We…. Are… Back! Well, some of us...Blake is joined by Rink Wide: Vancouver host Jeff Paterson for this first episode of 2024 (Sekeres is in Mexico working on another lobster sunburn). The boys break down the bounce-back win over Ottawa, and what it means as the team gets set to embark on the seven-game eastern road trip.
Frank Seravalli joins as well with his impressions on the Pacific leading Canucks and what the new year might bring, including when the next trade might happen, if Pens will move Jake Guenztel and whether the Canucks will be in, and who gets signed first: EP40 in Vancouver or Nylander in Toronto?
Arizona Coyotes winger Jason Zucker will have a hearing for boarding/interference on Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Wednesday.
Zucker was ejected from Tuesday's game for the play. He was taking exception to Cousins hitting his Coyotes teammate Juuso Valimaki while Valimaki was on his knees and defenseless, and Zucker plastered Cousins into the boards from behind. Panthers blue-liner Gustav Forsling then fought Zucker.
Cousins was not penalized for his hit on Valimaki and the league did not announce any hearing for the Panthers forward.
Zucker has never been fined or suspended in his 13-year NHL career.
The incident occurred in the final minute of the second period. Cousins only played one shift in the third period.
The Los Angeles Kings recalled defenseman Brandt Clarke from the AHL's Ontario Reign, the team announced Wednesday.
Fellow blue-liner Tobias Bjornfot was placed on waivers in a corresponding move.
Clarke, the Kings' top prospect, is tearing up the AHL this season, leading the team with 32 points in 30 games. He tallied a pair of assists in nine NHL games in 2022-23 but has yet to appear in an NHL game this season.
Los Angeles selected Clarke with the No. 8 pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. He tallied 61 points in 31 games with the OHL's Barrie Colts last season and helped Canada win gold at the 2023 world juniors.
With the Kings, Clarke could play on the right side of the third defense pair in place of Jordan Spence. He'll also likely see time on the power play.
Bjornfot, meanwhile, failed to tally a point in his lone game with Los Angeles and didn't collect any in his nine contests with Ontario this season. The Kings picked him 22nd overall in the 2019 draft.
Welcome to the third in-season edition of theScore's 2023-24 Vezina Trophy rankings, a monthly look at the top goalies across the NHL.
As has been the case in our previous versions, there's been plenty of changeover in our top five. No netminders have established themselves as clear-cut favorites, making this a more compelling race than the past few years when Linus Ullmark and Igor Shesterkin were shoo-ins to win the prestigious award by the midway point.
It'll be fascinating to see if any of these contenders can pull away from the pack now that the calendar has flipped. But we're not holding our breath based on the way this season's gone between the pipes. Case in point: this is the third consecutive version of this exercise in which we have a new No. 1.
Let's dive in.
GSAA =Goals saved above average GSAx =Goals saved above expected
5. Adin Hill, Golden Knights
Jeff Bottari / National Hockey League / Getty
Previous rank: 1st
Record
GAA
SV%
GSAA
GSAx
10-2-2
1.93
.933
11.71
12.92
Hill held the top spot in our December rankings before an injury forced him from the throne. He's only made one start since Nov. 30, and it's no coincidence the Golden Knights hit the skids during that span. Over 14 games, Vegas is 7-6-1 while averaging 3.4 goals against per contest. The reigning champs' struggles with its No. 1 on the shelf amplifies his importance to the operation, but Hill needs to get back in the crease soon to save his Vezina hopes and remain on our list.
Hill has an outside chance to reinsert himself into the mix if he can carry over his pre-injury form. The 27-year-old still leads the league in save percentage and goals against average and ranks third in goals saved above average.
4. Connor Ingram, Coyotes
Norm Hall / National Hockey League / Getty
Previous rank: 2nd
Record
GAA
SV%
GSAA
GSAx
13-7-4
2.49
.919
9.71
13.41
Ingram isn't quite as hot as when he burst into a podium position in December, but his overall body of work this season has kept him in the mix for the time being. He's tied for theleague lead in shutouts (four),ranks third in save percentage among goalies to play at least 20 games, and is top-10 in both advanced statistics in his chart.
The Coyotes are in the hunt for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference largely because of Ingram's contributions. However, he's won just two of seven starts while posting a .893 save percentage since our latest rankings on Dec. 6, so how he rebounds from a cold spell will be pivotal in Arizona's postseason pursuit and his chase for hardware.
3. Cam Talbot, Kings
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Previous rank: 4th
Record
GAA
SV%
GSAA
GSAx
14-8-3
2.10
.925
13.53
15.77
Talbot's numbers declined over the past month or so, but they're still strong enough to place him among the league's best netminders for the season. Most impressively, the 36-year-old sits first in goals saved above average and fourth in goals saved above expected at all strengths, showing he's imperative to the Kings' success.
It's still difficult to fully buy into Talbot's Vezina chances considering he's made 40-plus starts only once since 2018 and doesn't carry the pedigree of those ahead of him. Still, there's no denying he's as worthy of a candidate as anyone to this point.
