113 replies to this topic

[ForceAtHome]

With hockey back, time for another monthly thread of miscellaneous news from around the league.

In bad news for Washington, Nicklas Backstrom went to Michigan today to see a specialist for a neck injury sustained in KHL play. The injury occurred on December 26 but there is barely any detailed information on what the injury may be or the severity. As you may remember, Backstrom dealt with concussion issues last year thanks to a Rene Bourque elbow and has previously dealt with migraines as well. As a result, it's particularly alarming that Ovechkin used the words "a little dizzy" to describe his centerman. GM McPhee says he won't/can't comment on the injury until training camp officially opens and Backstrom can have a physical with the team. His status for the start of the season is uncertain, at least publicly.

[Greg29fan]

LOL


james duthie ‏@tsnjamesduthie
Despite some denials, the tweet earlier from @EnricoCiccone is accurate. The Flyers are interested in Roberto Luongo.

[cshea]

I love the Flyers. I swear Holmgren uses Be a GM in NHL '13 to construct his team.

[PedroSpecialK]

There is no way. Snyder trades for Luongo and amnesty's Bryz this summer?

Too good to be true.

[Spaulding Smails]

Holmgren is just trolling his fans now with the mental gidget goalie du jour. Please make this happen.

[cshea]

A few early moves:

Mike Mottau signed with Toronto.
Philly traded for Brian Boucher (ha!)
Montreal is going to tell Gomez to stay the fuck away from the ice. You can't buy out injured players, so they won't even play him.

[PedroSpecialK]

Montreal is going to tell Gomez to stay the fuck away from the ice. You can't buy out injured players, so they won't even play him.

Looks like this is what NYR will do with Redden as well.

[OldSaintJohn]

Carolina trades Anthony Stewart and two lateish picks to LA for Kevin Westgarth

[Blacken]

Gomez was sent home and told he'll be bought out next year.



I am distraught.

[PedroSpecialK]

NYR re-signs Del Zotto for 2 years, $2.55m AAV

Score one for reductions to the vaunted second contract.

[Haunted]

Looks like this is what NYR will do with Redden as well.

Neither are injured though, right? Why wouldn't they use the compliance buyouts this year? Do they only kick in after this season?


</more confused than he should be>

[The Four Peters]

You can't use your buyout(s) until the upcoming offseason.

[Haunted]

Ahh. Gotcha.

[PedroSpecialK]

Oilers make a solid pickup and grab Mark Fistric from Dallas for a 2013 3rd rounder

[ForceAtHome]

Oilers make a solid pickup and grab Mark Fistric from Dallas for a 2013 3rd rounder

Dallas is an interesting team.

They have Lehtonen in net and a potentially very good top 6 with Eriksson, Benn, Whitney, Roy, Jagr, and Ryder. Add in guys like Nystrom, Morrow, and Fiddler to the bottom 6 along with prospects like Reilly Smith and Cody Eakin and it's a very solid forward corps. Their defense just isn't that deep right now, though. They have Goligoski, Daley, and Robidas as their top-3 defensemen who figure to all get lots of minutes. Larsen and Rome will now be regulars it seems, but they're still then a defenseman short. With the short season and the latter two either relatively unproven or not that good, they probably want two more defenseman on roster. They must be high on at least two of Brenden Dillon, Jamie Oleksiak (former Northeastern), and Jordie Benn.

Dallas isn't in cap trouble, Fistric only makes $1.475m, and he's an UFA at the end of the year. I like this deal for Edmonton, although if Oleksiak & Co are ready, maybe it'll work out for Joe Nieuwendyk. It seems almost unnecessarily risky to trade a cheap defenseman in a packed schedule when it already looks like you're going to have to overwork your top-3/have legit playoff aspirations. A third round pick isn't a bad haul for Fistric at all, but it's not clear Dallas is trading from a position of depth. (In fairness, it's not clear that they aren't since some guys could impress.)

