahead of USA Hockey’s roster unveiling tomorrow of the 25-man contingent that will head to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, a few names of players named to the team are leaking today. Per the Grand Forks Herald’s Brad Elliott Schlossman, one of those players is University of North Dakota defenseman (and Ottawa Senators prospect) Jake Sanderson. Sanderson, the fifth overall pick in 2020, has 22 points through 17 games as an assistant captain at UND. He’ll undoubtedly be a huge part of Team USA’s blueline in Beijing.

More Olympic notes for USA Hockey:

  • Seattle Kraken prospect Matty Beniers will also be on the final roster, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler reports. The 6’1″, 174-lb center is enjoying a great sophomore season at the University of Michigan with 26 points in 22 games. He’ll also likely be one of the team’s big go-to players without NHL talent on the team.
  • A second University of Michigan player will be going, per Wheeler — Vegas Golden Knights pick Brendan Brisson. The team’s 29th overall pick in 2020 has 27 points in 23 games there this year, and while he might not play as prominent a role as Beniers on the team, he’s a great two-way center who should be a great energy player for Team USA.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Seattle Kraken

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In the spirit of the holiday season, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season approaches the midway mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Seattle Kraken.

What are the Kraken thankful for?

NHL expansion.

This certainly hasn’t been a very successful inaugural season for the Kraken on the ice, but getting a team at all wasn’t always a guarantee. The city of Seattle had lots of momentum toward expansion many times in the past, including serious bids in 1974 and 1990 that failed to come to fruition.

The immediate success that the Vegas Golden Knights experienced by going straight to the Stanley Cup Finals was abnormal, and perhaps set the expectations a little higher for Seattle than they should have been. Getting into the club–especially as further expansion seems unlikely, at least for a while–was the important part here.

Who are the Kraken thankful for?

Matty Beniers.

It’s been a bit of a frustrating season for Beniers, who missed his chance for a second World Junior gold medal when the tournament was canceled early on. But make no mistake, the second overall pick from 2021 is going to be a core piece for the Kraken before long.

In 21 games for Michigan, the do-it-all centerman has 24 points (including two tonight in a big win against UMass) and could soon suit up at the Olympics for Team USA. If he decides to turn pro and sign after his college season ends, there’s little doubt that he’ll be one of the most exciting players in the lineup for Seattle most nights. Having that presence down the middle is a good start.

What would the Kraken be even more thankful for?

A few saves.

It’s not that the only problem with the Kraken this season has been the goaltending, but it’s certainly been the biggest. The duo of Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger–one that combines for a $9.4MM cap hit–has been dreadful, leading to a league-worst .883 team save percentage on the season. If you are more analytically inclined, Grubauer’s -17.8 goals saved above average leads all netminders by a wide margin. The next worst, if you can call it that, is Joonas Korpisalo at -8.65.

The worry here is that Grubauer signed a six-year, $35.4MM deal with Seattle in the offseason, one that already seemed odd at the time but now appears downright dangerous. If the 30-year-old netminder can’t find his game, it could be a boat anchor for the Kraken to deal with through the first part of their history.

What should be on the Kraken wish list?

Draft picks.

This team isn’t as bad as their 10-19-4 record suggests, but they also aren’t anywhere near a playoff contender at this point. The draft picks that everyone though they would acquire through the expansion process should be the target at the deadline, with basically no roster players off the table, even ones with term left on their contracts.

If someone wants to pay up to add Yanni Gourde, the Kraken should consider moving the 30-year-old center. Adam Larsson a relatively inexpensive defense target for a contender? Why not entertain the offer?

The issue for Seattle is that they also handed out several no-trade clauses in their first round of free agency, for whatever reason. Larsson, Grubauer, Jaden Schwartz, and Jamie Oleksiak, were all given full trade protection in their new deals. That kind of early spending is only going to make it more difficult to strip the roster back if that investment proves to be a premature one and the Kraken continue to struggle in the years to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Jaden Schwartz Out 4-6 Weeks After Hand Surgery

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The Seattle Kraken announced Thursday that forward Jaden Schwartz will have hand surgery and is expected to be out of the lineup for four to six weeks.

It’s a tough blow in a tough season for the expansion Kraken, who’ve dealt with big absences and poor results. They’re already without forward Brandon Tanev, who’s out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

Schwartz is one of Seattle’s top point producers, scoring six goals and 14 assists through 26 games. He’s second on the team in points only behind Jordan Eberle (22).

A four-to-six-week timeline puts Schwartz on track to return sometime in February. With Seattle already well out of the playoff picture, there’s no use in rushing Schwartz back. He’s signed through the 2025-26 season with a cap hit of $5.5MM.

