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What Your Team Is Thankful For: Carolina Hurricanes

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter 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 Carolina Hurricanes.

What are the Hurricanes most thankful for?

Spending ability.

The Hurricanes have built a strong drafting and development system over the last several years, but sometimes there had been tough decisions to be made over how many of the league’s top players they could truly afford. With new ownership and a different swagger about the franchise, they’re now a cap ceiling team that didn’t hesitate to match an expensive, front-loaded offer sheet in the summer. Sebastian Aho will earn more than $23MM of his $42.27MM deal in the first twelve months.

Who are the Hurricanes most thankful for?

Rasmus Dahlin.

No, a paragraph from the Buffalo Sabres’ piece didn’t get left in accidentally. If it weren’t for Dahlin’s presence in the 2018 draft, the Hurricanes would have never been able to grab top scorer Andrei Svechnikov second overall. Though he had a slow rookie season by some standards—20 NHL goals for an 18-year old is still pretty good—Svechnikov is really showing why he was so highly regarded coming into the draft and was a potential option at No. 1.

With 31 points in 29 games the young Russian forward has already almost caught his total from last season, and he wont turn 20 until the end of March. It’s hard to really know how far his talent can take him, but that superstar-level, MVP-type forward that the Hurricanes have been looking for for so long might already be on the roster, and his name might not be Aho.

What would the Hurricanes be even more thankful for?

Some losses from the rest of the Metro.

Carolina is 17-11-1 through their first 29 games this season and still somehow are sitting in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. They would be firmly in second in the Atlantic Division, but the Capitals, Islanders and Flyers have all done a little bit better this year.

The Hurricanes are coming off an Eastern Conference Final appearance that shocked the NHL, but few would be surprised to see them in Stanley Cup contention this time around. Settling for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference would make that extremely difficult however, especially if they end up with a first-round matchup against those Boston Bruins that ended their Cinderella run last season.

What should be on the Hurricanes’ Holiday Wish List?

An improvement between the pipes.

There isn’t a man on the Hurricanes roster that would say Petr Mrazek isn’t a big part of the team, but the 27-year old goaltender still suffers from inconsistencies that have plagued his whole career. He’ll stand on his head and provide the Hurricanes with Vezina-caliber netminding one night, and then let in a pair of soft goals the next.

His .903 save percentage on the year simply isn’t good enough to carry a team to a Stanley Cup, but it’s not that far off from where Mrazek has sat for much of his career. James Reimer has been slightly better statistically, but loses just as many games as he wins and probably isn’t the answer either. It’s hard to improve your starting goalie position during the season, but perhaps Carolina can find a way to stop just a few more pucks in the second half.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Hughes, Galchenyuk, Edwards

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If you are a fan of the World Junior tournament and want to see the best under-20 athletes on the planet suit up, there may have been something nagging at your brain every time you looked at the NHL standings. All the way down near the bottom of the Eastern Conference are the New Jersey Devils, who just so happen to have one of those under-20 athletes on their roster.

Jack Hughes, the first-overall pick from last June, won’t turn 19 until May and has just 11 points in 24 games through his rookie season. The Devils haven’t had much success at all and appear to be considering trading off Taylor Hall, so what would be the problem with losing Hughes for a few weeks to dominate players his own age? Well, it won’t be happening as Devils interim coach Alain Nasreddine explained to Mike Morreale of NHL.com. “That (idea) was shut down right away, ” Nasreddine told reporters on Friday.

  • Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins have been dying to see their team at full strength this season, waiting out injury after injury in hopes that the group can pull it together at some point. Perhaps that idea isn’t so exciting for Alex Galchenyuk, who may not even have a spot in the lineup when everyone is back on the ice. That’s what GM Jim Rutherford suggested to Josh Yohe of The Athletic, saying “when we’re totally healthy, he’s going to have to work very hard just to get in the top 12.” Galchenyuk has just two goals and ten points in 19 games this season.
  • The Calgary Flames announced earlier today that Ray Edwards will join the coaching staff as an assistant, replacing Geoff Ward who was bumped up to head coach when Bill Peters was fired. Edwards will maintain his other role of Director of Player Development while helping out the coaching staff, and comes with plenty of experience behind the bench.