Edited by ForceAtHome, 14 January 2013 - 03:04 PM.

[PedroSpecialK]

NYI have claimed Thomas Hickey off waivers from LA.

[cshea]

So, it sounds like the league and PA revisited the buyout thing due to the Gomez/Redden situations. Kypreos is claiming that they have now agreed that a team could use one of the amnesty buyouts prior to the season opener.

Interesting. Goodbye, Thomas?

Edit: Nevermind on Thomas. The cap hit would stay for this year either way. It's just a way to get the soon-to-be-bought out players some work this year.

Edited by cshea, 15 January 2013 - 02:41 PM.

[SoxScout]

Google translated: http://bloggar.afton...till-boston-nu/

A real bomb in silly blog: Carl Soderberg to Boston - now?

Yes, many sources say that Boston makes a serious attempt to recruit the elite series målkung to NHL - immediately.

The salary of Soderberg said to be $ 1.5 million for a full NHL season. But the main characters gives a different picture of Sportbladets news and information.

- No, I have not heard anything. But fun if they are interested. I only focus on Linkoping, says Carl Soderberg:

Have you received a bid of Boston?

- No, not that I know of.

Agent Peter Werner:

- We have not talked to Boston.

NHL scout Sven-Åke Svensson:

- Of course we want Carl. But that's not the middle of a season. We'll talk to him after the season.

Linköping club director Mike Helber:

- I've heard that Boston is at Carl. But we will not let him and he can not leave. Is there a set of rules that says you can not leave the premier league for the NHL in the middle of the season. There are all familiar with.

This shit is all over twitter with denials from agent/team/bruins scout. His season ends at the begining of March, plus playoffs I guess. He's really lighting it up over there, leads the league in goals by 7 through 38 games.

Ona another front:

NYP_Brooksie
Told that Bost, Tor, Fla, Ott have expressed at least preliminary interest in Redden...

Edited by SoxScout, 15 January 2013 - 03:41 PM.

[TheRealness]

Nice to know people are still beating the Soderberg drum. The guy never wants to leave Sweden. He's got fear-of-leaving-Sweden-itis, whatever that should be called. He'll never play in the NHL.

And by preliminary interest in Redden, do they mean Chiarelli didn't keel over laughing when asked if he would be interested in him?

Edited by TheRealness, 15 January 2013 - 04:05 PM.

[cshea]

Eh, I don't know. They may be serious about Redden. Chiarelli already knows the guy from when they were both in Ottawa, and Redden's best days were played alongside Zdeno Chara. It would surprise me if Chiarelli had some level of interest in Redden. At around league minimum, he wouldn't be so bad as 7th defenseman and insurance policy against Hamilton. You could do worse. Redden playing in the A had more to do with his contract than his actual on ice performance. He's not a $6.5 million player, but perhaps at ~$1 million he could be useful.

[Greg29fan]

apparently Alex Kovalev is in camp w/the Panthers and is likely to make the the team. He was skating on the second line today w/Jonathan Huberdeau.

[Spacemans Bong]

Nice to know people are still beating the Soderberg drum. The guy never wants to leave Sweden. He's got fear-of-leaving-Sweden-itis, whatever that should be called. He'll never play in the NHL.

And by preliminary interest in Redden, do they mean Chiarelli didn't keel over laughing when asked if he would be interested in him?

He didn't even want to leave his Allsvenskan club for years. He's like the Jesus Navas of hockey, just instead of gypsy intrigue we have fear of not being within 500 metres of IKEA.

[cshea]

A couple of moves yesterday.

- NJ signed Zajac to an 8-year, $46 million extension. First max-year deal under the new CBA.

- Toronto traded Matthew Lombardi to Phoenix for a 4th (conditional 3rd if he re-signs). Toronto is also eating $550K in the deal.

Probably a good trade for both sides. Lombardi had success in his previous Coyotes stint, and the Leafs open up a spot for Nazem Kadri. Time to see if he sinks or floats.

