February 26, 2015

steve laidlaw

2015-02-26

Giordano hurt, Kane’s importance to Chicago, Sekera a huge pick up for LA and more…

What a wild day of trades and a little bit of NHL action. I hit over two thousand words before even starting to look at last night's games so we might be a little light on the game recap portion of today's ramblings but that is where we will start.

Important game for both the Flames and Devils last night.

Mark Giordano came up with his 48^th point of the season to pull one ahead of Kris Letang for tops among defensemen. He was hurt at the end of the game in a collision with Steve Bernier and will be evaluated again today. Losing Giordano for any amount of time would be killer for the Flames and many poolies.

Sean Monahan keeps on rolling. Two more points gives him eight in the last six games. He has been scoring at a 60-point pace since Halloween. His next step is getting to that 60-point mark. You'd definitely still take Nathan MacKinnon ahead of Monahan though right? The latter is five points up on the former this season but the former is 24 points ahead of the latter in their short careers.

Okay, so MacKinnon vs. Monahan isn't really a conversation but I wanted to mention how Monahan is nosing his way in there. Not close but another year like this and maybe we'd have to start.

MacKinnon is starting to come on with eight points in his last seven including a hat-trick against the Lightning causing Justin Bourne to predict MacKinnon would score at a point-per-game pace from here on out. If you put any stock in what Bourne has to say, MacKinnon is a buy in one-year settings.

Johnny Gaudreau is on a Lady Byng ruining stretch having accrued eight PIM in his last five games after having no PIM all season prior. For shame!

My big pickup for the week, Mike Cammalleri, scored me another goal. That's all the Devils got past Karri Ramo however so their winning streak was halted at four.

Realistically, the Devils never had much hope at a playoff spot but this is killer. Even if they can catch the Bruins some other team ahead of them (Florida, anyone?) likely grabs the playoff spot so no worries. The Devils are going to keep pushing however. Their team is comprised of too many veterans to do otherwise.

A couple of those vets (Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez) chatted with Elliotte Friedman about their differing perspectives on skating with the Devils for the rest of the season.

Both men say they have not discussed next season. But, his future is more secure than Jagr's, especially in New Jersey. After finishing his commentary, Jagr walked toward the workout room, then stopped, turned around and said he understood why other players were getting more time.

As a Devil, he is done. Gomez, against all odds, isn't.

I've discussed Jagr's severe drop in minutes under the new coaching regime in New Jersey. It simply isn't a situation that's conducive to him putting up numbers any longer. It would take a perfect scenario but Jagr could be a pickup worth looking into if he winds up on the right team. I can't even think of what that right team might be however.

Christian Ehrhoff made his return to the Penguin lineup last night skating only 18 minutes. This game was chalk full of penalties though and Ehrhoff simply isn't a power play guy for the Penguins so that limited his ice time.

It's worth pointing out that with Ehrhoff back Derrick Pouliot was reduced to just 15 minutes of action and that's with almost five minutes of power play time as well. He can still be a lineup regular but don't count on numbers.

Three assists for Evgeni Malkin thrust him into the scoring race. Now just three points back of Nicklas Backstrom (who went scoreless and was oddly absent from the ice as the Capitals pushed to tie it up late), Patrick Kane (done for the year, sigh), and Jakub Voracek (slumping heavily) for tops in the league. This is honestly anyone's race with nine guys between 60 and 64 points. Sidney Crosby is heavy favourite though, especially with Kane done.

Kind of crazy how this has become the Metro Division Art Ross race. If you are wondering why there's an East Coast bias, this has at least something to do with it.

By the way, check out Crosby doing his thing with a Go Pro on:

Andrew Hammond, ladies and gentlemen! 25-save shutout. Dude is swinging head-to-head playoff races like crazy right now. Kudos to you if you had the foresight to pick him up. I thought he'd be a flop.

