Alexander Steen – McKeen's Hockey

Central Division Training Camp News

Ryan Dadoun — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 13:05:12 +0000

Chicago Blackhawks

Corey Crawford

The single biggest question surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks throughout the summer was what the future held for Corey Crawford. His last game in 2017-18 was on Dec. 23 and the specifics of his injury were never made clear during that campaign. What little news we did get about Crawford over the summer did have an optimistic tone to it, but once training camp actually started, everyone seemed to get a little more cautious.

It was confirmed that the injury Crawford has been dealing with all this time is a concussion. He isn’t quite ready to return from it yet either and at this point it would be surprising to see him play in the season opener. The news isn’t grim though. He hasn’t taken part in a full team practice yet, but Crawford has been on the ice in full gear, taking shots. Hopefully he’ll continue to trend in the right direction.

In the meantime, Cam Ward will fill the void. He’s not an ideal starter, but he certainly has a lot of experience in that role, so he’ll provide the Blackhawks with a better Plan B than they had last season. That statement isn’t meant to be too harsh on last season’s Plan B, Anton Forsberg, though. Forsberg didn’t exactly shine when thrust into a bigger role in 2017-18, but he also came into that campaign with just nine career NHL starts under his belt. If Crawford is healthy, then Forsberg will head to the AHL, but until then he’ll get another chance with the Blackhawks as Ward’s understudy.

Outside of the goaltending situation, there isn’t a ton of roster uncertainty regarding the Blackhawks, but they do need to make a decision on Dylan Sikura. He’s been battling for a final spot and was given a golden opportunity to play with Artem Anisimov and Nick Schmaltz and on the top power-play unit Thursday. Sikura got knocked down to the fourth line before the game ended though, which probably isn’t a good sign. John Hayden replaced Sikura alongside Anisimov and Schmaltz and looked good. Just as an aside, when the season starts, Patrick Kane is expected to play with Anisimov and Schmaltz, but he was a healthy scratch on Thursday so that the bubble players could get more of a chance.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche have made one of their tougher cuts when they decided to send defenseman Ryan Graves to the AHL. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar liked what he saw out of Graves, but there just isn’t room for him on the blueline right now. Bednar did specifically mention that Graves put himself in the mix to be a call up at some point, so we might see him again in 2018-19 in the event of an injury.

Another player that Bednar has liked in training camp is Logan O'Connor, who is still in the running to earn the Avalanche’s final roster spot. O'Connor would be making the leap straight from the University of Denver after scoring seven goals and 21 points in 41 games last season. He was never drafted, but the Avalanche inked him to an entry-level contract back in July and GM Joe Sakic praised his “leadership, energy, and speed” at the time.

Easily the biggest story with Colorado though is its goaltending. Semyon Varlamov was the Avalanche’s number one goaltender last season and was solid in that role, but the Avalanche acquired Philipp Grubauer, who is ready to be a number one after years of being the Capitals’ overqualified backup. In the long run, the job will probably go to Grubauer given that Varlamov is entering the final season of his contract, but who is the Avalanche’s number one right now?

The Avalanche would argue that they are both the number one goaltender, but at some point, one of them is likely to actually take that position. We don’t know who the opening game starter will be yet, but even that probably won’t be too telling as whoever warms the bench for Game 1 will probably start in Game 2. We’ve might have to wait weeks or even longer to see which one differentiates himself from the other or if Bednar demonstrates a clear preference.

Dallas Stars

Tyler Seguin had been dealing with a minor injury that kept him out of preseason contests from Sept. 18 until his return on Friday. There was never a lot of drama surrounding that situation because it never seemed like he was in serious jeopardy of missing the season opener, but given how important he is to the Stars, it was nice to get further confirmation of his availability going forward by seeing him get into that exhibition contest.

Unfortunately, Dallas still might not be entering the season at 100%. Defenseman Stephen Johns didn’t participate in Friday’s practice and has been frequently absent due to an undisclosed injury. With each practice Johns misses, it becomes increasingly likely that his recovery will end up bleeding into the regular season.

