Luca Sbisa – McKeen's Hockey

Metropolitan Division Training Camp News

Ryan Dadoun — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 13:36:52 +0000

Carolina Hurricanes

TAMPA, FL - SEPTEMBER 18: Carolina Hurricanes right wing Andrei Svechnikov (37) skates during the NHL preseason game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning on September 18, 2018, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire)

There’s some cautious optimism that this might be the season Carolina ends its nine-season playoff drought, but the Hurrianes’ chances took a blow before the season even started. Victor Rask sustained a hand injury that will cost him months and perhaps the hardest part of it to swallow is the fact that he was hurt in the kitchen and not the ice.

The one thing Carolina did better than any team last season was win faceoffs (54.1%) and Rask was a significant part of that (54.9%) as were Derek Ryan (56.5%) and Elias Lindholm (54.5%), who are no longer with the team. Those two departures combined with Rask’s tough-luck injury have created a void up the middle that there is no clear answer for. Sebastian Aho has been tested as a center, but coach Rod Brind’Amour hasn’t liked what he’s seen there.

Lucas Wallmark might end up making the team, especially given the Hurricanes’ need for centers right now. He excelled in the AHL last season with 17 goals and 55 points in 45 contests. He also got into 11 games with Carolina, but averaged just 9:30 minutes and recorded a single goal.

Outside of the center issues, the Hurricanes’ other big focus has been Andrei Svechnikov, who is fighting for a roster spot after being taken with the second overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. It wouldn’t be surprising to at least see him get a nine-game trial with Carolina so that the Hurricanes can test him out in the regular season before coming to a final decision.

Columbus Blue Jackets

When everyone’s healthy, Columbus has a strong blueline, but that ideal isn’t what the Blue Jackets will start with. Seth Jones suffered a second-degree MCL sprain on Tuesday, which is projected to sideline him for four-to-six weeks. Needless to say, losing Jones is a far bigger deal to Columbus than Murray. Jones has been a top-tier defenseman for a while now, but he found another level in 2017-18 with 16 goals and 57 points while averaging 24:36 minutes per game. That led to him finishing fourth in Norris Trophy voting.

To further complicate the situation, Ryan Murray isn’t expected to be ready for the start of the season. Injuries have plagued Murray’s career and in this case it’s a groin issue that will cost him time. When the Blue Jackets were only looking at dealing with the absence of Murray, there was speculation that Markus Nutivaara might be slotted into as David Savard’s partner – at least until Murray was available as an alternative. It’d be a big opportunity for Nutivaara after he averaged just 16:02 minutes in 2017-18, but it’s worth noting that he did a fair amount offensively in that role with seven goals and 23 points in 61 games. Now that Jones is out too, the Blue Jackets need to scramble to find new pairings, but this just makes it more likely that Nutivaara will be on the second pairing, whether it’s with Savard or someone else should Savard get bumped to the top unit. Nutivaara might also be asked to serve on the second power-play unit now that Jones is out.

At least the Blue Jackets also got some positive news on the injury front as Zach Werenski is on track to play in the season opener. He underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum after playing with the problem for most of 2017-18. That injury might have been part of the reason he went from recording 47 points as a rookie to 37 points as a sophomore, so he could have a nice bounce back this season provided he’s healthy. If Columbus had to enter the season without Werenski and Jones, it would have created a massive void, but at least it appears they’re narrowing avoiding that nightmare scenario.

New Jersey Devils

Cory Schneider had an up-and-down 2017-18 campaign, but rather than wonder if he can be consistent going forward, the more immediate question is if he’ll be available. He had hip surgery over the summer and while he has practiced during training camp, he hasn’t gotten into a preseason game. That puts his status for New Jersey’s opener on Oct. 6 very much in question.

Keith Kinkaid would start in Schneider’s absence and given how well Kinkaid did down the stretch last season, if Schneider ends up missing a meaningful amount of time, Kinkaid could take that opportunity to make a strong case to steal the starting gig. Meanwhile, veteran goalie Eddie Lack is projected to make the Devils’ opening game roster if Schneider isn’t ready.