2. Thatcher Demko, Canucks
Debora Robinson / National Hockey League / Getty
Previous rank: 3rd
Record
GAA
SV%
GSAA
GSAx
18-7-1
2.48
.917
9.84
17.25
Demko and the West-leadingCanucksare riding high this season. Although he's been one of the busiest goalies in the league andranks sixth in shots faced, Demko has been up to the task almost every night, sitting in the top 10 in goals-against average and save percentage while tied for second in victories.
Vancouver is still battling plenty of skeptics on the sustainability of its winning recipe, but a hot goalie trumps all in this sport and certainly isn't a negative when ranking the best puck-stoppers in the league. Demko's an old-school workhorse, and voters appreciate a good narrative - like the Canucks making the playoffs for only the second time since 2015 on the back of their star goaltender.
1. Connor Hellebuyck, Jets
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Previous rank: N/A
Record
GAA
SV%
GSAA
GSAx
18-6-3
2.64
.920
12.04
19.03
It's hard to believe Hellebuyck hasn't made our rankings since our preseason prognostications, but he looks here to stay now. He's far and away been the best goalie on our list since the last rankings, failing to lose in regulation through nine starts while posting a sparkling .934 save percentage.The hot streak has brought his numbers firmly into the mix among the league's elite, which is where we've grown accustomed to seeing him after finishing in the top five in Vezina voting in four of the past six campaigns.
Much like Demko and the Canucks, Hellebuyck and the Jets have their fair share of naysayers doubting the club's legitimacy. However, both teams are within reach of first place in the league standings, and a Vezina battle between the two Canadian-team stars, tied in with a race for Western Conference supremacy, makes for a tremendous subplot for the rest of the season.
Sat Shah and Bik Nizzar breakdown the Canucks 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. Hear from Head Coach Rick Tocchet (39:55), Noah Juulsen (7:17) and JT Miller (1:29:23) post game. Plus Randip Janda and Iain McIntyre (1:32:34) provide their analysis.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
Canucks insider Irfaan Gaffar joins Dan and Sat to preview Vancouver's upcoming lengthy road trip and what it could mean for the rest of the season. The guys also discuss what a potential Elias Pettersson extension looks like as well as how Kuzmenko's play is impacting any other deals the Canucks want to make.
This podcast was produced by Josh Elliott-Wolfe & Victor Gouchee.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
In their first show of 2024 Dan and Sat discuss how the Canucks can build on their momentum and get even better in the new year. Special teams is an area of concern at the moment but the guys believe Vancouver's powerplay could yet be one of the best in the league. Don Taylor joins the show in the second half to analyze what went wrong for Canada at the World Juniors and see if they can find out where the great Canadian goaltenders went. Donnie also weighs in on whether or not he believes the Canucks are now considered a playoff team.
This podcast was produced by Josh Elliott-Wolfe & Victor Gouchee.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
For Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, placing Ilya Samsonov on waivers is a necessary step to getting the struggling netminder back on track.
"Obviously, we know Ilya is going through a difficult time," the executive said Tuesday. "When you go through this, you kinda look at a couple of options. You keep doing what you're doing and try to work through it, or you do something different. This plan, we looked at it, and I felt strongly that we had to do something different to help Ilya."
"This isn't punishment," he added. "We need him to get back to where he's capable of getting back to, and he wants to get there. If you knew exactly all the ways to fix things, you would do it, right?"
Samsonov owns an .862 save percentage and 3.94 goals-against average to go along with a 5-2-6 record this campaign. The 26-year-old ranks last among all goalies in goals saved above expected (-12.5) and second last in goals saved above average (-14.95) at all strengths, according to Evolving Hockey.
The Maple Leafs put Samsonov on the waiver wire Sunday, two days after he surrendered six goals on 21 shots during Friday's overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Russian has since been loaned to the AHL, but Treliving confirmed the plan isn't for Samsonov to appear in any games for the Toronto Marlies at this point.
"We're using this week to get him some one-on-one time," he said. "He'll be working with (Marlies goalie coach) Hannu Toivonen back in Toronto, our development team, our performance team off the ice. Really, it's a physical and a mental reset where he can get away from preparing for the next game and all the pressures that come with it.
"To me, a lot of what we're seeing here is, the mental drives the bus a little bit. It's hard to correct the physical - and maybe the technical side - when there's a lot going on. I think there's a lot going on with him. We're trying to let the air out of the balloon a little bit, give him a bunch of support, and just let him reset."
The Maple Leafs called up Marlies goalie Dennis Hildeby on Monday. He's now Toronto's only option behind veteran Martin Jones with rookie Joseph Woll still on the shelf.
Treliving offered a humorous response when asked if he'd consider looking at alternatives outside the organization.
"The manager always has to do his job of continuing to look at ways to improve the team. Now having said that, I checked outside, the goaltender tree was empty. I couldn't pick one off there today. So we'll see with a little bit of sun, maybe they grow a few more."
The Maple Leafs will take on the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