In the meantime, Gavin Bayreuther has been given a long look with Friday’s contest being his fifth preseason game of 2018. Bayreuther is coming off an encouraging campaign in the AHL where he scored seven goals and 32 points in 71 contests. However, Bayreuther’s offensive talents might not be enough as Stars coach Jim Montgomery has noted that they need him to be more of a defender. Still, if Johns isn’t available at the start of the season, perhaps Bayreuther will get an extended opportunity. Joel Hanley is also an option and he’s certainly the veteran alternative with 22 NHL games 259 AHL contests under his belt.

Minnesota Wild

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 25: Minnesota Wild Defenceman Ryan Suter (20) skates with the puck during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks on February 25, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. The Wild defeated the Sharks 3-2 in overtime.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)

The Minnesota Wild dealt with more than its fair share of injuries last season, but perhaps this season they’ll be a little luckier. It certainly was a good sign that Ryan Suter, whose season ended prematurely due to a fractured ankle, not only made his preseason debut on Wednesday, but logged a healthy 21:22 minutes. He reported afterwards that he felt fine, so barring a last minute surprise he should be in the lineup for the season opener.

As a whole, the Wild appear to be basically healthy going into the season, but there are a couple minor exceptions. Luke Kunin hasn’t been cleared for contact yet, but he hopes to get the OK soon. Even when he’s healthy though, he’s expected to report to AHL Iowa. Gustav Olofsson is dealing with a shoulder injury sustained on Sept. 17, but he has at least resumed skating.

With the team largely healthy, there aren’t many roster battles to speak of. Perhaps the one of most consequence is the fight for the backup gig between Alex Stalock and Andrew Hammond, but it would be a little surprising at this point if Hammond ended up getting the gig over Stalock.

One player that probably would have made the team regardless, but has nevertheless had an encouraging training camp is Joel Eriksson Ek. Charlie Coyle has noticed that Eriksson Ek is a lot more confident now that he’s going into his sophomore season and the two should end up playing on a line together. If you’re looking for a player that could take a step up this season with Minnesota, Eriksson Ek is someone to keep in mind.

Nashville Predators

Eeli Tolvanen was someone that was cited over the summer as a potential 2018-19 Calder Trophy contender, but that was contingent on him being able to land a meaningful role on the Predators, which would be a tall order given their depth. Ultimately he fell short of that goal and the Predators decided to send him to AHL Milwaukee rather than have him stick around and play on the fourth line. Given that Tolvanen is just 19-years-old and needs to adjust to North American hockey after spending 2017-18 primarily in the KHL, the decision to have him start in the minors where he can get big minutes makes a lot of sense for his development.

There’s a wrinkle though: Tolvanen has a clause in his contract that would allow him to return to the KHL if he plays at least 10 games in the AHL. Will he exercise it? That remains to be seen. Certainly the Predators hope he doesn’t, not just because he would be out of their control for the duration of his KHL stint, but also because it would be counterproductive to their goal of having him adapt to the smaller ice.

Outside of the resolved (at least for now) question about Tolvanen, there weren’t many question marks for Nashville going into training camp, which is to be expected of a team that went 53-18-11 and saw minimal turnover during the summer.

We’re waiting on word regarding the fate of Austin Watson. He was given a 27-game suspension by the NHL after pleading no contest to misdemeanor domestic assault. He appealed to that suspension to a neutral arbitrator on Wednesday and it might be a couple weeks before a decision is handed down.

St. Louis Blues

23 MAY 2016: St. Louis Blues center Robby Fabbri (15) takes a shot and scores against the San Jose Sharks during game 5 of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. (Photo by Jimmy Simmons/Icon Sportswire)

No matter what team you root for, you have to want only good things for Robby Fabbri. The 22-year-old showed such promise, but injuries have kept him from playing since Feb. 4. He was healthy coming into training camp with his sights set on resuming his career, but then he left a preseason game on Sept. 23 with a grade 1 groin strain. The good news is that he has already started to skate again and hopefully he’ll have much better luck on the injury front going forward.

