Assessing Sharp’s future, MacKinnon benched, Giordano hurt and more…

 

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I've got to say, this Patrick Sharp situation seems to be going sour. The writing has been on the wall for a while now that he was a strong candidate to get moved in the offseason because of the Blackhawks' tight cap situation and his sizeable contract. The fact that he's been sliding down the depth chart hasn't helped. Now the rumors that he might get moved keep popping up.

 

The latest rumour has the Blackhawks in discussion with the Capitals for Sharp's services. We know that the Caps are looking for a winger for Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin. This could be a good fit considering how well Sharp played up until this season when he was used as a top-line player skating with Chicago's best in Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews.

 

This season, spending a ton of time on the second or third line Sharp has dropped to a 50-point pace after scoring damn near 80 last season. His shot rate has dropped as well as he's on pace for just over 200 SOG after having landed over 300 SOG last season. His shooting percentage is down to just 5.8%, half of his 11.4% career average and his on-ice shooting percentage sits below league-average at 6.23%. He's had an unfortunate go of it and at least some of that has to do with the month he missed earlier in the season with a lower-body injury. Makes you wonder if he isn't still hurt.

 

You could also suggest that Sharp is a rapidly depreciating asset and that the Blackhawks hinting at wanting out now spells doom but looking at the numbers above, I see a guy pushed into a reduced role at least partially because of wear and tear from his injury and experiencing some bad luck on top of losing opportunities. A fresh start in Washington might not do it for him THIS season but wherever he lands (even if it's not until the summer) they'll be getting a rejuvenated Sharp.

 

As for this season, I think I'm out. We'll see how I feel if he gets traded but it's getting tough to hang on. He's still skating in Patrick Kane's spot on the second line but the Blackhawks cut his minutes to just 12:08 last night and gave some of his top power play unit time to Teuvo Teravainen. Or maybe I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill and Sharp didn't skate much last night because the Blackhawks spent so much time killing penalties last night and Sharp doesn't skate on the penalty kill.

 

It sucks to be getting all down on the Blackhawks situation because they just made a great move picking up one of my favourites in Kimmo Timonen. I analyzed the trade here.

 

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There was some discussion of Victor Hedman getting assessed for a possible injury. He skated last night so it can't be too bad. He only got 1:26 on the power play but managed a power-play assist. Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman have officially cannibalized Hedman's minutes and it's a shame but the Bolts are so good they don't really need Hedman back there. He's still scoring more than a point every other game too, which is scary to think about if he still was a power play regular.

 

Shutout for Ben Bishop quells some concerns over the possibility of Andrei Vasilevskiy stealing his job. On the other hand you see quotes like this from John Cooper, where he expects Vasilevskiy to play once or twice a week from here on out to keep Bishop rested and you start to see where Vasilevskiy will have value.

 

Jonathan Drouin has still got a long way to go. He skated 14:02 last night but 6:02 came on the power play. He's practically a designated hitter with that kind of deployment. His assist came on an even-strength goal from Brian Boyle though, which is a good sign. A pretty nice assist too:

 

 

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Tuukka Rask was sick last night necessitating an emergency call-up of Jeremy Smith. Niklas Svedberg got the start and played well stopping 29 of 31 for an overtime win. Wouldn't surprise me if Svedberg played again today to give Rask the time he needs to get healthy.

 

Boston got some huge performances from its youngsters David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner. Pastrnak scored a goal and an assist giving him seven points in the last eight games. Meanwhile, Spooner scored the overtime winner, his first NHL goal.

 

Spooner in particular needs to step up for Boston because you get a certain feeling that the Bruins won't be able to find a centerman to help replace David Krejci at the deadline. Obviously no one is filling those shoes entirely but it just seems unlikely that they'll find anyone at all. Antoine Vermette would be a huge get but it might cripple the Bruins to acquire him.

 

Wing help might come cheaper which could push Pastrnak out of a job. As much as it breaks my heart as a big Pastrnak fan, it's probably for the best if a vet replaces him. Kid just isn't quite ready, recent production aside.

 

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With Jaromir Jagr traded, the Devils dusted off the corpse of Martin Havlat and threw him out there for 17 minutes last night. He went minus-three skating alongside Scott Gomez. I tell ya, if this was like 2007, they'd have had something. But you could make that joke up and down this freaking roster. It's like a museum.

 

Still no room for Michael Ryder Scratched, which has become his legal name. It's high time the Devils find a trade for this guy but the problem is that it's all too possible that nobody wants him.

 

Jordin Tootoo is enjoying an exceedingly interesting run of relevance skating opposite Mike Cammalleri. He has a five-game scoring streak going, which accounts for half of his points this season. I'd say that the Devils are showcasing him but they are still clinging to some faint hope of a playoff run.

 

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It took a shutout but Anton Khudobin registered his first win in a month. If you are into meaningless patterns, this might be the start of a winning streak for Khudobin. He started the season with 10 straight losses, then won six in a row, followed by four more losses and last night's win. He's got to string a couple together, right?

 

No Jiri Tlusty means Nathan Gerbe's ice time jumped above 15 minutes for the second time in February. He fired eight SOG and scored a goal. Coincidence?

 

It was Alexander Semin who jumped into Tlusty's spot on the top line with the Staal brothers. He went scoreless however. Word is the Hurricanes are willing to eat a significant portion of Semin's contract in order to move him. Half? Would they do half? Because that's what if might take. Dude has two goals this year. Teams aren't exactly champing at the bit for his services.

 

I don't think that eating half of his contract would be good cap management by the Hurricanes but neither was signing him to a five-year $35M contract that "no one" saw blowing up in their face.

 

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The Flames are being awfully quiet about the status of Mark Giordano. He didn't wind up playing last night and is officially out with an upper-body injury. No further information has been disclosed. Seems rather nefarious.

 

They got a great game in a string of great games from Karri Ramo. Ramo has allowed just one goal in each of the past three games but has somehow lost two of those. Ramo has been out of his mind since getting back into the lineup here in February. They've got a great dueling banjos thing going on because Jonas Hiller hasn't been all that good of late so perfect timing on Ramo's part.

 

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