Injury Notes: Chicago, Minnesota, Columbus, Montreal

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The Chicago Blackhawks have placed both Duncan Keith and Andrew Shaw on injured reserve, though both of their designations are retroactive and allow the team to activate them at any point. Without them, the team is down to just 21 players on the active roster meaning they could potentially bring up some more bodies to help out.

More injury placements from around the league:

  • The Minnesota Wild have sent Mikko Koivu back home to see the team doctor, placing him on injured reserve in the process. Greg Pateryn has been recalled from his conditioning stint and placed back on injured reserve, while Nico Sturm has come up from the AHL.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets meanwhile have moved Zach Werenski to injured reserve, retroactive to November 30th. The young defenseman is expected to miss four weeks thanks to a shoulder injury, which opened the door for Andrew Peeke to get his first NHL chance.
  • For the Montreal Canadiens, Jesperi Kotkaniemi has suffered a concussion from the big check he took last night. Kotkaniemi was leveled by Nikita Zadorov in the corner and is out indefinitely, though avoided any other significant damage.

David Sklenicka Placed On Unconditional Waivers

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The Montreal Canadiens have placed David Sklenicka on unconditional waivers according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet. That usually precedes a mutual contract termination, which would make sense in this case given Sklenicka has played just seven games for the Laval Rocket this season. The 23-year old was assigned to the Maine Mariners of the ECHL yesterday but after refusing the assignment, will instead become an unrestricted free agent when his contract is terminated.

Sklenicka was one of two signings the Canadiens made in the summer of 2018 out of the Czech Republic along with Michal Moravcik, who already saw his deal terminated in January. Even though they didn’t work out, the Canadiens risked almost nothing by bringing them in and giving them a chance to show what they could do on North American ice.

Justin Schultz Activated, Zach Trotman Assigned

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated defenseman Justin Schultz from injured reserve while sending Zach Trotman down to the minor leagues to make room. Schultz hasn’t played since November 19th, but is expected to be in the lineup tonight against the Arizona Coyotes.

Even with all of the injuries the Penguins have dealt with this year, they still sit within striking distance of a divisional playoff spot. With a 15-9-4 record they are three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan, and have the third best goal differential in the Eastern Conference.

Schultz, 29, should certainly help them even more. The puck-moving defenseman had eight points in his first 21 games this season and was logging nearly 21 minutes a night, partly due to the temporary absence of Kris Letang. Even with both right-handed defensemen back in action, the team looks nothing like it was supposed to. Sidney Crosby, Brian Dumoulin, Patric Hornqvist and Nick Bjugstad remain out.

Andreas Johnsson Placed On Long-Term Injured Reserve

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Just as the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to be getting healthy, another injury has occurred. The team has placed Andreas Johnsson on long-term injured reserve after sustaining a leg injury on Wednesday night. Johnsson will be re-evaluated after the Christmas break, but for now the Maple Leafs have recalled Nic Petan, Martin Marincin and Pontus Aberg from the minor leagues.

Johnsson’s injury actually relieves some of the salary cap pressure for the Maple Leafs, who were set to move forward with just 21 players on the roster for the time being. Now that they can move Johnsson’s $3.4MM cap hit onto long-term injured reserve and replace him with several players from the minor leagues.

Aberg is the most interesting name in the group, if only because he hadn’t gotten a chance with the Maple Leafs prior to this recall. The 37th overall pick in 2012, he has bounced around from Nashville to Edmonton to Anaheim to Minnesota before arriving in Toronto, never spending a full season in the NHL. Through 22 games in the AHL this season, Aberg has 24 points to lead the Marlies and very well could get an opportunity alongside some of Toronto’s best players.