Outside of Fabbri, the Blues are relatively healthy as we round the corner towards the regular season. Alexander Steen and Vince Dunn have been dealing with upper-body injuries, but they recently resumed practicing with the Blues, so they might be fine for the opener.

St. Louis did have an eventful summer though, so you might be wondering what the top lines look like now. That’s always going to be subject to change of course, but Friday’s preseason game seems like a good gauge in that regard. The top line was Patrick Maroon, Ryan O'Reilly, and Vladimir Tarasenko, the second line was Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, and Jordan Kyrou (probably filling in for Steen, who didn’t play), and the third line was David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Sammy Blais (who might be replaced by Fabbri if he’s healthy). Again, take that with a grain of salt, but there you go.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets were one of those teams coming off an amazing season that justifiably had little in the way of openings going into training camp. That’s not to say that they had nothing to settle during the preseason. The Jets and Tobias Enstrom parted ways over the summer, so Dustin Byfuglien needed a new partner.

Winnipeg toyed with putting Tyler Myers in that spot, but that would have involved Myers shifting to the left side and that experiment wasn’t encouraging during the preseason. Given that, Byfuglien is likely to be paired with Joe Morrow instead. This will be Morrow’s first full season with Winnipeg after being acquired from Montreal on Feb. 26, but did get some ice time with Byfuglien in 2017-18, so this won’t be an entirely new job for him.

One other story of note is Patrik Laine dropping 14 pounds over the summer. That’s unusual to hear given that most young players need to bulk up, but Laine’s a big guy and the hope here is that he’ll be faster now. He hasn’t ended up scoring in the preseason, but there was evidence of his increased speed, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the season. As it was, he was one of the league’s top snipers, so if this change can give him a little something extra, then we might be in for a pretty special season out of him.

Allen Key – St. Louis Blues 2018-19 Season Preview

Ryan Dadoun — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 17:39:09 +0000

REVIEW / STATE OF PLAY – The St. Louis Blues managed to make the playoffs for six straight years. They even scraped into the postseason in 2016-17 despite trading Kevin Shattenkirk to Washington at the deadline. That run ended in 2017-18 though.

The Blues seemed on the right track through Feb. 9 with a 34-20-3 record, but they went 1-7-2 over their next 10 games to largely kill their playoff chances. For the second straight year, the Blues decided to part with a significant piece of their puzzle at the deadline rather than risk losing the player as an unrestricted free agent. This time it was Paul Stastny who left the team in the midst of the Blues’ late-season fall. St. Louis ended with a 44-32-6 record, which put the Blues a mere point shy of the playoffs.

NO NEED TO PLAY THE BLUES – After finishing 24th in goals for last season, St. Louis was aggressive in adding offensive weapons over the summer. The Blues signed Patrick Maroon to a one-year, $1.75 million contract, Tyler Bozak to a three-year, $15 million deal, and David Perron to a four-year, $16 million agreement over the summer. Those three starters are offensive leaders, but they are all strong secondary scorers that will serve as strong support behind Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Blues also acquired Ryan O'Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres, providing the Blues with an excellent second-line center and giving them the luxury of using Bozak to anchor the third line. It’s also worth noting that O’Reilly won 60% of his faceoffs last season while Bozak won 53.6%, so the Blues have shifted from being a team that was fairly mediocre on the draw to one that’s dominant in that regard.

Another potential additional piece to the offensive puzzle is Robby Fabbri. He was showing promise when knee problems put his career on hold. The 22-year-old last played on Feb. 4, 2017, but he’s healthy going into training camp and could be another solid secondary scorer this season.

Jake Allen

IN ALLEN THEY TRUST – Part of the reason for the Blues’ late season derailment was Jake Allen. From Dec. 14 onward, Allen posted a 2.95 GAA and .900 save percentage in 32 games. His struggles were partially mitigated by Carter Hutton’s strong play, but Hutton left the Blues as an unrestricted free agent so that he could pursue other opportunities to become a starter.