At least the Devils sorted out a different question mark on Sept. 22 when they signed Miles Wood to a four-year, $11 million contract. Wood missed the start of training camp as a RFA contract holdout, but these events might favor New Jersey in the long run. Giving Wood four years is a risk given that he still has more to prove, but the 23-year-old forward had an encouraging 19 goals, 32 points, and 84 penalty minutes in 76 contests last season, so if he continues to develop than he should more than live up to that contract.

New York Islanders

Luca Sbisa joined the Islanders’ training camp on a tryout basis and ended up securing a one-year, $1.5 million contract with time to spare. In doing so, the Islanders have created a logjam on the blueline with eight different defensemen signed to one-way contracts. They also have Dennis Seidenberg participating in their camp on a tryout basis, but it’s hard to see him earning a one-way contract after Sbisa already signed.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - OCTOBER 26: New York Islanders Center Mathew Barzal (13) skates with the puck during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and New York Islanders on October 26, 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.The Wild defeated the Islanders 6-4.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)

Of course, the big question for the Islanders going into the season is how their top two forward lines will shake out. John Tavares signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs naturally created a big hole that no one on the team is capable of truly filling. The Islanders are fortunate in the sense that Mathew Barzal excelled as a rookie in 2017-18, so they at least have a strong first-line center even without Tavares, but then who do they put on the second line? Brock Nelson might end up getting that gig. He’s been tried out with some of the Islanders’ top wingers during camp, including Anders Lee, Jordan Eberle, and Josh Bailey. Nelson is obviously going to be a huge step down from John Tavares, but taking Nelson on his own merits, he might end up being an okay second-line center.

One player that won’t be trying to fill that offensive void left by Tavares, at least not at the start of the season, is Joshua Ho-Sang. The Islanders have already reassigned him to the AHL, which has to be extremely disappointing for the 2014 first-round pick. Ho-Sang hasn’t been able to establish himself as quickly as some hoped and now it seems that even the fresh start he was provided by the Islanders changing their general manager and coach hasn’t moved things in a positive direction.

New York Rangers

The Rangers will began the rebuilding process last season and gave this new era a face when they hired David Quinn to serve as the new head coach straight from Boston University. A new coach on a rebuilding team creates a golden opportunity for young players and it looks like Filip Chytil has taken advantage of that. Chytil has been one of the Rangers’ standouts and given Quinn’s philosophy of having his best nine forwards serve on the top-nine regardless of positional considerations, Quinn should find a way to give Chytil healthy opportunities in the regular season provided the 19-year-old forward continues to impress.

Not everyone has had as strong a camp though and Jimmy Vesey might not have done enough to earn more than a fourth-line spot out of the gate. Vesey might be playing alongside Vladislav Namestnikov on that unit, which would be a huge step down from most of 2017-18 when Namestnikov was primarily playing alongside Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. Whether you feel the Rangers won or lost the Ryan McDonagh trade with Tampa Bay, it seems evident that Namestnikov was the biggest loser in the shift.

It’s also worth noting that Kevin Shattenkirk made his preseason debut on Sept. 22, which was his first game since Jan. 18 after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus. He got a pair of assists in the 5-2 loss and while preseason statistics aren’t terribly useful, it’s encouraging to see him do well after being absent for so long.

Philadelphia Flyers

It wouldn’t be the Philadelphia Flyers if there wasn’t goaltending drama. The latest chapter starts with Michal Neuvirth, who now appears doubtful for the start of the regular season due to an undisclosed injury. If he can’t play, then the Flyers safest alternative would be Alex Lyon given that he got into 11 games with Philadelphia last season – but Lyon is dealing with a lower-body injury and therefore also not an option.

