There is A Lot to unpack here. The Rangers have “addressed” their Tony DeAngelo problem, the Devils are in a little bit of coronavirus related mess, and there were like 58 hockey games. Here’s more on all that.
news roundup
An NHL stats resource list
The AHL and PHPA have settled on terms for a 2020-21 season
The Canadian schedule will be released later
Here’s the schedule changes because of the Vegas covid thing
More about Marco Rossi (MIN)
The NHL/NHLPA, Preds, Bolts, Hawks, and Jets have released their plans for Black History Month, which started today
that’s a (not incredibly) spicy meatball
In a turn of events that surprised probably no one, Tony DeAngelo cleared waivers.
He should, at this point, be out of chances, and it seems like he is, at least with the Rangers. GM Jeff Gorton and president John Davidson spoke to media today. It was all PR stuff, likely due to the Rangers’ desire to trade DeAngelo, but Gorton definitively said that he’d played his last game with the team.
As for what’s next, DeAngelo is “on the taxi squad” but won’t be with the team. Because of his age, the Rangers could buy him out at 1/3 instead of 2/3 when the buyout window opens, but they’d have to make it to that date and what do you do with him until then?
The other thing Gorton said was that they’d researched DeAngelo before acquiring him and were comfortable with their choice, which, uh, an odd thing to admit right now. They’d also apparently been having private and “informal” discussions with him about his social media use, but said that was not a factor in the decision to waive him (perhaps it should have been). Apparently what did it is that he simply could not recover from being scratched after his very stupid unsportsmanlike penalty and promptly got on everyone’s last nerve. They say they told him if he did any other stupid shit he would be gone and, imagine that, he did more stupid shit and now he’s gone.
Regarding The Puck Incident: The Rangers say it did not happen, and they have an explanation you may or may not believe. I don’t know if it happened, though I suspect it did, but the fact that it’s believable At All tells us quite a lot! Also, the Rangers haven’t done much to earn the benefit of the doubt here. But regardless, there’s enough other stuff to go after DeAngelo for without putting a target on K’Andre Miller’s back with something that may or may not be true.
and in conclusion, aaaaaaa
The coronavirus, regrettably, is not like the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. Pretending you can’t see it by, for example, having a hockey season does not mean that it can’t see you. We have yet again discovered this, and the New Jersey Devils will have all their games postponed through the sixth, presumably because they have ten players currently on the protocol list. For three of those ten, there’s a very legitimate non-covid reason to be on the list. Sami Vatanen and Aaron Dell just traveled and Connor Carrick had to go home to New Jersey from Buffalo early because his wife was having a baby. For the other seven… yikes on bikes, who can say?
(Also, it’s not super clear what does and doesn’t constitute a reason to postpone games. I think it would be good if there was a consistent and - more importantly - transparent process by which the league determined postponements.)
So anyway. That’s happening. This is also the first time games have been postponed in the MassMutual East Division, which is notable. Previous postponements were in the Central and the West. The other thing to note is that the Devils played the Sabres yesterday, so you’ve gotta wonder about that. This can all get out of control very quickly! It could also, of course, be fine. But we’ve got games in two separate divisions postponed right now, and, ballpark, 30 guys across the league on the list. That doesn’t seem promising.
stuff watch
It is impossible to overhype this video of the National Zoo pandas frolicking in the snow
Trevor Zegras (ANA) had the game winner for the San Diego Gulls last night
Connor Carrick (NJD) is a dad now
It’s a little hockey snowman
Troy Stecher (DET) mic’d up
The truth is out there about Brandon Tanev’s (PIT) headshot
In honor of Shea Weber (MTL) rapidly approaching 1000 games, a thread of Marc Dumont’s Shea Weber goal gifs
watchin da game
calling all skeletons
Really quickly, a list of players who could have been in this game but weren’t because of injuries:
Erik Johnson (COL), Devon Toews (COL), Marcus Johansson (MIN), Matt Dumba (MIN), Alex Stalock (MIN), Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (COL), Matt Calvert (COL), Marcus Foligno (MIN), Pavel Francouz (COL)
Also Nathan MacKinnon (COL) left this game at the end of the second and did not come back.
And these are just injuries… from this season. The Wild are also missing Mats Zuccarello, who had surgery in the offseason, and Marco Rossi, who perhaps would have joined the team this season but is recuperating in Austria from post-covid complications. That said, these reduced skeleton armies held up alright.
The Wild were pretty good early on, definitely tried to take advantage of the fact that it was Hunter Miska’s third NHL game, and outshot the Avs in every period. It occasionally worked. Both Miska and Cam Talbot (MIN) had uninspiring save percentages, but made a few impressive stops.