Why The 2022 Trade Deadline Could Be A Seller’s Market

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The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline is not exactly imminent. The delayed March 21 date this season is 11 weeks away and a lot can change in that amount of time. However, the end of the holiday trade freeze is the unofficial start to trade season leading up to the deadline. In the first few months of the season there have been ten trades completed, but outside of the Jack Eichel deal there have been very few moves of any substance. That may not change any time soon either.

An active trade deadline requires there to be identifiable buyers and sellers and they must be willing and able to deal. Buyers should not be an issue this season; the eight teams currently in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference may be locked in, as nearly 100 percentage points separate the eighth and ninth team in the conference standings, while the Western Conference includes 13 teams with .500+ records. Therein begins the sellers problem though. Only three teams out west look like potential sellers right now, while there could be more teams willing to sell in the east but many are in a rebuild and don’t have much to offer, while others are merely lacking impact rentals. There are also a number of fringe teams that probably should be sellers, but are close enough to a playoff berth that would mean so much to their players and fan base that they may hold out.

The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek notes another wrinkle that could limit sellers: five teams are currently operating with an interim GM. The Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks have hired new heads of their respective front offices in Jeff Gorton and Jim Rutherford, but neither has in turn hired his GM yet and seem unlikely to make major moves independently. This could take Gorton’s Canadiens, one of the most obvious sellers on paper, off the market. Rutherford’s Canucks hope to be in the playoff race, but he has already vowed that the team will either sell or stand pat this season and the longer it takes to hire a GM, the more likely it will be the latter. The Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks are all operating with temporary GMs, all of whom have limited experience. Chicago and Anaheim fired their most recent GMs and have internal replacements for the time being, while San Jose GM Doug Wilson is currently away from the team for medical reasons. As Duhatschek points out, the likes of Kyle Davidson, Jeff Solomon, and Joe Will are not only new to the GM position, but lack the relationships around the league to make impact moves. So while the Blackhawks look like bona fide sellers and the Sharks and possibly the Ducks could get to that point, will they actually be willing to make trades?

The Seattle Kraken also fall into a category all their own. The NHL’s newest team was just put together in its entirety this off-season. Although they struggled mightily all season and do possess a number of expiring contracts, it remains to be seen if GM Ron Francis is ready to blow it up.

On top of all of this, the rental market among potential sellers is not strong. Of the top 20 impending UFA’s in per-game scoring this season, zero are on teams with sub-.500 records and just three are on teams not currently in a playoff spot. Expand that to the top 50, and only ten players are on sub-.500 teams: Phil Kessel, Travis Boyd, and Johan Larsson for Arizona, Vinnie Hinostroza for Buffalo, Chris Wideman for Montreal, P.K. Subban for New Jersey, Tyler Ennis for Ottawa, and Calle Jarnkrok, Colin Blackwell, and Mark Giordano for Seattle. Even if valuable defensemen like Ben Chiarot and Colin Miller or even a future Hall of Fame goaltender like Marc-Andre Fleury are considered, it’s not exactly an inspiring list for teams adding at the deadline. More importantly, it’s a short list for a potentially large group of buyers.

For those teams looking to make a meaningful trade this season, the conundrum is when to make a move. On one hand, with a small group of exciting targets it may be beneficial to make a trade early and possibly avoid the high prices of deadline bidding wars. On the other hand, the pool of sellers could also expand closer to the deadline and prices could drop if there is a flood of supply to meet the demand. Until that happens though – if it even does – there will be few moves to make early on and quite possibly right up to the deadline. Serious contenders should be prepared to pay up or sit tight this season.

Jeremy Lauzon, Alex Wennberg Placed In COVID Protocol

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Jan 3: The Kraken have now added Alexander Wennberg to the protocol, joining Lauzon. The team already had their upcoming game against the Ottawa Senators postponed, meaning they will have time to get both back before their next game on January 10, should they test out of the protocol.

Jan 1: The Seattle Kraken have Vince Dunn and Ryan Donato back from the COVID protocol today as they took morning skate, but it’s not back to full strength just yet. The team still has Mason Appleton unavailable and he’ll now be joined on the sidelines by Jeremy Lauzon, who has entered the protocol today.

Lauzon, 24, was the Kraken pick from Boston in the expansion draft and he has played 27 games for the team this season. A second-round selection from 2015, the young defenseman still hasn’t quite come into his own at the NHL level. He does provide a level of physical play that the Kraken defense has become known for, ranking third on the team in hits and first in penalty minutes, but Lauzon has just five points so far on the year.

Notably, Lauzon has avoided Group VI unrestricted free agency by landing a regular gig with the Kraken to start the year. He had just 76 matches to his name before this season, with 80 being the threshold to avoid UFA status. Instead, he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer coming off his two-year deal from 2020. Arbitration-eligible, a good showing this season could result in a healthy raise should the Kraken decide he’s worthy of a qualifying offer.

Senators-Kraken Game Postponed

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The NHL has postponed another match, this time between the Ottawa Senators and Seattle Kraken on January 6. The Senators placed several new players in the COVID protocol earlier today.