[ngruz25]

I went to the Penguins' "Black & Gold" scrimmage last night. It was free and open seating, and the place was packed, which was pretty sweet. Despite playing themselves, they were playing full speed and hitting (Orpik sent someone to the locker room in the first period). A few thoughts from a non-Pens fan:

- The goalies looked rusty, so maybe Tuukka's not alone in that regard. Both Vokoun and Fleury were beaten by bad-angle shots that bounced in off their backs.
- Letang can really dangle. This is not really a surprise, but that guy's fun to watch.
- I don't think Crosby, Malkin, and Neal played together at any point, though I did leave in the 3rd.
- The main PP unit still looks pretty bad. They seem to indecisive with the puck and fall victim to the dreaded "extra pass" far too often.
- I kept an eye on BC and Biddeford High School's own Brian Dumoulin, who was called up to fill out the D corps. He looked decent enough, though probably needs more time in the AHL. He made a couple turnovers in the 1st period but settled down after that. He plays pretty small for his size, which I mean as both a positive and a negative: he can skate well and is very "calm" with the puck, but he also isn't much of a physical presence. Perhaps some of that can be attributed to the fact that this was essentially a practice. He did take out both a forward and his own goalie on one hit, so there's that.
- Paul Martin apparently played, but I didn't notice. That contract is not very good, eh?
- Matt Cooke can still walk, and that's a shame.

Edited by ngruz25, 17 January 2013 - 10:14 AM.

[cshea]

The Leafs are continuing to purge themselves of terrible Burke contracts. Tim Connolly will be placed on waivers today.

[PedroSpecialK]

Unclear whether he'll be bought out (wouldn't make much sense to me outside of clearing the roster spot) or traded with the Leafs eating some of the cap/salary à la Lombardi's trade.

[PedroSpecialK]

Devils name Bryce Salvador captain, Islanders claim Keith Aucoin off waivers from the Marlies

[cshea]

Mark Recchi has joined Stars front office as an "Advisor to Hockey Operations." Bummer. I would have loved to have kept him around in a similar role with the B's.

[ForceAtHome]

- I kept an eye on BC and Biddeford High School's own Brian Dumoulin, who was called up to fill out the D corps. He looked decent enough, though probably needs more time in the AHL. He made a couple turnovers in the 1st period but settled down after that. He plays pretty small for his size, which I mean as both a positive and a negative: he can skate well and is very "calm" with the puck

Ha. I'm glad to read this description and see that some things don't change. I think I would have written a nearly identical sentence back in 07-08 while he was still at Biddeford. I was always impressed how smooth he looked for a big guy.

[PedroSpecialK]

Isles claim D Brian Strait from Pittsburgh - also Redden has been bought out and is now a UFA. Whispers of Detroit

edit: and just like that, Redden and the Blues agree to a deal in principle

Terms of the contract are one-year and $800,000.

Edited by PedroSpecialK, 18 January 2013 - 01:29 PM.

[Spaulding Smails]

Looks like Redden to the Blues per McKenzie, 1 year/$800K.

[ForceAtHome]

Glad to see Redden gets another chance to play in the NHL. Always felt a little bad that he was in essence paid too much so he couldn't compete at the highest level. (Then I remembered that he was paid too much, so I got over it.)

Edited by ForceAtHome, 18 January 2013 - 02:01 PM.

[PedroSpecialK]

James Mirtle ‏@mirtle

Flames sign Steve Begin.

[AMcGhie]

Strombone @Strombone1

Can't wait!!! “@NHL: #Canucks fans, are you ready to see Cory Schneider as No. 1 in net? #hockeyisback”

other great one is:

Guys I've just been dealt........... POCKET ACES! #latenightpoker

[PedroSpecialK]

Edler extends with the Canucks for 6 years, $30m - nice number for a player like him.