Specifically regarding the skater members of the skeleton armies, it was not so bad! Prior to his second period exit for the night and the ??? future, Nathan MacKinnon assisted on two goals, one by Joonas Donskoi in the first, one by Cale Makar in the second. Between the Colorado goals was one for Jordan Greenway in the first and one for Victor Rask in the second. It was a very even game, which made it reasonably fun to watch, despite the absences.
Brandon Saad (COL) scored around halfway through the third (the assist on that goal was Nazem Kadri’s 400th point), and Victor Rask tied the game again with his second of the night around 5 minutes later. The game went into overtime and Jonas Brodin won it for the Wild very quickly.
Final Score: 4-3, Minnesota, feel better soon, all
Reverse Retrospective: I originally had the Minnesota Reverse Retro in my “i mean i guess” tier. After seeing them in a game, I’d say that was the correct choice. I have always liked the Wild’s logo, and I still do. The pants with the stars are cool. The Subway colors are fine. My only big issue, which I feel like is going to be an issue with a lot of the Reverse Retros, is readability. When they’re really moving around and the shot is wider, it is Really Tough to read numbers. With a closer view and in pictures this isn’t a problem, but still. Come on, folks.
other games
Stars/Canes: 4-3, Canes, SO
Vincent Trochek’s (CAR) shootout winner
Brock McGinn (CAR) scored the Canes second goal of the night shorthanded
Cats/Wings: 3-2, Cats
Carter Verhaege (FLA) got his fifth goal of the season
Aaron Ekblad (FLA), the Wing killer I Guess
Islanders/Flyers: 4-3, Flyers, OT
Joel Farabee (PHI) got his first career hat trick
Excellent glove save by Ilya Sorokin (NYI)
Jackets/Hawks: 3-1, Hawks
Pius Suter (CHI) leads all rookies in goals, with 4
Boone Jenner (CBJ) also scored off Jack Roslovic’s rebound
Ducks/Blues: 4-1, Blues
Colton Parayko (STL) did a goal
Jakob Silfverberg (ANA) also did one of those
Oilers/Senators: 8-5, Oilers (oh my GOD)
There were literally 8 goals in the first period of this game
The Germans of the game had a good night. Tim Stützle (OTT) and Dominik Kahun (EDM) each scored a goal, and despite not registering a single shot on goal, Leon Draisaitl became the first Oiler in 34 years to get six assists in one game
hnsts awards
The Department of Player Fuck You Award for Most Suspect Minor Penalty goes to Jamie Benn (DAL), for this hit on Jordan Staal (CAR), who could not see him coming, has an extensive concussion history, and didn’t have the puck. Benn also left his feet to make the hit, which, no, don’t do that. Staal returned to the game, fortunately. Runner up, and shockingly, not even a minor, is this sequence from Casey Cizikas (NYI) where he repeatedly crosschecks Oskar Lindblom (PHI) pretty high. Real clown show out there. Player safety elected to fine Nick Bjugstad (MIN) for his crosscheck on Ryan Graves (COL), which I agree is the correct call, but where’s that oversight for everything else (that was arguably worse)?
Suit of the Day goes to Mathieu Joseph (TBL). We also like Josh Morrissey’s (WPG) coat.
where are they now/boneswatch
A fun note: between IR and Taxi Squad and whatever else, there have been 1509 transactions in the first 20 days of the season, relative to 3088 for the entirely of last season. 15 teams are using IR for cap compliance already, relative to 18 for all of last season.