In Hutton’s place, the Blues have signed Chad Johnson, who posted an ugly 3.55 GAA and .891 save percentage in 36 games with Buffalo in 2017-18. Johnson has had better seasons than that and has enough experience that he can potentially be trusted as a short-term starter option in a pinch should Allen get hurt or need some time off to reset during a cold stretch. However, Johnson is not someone that you want as your primary option in net if you intend to make a serious push for the playoffs.

In other words, St. Louis needs Allen to be better this season than he was in 2017-18 or all the forward additions that the Blues made over the summer might be for naught. Now to be fair, Allen bouncing back isn’t an unreasonable hope for the Blues to have. Allen has certainly had better seasons than his 2017-18 campaign and while he didn’t offer details, Allen did make some adjustments over the summer, so perhaps those will bear fruit. The 2017-18 campaign was just his second season as a full-time starter after all, so it’s not shocking that there have been some growing pains there.

If he does bounce back, then the Blues would seem to have all the pieces they need to at least be a competitive team this season.

OUTLOOK – Even with a strong season out of Allen though, the Blues are a step below the NHL’s elite squads. Their offense still isn’t quite as strong, their defense has a big name in Alex Pietrangelo and a rising star Colton Parayko, but there are better blueline groups out there, and even if Allen bounces back, he’s unlikely to be mistaken for an elite goaltender. In other words, St. Louis has a lot of things that there are decent in and the sum of those parts should be good enough for run to the playoffs. Once they get there though, there are teams that will be able to outclass them across the board.

McKeen’s 17-18 Yearbook Updates

Ryan Dadoun — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 21:20:54 +0000

It is early in the pre-season, but Ryan Dadoun brings a round up of the news so far. Nothing earth shattering, but lots to keep an eye on. McKeen's will do an update end of day Monday based on injuries, camp performance, etc.

In the meantime here is what you need to know.

Anaheim

Hampus Lindholm – Shoulder injury will probably keep him out until early November. That’s not surprising given the initial projections from when he had surgery in May, but it’s his absence is more probable now than it was over the summer.

Ryan Kesler – The hope is to have him back by Christmas after he underwent hip surgery in June. Over the summer it looked like he might be back in November, so the recent news here has been discouraging.

Antoine Vermette – Might end up being the one to fill the void left by Kesler. He’s been practicing on a line with Andrew Cogliano and Jakob Silfverberg. If we’re talking about standard fantasy leagues though, Vermette’s value is still borderline at best.

Arizona

Jason Demers – The Coyotes acquired him from the Florida Panthers. Arizona views him as a top-four defenseman, but it’s not clear who his defensive partner will be. He got a decent, but not great, amount of power-play time in Florida last season while Keith Yandle/Aaron Ekblad served as the team’s primary defensive options with the man advantage and he’ll probably end up in a similar situation in Arizona behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Alex Goligoski when it comes to power-play ice time.

Boston

Torey Krug – He suffered a non-displaced jaw fracture on Tuesday and was projected to miss at least three weeks from that date. That will cost him most of training camp and at least three regular season games.

Buffalo

Alexander Nylander – He suffered a lower-body injury on Sept. 8 and hasn’t skated at all in training camp as a result. Good news is that the Sabres think he’ll resume skating in near future, so maybe he’ll still return with enough time to spare to make his case for a roster spot.

Carolina

Lee Stempniak – More of a side note for now, but he’s been dealing with an undisclosed problem that might be more serious than initially believed. He has soreness in his hip/back and had an MRI on Thursday, so we’ll see what the results of that are.

Detroit

Andreas Athanasiou – Still hasn’t signed. There’s the threat of him heading to the KHL and even if he does re-sign in the not too distant future, he’ll be a young player that’s missed a good chunk of training camp/preseason play.