[OldSaintJohn]

Joffrey Lupul gets a 5 yr/5.25 mil extension and the whole league continues to laugh at the Maple Leafs

[PedroSpecialK]

The Kings waived Anthony Stewart today - if he makes it past the Isles, I'd love to see the B's take a flier on him.

[cshea]

Scott Gomez will be signing with San Jose today.

[PedroSpecialK]

Gillis says a "potential deal is in place" for Luongo.

"We have a potential deal in place with one team that has to do something with another player that they have — and it's not who anybody thinks it is — and so we have to wait. (But) we've been offered packages that don't fit what our plan is, what we need," Gillis told the Sun.

Gillis explained how the offers have not suited the Canucks' needs.

"(Teams would offer) excess salary coming back with a [throw-in] player who can't play in our lineup. They say, 'OK, we'll do this, but you've got to take this.' Well, we're not taking it. We've had lots of proposals like that with good pieces that can help us but the other part doesn't help us, and oftentimes they have term attached to them, so we'd just be turning around and buying out a guy.

[Blacken]

Even their GM sounds like a tool.

[SoxScout]

KatieStrangESPN: #Isles Nino Niederreiter's camp is seeking a trade from the Islanders, a source tells ESPNNY. Unhappy with current situation

5th pick of 2010 draft

[cshea]

Last season for NYI: 55 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, -29.

That's about as bad of a line as you can have in the NHL.

[ForceAtHome]

El Nino was almost surely rushed to the NHL. He's incredibly young (made his draft cut off by a week), so he was only 19 all of last year. He should have been playing with Rattie and Baertschi (who were already electric) in Portland last year. I'm not really sure why the Islanders brought him to the NHL then gave up 10 minutes of ice time a game as a bottom six player and virtually no PP time. There should be 29 GMs on the phone asking about his price if it's low.

[RedOctober3829]

El Nino was almost surely rushed to the NHL. He's incredibly young (made his draft cut off by a week), so he was only 19 all of last year. He should have been playing with Rattie and Baertschi (who were already electric) in Portland last year. I'm not really sure why the Islanders brought him to the NHL then gave up 10 minutes of ice time a game as a bottom six player and virtually no PP time. There should be 29 GMs on the phone asking about his price if it's low.

The Islanders are one of the worst run organizations in pro sports. Them doing this shouldn't surprise anyone in the least bit.

[cshea]

El Nino was almost surely rushed to the NHL. He's incredibly young (made his draft cut off by a week), so he was only 19 all of last year. He should have been playing with Rattie and Baertschi (who were already electric) in Portland last year. I'm not really sure why the Islanders brought him to the NHL then gave up 10 minutes of ice time a game as a bottom six player and virtually no PP time. There should be 29 GMs on the phone asking about his price if it's low.

The rumor was the Isles held onto him to use the bonus money in his ELC to artificially reach the cap floor.

[erfus]

Niederreiter has 19 goals in 39 games in the AHL, leading Bridgeport in scoring at age 20 with 36 points. I imagine that's why he's unhappy about being overlooked given the Isles fairly weak roster at wing.

[Greg29fan]

His camp also thinks he was punished and not invited to Islanders' training camp b/c he made some derogatory comments about how Jack Capuano was coaching the team last year.

In other news the Maple Laffs are looking for a team president and McKenzie tweeted that they might be trying to hire Wayne Gretzky.

Edited by Greg29fan, 22 January 2013 - 06:36 PM.

[kenneycb]

Curious if he'll come back to the NHL given he's still owed a boatload of money from Phoenix. Oh Greg Jamison, two lonely nations turn your eyes to thee.

[PedroSpecialK]

Scott Gomez will be signing with San Jose today.

Official

 

1 year, $700k pro-rated

Edited by PedroSpecialK, 23 January 2013 - 04:12 PM.

[TheShynessClinic]

Steve Downie done for the season with a torn ACL.

Scott Hartnell out indefinitely after taking a shot off the foot.