Minor Transactions: 12/06/19

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The NHL has just five games on the schedule for this evening, including Phil Kessel’s return to Pittsburgh and a matchup of two last place teams in New Jersey. As teams prepare for a big weekend, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.

  • The Florida Panthers have recalled Aleksi Saarela for the first time since acquiring him from the Chicago Blackhawks in late-October. Saarela has now amazingly been traded three times in his short career but is still waiting for his first NHL opportunity. The 22-year old was picked in the third round by the New York Rangers and was originally part of the deal for Eric Staal in 2016.
  • Jonathan Davidsson, another one of the Ottawa Senators’ top prospects, has been recalled to the NHL once again. The 22-year old forward was part of the return for Matt Duchene last season and made his debut for the club earlier this year.
  • Because the Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t playing today, they’ve sent Cory Conacher back to the minor leagues. Conacher has served as injury insurance the last while for the Lightning, but Alex Killorn was healthy enough to suit up last night.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Filip Zadina as expected, after giving him the week with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Red Wings had several days off between games, during which Zadina played another AHL game to stay fresh.
  • Boo Nieves is on his way back to the AHL, assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack by the New York Rangers today. Nieves has played four games in the NHL this season but is still more of a minor league depth option at this point.
  • Cameron Schilling has been returned to the Manitoba Moose without playing in a single game for the Winnipeg Jets. The 31-year old defenseman has just ten NHL games over his career, four of which came last season with the Jets.
  • Otto Koivula has been returned to the AHL after playing fewer than five minutes in his last game for the New York Islanders. The young forward is an interesting prospect, but was seeing so little ice time in his first NHL season that the minor leagues may still be best for his development.
  • Nikolay Goldobin has been returned to the AHL after playing just a single game for the Vancouver Canucks since his recall two weeks ago. The 24-year old has been great at the minor league level once again, but can’t seem to get himself a chance at the NHL.

Latest On Taylor Hall’s Trade Market

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While the Colorado Avalanche are usually the first name mentioned when it comes to a potential Taylor Hall trade (and for good reason), there’s another Western Conference team trying to acquire the pending free agent. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Arizona Coyotes are “definitely interested” in the New Jersey Devils star forward and are “not concerned” about the potential high asking price.

That asking price may be flexible however, as in the same segment Bob McKenzie explained that the Devils aren’t necessarily looking for the first-round pick, top prospect and young roster player package that is usually discussed when talking about high-end rentals. Instead, they “haven’t set any parameters” and will just ask for the best offer from any interested teams, regardless of what exactly that includes.

Being open to anything like that will certainly perk up the ears of general managers around the league that might not necessarily have the same prospect capital as teams like the Avalanche, who are still one of the most logical destinations for Hall because of their current situation. If the Devils are willing to take some salary back in a trade it could basically make any contender an option, as there aren’t many teams that wouldn’t improve by adding Hall.

That said, McKenzie expressed some uncertainty over when this move would even happen. That’s the same implication that Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet gave when he wrote earlier this week that though the Hall talks have intensified it “doesn’t mean it’s going to happen at this time.” Even if it does look more and more like Hall will be moved, there’s no clear playbook to use here. The Devils can’t miss on whatever package they get for him, given the struggles they’ve had this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Gabriel Landeskog Activated From Injured Reserve

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The Colorado Avalanche will have their captain back in the lineup tonight for the first time since October. Gabriel Landeskog has been activated off injured reserve and will play tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Andre Burakovsky will be across from him on the second line, while Nazem Kadri is out with a lower-body injury.

Even with Nathan MacKinnon trying to put the team on his back offensively, you could tell that the Avalanche missed Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen. The team has gone 9-7-1 in the captain’s absence, but is rolling again and healthy enough to take a shot at the top of the Central Division.

One of only three teams that has scored 100 goals this season already, the Avalanche reach new heights when Landeskog is healthy and contributing. Coming off a career-high 34 goals and 75 points last season, the 27-year old should give them a confidence boost as they play the second half of a back-to-back.

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