Edmonton

Ryan Strome – It’s a bit of a stretch to mention at this stage, but the Oilers seem to be going with a top line of Maroon, McDavid, and Strome so far. As a fun aside, McDavid also thinks Strome is a good sleeper pick in fantasy leagues. (https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-connor-mcdavid-sees-ryan-strome-as-fantasy-sleeper/c-290885390?tid=277729150)

Drake Caggiula – Similarly, it might be too early to read into it, but so far Drake Caggiula is being tested on the second line with Draisaitl and Lucic.

Los Angeles

Marian Gaborik – Is taking some contact as he recovers from a knee injury. Still unclear if he’ll play in the preseason, but it’s progress.

Nashville

Ryan Ellis – This happened a couple weeks before training camp, so you probably already have it in your projections, but just in case he’s out for four-to-six months with a knee injury. That has led to them mixing up their defensive pairings though. Ekholm and Subban were split up so that Ekholm is now with Josi (although Ekholm-Weber has also been experimented with) and Subban is with newcomer Emelin.

New Jersey

MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 21: New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) waits for play to begin during the third period of the NHL preseason game between the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens on September 21, 2017, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire)

Nico Hischier – Another stretch, but for what it’s worth Nico Hischier has stood out in preseason games so far, upping what were already good odds of him making the team. Hynes suggested that Hischier has forced talks of him having a bigger role than previously projected. Hischier-Hall is an interesting combo, though of course it’s another preseason pairing so who knows.

NY Islanders

Alan Quine – Quine sustained an upper-body injury in mid-September that was projected to cost him four-to-six weeks. So he’s missing training camp and a couple weeks of the regular season in all likelihood.

Ottawa

Colin White – Suffered a broken left wrist on Monday and is projected to miss six-to-eight weeks. He had been seen as being in a good position to make the team, especially due to Derick Brassard being a question mark. Although…

Derick Brassard – His recovery from shoulder surgery is ahead of schedule, per what Guy Boucher said today. He still might not be ready for the start of the regular season.

Clarke MacArthur – Unfortunately even after his strong playoff showing, he ended up failing his physical. Sucks to say, but it may be that his playing career is over.

Erik Karlsson – As of Thursday he still wasn’t skating due to his foot injury. He’s unlikely to be ready for the start of the season and who knows if he’ll be begin the curve once he finally is given the green light to play.

Philadelphia

Travis Sanheim – It’s still tentative, but he’s off to a good start and seems to have improved his chances of making the team. Had 10 goals and 37 points in the AHL last season.

Sean Couturier – The Flyers are toying with using Claude Giroux as a left winger. Couturier could be the beneficiary if that happens as he could move up in the depth charts as a result, possibly even on a line with Giroux and Jakub Voracek (which they did test out in practice, but that doesn’t mean they’ll actually use it in games).

St. Louis

Zach Sanford – Suffered a dislocated left shoulder that will keep him sidelined for the next five-to-six months.

Jay Bouwmeester – Has a fractured left ankle that will be re-evaluated in three weeks. Along with Sanford, these ones are fringe just because they didn’t have much in the way of fantasy value even when healthy.

Alexander Steen – Suffered a hand injury in the Blues’ first preseason game on Tuesday that will cost him at least three weeks (at which point he’ll be re-evaluated). Certainly he’s the most noteworthy of the three fantasy wise.

Toronto

Patrick Marleau – It’s looking like Patrick Marleau won’t play alongside Matthews in even strength as Babcock’s preference appears to be a trio of Zach Hyman, Matthews, and William Nylander. Marleau and Matthews should share the ice in power play situations though.

Joffrey Lupul – Team’s says he failed his physical, but now it looks like the league wants to look into it after Lupul’s claim of cheating followed by his retraction(deletion)/apology. Probably doesn’t matter fantasy-wise either way. Even if Lupul is deemed fit to play he’ll probably end up in the AHL at most.

Vegas

James Neal – Has a broken hand that was projected to sideline him for two-to-four weeks. He’s one week into that timetable at this point so perhaps he’ll be okay for the season opener. Still sucks to miss training camp on a brand new team though.