By postponing this game, the Senators are now off until January 8, at which point they should have several players back from the protocol. This is not the first time that Ottawa has dealt with postponements; quite the opposite, in fact, as the team has seen games rescheduled for both COVID outbreaks and attendance restrictions.

The Kraken are now off even longer, as they don’t have another game scheduled until a week from now. That means they will have played just three games between December 18 and January 10.

There have been more than 90 postponements so far through the first half of the season.

Pacific Notes: Oilers, Donato, Comtois

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The Edmonton Oilers are in a deep slide, exacerbated by a 3-2 overtime loss today to the New York Islanders. Now, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports two pieces of bad news on the injury front. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins returned to Edmonton to get his undisclosed injury looked at, and Spector says to assume he’s “out a while.” Additionally, he notes that goalie Mike Smith, who just returned from injury, is now day-to-day with an upper-body injury separate from the one that just kept him out for over two months. Smith’s struggled this year, the first of a two-year extension he signed this summer, posting a .897 save percentage in five games. It’ll mean more action for the 23-year-old Stuart Skinner, who’s helped buoy the team with a .916 save percentage through 10 games. They’ll also be in tough with Nugent-Hopkins for the next little bit, who only has three goals but is still on a great pace with 26 points in 30 games.

Other rumblings from around the Pacific Division on New Years Day:

  • Seattle Kraken forward Ryan Donato will return tonight after being activated from COVID-19 protocol. Donato last played December 18 against Edmonton, and he’s been a decent contributor for the expansion Kraken with eight goals and 13 points in 27 games. He’ll likely get back in on the team’s third line, playing left wing with Alexander Wennberg and Joonas Donskoi.
  • Some good news injury-wise — Anaheim Ducks forward Max Comtois is expected to make his return to the lineup tonight against Colorado. Comtois has played just once since suffering a hand injury on November 11. It’s been a tough year for him with just one assist through 14 games, but after his 16-goal, 33-point season last year, expect some bad shooting luck to turn around for him in a short manner.

NHL Postpones Nine More Games

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As a result of attendance restrictions in Western Canada, the NHL has postponed eight more games.  The games affected are as follows:

Monday, Jan. 3
Minnesota @ Ottawa

Wednesday, Jan. 5
New York Islanders @ Vancouver

Saturday, Jan. 8
New York Islanders @ Edmonton

Tuesday, Jan. 11
New York Islanders @ Calgary

Wednesday, Jan. 12
Minnesota @ Edmonton

Friday, Jan. 14
Vegas @ Edmonton

Saturday, Jan. 15
Vegas @ Calgary

Sunday, Jan. 16
Edmonton @ Winnipeg

In addition to those contests, the Islanders’ road game in Seattle on January 4th has also been postponed due to the other games on their West Coast road trip being postponed.

No make-up dates for any of the games were announced but in the release from the league, it was noted that the games “will be rescheduled for dates later in the season when such restrictions may be eased or lifted”.  These postponements bring the running total to 90 games that the league will need to reschedule in the coming weeks and months.

Brandon Tanev Suffers Season-Ending ACL Injury; Mason Appleton Enters COVID Protocol

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The Seattle Kraken will be without Brandon Tanev for the rest of the season, after the speedy forward suffered an ACL injury in the team’s game on December 18. Tanev will undergo season-ending surgery soon.

Like he did previously in Winnipeg and Pittsburgh, Tanev had quickly become a fan favorite in Seattle thanks to his all-out hustle and endless energy. The 29-year-old forward had nine goals and 15 points in 30 games, a career-best offensive pace despite playing around the same number of minutes. Three of those nine goals had been game-winners, an impressive achievement on a team that only has ten wins on the entire season.

Now on the shelf for the rest of the season, Tanev won’t be able to add to that total or help the Kraken turn around their inaugural season. The expansion team will have to find someone else to take over his role on the penalty kill, though it will be difficult to replace Tanev’s fearless nature. He led all Kraken forwards in blocked shots, led the entire team in hits, and actually ranked fifth in shots on goal.

The team also announced that Mason Appleton has entered the COVID protocol, robbing them of another important forward for the time being. Appleton had been playing more recently, averaging more than 16 minutes a night since the start of December.

Two Seattle Kraken Enter COVID Protocol

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The Seattle Kraken tweeted Sunday evening that forward Ryan Donato and defenseman Vince Dunn entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

They join defensemen Carson Soucy, Adam Larsson, and Jamie Oleksiak on the protocol list for the Kraken.

Dunn’s been Seattle’s most productive defenseman in their inaugural season, posting 12 points through 28 games. Donato’s been fairly productive too after joining the team on a one-year deal, scoring eight goals and 13 points in 28 games.

If they’re confirmed positive tests, they’re likely out for Seattle’s next four games and could return January 5th.

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