VOORHEES, NJ - JULY 06: Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers poses for his official headshot for the 2017-2018 season on July 6, 2017 at the Virtua Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, New Jersey. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Carter Hart

That leaves Anthony Stolarz, who is coming off two knee surgeries and played a total of four games in 2017-18 (three in the ECHL), and Carter Hart, the man Flyers fans are putting their hopes and dreams on. Hart has done great in the preseason, but even so it’s reasonable to wonder if it’s really a good idea to send him straight from the WHL to the NHL? It’s asking a lot of him and might not be ideal for his development. The Flyers might end up having to acquire a goalie, which is something that would have seemed crazy just a few weeks ago when it looked like they had an organizational logjam in goal.

Outside of the Flyers’ goalie issues, one emerging storyline has been Corban Knight. He’s 28-years-old, has only played in 29 career NHL games and spent the last two seasons entirely in the minors so he naturally didn’t come into training camp with any special attention paid to him. Knight has managed to claw himself into the conservation for the Flyers’ fourth-line spot though, frequently playing alongside Scott Laughton and Michael Raffl. Knight survived Tuesday’s round of roster cuts, so if nothing else, he would be one of the last players cut if he doesn’t make the team.

Even if Knight makes the team, he wouldn’t have a huge impact, but it would make for a nice feel good story of a guy that kept fighting long after he lost the prospect tag and eventually managed to defy the odds.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Jean-Sebastien Dea has managed to survive the Penguins’ cuts thus far and is consequently one of the final 15 forwards on the roster. He’s coming off his best campaign in the AHL to date with 18 goals and 50 points in 70 games. He also has the versatility to play center or right wing and kill penalties. If he does make the Penguins, it will likely be as a fourth-liner though.

Whatever happens with Dea, the biggest change for the Penguins going into the season will be the addition of offseason signing Jack Johnson. It wasn’t long ago that Johnson was a workhorse that consistently logged an average of over 24 minutes each season for Columbus, but his role declined in 2017-18 to the point where he averaged 19:33 minutes and was a healthy scratch in the playoffs. With that all behind him, it looks like Johnson will enter the season on the Penguins’ second pairing with Justin Schultz. The X-Factor there is the fact that Schultz skipped Wednesday’s preseason game due to a nagging upper-body injury. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan didn’t make it seem like anything serious, but obviously if Schultz ends up being unavailable for the start of the season then Johnson will temporarily play alongside someone else.

Washington Capitals

After winning the Stanley Cup, the Washington Capitals made a point of minimizing roster turnover, so naturally there weren’t a lot of question marks going into training camp. That’s led to a quieter preseason, so there has still been a couple smaller storylines.

For example, Devante Smith-Pelly hasn’t gotten into a preseason game yet and that’s reportedly because he hasn’t lived up to the Capitals’ conditioning standards. At this point it’s not clear if the Capitals will use Smith-Pelly as part of their opening game roster. It’s unfortunate to see this happen given that he was one of the role players that helped push the Capitals over the top with his seven goals and eight points in the postseason. Washington felt good enough about what he brought to the table to sign him to a one-year, $1 million contract over the summer, but now it seems like he might not live up to that deal.

The Capitals might also start the season without defenseman Michal Kempny, but for a very different reason. He’s sidelined after absorbing a high elbow from St. Louis’ Robert Bortuzzo during Tuesday’s game. Although the Capitals have simply termed Kempny’s injury as “upper body,” it’s reportedly a concussion and if that’s true then it’s hard to say how long he’ll be out for. Kempny is another one of those role players that came through for the Capitals during the playoffs. In his case, Kempny logged 17:42 minutes per contest in the postseason, which led to Washington signing him to a four-year, $10 million contract back in June. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that 21-year-old defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler has looked good in training camp and should be included in the Capitals’ final roster if Kempny isn’t available.

Vegas Golden Knights unveil their roster with more chips to fall.

McKeen's Hockey — Thu, 22 Jun 2017 16:19:24 +0000

The Vegas Golden Knights unveiled the first generation of a roster that will likely undergo many changes in the next few days. Rumours of pending trades abound as the NHL Draft gets underway in Chicago tomorrow night.