~chatter~
Apparently Sam Bennett (CGY), known trade requester, did not in fact request a trade, per folks with the Flames. This would mean that in *checks notes* one weekend, Darren Ferris has cast reports of two non-existent trade requests out into the hockey insider ether (Mete is also his client). (or the GMs are lying)
transactions
Alex Chiasson (EDM) is on waivers
new in in:
Josh Anderson (MTL) does not have the flu
Erik Černák (TBL, upper body) is good to go
new in out:
Nathan MacKinnon (COL) left last night’s game with a lower body injury
Covid Protocol- Andreas Johnsson (NJD), Janne Kuokkanen (NJD), Michael McLeod (NJD), Pavel Zacha (NJD), Kaapo Kakko (NYR)
Luke Kunin (lower body) and Brad Richardson (upper body) (NSH) will miss tonight’s game and are day to day
updates:
Matt Calvert (COL, post concussion symptoms) has been put on IR
Lars Eller and Brian Pinho (WSH) skated in non-contact jerseys today
Joel Armia (MTL, concussion) is skating alone
Nick Robertson (TOR, knee, mid Feb.) and Joe Thornton (TOR, rib, 3 weeks) also skated today
Petr Mrazek’s (CAR) upper body injury is going to take “a little longer than we had hoped,” and may require surgery
Brayden McNabb (VGK, lower body) has been moved to LTIR
Brian Dumoulin (PIT, lower body) has been placed on LTIR
no updates:
The MassMutual NHL East Division:
Day to day- Charlie Coyle (BOS, upper body), Jake DeBrusk (BOS), Matt Grzelcyk (BOS, lower body), Sam Reinhart (BUF), Kris Letang (PIT, lower body), Justin Schultz (WSH, face)
IR- Ondrej Kase (BOS, upper body, indefinite), John Moore (BOS), Zemgus Girgensons (BUF, hamstring, six months), Nico Hischier (NJD, leg), Anthony Beauvillier (NYI, lower body), Morgan Frost (PHI, dislocated shoulder, indefinite), Sean Couturier (PHI, separated rib, 2 weeks), Mike Matheson (PIT, upper body), Marcus Pettersson (PIT, upper body)
Week to week- Colin Blackwell (NYR, upper body, 7-10 days)
LTIR- Juuso Riikola (PIT, upper body), Zach Trotman (PIT, Knee, 2-4 weeks), Zach Aston-Reese (PIT, shoulder, mid-February), Evan Rodrigues (PIT, lower body, “longer term”)
Covid Protocol-MacKenzie Blackwood (NJD), Travis Zajac (NJD), Aaron Dell (NJD, travel and quarantine), Connor Carrick (NJD, but it’s because he went home since his wife is having a baby), Sami Vatanen (NJD, travel), Kyle Palmieri (NJD), Ilya Samsonov (WSH), Evgeny Kuznetsov (WSH)
It Will Be A While- Filip Chytil (NYR, upper body, 4-6 weeks)
The Honda NHL West Division:
Day to day- Derek Grant (ANA, upper body), Erik Johnson (COL, upper body), Devon Toews (COL, foot), Marcus Johansson (MIN)
Week to week- Alex Turcotte and Martin Frk (LAK, lower bodies), Tyler Bozak (STL, upper body)
Suspension- Kevin Fiala (MIN) has one game left
IR- Brendan Guhle (ANA, MCL, ~three weeks), Josh Manson (ANA, oblique, ~5 weeks), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI, lower body, week to week), Pavel Francouz (COL, lower body), Matt Luff (LAK), Alex Stalock (MIN, upper body), Matt Dumba (MIN, lower body), Marco Rossi (MIN, covid complications), Robert Bortuzzo (STL, upper body)
LTIR- Mats Zuccarello (MIN, arm), Vladimir Tarasenko (STL, shoulder)
Covid Protocol- Andreas Athanasiou (LAK), Blake Lizotte (LAK), Marcus Foligno (MIN), Alex Pietrangelo (VGK)
It will be a while- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (COL, knee, “extended time”), Sean Walker (LAK, face, “extended period”), Matt Roy (LAK, upper body, “extended period”)
The Scotia NHL North Division:
Day to day- Ethan Bear (EDM, head), Josh Anderson (MTL, illness), Derek Stepan (OTT), Thomas Chabot (OTT)
IR- Christian Wolanin (OTT, lower body), Travis Hamonic (VAN, upper body), Nate Thompson (WPG, lower body)
LTIR- Mike Smith (EDM), Jayce Hawryluk (VAN), Micheal Ferland (VAN, head), Dominic Toninato (WPG)
Covid Protocol-Tucker Poolman (WPG), Pierre-Luc Dubois (WPG, post trade)
Timeline unclear- Jack Campbell (TOR, leg, “weeks”)
The Discover NHL Central Division:
Day to day-Jonathan Bernier (DET, upper body), Tyler Bertuzzi (DET, upper body), Calle Jarnkrok (NSH)
IR- Max McCormick (CAR, upper body), Brent Seabrook (CHI, back), Zack Smith (CHI, back), Joel Kiviranta (DAL, lower body), Tyler Seguin (DAL, hip, April), Stephen Johns (DAL), Ben Bishop (DAL, knee, March), Gustav Forsling (FLA, upper body, 1-2 weeks), Luca Sbisa (NSH, upper body), Connor Ingram (NSH, player assistance program)
LTIR- Jonathan Toews (CHI), Kirby Dach (CHI, wrist, April/May), Alex Nylander (CHI, knee, April/May)
Covid Protocol- Jesper Fast (CAR), Patrik Laine (CBJ), Lucas Wallmark (CHI), Ryan Carpenter (CHI), Nicolas Beaudin (CHI), Alex DeBrincat (CHI), Adam Boqvist (CHI), Andrej Sekera (DAL), Robby Fabbri (DET), Adam Erne (DET), Filip Zadina (DET), Jon Merrill (DET), Sam Gagner (DET)
Timeline unclear- Mitchell Stephens (TBL, lower body, indefinite)
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