Jiri Sekac made his Duck debut last night going scoreless in 14 minutes of action. He saw a few shifts on the big line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry but was predominantly on the second line with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg. Check out Anaheim's lines from last nnight courtesy of FrozenPool:

Frequency	Strength	Line Combination
13.11%	EV	15 GETZLAF,RYAN – 21 PALMIERI,KYLE – 10 PERRY,COREY
11.07%	EV	17 KESLER,RYAN – 46 SEKAC,JIRI – 33 SILFVERBERG,JAKOB
10.25%	EV	14 BOURQUE,RENE – 38 KARLSSON,WILLIAM – 19 MAROON,PATRICK
9.84%	EV	7 COGLIANO,ANDREW – 17 KESLER,RYAN – 33 SILFVERBERG,JAKOB

Palmieri continues to be a hot target.

As always some juicy nuggets in Elliotte Friedman's latest 30 Thoughts:

4. Washington is not on Curtis Glencross's original list of teams he'd like to go to (Anaheim, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Tampa Bay), but the Capitals would be great for him if that first line spot is available.

The Los Angeles Times' Lisa Dillman reported the Kings were not a fit. It is possible, probably likely, Glencross expands his group. St. Louis's Doug Armstrong and Rob DiMaio attended Calgary/Rangers on Tuesday. It wouldn't be a stunner if they were watching him closely, too.

Glencross would certainly be an asset worth pursuing if he were to get dealt to Washington to play with Backstrom and Ovechkin. Any addition like that would probably hurt Andrei Burakovsky and Troy Brouwer so don't get blindsided if you've got either one.

With Patrick Kane done for the year there goes my big Art Ross bet. Only $10 washed down the drain in the end so no big loss. But it's more about the emotional toll. I like placing bets to have something to root for. Now I don't have a horse in this wide-open race. I suppose I'm pulling for Backstrom now since I have him in my big one-year league.

This really is a huge deal. There's no replacing the league's leading scorer in your lineup. There just isn't. The Blackhawks moved Patrick Sharp up onto the second line after Kane went down and maybe he claws out some more power play time as well. This could be where he turns his season around. But this hurts more players than it helps. Kane's linemates, Brad Richards and Kris Versteeg both take a hit even if Sharp is one heck of a consolation prize. Defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook take a hit as well losing such a productive linemate.

And don't downplay just how vital Kane is to the Blackhawk offense. Check out the Blackhawks' WOWY stats for Kane since 2012-13 courtesy of FOX Sports:

With Kane: 3.12 goals/game, 19.2 PP%

Without Kane: 2.14 goals/game, 7.7 PP%

Most estimates I've read have him missing 6-10 weeks but I've also read that he could miss up to 12 weeks, which means he could be done until the Stanley Cup Final, assuming the Blackhawks make it that far. Suddenly, finishing second in the Central isn't so terrifying for the Blues (though still not ideal.)

Lots of talk about how this opens up the trade possibilities for the Blackhawks. Could be in on Antoine Vermette now. That's small consolation for the Blackhawks though.

The Blackhawks did call up Teuvo Teravainen (read more on him here) and he'll give them some good minutes. Just don't expect much production. He's still a year or two away from a breakout.

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Also in that link above is the Blackhawks sending Trevor van Riemsdyk (read more on him here) to the minors. Likely a conditioning stint. I suspect the Blackhawks want him for their stretch run.

The Blue Jackets have called up Oscar Dansk (read more on him here) and sent down Anton Forsberg (read more on him here). Mostly a low-impact move here though it does indicate that Sergei Bobrovsky may not be back as soon as we had hoped.

The good news on that front is that Todd Richards indicated that Bobrovsky could be ready to go this weekend. The Blue Jackets play a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday so he could get in on either leg.

Don't count on Dansk seeing action. More than likely he'll just work the door while Curtis McElhinney gets the starts. Not that McElhinney is hot stuff but Dansk has been horrid since coming to North America. This is only Dansk's first year professionally in North America but he has been bad and wasn't much better in two years of OHL play. That he is getting a shot now says more about the Blue Jackets wanting to keep Forsberg sharp than it does about Dansk earning a spot.

More Jackets news, apparently when James Wisniewski submitted his list of 10 teams he wouldn't go to, he did so in a way to make it much more difficult for the Blue Jackets to trade him. Something to be said for having a quality veteran who wants to stick around. This is a player who has been traded three or four times already. Probably wants some stability.

It should also be pointed out that a lot of the teams who would have the flexibility to bring in Wisniewski are teams like Edmonton, Arizona and Buffalo so you can understand why he'd want to block those destinations.