Marc-Andre Fleury becomes the biggest name on the roster, anchoring the team in net. James Neal brings his sniper’s touch and 238 NHL goals to lead the offense. He ranks 14^th in the NHL over the lasts six years with 165. There are other interesting acquisitions, with many likely acquired to be flipped in short order.

GM George McPhee has held all the cards so far, but the state of play remains in motion, with many chips left to fall. It is premature to analyze the Golden Knights today, so in the meantime here is their current roster.

For subscribers we have set up the team page, if you want to link to the player pages via the team page. You can also link from the tags at the bottom of the article.

Depth Chart

LEFT WING	CENTER	RIGHT WING
Jonathan Marchessault	Vadim Shipachyov	James Neal
David Perron	Cody Eakin	Reilly Smith
William Carrier	William Karlsson	Teemu Pulkkinen
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	Oscar Lindberg	Chris Thorburn

Brendan Leipsic	Erik Haula	Alex Tuch
Connor Brickley	Tomas Nosek	Tomas Hyka
Nikita Gusev	Reid Duke	David Clarkson
	Mikhail Grabovski

LEFT DEFENSE	RIGHT DEFENSE
Marc Methot	Colin Miller
Brayden McNabb	David Schlemko
Alexei Emelin	Trevor van Riemsdyk
Jason Garrison	Deryk Engelland

Jon Merrill	Nate Schmidt
Clayton Stoner	Shea Theodore
Griffin Reinhart	Luca Sbisa
Jake Bischoff

GOAL
Marc-Andre Fleury

Calvin Pickard
Jean-Francois Berube

PLAYER	POS	HT/WT	AGE	2016-17 STATS	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Reid Duke	C	6-0/195	21	Brandon (WHL)	59	37	34	71	81
Cody Eakin	C	5-11/190	26	Dallas (NHL)	60	3	9	12	49
Mikhail Grabovski	C	5-10/185	33	NY Islanders (NHL) - DNP Inj
Erik Haula	C	5-11/190	26	Minnesota (NHL)	72	15	11	26	28
William Karlsson	C	6-0/190	24	Columbus (NHL)	81	6	19	25	10
Oscar Lindberg	C	6-1/190	25	NY Rangers (NHL)	65	8	12	20	32
Tomas Nosek	C	6-2/210	25	Grand Rapids (AHL)	51	15	26	41	33
Vadim Shipachyov	C	6-0/190	30	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)	50	26	50	76	22
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	LW	6-0/195	32	Philadelphia (NHL)	82	4	4	8	20
Connor Brickley	LW	6-0/205	25	Charlotte (AHL)	69	15	11	26	57
William Carrier	LW	6-1/200	22	Buffalo (NHL)	41	5	3	8	21
Nikita Gusev	LW	5-9/165	25	SKA St. Petersburg (KHL)	57	24	47	71	8
Brendan Leipsic	LW	5-9/170	23	Toronto (AHL)	49	18	33	51	30
Jonathan Marchessault	LW	5-9/175	26	Florida (NHL)	75	30	21	51	38
David Perron	LW	6-0/195	29	St. Louis (NHL)	82	18	28	46	54
David Clarkson	RW	6-1/205	33	Columbus (NHL) - DNP Inj
Tomas Hyka	RW	5-11/170	24	Mlada Boleslav (Cze)	48	17	21	38	18
James Neal	RW	6-2/210	30	Nashville (NHL)	70	23	18	41	35
Teemu Pulkkinen	RW	5-11/190	25	Iowa (AHL)	47	18	18	36	36
Reilly Smith	RW	6-0/185	26	Florida (NHL)	80	15	22	37	17
Chris Thorburn	RW	6-3/225	34	Winnipeg (NHL)	64	3	1	4	95
Alex Tuch	RW	6-4/220	21	Iowa (AHL)	57	18	19	37	28
Jake Bischoff	D	6-1/195	23	Minnesota (B1G)	38	5	27	32	16
Alexei Emelin	D	6-1/220	31	Montreal (NHL)	76	2	8	10	71
Deryk Engelland	D	6-2/205	35	Calgary (NHL)	81	4	12	16	85
Jason Garrison	D	6-1/220	32	Tampa Bay (NHL)	70	1	8	9	14
Brayden McNabb	D	6-4/205	26	Los Angeles (NHL)	49	2	2	4	54
Jon Merrill	D	6-3/210	25	New Jersey (NHL)	51	1	5	6	24
Marc Methot	D	6-3/225	32	Ottawa (NHL)	68	0	12	12	24
Colin Miller	D	6-0/195	24	Boston (NHL)	61	6	7	13	55
Griffin Reinhart	D	6-4/215	23	Bakersfield (AHL)	54	7	14	21	42
Luca Sbisa	D	6-2/205	27	Vancouver (NHL)	82	2	11	13	40
David Schlemko	D	6-1/195	30	San Jose (NHL)	62	2	16	18	14
Nate Schmidt	D	6-0/195	26	Washington (NHL)	60	3	14	17	16
Clayton Stoner	D	6-3/225	32	Anaheim (NHL)	14	1	2	3	28
Shea Theodore	D	6-2/185	22	Anaheim (NHL)	34	2	7	9	28
Trevor van Riemsdyk	D	6-2/185	26	Chicago (NHL)	58	5	11	16	29
				2016-17 STATS	GP	W	L	GAA	SV%
Jean-Francois Berube	G	6-1/170	26	NY Islanders (NHL)	14	3	2	3.42	0.889
Marc-Andre Fleury	G	6-2/175	32	Pittsburgh (NHL)	38	18	10	3.02	0.909
Calvin Pickard	G	6-0/195	25	Colorado (NHL)	50	15	31	2.98	0.904