Washington

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) makes a pass during an NHL game on March 16, 2017, at the Verizon Center, in Washington, D.C. between the Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators. Nashville won 2-1 in overtime.
(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire)

Jakub Vrana – More grain of salt stuff, but the Capitals have been giving him top-six opportunities. He played alongside Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov in Wednesday’s preseason game and tonight it looks like he’ll be with Backstrom and Oshie (Kuznetsov/Ovechkin aren’t playing).

Winnipeg

Tyler Myers – Feels 100% after only playing in 11 games last season.

Fantasy Hockey Mailbag — A Manic Monday

Chris Wassel — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 19:14:49 +0000

Another week has gone by and as always there are more questions than answers. October has revealed a lot of unexpected twists and turns. The biggest concern among fantasy hockey players is, you guessed it, injuries. It eats away at the mettle of the owner. There are questions that just seem to focus intently on these players and possible solutions.

Are you ready to wade into this week's mailbag? This one will truly have an injurious nature to it. You have been warned!

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What has been the most significant injury of the fantasy hockey season so far?

Some are going to argue this until they are blue in the face. However, the recent injury to Victor Hedman is likely to fit that criteria. If the expected diagnosis rings true, the defenseman could be out around a month or so. That is a significant blow to owners who saw Hedman's stock rise into the elite among fantasy defensemen.

Hand injuries are or can be a pain in the neck to heal. The official prognosis should be available early in the week but when Jon Cooper hinted "he could miss a significant amount of time", that was a bad sign. It left a lot of fantasy owners with that sick to the stomach feeling. His seven points in four games was not even the most "wow" stat. It was the five power play points. No one likes to see a player of Hedman's stature go down to injury but the one saving grace was that it occurred early in the season.

What is the worst injury prognosis that a fantasy owner can hear?

The best example of this is the Paul Stastny news. By now, you heard that his arm was in a sling after the Arizona game. Then you heard the dreaded prognosis that the forward was out "week to week" with an upper body injury. Thanks to J.P. Rutherford for the news. Again it is not the best of news and it is even tougher to speculate on the severity. Week to week with a shoulder just means it could be anything from bruised AC joint to much worse (say a full Rotator Cuff tear).

It is always better (as bad as it is) to get a more definitive timetable for an injury. When a player is out 4-6 weeks, you have an idea for the most part that "Player X" will be out that length of time. "Week to week" could be anything from a week to a month to even longer. Consider other options on St. Louis like Vladimir Tarasenko for the time being as he is still available in quite a few fantasy leagues out there. Okay we have time for one more.

Which Alexander Steen do we see this year? The breakout version of Mr. Steen or a considerably lesser version?

Now these are the fun questions that test us "experts" the most. Alexander Steen had two 45+ point seasons before last year's near 30-30 campaign (33G 29A). There are some factors that must be considered too. Since the 2009-10 season, Steen missed ten or more games in all but one season (the 2013 shortened year when he missed eight games). Therefore, injuries have to be considered as a potential tick downward in production. Here are those numbers from the St. Louis Blues.

2013-14 -- 62 pts (missed 14 games
2013 -- 27 pts (shortened year)
2011-12 -- 24 pts (missed 39 games)
2010-11 -- 51 pts (missed 10 games)
2009-10 -- 47 pts (missed 14 games)
2008-09 -- 24 pts (played 61 games post trade from TOR)

The numbers are kind of all over the place, aren't they? This all comes down to how healthy Steen can stay. We have seen Paul Stastny go down to injury already and the Blues do play a grinding style that can make it a little tougher on their top six forwards than most teams. Most signs point toward a 60-65 point year if the forward can stay healthy but with a lean towards an injury, 50-55 points seems more realistic. He should be around 14-18 power play points and close to 200 shots on net.

Either way Steen is going to be given every opportunity. In the case he stays healthy, 20-25 power play points is not out of the question based on shot volume and his potential of hovering around 26-32 goals. It is a broad range, I understand, but this is the best that can be expected with a team that preaches balanced scoring and boasts one of the best top 9's in all of hockey.

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Next week, we will have more answers to your questions on the mailbag. Thanks for reading!