Darren Dreger reports that teams are lining up for free agent college goaltender Matt O'Connor, even going so far as to promise playing time this season. The annual college free agent derby is an exciting one because this is an opportunity for teams to bring in a developed prospect without spending a draft pick. It's essentially free and given the nature of the CBA these free agents still don't have much negotiating power so they come relatively cheap. O'Connor appears to be the prize of this year's class.

It's interesting that teams have promised him playing time. That would likely rule playoff contenders out of the mix, though you never know. A team like San Jose who has apparently made starter Antti Niemi available could certainly use an injection of talent.

It's also important for O'Connor that he gets that playing time. If he sees action this season that means burning a year off the entry-level deal that he signs and a quicker path to free agency. This is a common sweetener for college free agents.

We don't yet have a DobberProspects profile on O'Connor (hint, hint, guys) but he has some nice stats clocking in at 6'5" with a save percentage above 0.920 the past two seasons. Colour me intrigued, especially if he lands somewhere that they can actually use him (Edmonton, San Jose, Arizona or Buffalo.)

Don't overreact but Andrei Vasilevskiy has been sent back to the AHL. He hasn't been bad but certainly hasn't make the push to take over the starting spot like we thought he might.

His peripherals actually match up quite favourably with Ben Bishop's sitting with a 2.46 GAA and 0.912 Save Percentage but he struggled giving up three goals or more in all four starts since getting called up, albeit all on the road and against some tough opponents. Seems to me they were throwing Vasilevskiy to the wolves, while giving Bishop the more favourable starts but that makes sense. You don't need to start a goalie controversy heading into the playoffs.

Worth mentioning however, in 10 starts since the All-Star Game, Bishop is 6-3-1 with a 2.67 GAA and a .907 Save Percentage. Not exactly lighting it up. The banged up defence likely has something to do with that though.

But the real story behind this is likely that the Lightning have been off all week having last played Sunday and not playing again until Friday so this is probably just about getting Vasilevskiy some action to keep him fresh. I'd guess he'll be back up for Friday's game. Unlikely to get the start though.

Word is Slava Voynov's trial will be delayed by a week. It was already set to occur after the trade deadline. This opened the door for the Kings to make a splash and make a splash indeed they did.

I was actually going to make an offhand remark about them pushing for Andrej Sekera but they moved quickly on this and for good reason. I believe Sekera was the best rental on the market. Better than Cody Franson, Antoine Vermette, Jaromir Jagr, etc. Sekera has top pairing skills, drives puck possession in a positive way and can give you 22 minutes a night. No one else available as a rental was bringing that to the table.

Of course, landing in Los Angeles isn't ideal for fantasy purposes. Dobber covered the fantasy impact here but I'll elaborate a bit with my own thoughts.

Sekera appears headed for the second pairing and will likely team up with Jake Muzzin to stabilize that pairing. Drew Doughty, can play with anyone and do it well. Sekera and Muzzin can use some help and they'll definitely do so here. The Kings could certainly pair Doughty and Sekera but that's not why they made this pick up. Sekera is there to give them the second pairing that was lost when Voynov's legal troubles popped up.

Sekera will also remain a second power play guy. That's not a terrible fate because the Kings, as anemic as they are, still have more offense to offer than the Hurricanes. So this is a small boost for Sekera. He could bump Alec Martinez down the lineup if Martinez ever returns from his concussion though Martinez could still be in for PP2 minutes.

Don't be surprised if Sekera re-signs with the Kings this summer. Voynov will likely have to be found guilty or pull a Kovalchuk and run back to the KHL for the Kings to find the space but they have a history of locking up their rentals.

UPCOMING GAMES

Nov 05 - 19:11	CAR	vs	PHI
Nov 05 - 19:11	MTL	vs	CGY
Nov 05 - 19:11	BUF	vs	OTT
Nov 05 - 19:11	TOR	vs	BOS
Nov 05 - 19:11	NYI	vs	PIT
Nov 05 - 20:11	MIN	vs	L.A
Nov 05 - 20:11	STL	vs	T.B
Nov 05 - 20:11	WPG	vs	UTA
Nov 05 - 21:11	COL	vs	SEA
Nov 05 - 22:11	ANA	vs	VAN
Nov 05 - 22:11	S.J	vs	CBJ