Young Stars Classic Q&A with Canucks Trevor Linden

Andy Levangie — Fri, 19 Sep 2014 19:53:26 +0000

PENTICTON, B.C. -- I had the opportunity to speak with Vancouver Canucks President Trevor Linden at the Young Stars Classic in Penticton B.C. this past weekend. Events like this provide scouts and management an opportunity to assess where their prospects are in terms of development and how close they are to the NHL.

Often an unstructured environment with only rudimentary work on systems will allow players to delight the fans and show off their individual skill sets. We were privy to some highlight-reel goals as well as some developing chemistry - while catching a glimpse into the future of Canada’s Western Conference teams.

I know what I see on the ice, but I wanted to hear what management is looking for and to pry a little into how they approach these annual events. Here are some observations from Trevor Linden about drafting and the organizational development of the Canucks.

What are the results when you get varying ages, backgrounds and abilities on the same team in an environment like this?

“It’s a great environment because they're playing against their peers and it’s a tighter range of skills, having said that each player has a unique skill set and its how they apply that and how we (as an organization) see that being applied to the NHL; that’s the challenge”

What is the Canucks goal coming out of this tournament?

“It's just as assessment tool, certainly this year with myself, Jim (Benning, GM), John (Weisbrod, VP player personnel), Willie (Desjardins, head coach) being kind of new, it’s the first chance we’ve had to see these kids in our system, understand what they are and how we can move them forward in their careers”

You’ve had time to assess the organization, what’s your philosophy going forward with regards to prospects?

“Jim identified early in the process that he wanted to give our core guys an opportunity to win, bringing in Bonino, Sbisa, Dorsett & Vey got us younger and (gave us) more depth, it helps support our core group and replenish our prospect pool by getting Jake (Virtanen) 6th overall and getting that Jared McCann pick (24th overall) was key. That one extra pick was huge. We’ve got to do a good job drafting from here on in, that’s critical, we’ve spent a lot of time this week with our amateur guys (scouts) making sure we’re all on the same page”.